CSMS Message: 03-002940

ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NUMBERS 03-2026, 03-2040, AND 03-2056, DATED
AUGUST 20, AUGUST 21, AND AUGUST 22, 2003, RESPECTIVELY, PROVIDED THE
CBP INTERNET SITE URL TO VIEW INFORMATION DETAILING WHO MUST SUBMIT
AN INTERCONNECTION SECURITY AGREEMENT (ISA), HOW TO COMPLETE THE ISA
FORM, WHERE TO SEND IT, AND CONTAINING DOWNLOADABLE COPIES OF THE TWO
ISA TEMPLATES: DIAL-UP AND MQ.

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE SENT AN ISA TO CBP, WE APPRECIATE YOUR
RESPONSIVENESS. IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD FROM US REGARDING PROBLEMS
WITH THE CONTENT OF THE SUBMITTED ISA, YOU CAN ASSUME THAT THE
DOCUMENT WAS ACCEPTABLE. ALL OF THE ISA S ARE BEING COMPILED INTO A
DATABASE AND CO-SIGNED COPIES WILL BE RETURNED TO THE SUBMITTERS
BETWEEN NOW AND LATE JANUARY.

TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT SENT AN ISA TO CBP, WHAT FOLLOWS IS A
REITERATION OF THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGES TO
DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO SUBMIT AN ISA. IF YOU
ARE, YOU SHOULD SUBMIT YOUR ISA NOW. THIS IS THE LAST TIME WE WILL
SEND AN ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE MAKING THIS REQUEST.

IF YOU CONSULTED WITH SOMEONE IN CBP WHO STATED THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE
NOT AN IMPORTER YOU DO NOT HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO SUBMIT AN ISA, BE
ADVISED THAT THAT PERSON MAY HAVE THOUGHT YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT THE
IMPORTER SELF-ASSESSMENT PROGRAM AND NOT THE INTERCONNECTION SECURITY
AGREEMENT REQUIREMENT. IF THIS MAY BE TRUE, YOU ARE URGED TO
THOROUGHLY READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS MESSAGE AND ACT ACCORDINGLY.

TO REITERATE THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGES:

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP)
INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY POLICY, ALL PARTICIPANTS THAT TRANSMIT
ELECTRONIC DATA DIRECTLY TO THE CBP COMPUTER SYSTEM ARE REQUIRED TO
HAVE A SIGNED INTERCONNECTION SECURITY AGREEMENT (ISA) ON FILE WITH
CBP. THE REFERENCED COMPUTER SYSTEM INCLUDES PARTICIPATION IN THE
AUTOMATED EXPORT SYSTEM (AES), INCLUDING BOTH COMMODITY AND
TRANSPORTATION FILING, OR THE AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL SYSTEM (ACS),
INCLUDING THE AUTOMATED BROKER INTERFACE (ABI) AND EITHER THE AIR OR
OCEAN/RAIL AUTOMATED MANIFEST SYSTEMS (AMS). INFORMATION DETAILING
WHO MUST SUBMIT AN ISA, HOW TO COMPLETE THE FORM, WHERE TO SEND IT,
AND DOWNLOADABLE COPIES OF THE TWO ISA TEMPLATES: DIAL-UP
(RJE/NJE/LU6.2) AND MQ, CAN BE FOUND ON THE CBP INTERNET WEB SITE AT
THE FOLLOWING URL:

HTTP://
WWW.CBP.GOV/XP/CGOV/IMPORT/OPERATIONS SUPPORT/AUTOMATED SYSTEMS/ISA/

NOTE THAT THERE IS AND UNDERSCORE CHARACTER BETWEEN THE WORDS
OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT, AND BETWEEN THE WORDS AUTOMATED AND SYSTEMS.

THE SAME LOCATION IS EASILY FOUND BY PERFORMING A SEARCH USING EITHER
'ISA' OR 'INTERCONNECTION' AS THE KEYWORD, OR BY SELECTING THE
FOLLOWING SERIES OF LINKS FROM THE CBP HOMEPAGE:

IMPORT
OPERATIONS SUPPORT
AUTOMATED SYSTEMS
CBP INTERCONNECTION SECURITY AGREEMENT

AN ISA IS REQUIRED ONLY WHEN A PARTICIPANT CONNECTS DIRECTLY TO A CBP
AUTOMATED SYSTEM. PARTICIPANTS WHO SUBMIT ELECTRONIC DATA SOLELY
THROUGH A THIRD PARTY PROVIDER NEED NOT SUBMIT AN ISA. EXAMPLES OF
THIRD PARTY COMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS INCLUDE VALUE ADDED NETWORKS
(VANS) AND SERVICE BUREAUS/CENTERS. IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE
OBLIGATION TO SUBMIT AN ISA RESTS ONLY WITH THE THIRD PARTY PROVIDER.

CBP HAS FULLY ENFORCED THE ISA REQUIREMENT FOR ALL AES PARTICIPATION
SINCE SEPTEMBER 2002. CBP NOW FULLY ENFORCES THE REQUIREMENT FOR ALL
ACS PARTICIPATION ALSO.

BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 1, 2003, NO NEW CONNECTIONS TO ACS HAVE BEEN
ESTABLISHED WITHOUT PRIOR RECEIPT OF A SIGNED ISA. CBP DOES NOT
ESTABLISH THE COMMUNICATIONS PROFILES THAT PERMIT TRANSMISSION INTO
ABI OR AMS UNTIL THE ISA IS RECEIVED AND FULLY EXECUTED (SIGNED BY
BOTH PARTIES). TO AVOID DELAYS IN ESTABLISHING NEW CONNECTIONS,
VENDORS OF SOFTWARE PACKAGES FOR PARTICIPATION IN ABI AND AMS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO MAKE COMPLETION OF THE ISA AN INITIAL STEP IN THEIR NEW
CUSTOMER PROTOCOL. SUBMISSION OF THE ISA IN TANDEM WITH THE LETTER
OF INTENT IS ACCEPTABLE AND ENCOURAGED.

ALL ABI AND AMS PARTICIPANTS WHOSE CONNECTIONS WERE ESTABLISHED PRIOR
TO SEPTEMBER 1, 2003, MUST SUBMIT THEIR ISA TO CBP NOW. FAILURE TO
SUBMIT THE ISA MAY PROMPT CBP TO REMOVE THE PREEXISTING
COMMUNICATIONS PROFILE.

TO ACCOUNT FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCE WHEN A PARTICIPANT CONNECTS TO CBP
FROM MULTIPLE COMPUTER SITES, BOTH ISA TEMPLATES WERE UPDATED ON THE
CUSTOMS WEB SITE TO INCLUDE AN ADDENDUM (THE LAST PAGE) ON WHICH ALL
ADDITIONAL COMPUTER/CONNECTION SITES ARE TO BE LISTED.

THE REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT AN ISA IS BASED ON PHYSICAL CONNECTION
SITES IRRESPECTIVE OF WHICH CBP SYSTEM IS ACCESSED. THEREFORE, IF AN
ABI PARTICIPANT PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED AN ISA TO COVER THEIR AES
CONNECTION, AND THE AES AND ABI DATA IS SUBMITTED FROM THE SAME SITE,
A NEW ISA IS NOT REQUIRED.

QUESTIONS REGARDING COMPLETING AND FORWARDING THE ISA MAY BE DIRECTED
TO YOUR ASSIGNED CLIENT REPRESENTATIVE.

QUESTIONS REGARDING CBP SECURITY REQUIREMENTS OR THE CONTENT AND
LANGUAGE OF THE ISA DOCUMENT SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO ONE OF THE
FOLLOWING:

RICH BEAMER 703-921-7468
DAVID COX 703-921-7336