The U.S. Customs Service (Customs) has issued a press release announcing that during the first week of its enforcement of its 24-hour advance manifest regulation for inward sea cargo, it issued 13 "No Load" directives for violations of cargo description requirements. (According to Customs, a "No Load" directive means that Customs has instructed an ocean shipping line not to load a container at a foreign port for delivery to the U.S.)

(Customs' 24-hour rule requires sea carriers and non-vessel operating common carriers NVOCCs) to provide Customs with detailed descriptions of the contents of sea containers bound for the U.S. 24 hours before a container is loaded on the vessel. Customs began enforcement of the 24-hour rule on February 2, 2003 and, as part of a phased-in approach for enforcement actions, is initially focusing only on cargo description violations.)

According to the press release, during the week of February 2-9, 2003, Customs reviewed more than 142,000 bills of lading. Customs states that the review revealed 13 bills of lading destined for 15 U.S. ports, including the Ports of Los Angeles and New York, as having inadequate cargo descriptions. According to Customs, those 13 bills were denied loading for violation of the 24-hour rule. Customs notes that those 13 bills also contained several other violations regarding timeliness and consignee.

Customs sources state that while other violations of the 24-hour rule were found in the 142,000 bills of lading Customs reviewed during the first week of enforcement, the 13 bills of lading in question were issued "No Load" directives because they contained the most egregious cargo description violations.

Customs states that it will be hosting two additional conference calls to discuss implementation issues and provide technical guidance to the trade on the 24-hour rule - on February 18, 2003 and February 25, 2003, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST. The phone number to call is (202) 927-5927, PIN #20503.

BDP Transport (NVOCC) has been recognized by U.S. Customs as a full participant in its Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS), also known as the 24-hour rule.

Through a link between technology partner Flagship Customs Services and the BDPXpedion web-based platform, BDP Transport has expanded its communication capacity with Customs by providing expedited, complete import manifest documentation (at least 24 hours before vessel loading at foreign ports), including such information as cargo weight and piece count, scheduled U.S. date of arrival, container and container seal numbers, and complete names and addresses for shipper and consignee, all in a secure data environment. All BDP offices and approved BDP Global Network partners that have been authorized to transact ocean transportation on BDP Transport are also certified to use the BDP Transport 24-hour service application.