CBP Drafts Updated Bond Directive, Discusses Electronic Bonds

Minutes from the April 9, 2010 and April 22, 2010 meetings of the COAC Bond Subcommittee have recently been posted to CBP’s Web site. During these meetings, the Subcommittee addressed a number of bond-related issues, highlights of which include:

CBP’s Draft Would Consolidate Directives on Bond Amounts, Sufficiency

At the April 9, 2010 meeting, a CBP official informed the Subcommittee that CBP is undertaking a re-write/update of current CBP bond directives (Monetary Guidelines for Setting Bond Amounts, #099 3510-004 and Bond Sufficiency, #099 3510-005), in order to consolidate all of the various amendments, telexes, and procedures that exist for managing the CBP bond process into one directive.

At the April 22, 2010 meeting, the CBP official stated that the draft is under review by the Office of International Trade and the goal is to get the draft document to the Subcommittee for review and comment as soon as possible.

CBP, Subcommittee Discuss Electronic Single Transaction Bonds, eBonds

During both meetings, the idea of an electronic single transaction bond (ESTB) was discussed. At a recent CBP ACE webinar, CBP had discussed the possibility of an ESTB as an interim step to achieving electronic Bonds (eBonds) in the Automated Commercial Environment, but no additional details were available as the concept is still under preliminary discussion.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 04/12/10 news, (Ref: 10041205), for BP summary of CBP’s ACE webinar where CBP stated that the completion of EDI imaging might allow single transaction bonds to be filed using imaging technology.)

As part of a discussion of eBond at the April 9, 2010 meeting, a trade member of the Subcommittee noted that addressing paper bonds are one of the factors limiting broker participation in ACE and are a limitation for further participation in remote location filing. A CBP official noted that CBP’s decision to complete certain other ACE programming ahead of the programming for eBonds is likely due to CBP’s desire to complete what it has already started and not an indication of CBP’s lack of interest in eBonds.

Surety, CBP Lost Revenue Statistics to be Compiled, Reviewed

CBP and the Subcommittee are working on compiling and reviewing surety statistics and CBP lost revenue statistics, such as instances when bonds were insufficient to cover all claims against them, the number of bankruptcies and other high risk factors, etc.

COAC Bond Subcommittee minutes available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_outreach/coac/subcommittee_activities/bond/.