10+2 Importer Security Filing has been under way since January 26th and U.S. Customs expects as an importer (of ocean cargo) that you are putting forward a "good faith effort" to file. A good faith effort can be defined in many ways. In this case you should be filing. Even though we are in a non penalty phase, filing now will help your company avoid the $5,000 non compliance penalty come Jan 26th 2010. The costs of filing this year will not compare to the costs of penalties next year.
So what has the industry been seeing?
The actual implementation of Importer Security Filing didn´t cause a much of a disturbance to those who put their best foot forward and filed away. What some importers did notice was that there were a few errors with matching the bill of lading. Yes, the bill of lading is required in order to match the importer´s ISF with the carrier´s ISF.A semi-tricky part to the entry is data collection. Making sure you have the information you need 24 prior to vessel lading.
How are importers filing?
Web-based ISF systems allow you to set up your vendors with certain rights in your account where they can actually enter their portion of the data. This makes it easier to collect everything you need and stores the information in the ISF until it ready to be sent to Customs for review. How do importers file?There are many programs available for importers to file their ISF. Not all but many are extremely economically priced. Systems such as TRG Direct offer a Web-based solution that doesn´t but an economic strain on companies who are learning how to file.
Search google.com and you will see just about every 10+2 ISF solution competitor. Simple research and a demonstration of the system will show you exactly which application is best for you. Maybe you don´t expect to file many ISF, let´s say less than 50 a year. In this case it probably is better to leave this to your U.S. Customs broker. Wait, as long as they aren´t charging you a heinous amount for each ISF or applying large set up fees. Because the truth is an ISF filing is not that difficult. Now that the industry has a taste of ISF, we see it´s really not so bad. That is as long as you aren´t over paying for this transaction.
