Starting Thursday, April 19, trucks entering the United States from Mexico though all land border ports in California, New Mexico and Texas were required to transmit cargo information electronically through U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency will practice soft enforcement the first 60 days, with compliance notices to carriers that arrive without submitting or attempting to submit an e-manifest beforehand. During this time, agents will use limited enforcement discretion. After the first 60 days, carriers that don’t file electronically can be refused entrance into the United States or receive penalties of up to $10,000 for violation of the Trade Act of 2002.
“With advance access to truck cargo information, CBP officers are able to prescreen trucks and shipments, and dedicate more time to inspecting suspicious cargo without delaying the border crossings of legitimate carriers,” says Lou Samenfink, executive director for the CBP’s Cargo Systems Program Office.
The electronic truck manifest system, which gradually is becoming mandatory at all U.S. land border ports, is part of CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment. For more information, go to www.cbp.gov.
