Consider it as cargo's first step in its voyage to the United States - even before the box has been moved to a ship. At the Port of Tacoma, the new federal requirement - known as "10+2" - that key cargo information be submitted in advance will affect more than 21,000 importers.
Beginning January 26, 2010, importers and carriers will have to submit this information, including point of origin, to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials who view it as another tool to maintain homeland security in the post-9/11 world.
Port of Tacoma and federal officials are reminding importers, brokers and carriers to be ready and seek advice if they have questions regarding the rule, formally called the Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements.
"We want to make sure that all of our importers are aware of this," said Tong Zhu, director of commercial strategy for the Port of Tacoma. "We've been working with Customs and Border Protection to make sure that this process goes smoothly."
Importers or their brokers will need to send the bulk of this information electronically at least 24 hours before cargo is placed on a U.S.-bound ship. Two other pieces of information, loading location and consolidator, will need to be sent 24 hours before that ship arrives at a U.S. port.
If importers or brokers fail to submit this information or send inaccurate or incomplete files, the government could levy fines of $5,000 or place "Do Not Load" orders on shipments.
"Our plan is to make better decisions on the cargo coming in. We can make better decisions with better data," said Rolando Suliveras Jr., area port director with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "If we don't know that information, and you're in charge of protecting the homeland, that responsibility is on your shoulders."
The name of the new set of regulations refers to 10 requirements for importers and brokers and two for carriers. The requirement calls for the following information from importers or brokers before cargo is loaded on a ship:
- Seller's name
- Buyer's name
- Importer's identification number
- Consignee number
- Manufacturer or supplier
- Ship-to party
- Country of origin
- Commodity Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States number
These two pieces of information need to be filed 24 hours before that cargo arrives at a U.S. port:
- Container loading location
- Consolidator
Carriers will need to send their vessel stow plans and container status messages, which show when cargo arrives and leaves a port.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials began developing this process in 2003, Suliveras said. He worked on it when he was based in Washington, D.C., researching the shipping process, which can be complicated because companies use different business models. He realizes the required information, culled from more than 55 categories, and its submission will add costs to companies through new software.
"But we're in a different world now," he said. The federal government will use computers to analyze the information and determine risk probability. "The businesses that have been proactive in this, they're ready," Suliveras added. "There are companies out there who haven't done any of this, still hoping for that, ‘Hey, this isn't going to happen.'"
While larger companies are aware of the rule's final implementation, officials want to make sure smaller ones, say a family-run business that only imports twice a year, also know of the changes. The required information has always been available, but is just being submitted in a more formal manner, said Mark Ferguson, logistics director for Tacoma-based SUPERVALU International.
His company uses the Port of Tacoma to import and export food. "We don't take any issue with intent or process," he said. The added costs, he added, will be "nominal" and will be passed on to consumers as slightly higher prices.
But he questions whether a competitor or third party can obtain his company's "10+2" information through a Freedom of Information Act request. "We don't feel the government should be passing that along," he said. "People can take our business away."
Gwen Salisbury of Tacoma-based Sound Brokerage International works with a core group of 40 clients and began talking about the changes with them more than two years ago. She also heard questions about cost and government affecting business.
"We had to be patient and listen to the importer and explain the end result," she said. "Most of the 10 items, they already know. Now, 80 percent of our customers are on board with this."
Since January 2009, the requirement has been in a test phase but has not produced any major hiccup at the Port of Tacoma, said James Sullivan, customs chief at the Port.
"We've seen almost no impact at all, which is interesting because we thought we would see a little more activity," he said.
Salisbury explained that imparting information to her customers has been instrumental in bringing them up to speed on the new regulations. "The better they're informed, the better off we're all going to be," she said.
Article by Brad Wong (This story will appear in the print version of the Port's fall/winter 2009 Pacific Gateway magazine-fall/winter, available in January.)