EU Advanced Cargo Security Rules

CUSTOMER ADVISORY:

• EU 24 Hour Rule & Guidelines, Acceptable/Non-Acceptable Cargo Descriptions
• EU Regulation 1875/2006 (ENS)
• ENS_Amendment_Fee
• FAQ
• European Union Customs Code (UCC)

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The European Union (EU) has promulgated new advance cargo security rules that are scheduled to take effect for all vessel voyages that begin after midnight December 31, 2010. These rules establish for containerized shipments a European "24 Hour Rule" similar to those established in other jurisdictions, e.g., the U.S., Canada and the People's Republic of China.

The European 24 Hour Rule requires that the ocean carrier file with the relevant national Customs authority in the EU an Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) for all shipments that will be carried on a vessel that will call one or more ports in the EU.

The EU rules require that the ENS must be filed no later than 24 hours before commencement of vessel loading in each foreign (i.e., non-EU) port on the vessel schedule.

An ENS is required irrespective of the final destination of each individual shipment on a vessel arriving in the EU. This means that an ENS is required for shipments:

• Imported into the EU
• Discharged in an EU port for transit by rail or truck to a non-EU destination
• Transshipped in an EU port for loading on to another vessel for carriage to a non-EU destination
• Remaining on board the vessel (FROB) during ports of call in the EU with a destination outside the EU.

The EU rules prescribes the data elements that must be included in the ENS. An incomplete ENS will be rejected by the Customs authorities. A shipment for which an ENS has not been filed and accepted by Customs may not be loaded. In other words -- the EU 24 Hour Rule applies a "no documentation - no load" requirement. Penalties and delay of the vessel and shipments carried may result in case of breach of this requirement. ACL will apply this "no documentation- no load" requirement.