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CBP Discusses its Importer Self-Assessment Program at Trade Symposium

At the December 2009 Trade Symposium, Customs officials and importer and broker representatives discussed the Importer Self Assessment program.

(ISA is a voluntary approach to trade compliance. The program provides the opportunity for importers who have made a commitment of resources to assume responsibility for monitoring their own compliance in exchange for certain benefits.)

Highlights of those discussions include:

ISA Program Currently Has 198 Participants, Over 99% Compliance Rate

During the presentation, CBP provided the following statistics regarding ISA participants:

ISA Benefits Include Fewer Audits, Penalty Mitigation, Enhanced Prior Disclosure

CBP states that ISA benefits include:

-Focused Assessments

-Drawback and Foreign Trade Zone audits

-Participants can see reduced cargo examinations, fewer document inspections (e.g., CBP Forms 28, 29), quicker clearance, and fewer rejects

-More accurate data

-Company control over the process

ISA Application Problems Include Incompleteness, Multiple IOR Nos, Unresolved Issues, Etc.

According to CBP, problems with the ISA applications it has received include:

Top Countries of Origin for ISA Applicant Imports are China, Mexico, and Japan

According to CBP, for 65 of the 252 of the applicants to the ISA program, China is the top country of origin for their imports. Mexico is the top country of origin for 28 of the 252 ISA applicants, and Japan is the top country of origin for 22 of the 252 ISA applicants.

CBP Discusses New "I-3" ISA Review Process

At the Trade Symposium, CBP discussed an ISA review process for periodically monitoring participants in the ISA program which it is calling "I-3." CBP will be able to pick the company to review. or a company can volunteer for such a review. CBP is working on developing a PowerPoint presentation on its I-3 review process, which will be posted to the CBP Web site.

CBP Trade Symposium ISA PowerPoint presentation available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/trade_outreach/presentations09/isa_present.ctt/isa_present.pdf.

BP Note

According to an article in the January 8, 2010 Customs Overview issued by the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA), two of the reasons that textile and apparel importers may have not participated in ISA no longer exist. The article states that there is no longer a specific Memorandum of Understanding for textile and apparel importers and there is no matrix (which USA-ITA states listed various undertakings such as agreeing to drop a supplier which had a shipment excluded after a review of production documents). CBP sources have confirmed that these documents are no longer being used.