Canadian carriers help develop new pre-notification "strawman"

WASHINGTON, DC — The industry advisory subcommittee advising the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP; formerly U.S. Customs) on carrier pre-notification has come up with an alternative to the recently doomed strawman proposal.

CBP’s strawman proposal had called for exports to the U.S. to be electronically reported 4 hours prior to lading and imports from the U.S. be reported 24 hours prior to lading ideas that met with industry wide opposition and ended up removed from consideration.

The multi-modal subcommittee of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC), which included representation from the Canadian Trucking Alliance, has now developed a counter-proposal that essentially recommends:

 Free and Secure Trade (FAST)-approved carriers provide 15 minutes pre-arrival notice (measured from the time information is transmitted to Customs). For non-FAST carriers, the time frame would be 30 minutes. The distinction reflects the fact that FAST carriers have already undergone extensive security screening. This compares to the strawman proposal of electronic notification 4 hours pre-lading.

 Existing U.S. reporting exemptions for shipments to Canada be maintained. This compares to the strawman proposal of 24-hour electronic pre-lading notification. This does not impact on Canada Customs and Revenue Agency reporting requirements.

 CBP rely on existing systems to satisfy pre-notification requirements and not impose any new systems development costs on industry at this time. The Subcommittee was particularly concerned about the adoption of an "interim solution" in advance of the introduction of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) beginning in early 2004.

 A policy of port uniformity be established to avoid port-specific policies or procedures.

Detailed recommendations covering all modes have been presented to Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner.

The recommendations will be reviewed by COAC on April 4, 2003.