Hurricane Katrina, which devastated portions of the United States Gulf Coast, has also affected Customs and Border Protections ("Customs") operations at many Gulf Coast Ports. This memorandum briefly details some of Customs' and Port Operators' responses to this devastating tragedy.

Customs Operations

     Customs Operations at Certain Ports Suspended: Customs has temporarily suspended operations at its port offices in New Orleans (port code 2002), Gramercy, LA (2010), Mobile, AL (1901), Gulfport, MS (1902) and Pascagoula, MS (19050).

     Atlanta/Memphis Handling Field Operations for Affected Areas: Customs has designated its Atlanta Field Office to have oversight activity for all cargo clearance and merchandise processing operations for the affected areas. The Atlanta office, in turn, has designated the Port of Memphis, TN (2006) to manage all import-related transactions.

     Protests, entry summaries, and duty payments which would have been transmitted to the suspended ports should be directed to Customs at the Port of Memphis. Transactions which could not be filed in the suspended ports due to Hurricane Katrina will not be deemed late or assessed with penalties.

     Jones Act Waiver for Petroleum and Refined Petroleum Products: President Bush has authorized Department of Homeland Security Chertoff to waive "Jones Act" [46 U.S.C. §883] coastwise trade restrictions, to allow foreign-flag vessels to transport petroleum and refined petroleum products to areas where they are needed. The coastwise waiver will expire at 12:01 A.M. on September 19, 2005, unless otherwise extended by the President. The waiver includes the shipment of petroleum and petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

     Customs recognizes that instances may arise where it is desirable to transport non-petroleum products using foreign-flag vessels. While individual Customs officials lack authority to grant such waivers, Customs has encouraged shippers needing to use non-coastwise qualified vessels to contact the Maritime Administration at (202) 366-0760 in order to inquire concerning the possibility of additional waivers of Jones Act requirements.

     Vessel Diversions: In cases where it necessary to divert vessels that may have been bound for the suspended ports, a Customs Form 3171unlading permit request must be submitted to the appropriate Customs officials at the port where the vessel is intended to be discharged. Shippers will need to "delete" old information and "add" new information in the Automated Manifest System (AMS) for each bill of lading for which a diversion is determined to be necessary.

     Seizures and Penalties: Persons having questions about seizures and penalties in the suspended ports should direct their inquiries to Customs officials at Memphis. These officials may not have an immediate answer to these questions, but have responsibility for investigating the status of cases and formulating a response.

     Remote Location Filing of Entries: Requests for remote location filing (RLF) of entries as the suspended ports should be canceled. RLF filings should be redirected to the Port of Memphis, TN.

     Vessel Repair Entries: Vessel repair entries which would have been filed at New Orleans should be directed to Amy Campbell, the Vessel Repair Specialist for the Port of New York/Newark. These entries can also be filed at any office under the Atlanta Field Office, which will forward them to Ms. Campbell in New York.

     Warehouse Entries/Destroyed Merchandise: In the case of any warehouse entries which cannot be closed out using normal practices due to complete destruction, the warehouse proprietor can close out the entry by the filing of a statement by the importer/entry filer attesting to the destruction of the merchandise. Warehouse proprietors will not be held reliable for such destroyed merchandise.

     October 2005 Customhouse Brokers' Examination: Candidates who were scheduled to take the October 2005 Customhouse brokers' licensing examination in New Orleans may take the test at any location, or withdraw their application for the test and receive full reimbursement.

     Broker Local and National Permits: Local permits for the suspended ports will be issued by the Atlanta Field Office. Requests for filer codes that ordinarily would have been submitted to one of the non-operational ports should also be submitted to Atlanta.

     National/Port Account Managers: Importers who had been assigned to New Orleans-based National Account Managers Edward Ernst and Raymond Perry are temporarily reassigned to NAM Hedwig Lock at the Port of Nashville, TN (Telephone (615)-736-5861, extension 221.

     Port accounts typically managed by the suspended ports have been reassigned to the Atlanta Field office.

     Further Inquiries: Further inquiries concerning Customs operations relating to the suspended ports may be directed to Chris Dougherty and Shandra DuPree at (770) 994-4100 or to the Commissioner of Customs' Situation Room at (202) 344-3923.

     Import Specialist Team Operations: Customs has temporarily reassigned import specialist duties handled by the New Orleans Field Office to other ports under direction of the Atlanta field office. A copy of the new team assignments is available at www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/communications_to_industry/katrina/new_orleans_is_team_assignments.xml

Port Operations:

     The emergency management team for the Port of New Orleans, working from offices in Texas and Georgia, has provided this summary of current conditions at the New Orleans Port area:

     Mississippi River Partially Open to Vessel Traffic: The Mississippi River is currently open to traffic in one direction, for vessels up to a 35 foot draft, in daylight hours only. River pilots associations have recommended opening the river to two-way traffic.

     The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO), an alternate channel, is open to vessels of 9 foot draft. It is expected to be opened to vessels up to 27 foot draft, once debris is removed from the channel.

     Condition of Terminals and Wharves: According to the port managers, the riverfront terminals are in "decent" condition and, despite having suffered some flood damages, are expected to be operational once electricity and manpower can be restored.

     At the Napoleon Avenue Center Terminal and the Nashville Avenue Complex, cargo containers have been tossed around, and will need to be removed and ordered before full terminal operations can resume. It is believed that two of the four gantry cranes at these facilities suffered damage to electronic systems, and will require repair before they become operational. The other two gantry cranes are expected to be operational once electric power is restored.

     Along the MRGO and the Industrial Channel, cargo terminals are severely flooded, and have no power, and are not expected to become operational for some time.

     The Mandeville, Piety and Esplanade street wharves have suffered fire damage and will not likely be usable for some time.

     Military/Relief Vessel Operations: According to Port of New Orleans officials, during the next few weeks, operations at the Port of New Orleans will likely be limited tto military relief vessels.

     The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has indicated that it will provide the Port of New Orleans with vessels capable of housing up to 1000 workers on a temporary basis. The vessels will be used to house essential port workers and vessel crews during relief and reconstruction operations. The Port of New Orleans is working with engineering concerns to perform an assessment of conditions at the ports in the area, and to identify priorities for repair and reconstruction work.

     Our firm stands ready to furnish any additional information or assistance which importers and others may require, as the nation recovers from this unprecedented natural disaster in the Gulf. Please contact us at (212) 635-2730 or (202) 861-2959 for additional information and assistance.

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