This is just a reminder to everyone who comes through the ports in Washington, Arizona, and North Dakota affected by the January 25th “mandatory” date: Customs is rolling out “Phase 2” of their enforcement plan starting Sunday, March 25th.

Phase 2 of the e-Manifest enforcement program means that CBP will deny you entry into the U.S. if you don’t attempt to file an e-Manifest. An e-Manifest trip receipt should be sufficient proof of an attempt to file.

For your convenience, there is the listing of land ports affected by e-Manifest Phase 2:

Arizona

All Ports

North Dakota

1. Pembina
2. Neche
3. Walhalla
4. Maida
5. Hannah
6. Sarles
7. Hansboro

Washington

All Ports

If you have any questions regarding this or any other e-Manifest question, please give us a call.

Just in case you’re interested, U.S. Customs has updated their ACE e-Manifest deployment map for March 2007. You can click on the image below to see it, or download a PDF version if you want to print it out.

The major thing to note on this updated map is that Idaho and Montana ports are all listed as “deployed”, so you should be able to file e-Manifests for entry at any of them.

Customs has announced this morning that they are pushing back Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the ACE e-Manifest deployment by at least 30 days due to ongoing system issues.

Here’s information from that memo:

“In February 2007, ACE began experiencing recurring problems with messaging to the trade participants. This problem prevents e-Manifest transmitters from knowing if they have successfully transmitted to CBP. This problem could potentially cause a situation where a carrier has filed a manifest, had it rejected by the system but did not receive the reject, arrive at the border and be denied a permit to proceed into the U.S. The messaging problem has been communicated to the trade and impacts the planned enforcement date of March 26, 2007. OIT [CBP Office of Information and Technology] has developed a fix for this scheduled for deployment in April 2007.

CBP has repeatedly stated that no enforcement actions would be taken beyond informed compliance if these actions were caused by CBP system problems. As a result the Phase 2 and 3 enforcement dates have been moved back a minimum of 30 days. The new enforcement date for Phase 2 is no earlier than April 26, 2007 and for Phase 3, no earlier than May 26, 2007. CBP will continue to monitor the compliance rates and system issues prior to beginning the next phase of enforcement. At this time, this only involves the ports in Washington, eastern North Dakota and Arizona.”

What does this mean for you?

Continue complying with the Phase 1 requirements of ACE e-Manifest. However, when your e-Manifest fails, bring a Trip Receipt to the border for confirmation that you made an e-Manifest attempt.

Stay tuned to www.emanifest.ca for more information.

US Customs has begun issuing Problem Tickets to drivers for e-Manifest issues in Blaine, WA and Pembina, ND. These tickets provide valuable information for resolving e-Manifest issues.

The e-Manifest Problem Ticket provides the name of the CBP Officer, the specific issue at hand, and the Shipment Control Number for resolution. This helps carriers, e-Manifest providers, and Customs Brokers work to resolve issues that delay the timely movement of cargo.

Greeneye recommends that your drivers request a Problem Ticket for any e-Manifest issue they encounter. Then, fax that Problem Ticket to Greeneye e-Manifest. We’ll work with the the Officer or Supervisor at Customs to gain understanding of the issue and get back to you.

(This is a service we offer to any carrier at no cost.)

View a sample CBP Problem Ticket (PDF)