WASHINGTON, (Feb. 11, 2005) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it has minimized its handling of paper invoices for PreArrival Processing System (PAPS) shipments.

Effective immediately, CBP says that paper invoices will no longer be a mandatory requirement for PAPS release and that bar-coded PAPS labels may now be affixed to the truck manifest (CF 7533) in lieu of the invoice, customs broker and consultant Livingston International reports.

BRASS shipments, however, still require a paper invoice to ensure expedited U.S. Customs release at primary inspection.

Prior to this change, U.S. Customs release of a PAPS shipment at primary inspection involved the driver presenting a border officer with a manifest (CF7533) and/or a corresponding Customs invoice. In most cases, the PAPS bar code was affixed to the invoice and electronically read by CBP to identify the corresponding shipment detail available within their cargo processing system.

With PAPS, much of the shipment information in Customs’ system results from the designated broker having transmitted it to Customs prior to shipment arrival. CBP believes continuing to collect invoices on behalf of brokers provides little benefit to either party since brokers already have the invoice detail in their possession before advancing the shipment information to CBP.

While this new directive makes life easier for exporters and carriers to manage U.S. documentation, they should be aware that CBP can demand a copy of the respective invoice at any time and failure to produce the paperwork immediately may result in release delays, Livingston cautions.