Several of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade enforcement measures accelerated in the first half of fiscal year 2022, highlighting the continuing 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 2021 numbers in a few areas. For example, if current patterns hold, CBP would see increases of 8.8 percent in the value of import safety seizures, 42.9 percent in withhold release orders, and 52.5 percent in cargo detentions related to WROs.
It is also worth noting that trends over the past five years reveal other notable increases. Again, if the second half of FY 2022 sees similar numbers as the first, the number of trade penalties issued will be up 52.5 percent from FY 2018 and trade liquidated damages will be up 100 percent. While the number of seizures for intellectual property rights and import safety reasons is not on pace to increase, the value of those seizures looks set to jump 100 percent and 627 percent, respectively. Most notably, the number of cargo detentions related to withhold release orders is on tap to exceed 2,200, compared to just six five years ago, and the value of such detentions would be more than $550 million, up from a mere $218,000.
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. For more information on CBP audits and how to increase your import compliance, please contact Daryl Moore at (202) 730-4976.
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|
FY 2018
|
FY 2021
|
FY 2022 H1
|
|
Completed audits
|
435
|
442
|
168
|
|
Collections from audits
|
$42.2 million
|
$132.2 million
|
$16.6 million
|
|
Trade penalties issued
|
1,385
|
2,394
|
1,056
|
|
Trade liquidated damages
|
9,214
|
19,834
|
9,213
|
|
Collections from penalties/LDs
|
$15.5 million
|
$21.7 million
|
$4.7 million
|
|
Trade seizures
|
50,952
|
83,402
|
27,426
|
|
IPR seizures
|
33,810
|
27,105
|
10,583
|
|
Value of IPR seizures
|
$1.4 billion
|
$3.3 billion
|
$1.4 billion
|
|
Import safety seizures
|
7,880
|
9,145
|
3,566
|
|
Value of import safety seizures
|
$15.8 million
|
$105.5 million
|
$57.4 million
|
|
EAPA investigations
|
7
|
48
|
23
|
|
Value/lost revenue identified in EAPA
|
$15 million
|
$392 million
|
$9.9 million
|
|
Withhold release orders
|
2
|
7
|
5
|
|
Cargo detentions related to WROs
|
6
|
1,469
|
1,120
|
|
Value of such detentions
|
$218,000
|
$486 million
|
$227 million
|
* numbers in italics represent anticipated decreases from FY 2021 to FY 2022 while numbers in bold represent anticipated increases
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