The brand new “ISF 10 + 2 Rule” and its importance to you!

Is your business directly importing cargo on an ocean container into the United States?  If so, are you adequately prepared to abide by the new safety regulations and avoid the costly fines? 

Or, if you outsource your imports to a third party (“freight forwarder”), are you sure they will meet the criteria of the new rule?  If they don’t, you, the consignee, are the one who is liable for those hefty fines, not the contracted freight forwarder!

Effective on January 26, 2010 any business that imports products and doesn’t strictly follow the new “ISF 10 + 2 Rule” will be faced with a $5,000 fine per violation. 

This brand new rule is the “Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements Rule” and is often referred to as the “ISF 10 + 2 Rule”.  This rule is being enforced in an effort to:

• enhance the importer’s sphere of accountability back to the point of stuffing (origin)
• enhance cargo targeting prior to the loading at the foreign port, and
• result in fewer exams for low risk shipments

The responsibility of the ISF importer, or consignee, for the “Importer Security Filing” is to provide the “10″ data elements component of the rule.  The responsibility of the steamship line is to provide the “Additional Carrier Requirements” which corresponds to the “+2″ portion of the rule.

The 10 data elements of the importer or consignee are to provide proof of: seller, buyer, importer, consignee, manufacturer, ship to party, country of origin, harmonized tariff schedule (HTS) number, container stuffing location, and consolidator. The 2 data elements of the steamship line are to produce: the vessel stow plan and the container status messages.

The rule has been a goal of Customs and Border Patrol for many years, as an effort to push supply chain security efforts back from our borders to the point of origin (or “stuffing”). The proposed rule was published back in January of 2008, with the final rule published in November of that same year. The effective date of the rule was this last January, 2009.  The full enforcement of the rule is happening later this month on January 26^th.
Unitrans Worldwide, Inc. employees are experts at this new rule and can conduct this mandatory government filing on your behalf to keep your company in compliance and save you possible hefty fines.