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ISF Filing

ISF filing that gathers the ten importer security filing facts from five senders, cites each to its document, reads them as CBP’s match will, and leaves approval to a licensed broker.

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See one container’s ISF placed, checked and filed ↓
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The problem

The invoice names the seller, the cartons name a factory, the line is Saturday

CBP wants eight facts about each ocean shipment a day before it is loaded abroad, and two more, where and by whom the container was stuffed, a day before arrival. They come by email from the client, the forwarder, the seller and the freight station, across time zones, and the specialist keys them against a deadline that can fall on a weekend abroad.

The manufacturer is the fact most often wrong: the invoice names the seller, while the carton marks and the client’s own entries name the factory. Tariff numbers get copied from purchase-order notes. A late or inaccurate filing can draw liquidated damages for each violation, and an ISF that disagrees with its entry is the kind CBP notices.

Built forISF specialistsLicensed customs brokersOperations managers

The Problem Today

Ten security facts arrive from five senders in three time zones, and the manufacturer is the one most often wrong.

8.1M
ISF filings CBP expects a year, by its burden estimate published
$5,000
liquidated damages per violation for a late or wrong ISF published

Gathered by email today

  • Bookings
  • POs
  • Packing
  • Cartons
  • Seller filed as makerThe invoice names the seller, the cartons a factory
  • Deadlines in other time zonesThe loading line falls on a weekend abroad

The Solution

  1. Facts placed on the voyageEach fact lands where it becomes known, with its source
  2. Read as CBP’s match willA challenger checks each fact against documents, entry data and manifests
  3. The seller asked in fieldsFactory, address, work done and proof; remarks wait for staff
  4. Two people, then transmitThe specialist prepares; a licensed broker opens each change and approves

Built-in controls

  • Only a licensed broker approves and transmits
  • Seller remarks are read by staff and change no fact
  • Learned rules apply once the owner approves

What You Get

The broker files ISFs well before the loading line, with each fact cited and the factory matching the entry.

  • Earlier filings checkedPast ISFs for the same part found on request
  • File now or wait, rehearsedHours left and damages at stake for each plan
  • Send-backs become rulesProposed rules wait for the owner’s approval
Features

ISF filing features, from purchase order to the broker’s transmission

ISF specialists prepare and licensed brokers approve the importer security filing with them, for each ocean booking, before the line. The case shown is a single container with two house bills of pump parts.

demoSample data: the importer, seller, forwarder, vessel, people and each amount.

  1. 01Lading strip

    Importer security filing facts placed on the voyage, each with its source

    • Ten facts drawn where they become known. Seller and buyer at the purchase order, manufacturer at goods ready, stuffing at the station, so the specialist sees what is still missing at a glance.
    • Both deadlines in your own time zone. The loading line and the arrival line show in the viewer’s time with the port’s time beside them, so a weekend abroad is planned for.
    • Each slot opens its document. A click on any fact opens the passage it was read from, the agent that placed it and its confidence, so a doubtful fact is checked at its source.
  2. 02ISF match

    ISF read against documents and entry data the way CBP will match it

    • Our ISF beside the documents and the entry. Tariff numbers, manufacturer, ship-to and bills are compared column by column with what CBP will hold, so a mismatch surfaces before transmission instead of after the entry.
    • Mistakes the agents made themselves, raised. Tariff numbers taken from purchase-order notes are re-cited to the approved product list before anything is sent.
    • Each point closed or routed. Sources close the points they can; a manufacturer in doubt goes to the specialist with the evidence.
  3. 03File or wait

    File now or wait for the factory, rehearsed against the loading line

    • Three plans played to the line. File now and update, wait for the factory, or split the house bills, each with hours left and transmissions.
    • Damages and held cargo at stake. What goes wrong under each plan is priced in liquidated damages and cargo value, with assumptions marked for the specialist to settle.
  4. 04Seller portal

    Manufacturer asked of the seller in fixed fields, with proof attached

    • Four fields and a proof file. Factory, address, country, the seller’s own work and proof come back comparable, instead of a paragraph in an email.
    • What the seller did, as a choice. None, inspection and packing, machining or assembly shows whether the seller or the factory made the goods.
    • Seller remarks change no fact. A request to keep the seller as manufacturer reaches the specialist and the broker word for word.
  5. 05Decision

    Manufacturer decided by the ISF specialist from the production record

    • Proposed by the agent, chosen by a person. The seller agent proposes the factory from the reply; the specialist opens the record and decides.
    • Coded and explained by the specialist. The reason code and the specialist’s own words go into the audit row, so the broker and any later auditor see why the manufacturer changed.
  6. 06Broker review

    Licensed broker review with each changed fact and its source opened first

    • A checklist of what to open. Approval stays off until each changed source and the seller’s note are open on the broker’s screen.
    • What changed, and from what. Each changed fact shows its old value, its new value and who set it.
    • Past ISFs routed as a decision. Earlier filings that named the seller while the entries carried the factory wait for the broker and the owner, with no verdict from the agents.
  7. 07Approve

    Second-person approval and transmission under the brokerage’s filer code

    • Approval from a person who did not prepare. The specialist prepares and the licensed broker approves as second person; the preparer has no approve button.
    • Approval with its meaning written out. The broker states that the facts and their sources were opened, in the record beside the broker’s own reason.
  8. 08The ISF

    ISF 10+2 data exactly as it will be filed, each value linked to its source

    • Header, bills, parties and lines. What goes to CBP under the filer code reads as one document, versions included, each value linked to its page.
    • Stuffing facts marked as not sent yet. Stuffing place and consolidator wait for the station’s answer and go by update before the arrival line.

Three desks between a booking and a transmitted ISF

The specialist owns the facts, the broker owns the approval, the operations manager owns the clock.

ISF specialists

Gather the ten facts for each booking, decide what is in doubt, prepare the filing

  • Each fact placed with its source
  • Questions to sellers asked as fields
  • Both deadlines in their own time zone
Licensed customs brokers

Approve and transmit ISFs as second person, keeping each ISF and entry in step

  • A checklist of sources to open
  • Changed facts shown with what they replaced
  • Past mismatches routed to them as decisions
Operations managers

Watch sailings and deadlines and assign unowned ISFs

  • Sailings loading soon, nearest line first
  • ISFs waiting on a seller or a station
  • Bulk assignment of unowned filings

Two signatures before an ISF goes, and an owner before a rule applies

ISF specialist
Sees
Each fact’s source on the strip, what the match raised, and the seller’s note word for word
Signs
Each changed fact with a reason code, then the ISF as preparer
Licensed customs broker
Sees
The strip, the ISF match, each changed source and the seller’s note, each opened before approving
Signs
Approval and transmission as second person under the filer code
Brokerage owner
Sees
Rules proposed from send-backs, with why the agents propose them
Signs
Approval of rules and settings, never one they proposed
More screens

This week’s sailings, the seller’s reply, the rules and the audit trail

Around the case: the week’s queue, the reply, the rules and the log.

Sailings this week874 ISFs on 140 sailings this week; filtered here to the four still waiting on a seller.
The seller’s replyThe reply lands on the manufacturer slot, and its note waits for the specialist and changes no fact.
Rules learnedThree rules in force, each applied many times, and one proposed from the broker’s send-backs, waiting for the owner.
Audit trailEach read, decision and hand-off up to the broker review, with what each signature means beside the log.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Copied tariff notes, a seller filed as maker, and past ISFs that disagree

What would have gone to CBP from the documents as they arrived.

Tariff numbers from purchase-order notes

All three came from buyer’s notes, which rule M-02 forbids. Against the approved product list, line 1.2 said 7307.99 where the list says 7307.19; the drafter re-cited all three.

The seller named as manufacturer

The invoice named the seller; the carton marks named a machining factory. The seller’s production record confirmed the factory, which matches the manufacturer ID on the entry.

Three earlier ISFs with the same gap

Asked mid-run, the agents found 3 earlier ISFs for this part that named the seller while their entries named the factory, sent to the broker to decide what to tell the client.

A ship-to that differed from the order

The purchase order named the client’s plant; the booking’s door delivery named its distribution center, the first place the goods go after release.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Questions customs brokers raise about ISF filing

What is ISF filing?

ISF filing is the importer security filing CBP requires for ocean cargo: eight facts a day before the goods are loaded abroad, and two more, where and by whom the container was stuffed, a day before arrival. Here agents gather and cite each fact, a challenger checks it the way CBP will, and a licensed broker approves.

What is the penalty for a late or inaccurate ISF?

Liquidated damages of five thousand dollars for each violation, under the bond regulation. The file-now-or-wait rehearsal shows that amount and the cargo held under each plan before the specialist chooses.

Who decides the manufacturer when the invoice and the cartons disagree?

The ISF specialist, after the seller answers in fixed fields with a production record or factory invoice. The licensed broker opens that change, and the seller’s note, before approving.

Can the agents contact the seller on their own?

Not until the brokerage owner approves the rule that allows it. Until then the seller agent waits for the specialist to say ask. Its requests do not mention ISF or CBP, and replies change facts only through fields and files.

How are the two arrival facts filed?

The freight station is asked in fixed fields once the container is stuffed. The specialist prepares an update with the stuffing place and consolidator, and the broker approves it before the arrival line.

Does it replace our customs filing software?

No. The ISF goes out through your filing software under your filer code. The agents gather, cite and challenge the facts; people decide and approve.

Customs Brokerage

Customs brokerage work around the ISF

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Bring an ISF
you filed near the line.

Send one booking’s purchase orders, invoices and packing lists, and we will place each fact on the voyage with its source.

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