CBP filed its status report early today, March 31, in Atmus Filtration to the CIT. It’s an important one.

Here are some key points regarding what Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) “Phase 1” will and won’t be doing:

•  CAPE Phase 1 will be limited to entries that “are either unliquidated or for which the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period under 19 U.S.C. § 1501 has not expired,” despite Judge Eaton’s latest amended order extending relief to finally liquidated entries. However, CBP says that it “intends to expand CAPE to process finally liquidated entries in a subsequent phase of development.”

•  CAPE Phase 1 will accept entries where the liquidation status is “Suspended,” “Extended,” or “Under Review,” as well as warehouse and warehouse withdrawal entries, but in these instances, refunds will be provided in the normal course upon liquidation, rather than immediately. This includes entries subject to AD/CVD.

• The following categories of entries will not be accepted for CAPE Phase 1: entries flagged for reconciliation; entries designated on a drawback claim; entries covered by an open protest; entries not filed in ACE/entries without a liquidation status in ACE; entries subject to AD/CVD for which Commerce has issued liquidation instructions that are pending liquidation under 19 U.S.C. § 1504(d).

• “CBP will take up to 45 days from its acceptance of a CAPE Declaration to review and liquidate the validated entry summaries identified on the CAPE Declaration, unless there is a compliance concern necessitating further review.”

For subsequent phases of CAPE, CBP says it expects to develop the following functionalities, among others: “Enhanced tools and validations to ensure compliance”; “Tools to further streamline revenue enforcement in situations in which there is an outstanding bill for non-IEEPA duties associated with an entry included on a CAPE Declaration”; “The capability to process entries for which liquidation is final”; and “The capability to process non-[ABI] entries where no entry summary lines exist.”

A few key takeaways. First, none of this changes our advice to continue protesting and consider filing a refund suit. Nothing in the status update addresses the protestability issue or whether suit is required. And although entries with an open protest won’t be covered in Phase 1, neither will finally liquidated entries. It is unclear whether importers can withdraw their protests and expect to be able to take part in CAPE Phase 1.

Second, this update suggests that importers should wait until after the 90-day voluntary reliquidation window to protest, just in case CAPE comes out in time for CBP to process these entries. CBP claims that if there’s at least 10 days left on the 90-day voluntary reliquidation clock, it can process them in time. However, waiting to file can mean missing timely protests altogether.

And third, CBP’s status update makes clear that it will be spot-checking entries for compliance issues and seeking offset on refunds. Again, another reason for clients to make sure that their entries are in order and that they have supporting documentation for their classification, value, COO, etc.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., will continue to monitor the CIT and CBP actions related to the IEEPA refunds and provide updates to our members, as available.

Of course our office will re-open on Friday, November 28, 2025.

Thank you for your understanding.

Steve, Julie and Grant Sanders (Sanders Brokerage Services).

Thank you very much and we wish you a Happy New Year!

If you are not a manufacturer of an item subject to FDA, then you may want to forward this reminder to your suppliers who are a manufacturer.

If you need it, the website is https://www.fda.gov/food/online-registration-food-facilities/food-facility-registration-user-guide-biennial-registration-renewal.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Below is a list of the days our office will be closed for the 2024 Holiday Season. All documents for shipments must reach our office prior to these dates; otherwise, we will make entry on your shipments the next business day. Thank you very much for allowing us to enjoy the holidays with our friends and family!

U.S. Thanksgiving – Thursday, 11/28/2024

Christmas Day – Wednesday, 12/25/2024

New Years Day – Wednesday, 1/1/2025

Sanders Brokerage Services wishes you a joyous holiday season!

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)- Blaine Port of Entry has announced that they will begin to enforce the correct piece count and time of filing requirements for eManifests. The quantity on the eManifest must be the smallest external packaging units (i.e. cartons, bundles, etc). They will no longer accept the number of pallets as a valid piece count. Also, 1 truckload will not count as well. If you have a shipment in bulk, then use  the weight in kilograms or pounds (we convert the weight from pounds to kilograms when we transmit the entry).

Further, CBP will also adhere to the requirement that the eManifest must be filed at least 1 hour in advance of the arrival of the conveyance at the border. If the carrier is CTPAT/FAST approved, then the deadline is 30 minutes prior to arrival.

CBP will begin to take the following enforcement actions:

1. Refusal of admission. CBP will issue a notice of Direct Export and the truck will be sent back into Canada.
2. Penalties will be issued to carriers for violations. The penalty will be issued to whichever party filed the eManifest.

In an effort to comply with these requirements, Sanders Brokerage Services LLC will use the correct piece count in our entries. If both pieces and pallet counts are provided, we will use the piece count. If the piece count is not provided by the carrier, we will then use the product quantity off the commercial invoice.

Please contact us at orders@sandersbrokerage.us, or by phone at 360-332-1778, if you have any questions.