Recent reports in the media have repeated false assertions about the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to require electronic submissions of all customs documents. In addition, individuals have raised questions surrounding the legality of this mandate.

The Customs Management Act explicitly gives the Comptroller the authority to require the submission of Customs documents in a format designated by him or her. This means that there is clear legal authority for this requirement.

The false assertions which are being repeated in the media are as follows: The Ministry of Finance is directing brokers and importers to a particular software vendor and this requirement would dramatically increase cost to importers or force smaller brokers out of business.

Neither assertion is true and the fact that it is being constantly repeated in the media when evidence to the contrary exist and is readily available is unfortunate.

The Click to Clear system is designed to facilitate electronic data interchange or EDI. EDI or the sending of an electronic file for processing dramatically lowers the cost of operation for both the broker and Customs. As of June 2022, less than 10% of the transactions submitted to Click to Clear was by EDI. Instead, they were submitted by way of the user interface (UI). A UI entry is a time consuming and error prone way of submitting entries. Independent estimates have placed the potential annual revenue loss from errors in submitting entries by UI at more than $50 million. The most recent estimate was provided by a consultant firm engaged by the previous administration, so the need to improve Customs processes to eliminate leakage is nonpolitical and