For many years now, the US is still the largest export market of Vietnam. With a large area and huge amount of population, the US demand for products is very high and this is a potential market of Vietnam. However, this is also a difficult market, not only with regulations about quality of goods, but also with many regulations on declaration and procedures for goods imported into the US. To ship goods to the US, understanding these procedures is extremely important.

1. AMS- Automated Manifest System
   1. What is AMS?

Automated Manifest System: is a system for declaring goods imported and exported within the United States. The agency that establishes and issues this procedure is the US Customs and Border Protection

1. Who need to file AMS?

Boths MBL ( master bill of Lading) and HBL ( House Bill of Lading) need to file AMS. MBL will be filed by Carrier: YML, EMC, CMA, WHL, Zim,… and Forwarder who issue bill to real shipper and Cnee will file HBL. For forwarder, the condition to file AMS for their bill is they are NVOCC and get FMC licence, then they can file bill by themselves

1. Deadline to file AMS

US customs has strict regulations on AMS file time. AMS must be filed no later than 24 hours before the mother vessel departed from transit port. With a direct sergice, this time will be no more than 24 hours before the vessel depart from Port of loading ( POL) . all parties need to understand and declare on time to avoid fines. The penalty fee for not declaring AMS or declaring late is $5000/shipment. The amount of fines for not completing procedures or paying late not only affects the profits of the exporter, but also makes your following shipments unable to be exported to US.

1. Which information that need to be filed?

To file AMS, beside the basic information about the shipment such as: No. HBL, No. MBL, shipper and cnee’s information, date and time depart/ arrive, port of loading and discharging,… we need to provide as below:

• Scac code of HBL and MBL
• Vessel’s information: name and Voy, Flag, IMO No, call sign,…
• Port: loading port, discharge port, transit port, and last foreign port

2. ISF- Importer Security Filing
   1. What is ISF

ISF is a security declaration for importers when importing goods into the US. ISF also known as “10+2”, is a record required by CBP to record import information and details, as shipments travel from one point to another

1. Who need to file?

 Depending on the delivery conditions to determine who the ISF file is. Mostly still importers in the US will file ISF 10+2. ISF only file for HBL, not MBL. And the condition to file is the boned No. from importer is available.

1. Deadline to file

Similar to AMS, ISF needs to be filed no later than 24 hours after the mother ship leaves the transshipment port. The penalty fee for late declaration and failure to declare will be $5000/shipment. Once fined and blacklisted by US customs, it will be very difficult for the following shipments to be imported into the US. ISF declaration is considered successful when it matches with AMS through bill number and scan code.

1. Information that filed in ISF:

• The basic information: No. bill and scac code, vessel’s information, Name of Port loading and discharging,…
• Information about exporter and importer:
• Selling party
• Buying party
• Importer of record Number
• Consignee number
• Manufacturer
• Ship to party
• Country of origin
  • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • HTS number
                                • Container stuffing location
                                • Consolidation

3. ACI
   1. What is ACI:

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CSA), requires all forwarders involved in goods imported into Canada to submit cargo information and shipping to the CBSA before the goods arrive at a Canadian port. For goods shipped from Vietnam to the US, the schedule of shipping lines will often call at Canadian ports such as: Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver… then, we need the ACI file.

1. Who need to file:

All import cargo into Canada will now need to be ACI. It applies to ocean and air Shipments. ACI will be filed for house bill of lading that is issued to real shipper and cnee. The party who file ACI need to have ACI code. As the new regulation, forwarder cannot ask carrier file ACI on behalf of them.

1. Deadline to file:

ACI must be filed latest 24 hours before the container loaded into mother vessel and sail from transit port. Any case that not file or file ACI late will be fine from $250 to $8000 depending on the severity of the violation and the level of risk.  More persistent violations or non-compliance often means higher monetary penalties. For example, a customer who fails to declare ACI to the CBSA will be fined $2,000 for the first penalty, $4,000 for the second, and $8,000 for the third. Those who fail to submit their ACI data before arriving at CBSA within the specified time frame and manner will be fined $250 for the 1st penalty, $ 375 for the 2nd penalty and $750 for the 3rd penalty.

1. Information that filed in ACI:

ACOI request all party provide basic information about the shipment as below:

• Information of vessel
• Information of Shipper, cnee
• MBL and HBL
• Cargo’s information: GW, description of good, No. container and seal, hs code,…

Besides, we need to add special data such as:

• Canada port that the vessel call to
• ACI code of party who file ACI
• CARRIER PRIMARY CARGO CONTROL NUMBER
• FINAL CUSTOMS OFFICE AT DESTINATION
• FINAL WAREHOUSE SUBLOCATION CODE AT DESTINATION

SM Global Logistics is known as one of the leading freight forwarding companies in Vietnam, providing ocean freight, air freight for export- import cargo service, customs clearance and local trucking. We not only got the best service, but also got the competitive rate for many routes

Main sea ports in Vietnam

• Port Name: Ho Chi Minh City – Port code: VNSGN
• Port Name: Haiphong- Port code: VNHPH
• Port Name: Danang- Port code: VNDAD

 Main sea ports in USA

• Port Name: Los Angeles- Port code: USLAX
• Port Name: New York- Port code: USNYC
• Port Name: Houston- Port code: USHOU