Customs Bulletin 42 - To all steamship line customers who ship to the U.S. via CN

December 2, 2011 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has presently advised that review of original veterinary certificates and other documents related to shipments containing animal products that are regulated by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA will be required at the first U.S. Port of Arrival.  At this time, for CN handled traffic, this requirement will only apply to shipments arriving at the U.S. border port of Port Huron, MI. 

Past business practice with CBP has allowed for containers that move in-bond into the U.S. to have supporting documents, such as veterinary certificates, to be presented at inland ports, such as Chicago, for review by CBP agricultural specialists.  CN has been advised by CBP that under existing regulation they must revert to having these documents reviewed at the first U.S. Port of Arrival prior to shipment arrival for admissibility into the US.

CBP will begin enforcing regulation for review of documents related to animal products at Port Huron, MI effective January 3rd, 2012.

Read the bulletin.