Deadline Approaching for Compliance With New DHS Rule Affecting Private A/C on Int'l Flights

Our good friends at the FAA Safety Teams sent us a reminder that merits inclusion in this news cycle... as a deadline is fast approaching. On December 18, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a new rule that affects private aircraft operating on international flights. The rule, Title 19 CFR Part 122, is titled 'Advanced Information on Private Aircraft Arriving and Departing the United States'. Compliance with this new regulation has been voluntary since December 18, 2008, however, compliance becomes mandatory effective May 18, 2009. The DHS Final Rule can be viewed at:

Beginning May 18, 2009, all general aviation flights arriving into or departing out of the U.S. require the pilot to electronically submit crew and passenger manifests and other flight information to the CBP at least 60 minutes prior to departure. This information must be submitted to the CBP using their Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS) website or through an authorized third party vendor. This new rule does not apply to domestic flights.

Pilots failing to meet these reporting requirements can be fined $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.

Pilots are encouraged to become familiar with the CBP crew and passenger manifest reporting requirements prior to planning any flights across the U.S. borders. Pilots are also advised to register their information with the CBP eAPIS website and begin using the system now for international flights even prior to the May 18, 2009 deadline.

ANN E-I-C Note: ANN advises caution in regards to these operations. eAPIS is NOT ready for prime-time and is an arduous, needlessly cumbersome program. If you have any questions, be sure to contact DHS and DOCUMENT all such communications in order to avoid the potential for conflict and error. As far as we can see, this is pretty foolish rule-making... but it will be the rule in short order. We might also note that there are a number of third party solutions in the works that might make this process a bit more amenable. -- Jim Campbell, ANN Editor-In-Chief.

FMI: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/inspections_carriers_facilities/apis/e_apis_information.xml, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-26621.pdf, www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/pleasure_boats/private_flyers/