WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Thursday announced the release of final rules that will require all carriers to electronically report cargo data before shipments arrive in or depart U.S. ports and borders.

Ridge also voiced his support for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, and promised that import compliance policy will not be diluted under the Department of Homeland Security's regional organization plan.

His remarks came during the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's fourth annual trade symposium. Nearly 600 importers, brokers and carriers attended the event.

The rules, which Congress ordered in the Trade Act of 2002, will take effect Dec. 4. The announcement by Ridge and Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner signaled the transmittal of the final rules to the Senate Commerce and House Ways and Means committees for view, one of the law's requirements.

The rules have changed little from a preliminary version that Customs released last August. In summary, the advance reporting requirements:

Ocean:

Inbound: 24 hours before loading at a foreign port

Outbound: 24 hours before departure

Air and air courier:

Inbound: Four hours before arrival in the U.S., except "wheels up" for shipment arriving in the northern Western Hemisphere.

Outbound: Two hours before departure from the U.S. Customs will publish interim rules for air courier packages weighing less than 16 ounces in the near future

Truck

Inbound: One hour before arrival at the border; 30 minutes for participants in the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program

Outbound: One hour before arrival at the border

Rail

Inbound: Two hours before arrival

Outbound: Four hours before shipment is coupled to a locomotive going to a foreign destination

Bonner said that enforcement of the new rules will be phased in as it was when the 24-hour advance filing rule for vessel cargo manifests went into effect a year ago. Effective dates for some outbound cargo will coincide with new electronic filing requirements in the Automated Export System.

Ridge put the department's stamp of approval on C-TPAT, something members of the trade have been urging Homeland Security to do. He said the program provides economic as well as security benefits.

"The companies that join this program are leaders. What better advertising could they have than a secure supply chain?" Ridge said. "Just-in-time has a security imperative as well as an economic one."

Ridge also pledged that Customs policies for import compliance will be handled at the national level, while Homeland Security establishes a regional network. Members of the trade have worried that regionalization will lead to discontinuities in the handling of import entries.

"You must know that Commissioner Bonner is committed to uniformity of trade standards and tariffs," Ridge said. "There will be no surprises."

R.G. Edmonson