CBP Issues Revised FAQ on Mandatory Advance Electronic Information Requirements for Rail Cargo
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a revised version of its frequently asked questions (FAQ) and responses (dated October 5, 2004) on the "Rail" portion of its final rule on the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (ocean, air, rail, and truck) prior to it being brought into, or sent from, the U.S.
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(Subscribers should note that the questions and answers in this FAQ appear to relate to inbound rail cargo.)
The October 5, 2004 "Rail" FAQ completely replaces the initial July 8, 2004 "Rail" FAQ. The new version is revised by the addition of FAQ 4D on forest products (which could apply to other commodities, such as grain). In addition, FAQ 4C is revised to apply to intermodal traffic using ocean and rail carriers. All of the other FAQs are unchanged.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 07/14/04, 07/15/04, and 07/16/04 news, 04071410, 04071505, and 04071605, for BP summaries Parts I -III on CBP's initial July 8, 2004 FAQ.)
Revised FAQ 4C and new FAQ 4D are transcribed below:
4) Data Element - Shipper and Consignee
C) What information is required for a single Bill transaction?
Answer: Intermodal traffic where there is a one to one relationship between the ocean and rail carrier, the ocean carrier must provide the actual consignee and shipper information.
D) There are very significant volumes of forest products that move by rail from Canada into the United States (US), where the consignee is a forest product wholesaler. In these cases the wholesaler, as consignee, is not the physical end receiver of the cargo. Once the shipment has cleared CBP at the US rail port of arrival the goods become US goods, they may be resold by the wholesaler to another buyer. In many cases the wholesaler has offices in the US, however in some cases the wholesaler will only have a Canadian office that has the necessary permits and licenses to act as the US consignee.
The Canadian shipper's bill of lading becomes the US CBP electronic rail manifest. Forest product shippers may not have a US consignee, other than the wholesaler at the time that the advanced rail manifest is created. However in all cases these Canadian shippers provide to trans-border rail carriers a US facility to where the rail car shipment is destined at the time of manifesting. The US destination facility may be a forest product reload facility where the reload facility will be the US Care Of Consignee Party, or it may be a rail facility where the wholesaler consignee will be the Care Of Consignee Party at the rail facility. What commercial party information must be provided on the rail manifest to CBP in respect to consignee in these business scenarios and how should this information compare the customs broker's entry information?
Answer: When forest products are shipped from Canada to the US where the consignee on the entry (CF 3461) is a lumber wholesaler, the wholesaler can be shown as the consignee on the rail manifest, providing a US facility at the manifested rail destination is included. In these cases the US rail destination facility shown on the manifest can be a lumber reload facility (the reload facility will be shown as the Care Of Consignee party on the manifest), or a rail facility (the consignee will be shown as the Care Of Consignee party at the rail yard or rail team track)
The above will apply when the lumber wholesaler as consignee on the entry (CF 3461) has an office address in the US or when the lumber wholesaler as consignee has a Canadian address and is acting as the importer of record.
The consignee wholesaler's complete office address or corporate address and the US destination facility complete address must be shown on the manifest.
At the time of entry release at the US rail port of arrival, the broker's entry information in ABI will reflect the rail carrier's manifest in respect to commercial party information.
Although this scenario specifies lumber, the concept would apply to other commodities, such as grain, that face a similar circumstances.
Revised Rail FAQ (dated 10/05/04), available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/communications_to_industry/advance_info/rail_faq.ctt/rail_faq.doc