OTTAWA — For the second time, Canadian truckers convinced U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to postpone enforcement of a controversial rule requiring shippers and carriers to report trace amounts of chemical residue on e-manifests when crossing into the U.S.

Previously, residue was exempt from the same reporting requirements as any other good entering the U.S. 

The rule, which Today’s Trucking first reported on here, was supposed to kick-in on September 16th, 2009. It was delayed until November, but CBP has decided to postpone it indefinitely in order to give the trade community more time to prepare for compliance. 

As part of the ruling, the little bit of residue left in a tank truck or container after unloading will have to be measured, valued and treated like a good for CBP purposes.

How an accurate measure of trace amounts of residue was to be determined, and by whom, is of great concern to the trade community and truckers, says the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

"Not only would such a requirement be costly and operationally difficult if not impossible, but discrepancies between the trucker, the importer or the CBP over the amount of residue could be time consuming and ultimately lead to trucks being turned back at the border," the Canadian Trucking Alliance states in a release. Also, the rule will impact negatively on a trucker’s ability to use the border FAST lanes.

While CTA is relieved American Customs officials recognized there are many outstanding industry concerns, CEO David Bradley cautioned that industry is still scrambling to figure out how the owner of the residue will be determined, and ultimately, how enforceable these requirements will be, given the difficulty in accurately quantifying and assigning a value to residual cargo.