The following is a brief overview of what you can expectif your shipment has been selected for examination bythe U.S. Government.
U.S. Code
Under title 19, section 1467 of the U.S. Code the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the direction of the U.S. government, has the right and responsibility to physically examine, any or all, shipments entering or leaving the United States.
According to U.S. Code it is the responsibility of the Importer or Importers Agent to make allgoods available for examination and bear the cost of such examinations.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
After September 11, 2001, a new combined organization of Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Customs Servicebecame Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within the Department of Homeland Security.
CBP is one of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex components. The agency processes all people, vehicles and cargo entering or leaving the United States and makes sure that, where appropriate, all duties and fees are paid.
Domestically, CBP works with thousands of companies who are members of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, (C-TPAT) to emphasize security in the supply chain, so that cargo examinations can be targeted and selective.
The CBP’smission is to protect our borders and ports of entry from terrorism, smuggling, illegal immigration and agricultural pests, while facilitating the movement of legitimate travel and trade.
What Types of Examinations Does the CBP Perform?
(MET) Merchandise Examination Team performing Trade Fraud Examinations
CBP is looking at imported trade products for Visa requirements, duty, verifying invoices against product, checking for product compliance, copyright, licensing and counterfeit products.
(CBPa): Customs and Border Protection Agriculture (AQI) Examinations
CBPa is looking for pests and insects in wood packaging products and shipping containers.
(FDA): Food and Drug Administration Examinations
FDA is looking at food products allowed into the United States and for the possible smuggling of prohibited products or foodstuff.
(A-TCET): Anti Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team
CBP is looking for illegal cargo, smuggling, weapons of mass destruction, and other contraband. An (A-TCET) Intensive Examination requires complete unloading and staging of the shipment for piece by piece examination of the cargo.
What is a Centralized Examination Station (CES)?
ACES is a privately owned and operated facility where merchandise is made available to CBP personnel for physical examination. The CES, at the request of CBP, the Importer or Importers Agent, the Customs House Broker (CHB) can provide bonded transportation of cargo from the Port or Container Freight Station (CFS) to the CES.
The CES concept fulfills the need of both CBP and the Importer/CHB by streamlining the cargo inspection process which ultimately allows CBP to clear higher volumes of cargo in a timely fashion.
The Price Transfer Group of dedicated CES facilities serves the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Phoenix Arizona. Price Transfer has been a CES contractor for U.S. Customs and now CBP Homeland Security since the inception of the CES Program in 1985.
The Importation Process
The Trade Act of 2002 set forth requirements for all carriers to electronicallyprovide cargo information prior to the arrival of the cargo in the United States. An importation occurs when a conveyance laden with goods arrives within the port limits with intent to discharge cargo. Once articles arrive within the U.S., CBP requires certain information from the carrier who transported the articles and the individual importing the articles. The carrier must also furnish CBP with a electronically filed manifest. The manifest contains a list of all the cargo being transported. Its purpose is to control and account for all the cargo on the conveyance. Once a manifest is filed with CBP, an Officer reviews it and targets certain shipments for examination.
It is this examination process that we will look at in more detail.
The Cargo Examination Process
CBP determines whether a shipment will be selected for examination based on various factors including a Non-Intrusive X-Ray Inspection (NII), review of Manifests and review of Broker/Importer Entries.
In actuality, the selection and physical examination of cargo amounts to 3% - 5% of all merchandise being imported and exported.
Once selected for examination, the shipment is moved to a Customs Exams Site (CES), such as Price Transfer. If a shipment is selected for Trade (MET), Agriculture (AQI) or other Government Examinations, the Importer/CHB selects the exam site (CES) and the trucker used for pickup and delivery of the shipment to the exam site.
If a shipment is selected for an (A-TCET) Contraband Examination, it is moved to the (A-TCET) exam site (CES) by the exam site operator (Price Transfer) within 24 hours of selection. Due to the sensitive nature of A-TCET Intensive Examinations, all possible efforts must be made to preserve the confidentiality of the examination until such time the cargo is identified at the CES. Therefore, Price Transfer is not made aware of who the Importer/CHB is and must obtain all relevant information from the steamship line or terminal.
After arriving at the exam site (CES) the CES operator unloads the shipment from its original container and presents the merchandise to CBP for examination. Only CBP Personnel examine a shipment. After examination the shipment is either cleared or placed on hold for further evaluation. If cleared the shipment is reloaded and made available for pickup.
For A-TCET Examination, Price Transfer (CES) is required to obtain steamship line, terminal and pickup trucker releases along with copies of the 3461 from the CHB/Importer, showing overall CBP clearance before a shipment can be released.
Expected Time Frames
Price Transfer tracks and monitors each stage of the examination to ensure the timely processing of the examination shipment. Most examinations are completed within 24 hours of arriving at the Price Transfer (CES) Facility. Some examinations require follow up investigation, review, laboratory analysis and will take longer to clear. Steamship Line/Terminal holds for charges, documentation or interchange verification of the pickup trucker can cause additional delay to the release process. Be assured that the combination of Price Transfer’s fully equipped facilities and experienced personnel will assist you in minimizing any disruption should it occur.
Price Transfer, Inc. facilitates the following CBP Inspections:
- Trade Fraud Examinations also called (MET) Merchandise Examination Team
- Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team Examinations (A-TCET)
- Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Examinations (CBPa)
- Outbound Export Examinations when selected by CBP
- Food and Drug Administration Examinations (FDA)
- FDA Refusal Examinations (7512)
- Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)
- U.S Department of Fish and Wildlife (F&W)
- Agricultural Marketing Service Inspections (USDA AMS)
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Online Tracking
To save a phone call, the CHB or Importer may monitor this process through our on-line, real time tracking system (24-7-365).
Please visit http://webportal.pricetransfer.com for online examination tracking. To sign up, click on the New Customer link and fill in the requested information. Our Technical Team will process the request and email your login credentials.
For questions or issues related to the tracking website contact our IT Department, Login@pricetransfer.com or (310) 223-3440
Further Questions
If you have further questions regarding the CBP examination process:
Please contact us at (800) 39.PRICE and ask for an Examination Manager or Email the following groups:
A-TCET Exam Inquiries: priceCET@pricetransfer.com
MET Exam Inquiries: priceMET@pricetransfer.com
Drayage Inquiries: Dispatch@pricetransfer.com