The grace period for compliance with U.S. Customs' 24-hour advance manifest mandate is officially and effectively over. In the first week of February, when compliance with the ruling became mandatory, the agency handed out 13 "no-load" directives for shipments that were in violation of new cargo-description requirements.

The 24-hour rule requires ocean carriers to electronically submit detailed cargo manifests to U.S. Customs at least 24 hours prior to loading containers on board a vessel bound for the United States. It also prohibits vague descriptions such as "Freight All Kinds," "Said to Contain," and "General Merchandise." Shipments that do not meet the deadline or have insufficient information may not be loaded on board.

Of 142,000 bills of lading that were reviewed that week, 13 containers headed for U.S. ports were held up for having inadequate descriptions or violating rules covering timeliness of reporting and consignee disclosure.

Given the fact that the particulars of enforcing this ruling are still being worked out, those violations must have been truly flagrant, says Peter Powell, chairman of the board of directors and former president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America in Washington, D.C. "I think [Customs] realized that this was a daunting project with a short time frame [in which] to comply," he says.

In their initial enforcement actions, Customs is focusing on cargo description and timely filing, Powell notes. He isn't surprised that cargo descriptions were singled out. "What one person calls an article for export may not be the same classification or description that Customs is looking for on an import," he says.

Powell expects that the number of no-load directives will increase slightly as the program goes forward and Customs authorities pay attention to all of the areas covered under the 24-hour mandate. But problems are sure to be worked out over time, he says. "It will take a while to resolve the issues, but I have found Customs most cooperative in addressing them."