CBP Proposes New Requirements for Passenger and/or Crew Manifests for Commercial Aircraft and/or Vessels

For aircraft, the proposed rule would implement the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requirement that passenger manifest information be provided to the government before departure of the aircraft. For vessels, the proposed rule would require that passenger and crew manifests for commercial vessels departing from the U.S. be transmitted to CBP earlier than the current regulations require. (See below summary for other aspects of proposed rule.)

CBP states that written comments must be received on or before August 14, 2006.

Proposed Requirements for Commercial Aircraft Arriving in & Departing from U.S.

The following are highlights of CBP's proposed rule as it concerns electronic transmission of passenger manifest for aircraft arriving in and departing from the U.S.:

Airlines would have choice of two options for transmitting manifests. CBP's proposed rule would provide air carriers a choice between the following methods of passenger manifest transmission: (1) APIS 60 - Under the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) 60 option, air carriers would be required to transmit complete manifests no later than 60-minutes prior to the departure of the aircraft. CBP states that this option is similar to the current electronic transmission process to the extent that manifest data would be transmitted in batch form and CBP would perform security vetting against all data at once, or (2) AQQ - Under the APIS Quick Query (AQQ) option, commercial air carriers would transmit manifest information on passengers as each passenger checks in for the flight, up to but not later than 15 minute prior to departure.

Proposed revisions for transmitting information, "not-cleared" message for a passenger. CBP's proposed rule would revise portions of 19 CFR 122.49a (Electronic manifest requirement for passengers onboard commercial aircraft arriving in the U.S.) and 19 CFR 122.75a (Electronic manifest requirements for passengers onboard commercial aircraft departing from the U.S.).

The proposed rule would set forth detailed requirements for transmitting passenger manifest information and a description of the actions that would have to be taken if CBP sends a "not-cleared" message to the air carrier concerning a passenger.

Definition of "departure" for aircraft would be amended. CBP's proposed rule would amend 19 CFR 122.49a to state that "departure" means the moment at which the aircraft is pushed back from the gate for the purpose of commencing its approach to the point of take off. (The current definition states that departure means the point at which the wheels are up on the aircraft and the aircraft is en route directly to its destination.)

CBP intends to make APIS and AQQ fully available prior to issuing final rule. CBP states that it is committed to having both APIS 60 and AQQ options for pre-departure interactive electronic transmission fully available for industry use prior to the publication of a final rule.

CBP anticipates some connecting passengers will not make connections. In considering the impact on parties affected by the proposed rule, CBP states that should the proposed rule become final and effective large air carriers (i.e. those with over 1,500 employees) would bear the greatest percentage of the regulatory burden of the proposed rule due to the number of international travelers these entities carry and their method of transmitting APIS data.

If carriers exercise the APIS 60 option, it is anticipated that any adverse impact on passengers would fall disproportionately on connecting passengers (those arriving from a foreign airport and continuing on to a foreign destination and those making a connecting foreign flight en route to the U.S.) rather than on originating passengers.

CBP believes that under the APIS 60 option, a small number of connecting passengers may not make their flights, will be delayed, and would have to be rerouted. Alternatively, if large carriers use the AQQ option, delays to travelers will be minimized but carriers will need to develop and implement their systems to support AQQ.

Proposed Requirements for Vessels Departing from the U.S.

In its proposed rule, CBP would also amend 19 CFR 4.64(b)(2)(i) to state that the appropriate official must transmit each electronic departure manifest required under 19 CFR 4.64(b)(1) to the CBP Data Center, CBP Headquarters, no later than 60 minutes before the vessel departs from the U.S. 19 CFR 4.64 applies to both electronic passenger and crew member departure manifests. (The current regulations provide that this must be done no later than 15 minute before departure.)

(CBP sources note that this proposed rule would not amend the passenger and crew manifest transmission requirements for vessel arriving in the U.S. 19 CFR 4.7b(b)(2)(i) sets forth the timeframes by which passenger and crew manifests must be submitted for commercial vessels arriving in the U.S. The deadlines for submitting such manifests depend upon the length of the vessel's voyage.)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 04/08/05 news, 05040830, for BP summary of an earlier CBP final rule concerning advance electronic transmission of passenger and crew manifests for aircrafts and vessels. See ITT's Online Archives or 10/06/05 news, 05100620, for BP summary of CBP's planned three stage implementation of APIS. See ITT's Online Archives or 12/16/05 news, 05121605, for BP summary of penalties associated with failure to comply with advance passenger information system (APIS) requirements for vessels and aircrafts.)

-written comments must be received on or before August 14, 2006

CBP Contact - Charles Perez (202) 344-2605

CBP Proposed Rule (USCBP-2005-0003, FR Pub 07/14/06) available athttp://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-6237.pdf