Importer Transitions From Focused Assessment...
24 March 2005
Importer Transitions From Focused Assessment to the Voluntary Importer Self-Assessment Program
The following press release was issued by US Customs and Border Protection on 23 March 2005.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the first time, transitioned an importer from a full-blown risk-based CBP audit known as Focused Assessment (FA) to the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA), a voluntary CBP-business partnership that allows the company to monitor its own compliance to U.S. trade laws and regulations.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is encouraging companies to share the esponsibility for compliance with trade laws and regulations,” said Acting Assistant Commissioner Daniel Baldwin, Office of Strategic Trade.
“When companies step up to the plate by joining our trade facilitation programs, CBP has a greater ability to focus on areas of high risk.”
In a Focused Assessment, a company is selected by CBP for an audit based upon a risk assessment methodology. This means that the company records are opened to CBP, for a thorough review of their operations, to determine compliance with U.S. trade laws and regulations.
Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) is a partnership between CBP and importers to maintain a high level of trade compliance. ISA is a voluntary approach to trade compliance that allows importers maximum control of their own customs compliance. To participate in ISA, a company must already have internal controls in place, and be willing to assume responsibilities for self-assessment in exchange for less CBP oversight.
Transitioning a company from a Focused Assessment to the voluntary Importer Self-Assessment became apparent since many of the same internal controls were being evaluated in both compliance programs. CBP began working on a process to identify and recruit “ISA ready” importers from a universe of compliant companies that successfully completed a Focused Assessment October 2004 or later. On January 2005, the Estee Lauder Company was selected to make the transition to the ISA Program.
"The Estee Lauder Company is honored to have been selected as the first company to partner with Customs and Border Protection in this transition program to ISA. We look forward to building a long term relationship with CBP,” said Gerald Z. Gibian, Corp. Vice President Tax, Real Estate and Customs.
The Importer Self-Assessment Program was introduced in June of 2002 and has been growing strong ever since. As with most new programs, it is a work in progress and its success can be attributed to the cooperation and communication between the trade and CBP. ISA is a true partnership program built on knowledge, trust, and a willingness to maintain an ongoing CBP/importer relationship.
For more information on the ISA program and benefits, please visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Web site at:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/regulatory_audit_program/importer_self...