In the coming months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will deploy a new automated tool for submitting Electronic Vessel Manifest Confidentiality requests. This enhancement will enable companies and individuals to manage their own confidentiality requests electronically via an online process.
What will change?
Currently, any importer, consignee, or exporter may request confidential treatment of their name and address on inward and outward vessel manifests via a manual email request that typically takes 60-90 days to be processed.
The new enhancement will automate this process via an online tool, located on
CBP.gov, reducing the processing time of confidentiality requests to as little as 24 hours. Additionally, the new tool will enable companies and individuals to directly input all applicable name variations into the Vessel Manifest Confidentiality request tool.
Who do I contact if I have issues?
Any technical questions related to the new Electronic Vessel Manifest Confidentiality request tool should be directed to vesselmanifestconfidentiality@cbp.dhs.gov.
We will keep you informed of when the tool is available for access and as always, any questions on this issue please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
