The September Trade Support Network (TSN) monthly meeting featured speakers from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and our own Nic Adams, VP Client Services for CustomsNow, was there. 

The CPSC representatives announced that in late Fall, 2019, they will be deploying functionality that will link their Risk Assessment Methodology system, known as ITDS/RAM, with ACE to further coordinate efforts with CBP and the trade community regarding examination and disposition results. This represents the culmination of 2 years of work with CBP to achieve the first phase, Hold Request and Conditional Release Coordination.

This first step in integrating with ACE will allow CPSC to more effectively notify CBP of shipments that are of concern and may require an examination in order to ensure the product is safe for consumers. (Today they manually notify CBP Officers of shipments they wish held.)  They explained there are over 300 HTS numbers that they have identified as high-risk.  The list of HTS numbers is not readily available but general product categories.   Learn more details about this new program here.  TSN members strongly suggested they work with CBP to flag those HTS numbers as other PGAs generally do. 

The CPSC uses the entry data primarily to identify high-risk shipments and, therefore, their review cannot begin until the entry is filed.  They will not receive the entry details from CBP until the entry has been filed and the conveyance has been ‘arrived’ by the carrier. 

Nic asked, “If a shipment is ‘Under Review’, should the filer upload the commercials to ACE’s Digital Imaging System (DIS) right away”?  The answer was “No”, and if the CPSC believes the commercial documents may be of value, they will contact the filer and request the documents. 

This process is like the one employed today by CBP-Agriculture, who do not receive PGA data from the filer.  Rather, they review manifests for products that may cause harm to U.S. agriculture.  Please see the CPSC Participation in 1USG Notification Messaging at Import, attached, for more. 

Contact CustomsNow if you have any questions @ sales@customsnow.com.