US Customs fixes ISF software from reflecting badly on time compliance

US CUSTOMS have changed Importer Security Filing (ISF) software to rectify a problem with monthly progress reports that have been showing an unusual slippage in on-time filing, reports American Shipper.

The apparent deterioration of timely filing coincided with customs implementation of a secondary method to measure timeliness in ISF filing against the vessel departure date instead of using the first bill of lading filed by the carrier with the cargo manifest.

"People are freaking out because their timeliness is way down for filings that showed on-time in the past. Our on-time rate is down from 74 per cent to 60 per cent," said Kelby Woodard, executive vice president of TRG Direct, a software company that provides customs support.

John Jurguits, chief programme manager for ISF, told American Shipper: "The vessel departure metric is new. We had a few technical issued with getting the data lined up correctly. Hopefully, the January reports will reflect much better timeliness."

The initiative was intended to help importers avoid inadvertent late penalties that may have resulted from the carrier submitting the bill of lading early and making it appear the ISF was late even though it was filed before the cargo loading deadline, said the report.

Under the rules, importers must electronically transmit 10 pieces of data about their international shipments 24 hours before ship loading in a foreign port. Carriers must submit two other data streams.

(Source: www.schednet.com)