COAC Recommends Regulatory Changes for Electronic Cargo Security Devices
CBP should modernize its regulations to make it easier to use Electronic Cargo Security Devices (ECSDs) on containers, the CBP Commercial Operations Advisory Committee said (here) at the Oct. 29 meeting. The Global Supply Chain Subcommittee recommendations (here) call for ECSDs to be "universally accepted as an instrument of international traffic." The COAC input on the ECSDs came in response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security (see 1504240011) that the committee take a look at the "operational, regulatory, and policy challenges" for such devices (here).
New CBP rules are required because the ECSDs are accessories to the cargo, rather than to the container, said the subcommittee. Although CBP allows for duty-free treatment of container security devices as instruments of international traffic, when such a device is placed inside the cargo, it "no longer receives streamlined Customs treatment," said the subcommittee. "Instead, it must be manifested and declared even though functionally it operates no differently than when it was mounted on a container" it said. "This means that when the device arrives in the United States, inside the cargo, the device must be declared as part of the import Customs declaration. This means the device must be described and value attached as part of or as an appendix to the commercial invoice which accompanies the actual cargo."
Specifically, "regulations should be modernized and interoperable and necessary rulings modified or revoked to eliminate any additional paperwork, data entry, duty payments or customs declarations when moving these or similar tracking or monitoring devices, regardless of positioning or number of devices, inside or outside of the shipping container," said the COAC. CBP should also watch the technology market for wide adoption of related technologies, it said. The COAC also called for protections of the data from such devices. "There should be no expectation that this data will be made available to parties outside of the shipper, its contracted carrier and other authorized parties," said the COAC.
"DHS is continuing to evaluate electronic cargo security devices as potentially beneficial to international supply chains" and recently tested the use of such devices within a government-controlled supply chain, the agency said. In recent years, DHS " began developing a cargo security data-sharing bridge between commercial industry and CBP targeting systems, and started identifying potential incentives to increase the participation of commercial shippers," it said. While DHS asked about the possibility of additional benefits of ECSD within the Customs-Trader Partnership Against Terrorism program, the issue wasn't mentioned in the recommendations.