Groups: Partial data would help ACAS

CBP collected feedback on its joint Air Cargo Advance Screening program with the TSA.    Transmittal of partial data by freight forwarders for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) program could help the agencies’ targeting process, groups said in joint comments to the agencies.
   In comments after CBP published an interim final rule (IFR) implementing ACAS on June 12, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) and Airforwarders Association (AfA) suggested that forwarder submissions as part of ACAS would help CBP receive necessary data sooner.
   The ACAS program requires the inbound carrier or other eligible party to electronically transmit ACAS data to CBP before the cargo is loaded onto the aircraft bound for the United States.
   “The carrier has the ultimate responsibility to file data within ACAS; however, there may be forwarders who are willing to meet prescribed terms and conditions in order to file instead of the carrier,” NCBFAA and AfA said in their comments submitted earlier this month. “We do not support duplicate filings, since minor or inadvertent differences may create anomalies in the targeting process. Having said that, there may be value in early transmittal of partial data.”
   That partial data could help the agencies gather information as soon as possible, the groups said.
   The groups also cautioned CBP and TSA from requiring the bonding of forwarders who transmit ACAS filings, saying that would discourage forwarder participation in ACAS. The IFR established such a requirement.
   “Very large” forwarders consider bonding to be the cost of doing business, but the vast majority of the forwarding community consists of small and medium-sized businesses, the groups said.
   Further, forwarders could encounter circumstances in which they can’t address “do not load” (DNL) instructions, and NCBFAA and AfA associated themselves with separate comments submitted by Airlines for America/the International Air Transport Association urging CBP and TSA to “carefully” analyze scenarios in which an ACAS filer isn’t in possession of a DNL shipment and to issue DNL instruction documentation placing appropriate responsibilities on each stakeholder.
   The International Trade Surety Association (ITSA) and Avalon Risk Management, a customs surety and ITSA member, said CBP should have consulted with sureties prior to rolling out new bonding requirements associated with ACAS.
   “Without consultation with the affected surety and trade stakeholders during the last six years, ACAS adopts a new bond program, modifies existing bond regulations, authorizes multiple filers and is silent on procedures or formula for bonds (continuous or transactional), demands and/or mitigation,” ITSA said in its filing. “These are concerns which should now be addressed immediately in consultation with the surety industry and with other affected stakeholders.”