Import Security Filing - US Customs Bonds

Myth becoming a legend.......so many clients, importers especially, come to me and say, I cannot get my broker to do the ISF filing for me because they tell me I have to get a bond. They say it is required. How come I did not have to have a bond to file an AMS or ABI filing? Well, because a broker and an AMS filier live by different requirements. First of all, to make any filing, AMS, ABI or ISF, a bond is required. At a minimum, the bond is required by the company who is filing the information on behalf of another. So, let's say an Importer used to use a broker to do all import filings for them, that was ok, before because the broker had a license and a bond to cover them in cases where they needed it. For an ISF filing, the broker is requiring the bond, not US Customs. US Customs requires the FILIER to have a bond. A broker has a bond but chooses not to use it. In the case of an AMS Filing, the filier has a bond and that bond is also good to use for ISF Filings. Since the ISF filing and the AMS filing are similar...in data sets and in the overall purpose of the filing (an informational filing only) than the bond the AMS filier uses, they also use to cover the ISF filing they make on behalf of their clients.

Bottom line is that there are SO MANY options to getting your Import Security Filing done, a broker is not the only option and in most cases, is not the cheapest and the most cost effective option for an importer or a forwarder. If you want more information and proof of the above, just let us know and we can help. 100+ plus customers in 17 countries will vouch for what is written above....

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