A number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade enforcement measures, including penalties, seizures, and cargo detentions, accelerated in the first half of fiscal year 2021. These trends highlight the need for importers to develop, implement, and monitor effective compliance programs.
According to statistics recently made available by CBP, the agency is on pace to exceed its FY 2020 numbers in a number of areas. For example, if current patterns hold, CBP would see increases of 18 percent in penalties issued and 12.3 percent in liquidated damages issued. Trade seizures would increase 50.2 percent and their value would climb 46.2 percent for intellectual property rights seizures and 100 percent for import safety seizures. The number of audits conducted has seen little change, but the amount of money collected as a result of audits could increase by nearly 200 percent. (Click here to register for ST&R’s upcoming webinar on customs audits.)
Of particular note is that detentions of cargo related to withhold release orders, which identify goods suspected of being made with forced labor, are on pace to jump more than 300 percent and the value of such detentions is on track to increase nearly 900 percent.
To evaluate importer compliance and identify problems CBP frequently uses risk analysis and survey assessments. RASAs can subject importers to detailed scrutiny and require significant documentation as evidentiary support. If they reveal perceived compliance risks, RASAs may result in full-blown audits and enforcement actions may follow. Click here to register for ST&R’s on-demand webinar on the RASA process, the primary risk areas currently being targeted for RASA consideration, and how importers can better prepare to undergo a RASA or audit.
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|
FY 2019
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FY 2020
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FY 2021 H1
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|
Completed audits
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391
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466
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231
|
|
Collections from audits
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$43.1 million
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$44.6 million
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$65.3 million
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|
Trade penalties issued
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2,108
|
2,309
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1,366
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|
Trade liquidated damages
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21,093
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19,612
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11,002
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|
Collections from penalties/LDs
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$30.1 million
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$20.1 million
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$8.2 million
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|
Trade seizures
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62,509
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73,708
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55,373
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IPR seizures
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27,599
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26,490
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17,827
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|
Value of IPR seizures
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$1.5 billion
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$1.3 billion
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$1.9 billion
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|
Import safety seizures
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6,280
|
8,208
|
5,378
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|
Value of import safety seizures
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$12.0 million
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$12.7 million
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$12.7 million
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|
EAPA investigations
|
31
|
64
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29
|
|
Value/lost revenue identified in EAPA
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$250 million
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$287 million
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$17 million
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|
Withhold release orders
|
6
|
13
|
5
|
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Cargo detentions related to WROs
|
12
|
324
|
674
|
|
Value of cargo detentions related to WROs
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$1.2 million
|
$55.5 million
|
$275 million
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* - numbers in italics represent anticipated decreases from FY 2020 to FY 2021 while numbers in bold represent anticipated increases
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