International Trade Law News

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced some changes to the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) Program. First, language has been removed from the ISA handbook and ISA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning prior disclosure that gave the impression that the prior disclosure benefits were extended only for the period when the ISA team was actually on site reviewing an importer's internal controls. CBP has announced that the enhanced prior disclosure benefits are available to an ISA participant for the duration of their time in the program as long as they are in good standing. Excluding, of course, a situation where the matter is already the subject of an ongoing CBP investigation or fraud is involved.

With respect to the annual notification letter that requires the importer to submit the "results of periodic testing", CBP has clarified that they want importers to submit a "summary of any findings" from the periodic testing, not the entire internal report on the testing results.