13 'No-Load' Directives Issued by Customs
 
March 17, 2003
 

As part of the homeland security effort, the U.S. Customs Service issued 13 no-load directives under its new 24-hour advance manifest rule between the dates of February 2 and February 9, 2003, during a review of over 142,000 bills of lading.  Those issued no-load directives were denied loading privileges due to inadequate cargo descriptions and were not allowed to load a container for delivery to the United States.  Inadequate cargo descriptions include such vague descriptions as "freight of all kinds" or "general merchandise."  The new rule also requires carriers of cargo destined for U.S. ports to provide the U.S. Customs Service manifest information 24 hours prior to lading at a foreign port.