Is it possible for an importer to fall outside the scope of the Focused Assessment program administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)? The answer is yes, there are two ways to avoid such audits, but one is more or less a matter of chance while the other requires a significant amount of effort and expense.

As a practical matter, the pool of companies that are subject to Focused Assessments is limited to the 9,000 importers that annually enter merchandise valued at $30 million dollars or more. Thus, smaller companies are unlikely to draw CBP's attention.

The other way is to join the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) program. ISA members are formally exempted from Focused Assessments, in part because they undergo a similar, very stringent audit as part of the ISA application process.

When enrolling in ISA, companies sign a memorandum of understanding with CBP affirming that they agree to comply with applicable laws and regulations, maintain a system of business records that demonstrates the accuracy of their customs transactions and creates an audit trail of financial records, maintain internal controls that encompass the five basic components of regulatory compliance, and perform periodic testing, among other requirements.

A significant benefit of ISA participation, according to ISA Director Joseph Rees, is an enhanced right to employ "prior disclosure"—the process by which a company that finds customs violations on its own and reports them to CBP may greatly reduce its penalty exposure. Yet relatively few importers have enrolled in ISA. Many apparently are reluctant to invite CBP to review their regulatory-compliance processes. Some importers also have expressed concern about the amount of time and resources required to complete an ISA application and audit. To attract more participants, CBP needs to convince importers that the benefits of ISA outweigh the risks and that the agency will not be the guest that came for a weekend but stayed for a month.