New U.S. rules governing cross-border shipments
13 August 2004
New U.S. rules governing cross-border shipments
The following message is from the director of the CN Customer Support Centre. CN’s web site is:
As you are aware, the US Trade Act of 2002 mandated the presentation of advance electronic cargo information for rail shipments imported to the United States. The rules were implemented July 12, 2004, with full enforcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection effective this week, August 11, 2004.
CN has been scrutinizing bill of lading data and informing customers of non-compliant bills. In order to ensure that shipments are not held by US Customs at the border for non-compliance to the Trade Acts requirements, starting on August 10 CN began voiding non-compliant bills of lading upon receipt and notifying customers of the missing data and requesting re-transmission of updated bills of lading as quickly as possible.
Please be aware that this process will continue through the weekend and until such time as the data deficiencies are corrected. If your regular contacts will not be available for our Customer Support Representatives to contact through the weekend, please provide an alternate contact number. The alternate contact information can be sent by email to our unit mailboxes as follows:
Quebec and the Maritimes: [email protected]
Southern Ontario: [email protected]
Northern Ontario & Greater Toronto: [email protected]
Saskatchewan & Manitoba: [email protected]
British Columbia & Alberta: [email protected]
Please don't hesitate to contact your Customer Support Representative or to use your regular channels to obtain more detailed information on specific shipments.