<\/p>\n
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) announced December 28 that it was moving to an all-electronic filing method for Form I-418 \u201cPassenger List \u2013 Crew List.\u201d I-418 is required from the \u201cmaster or agent of every commercial vessel arriving in the United States<\/u>\u201d (emphasis added). Now that\u2019s a change at scale. The Form I-418 process also has a Coast Guard component, tracking everyone entering and leaving U.S. maritime ports.<\/p>\n
CPB\u2019s change is an \u201cinterim final rule\u201d, and the agency is seeking public comments \u2013 due February 28 \u2013 on whether the change is a good idea. CPB writes that the e-format will streamline vessel arrival and departure, eliminate redundant data submissions, simplify vessel inspections and automate recordkeeping. CPB\u2019s decision follows a pilot program that started in 2011.<\/p>\n
Considering current challenges in U.S. ports, is this a big deal? Yes. \u201cIncreasing system fluidity is a huge deal,\u201d commented a spokesperson for the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), \u201cimportant to port officials and operators, as well as vessel captains.\u201d Costs, record keeping, and speed are three immediate advantages.<\/p>\n
Ditto commented Jeanette Gioia, President of the NY\/NJ Foreign Freight Forwarders and Brokers Association: \u201cAny change from paper-based to electronic systems is significant.\u201d Gioia placed the move within broader CBP efforts to modernize multiple aspects of trade enforcement, data sharing, increased visibility and accountability. The Association supports the I-418 change. Accurate and timely data, Gioia said, \u201chave significant consequences for duty amounts, quota, and tariff applicability.\u201d<\/p>\n
AAPA said e-filing will help speed up vessel operations in ports. They noted a pandemic related issue. Paper documentation sometimes required people to be physically present with others. E-filing can further reduce physical meetings and allow more stringent separation protocols. In conclusion AAPA wrote: \u201cWe applaud CBP’s decision, which we believe will enhance freight movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
maritime professional<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) announced December 28 that it was moving to an all-electronic filing method for Form I-418 \u201cPassenger List \u2013 Crew List.\u201d I-418 is required from the \u201cmaster or agent of every commercial vessel arriving in the United States\u201d (emphasis added). Now that\u2019s a change at scale. The Form I-418 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/28858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}