Importers ask Congress to slow down 10+2 implementation

Forty trade associations have banded together asking Congress to step in and require the Department of Homeland Security to first conduct a pilot program before implementing its proposed 10+2 rule for cargo security.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is developing the final rule that would require importers to submit 10 pieces of advance shipping data 24 hours prior to loading at a foreign port and ocean carriers two streams of information about the status of containers under their control. Industry groups are worried that the controversial rule, expected later this year, may add huge data collection and information technology costs to doing business.

Many organizations have repeatedly asked CBP to step back and conduct a demonstration program on a limited scale so that importers can be given best practices for compliance and the agency's systems and personnel aren't overwhelmed by the crush of thousands of daily data transmissions.

Trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Association of Exporters and Importers, American Petroleum Institute, and the National Association of Manufacturers, last Thursday wrote a letter asking Congress to request CBP conduct a 10+2 prototype.

Implementing the proposed rule, as presently drafted, will significantly raise the cost of doing business at a time when increasing global competition and a slowing domestic economy are creating new stresses on U.S.-based manufacturers and companies from every sector. The proposed rule will cost U.S. companies over $20 billion annually -- costs that will be passed down to the consumer at a time when hardworking families can least afford it, the joint letter said. The groups said a test program would allow glitches to be worked out before government and industry invested billions of dollars to implement the rule.

The groups questioned the security benefit of the rule because many companies have already followed CBP's lead to tighten internal controls over suppliers and shipments and because the rule would force cargo to sit in cases when advance data is not readily available, creating the potential for tampering.