In The News
Marine rule would put the brakes on just-in-time shipments
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A customs rule being
finalized in the U.S. is going to require extra detail from marine
exporters and could be worrisome if the idea is floated to land
crossings.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
should implement the rule in November, which will make cargo
notification rules to customs for U.S.-bound ships even more stringent.
Exporters will have to provide information about every cargo container
loaded on a ship bound for the U.S., including the location of the
product on the boat, the buyer, the seller, manufacturer and other
records. And it all has to be done 24 hours before the cargo is even
loaded on the ship.
Manufacturers who rely on just-in-time
deliveries worry that it will eventually be applied to land crossings,
reports the Windsor Star.
"It could be paralyzing and devastating for the border," Jayson Myers, president of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, was quoted as saying.
The new rule is all in the name of security and CBP has said it has no
plans to apply the rule to land crossings, but there are doubts.
The Canadian embassy in Washington has already been lobbying the U.S.
government to discourage it from applying the rule to land crossings,
Myers said. Myers said manufacturers don't object to supplying the
information, but it would be difficult for a trucking firm to do it 24
hours in advance and to provide the exact location of the product on
the truck.
Trucking companies currently file cargo
information to U.S. customs an hour ahead, but just-in-time delivery
usually means placing an order and delivering it in 24 hours or less,
Myers said.
The new vessel rules won’t apply to ferries,
which are viewed as an extension of the highway, but short sea shipping
across the Great Lakes will be affected.