Supporting Statement
General Declaration
1651-0002
A. Justification:
Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.
CBP Form 7507, General Declaration, must be filed for all aircraft entering under the provisions of 19 CFR 122.41. This form is used to document clearance by the arriving aircraft at the required inspectional facilities and inspections by appropriate regulatory agency staffs.
CBP Form 7507 collects information about the flight routing, the numbers of passengers embarking and disembarking, a declaration of health for the persons on board, details about disinfecting and sanitizing treatments during the flight, and a declaration attesting to the accuracy and completeness and truthfulness of all other documents that make up the manifest.
CBP Form 7507 is authorized by 19 U.S.C. 1431, 1433, and 1644a, and provided for by 19 CFR 122.43, 122.52, 122.54, 122.73, and 122.144. This form is accessible at http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CBP%20Form%207507.pdf.
2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.
CBP Form 7507 is used by CBP as a declaration attesting to the accuracy, completeness and truthfulness of all other documents that make up the manifest.
Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.
CBP is automating Form 7507 as part of the Enterprise Data Management System. Currently CBP is testing this system with several carriers and it is planned that all carriers will submit the 7507 through this system by 2017. Currently this form is a fillable form at: http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CBP%20Form%207507.pdf
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.
This information is not duplicated elsewhere.
5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities , describe any methods used to minimize burden.
This information collection does not involve small businesses.
6. Describe consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.
If the information was collected less frequently, CBP would not be able to enforce regulatory requirements.
7. Explain any special circumstances
This information collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(c)(2).
8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.
Public comments were solicited through two Federal Register notices dated October 31, 2014 (Volume 79, Page 64825) on which two comments were received, and on January 13, 2015 (Volume 80, Page 1652) on which no comments have been received.
Two comment letters were received, one from United Parcel Service (UPS), dated November 7, 2014, and one from the Express Association of America (EAA), dated December 8, 2014. These commenters raised the following issues:
Comment 1
CBP Form 7507. Whether the collection of information is necessary: UPS believes that the collection of information on the General Declaration (CBF 7507) is no longer necessary and is contrary to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. UPS is also convinced that the data collected on the CBPF 7507 is currently provided or will be provided to CBP in the following platforms:
ACE Air Export Manifest and Import Manifest
Advance Passenger Information System (APIS)
CBP Response:
The General Declaration is single document that is applicable to both the departure and arrival of those commercial aircraft that are subject to Subpart E §122.43 and effectively satisfies four (4) separate government equities relative to the Outward/Inward air conveyance compliance i.e. Agriculture, Customs, Immigration and Public Health.
The commenters assert that data contained and collected on the CBF 7507 is currently being [electronically] provided to CBP, in fact only the following data is collected electronically on the CBPF 7507 and managed under the Admissibility and Passenger Programs (APP) Paperless General Declaration pilot:
Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) for crew and passenger counts only (Air and Vessel MOT).
The Aircraft Registration Number and Time of Arrival/Departure are received by CBP, directly from the respective air carrier’s Official Airline Guide (OAG) flight status messages
The following CBPF 7507 data elements for each departing/arriving air carrier that are required by law but not collected under this pilot:
Air Cargo Shipper’s Export Declarations [Electronic Export Information] (15 CFR Subpart E. §30.45 (a) (2) – Foreign Trade Regulations)
Waybill counts (19 CFR §122.73), including
Public Health statements/certifications by an authorized agent or Pilot-in-Command (42 CFR §71 – refer to Note 6 on Instruction page 2 of CBPF)
CBP does not currently have an advanced electronic pre-departure export manifest (section 343(a) of the Trade Act 2002) nor are the regulations codified in Title 19 to support the mandatory filing of such advance electronic export manifest data or the utilization of automated applications of each associated CBP forms called for within the regulations for inbound or outbound conveyance or cargo data in any mode of transportation, albeit it does remain a high priority CBP objective for both import and export control efficiencies. Sustained and focused regulatory change efforts are currently underway to require the mandatory filing of an electronic pre-departure export manifest in all modalities including full automation of all associated CBP forms related to cargo and conveyances. An Air pre-departure export manifest is keenly anticipated in early 2015, however implementation is predicated on the following routine internal processes:
Clearances from the Office of Rules and Regulation (OR&R).
Posting of a Federal Register Notice (FRN)
Publishing the required data elements
Soliciting for air carrier participants
Implementation of pilots and evaluation of data observed during the life cycle of those anticipated pilots
CBP concurs that full automation of the Form 7507 and data collection continues to be a goal, however based on the existing impediments in the export environment before the current paper driven requirements can be eliminated, the objective, goal and intent is to automate and capture each data element required by law on Form 7507 including any other associated conveyance entry and clearance forms required by regulations. Regulatory changes will be required prior to the complete elimination/retirement of the paper Form 7507 as currently codified in Title 19 Part §122 et al, that regulatory change process is not anticipated to be completed for approximately 2 – 3 years.
Comment 2
The accuracy of the agency’s estimates of the burden of the collection of information. Today when the Gen Dec is submitted to CBP untold hours are spent by trade and CBP to prepare, review and/or approve the original document. The air transportation mode frequently has flight delays, crew changes, tail number changes, aircraft swaps which requires last minute updates to the Gen Dec -- all of which require manual CBP review and approval. Incorporating the Gen Dec into the ACE and APIS processes will improve targeting, data accuracy and document retention. By automating the Gen Dec, carriers and CBP will realize productivity improvements, and eliminate the need for paper documents as the creation, approval and amendments
CBP Response:
CBP concurs with the goal of automating this data collection but there are still significant impediments to obtaining this goal as described above. In addition, it is likely that regulatory changes would be required.
Comment 3
Ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection process: The commenters opined that based on Presidential mandate for ACE as a single window for each US Government agency with statutory authority for imported and exported commodities that those few data elements not covered by the recommended processes i.e. APIS and/or ACE, could be rolled into development under either process.
The commenters assert that most of the Form 7507 data elements are captured today in either APIS [Air] or ACE [Air] and that that Air Export/Import Manifest currently captures the number of AES shipments (formerly SED—exports only) and the total number of air waybills associated with a flight [inward and outward]
Finally the commenters state that APIS provides CBP with following data elements:
Owner Operator
Flight Number
Date
Departure From
Arrival At
Flight Routing Place
Total number of Crew/Passengers
Departure Place
Embarking Through on Same Flight
Arrival Place
Disembarking Through on Same Flight
CBP Response:
APIS only supports the Paperless General Declaration pilot through the collection of crew and passenger counts, the Airline Registration Number and Time of Arrival/Departure data is collected by CBP from the OAG flight status message.
CBP concurs that typically the total number of air waybills are electronically transmitted to CBP and received in the Automated Manifest System (AMS) pursuant to section 343(a) of the Trade Act 2002, as amended (19 USC 2071 note), for any commercial cargo transported by air into the United States. However, CBP does not currently have an Electronic Pre-Departure Air Export Manifest and only collects Electronic Export Information (EEI formerly SED) in AES for qualifying outbound shipments (§192.14 (a) & (b) (ii), 15 CFR Part 30). All remaining outbound non-qualifying shipments are presented to CBP on a paper manifest and in accordance with §122.72 – 75.
As stated previously, APIS only provides CBP with the following two (2) data:
Crew Counts
Passenger Counts
Comment 4
Ways to minimize the burden including automated collection techniques: The commenters state that the Paperless General Declaration pilot began in July 2013 and was limited to only passenger airlines and relegated to a few CBP ports in Phase 1. They further advocate continued support for further pilot expansion into the remaining 3 - 4 Pilot Phases which was intended to include express carriers, cargo liners and any other airlines interested in participating.
CBP Response:
The Paperless General Declaration Pilot Program was anticipated to incorporate four (4) specific Phases:
Phase 1 – Passenger Air Carriers only – Pilot Implemented July, 2013
Phase 2 -- Outbound Flights – Scheduled Release by September 25, 2013
Phase 3 – Cargo Airlines, Progressive Flights and flights operating on a Permit-to- Proceed – Scheduled Release by January, 2014
Later Phases – Expansion to Military Flights, Charters, Air Taxi and General Aviation – Scheduled Release TBD
CBP supports the complete automation of all collected data elements associated with the CBPF 7501, however at this time while consideration a logical strategy for retiring the CBPF 7507 in its current format, the following list of impediments will require CBP to continue utilizing the CBPF 7507 in its current paper-based format:
Overwhelming limitations related to the partially automated version of the Paperless General Declaration and its ability to lawfully collect all the required data elements in order to be in full compliance with:
15 CFR Part 30 (FTR)
19 CFR Part 122
42 CFR Part 71, and
19 CFR Part 192
Continued dependency on a paper-driven export manifest for non-qualifying export transactions which are required to be reported to CBP prior to departure from the United States by the exporting air carrier § 122.72 - 75
ABO continuing development efforts, so far incomplete, to provide CBP and trade partners with an ACE advance electronic pre-departure export manifest in all modalities
In the event of anticipated pilots requiring the use of paperless or automated CBPF 7507 and other associated conveyance arrival and departure documents, the CBPF 7507 in its current paper-based format must remain in circulation to facilitate those carriers who choose not to participate in those pilots.
Regulatory changes to Title 19 in order to mandate the use of a single transmission of each CBP form related to the arrival, clearance and departure of air conveyances including cargo related forms in the event that the air conveyance has laden cargo onboard.
Regulatory changes to Title 19 in order to facilitate and model lawful support for a mandatory Advance Pre-Departure Export Manifest (none exist today) in all modalities, including similar regulatory adjustments to any respective PGA regulations for whom CBP enforces strategic and routine export controls, if references are drawn to sections with changes in Title 19.
Finally, the CBPF 7507 must remain in circulation in its current format until such time as the existing regulations are rewritten to demand the use of an automated application process for documents required by law for all arriving and departing air carriers.
9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
There is no offer of a monetary or material value for this information collection.
Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
There is no PII associated with this information collection. No assurances of confidentiality are provided to respondents.
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.
There are no questions of a personal or sensitive nature.
12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.
FORM |
TOTAL BURDEN HOURS |
NO. OF RESPONDENTS |
NO. OF RESPONSES PER RESPONDENT |
TOTAL ANNUAL RESPONSES |
TIME PER RESPONSE |
7507
|
83,333 |
500 |
2000 |
1,000,000 |
5 minutes (.083333 hours)
|
Public Cost
The estimated cost to the respondents is $6,142,475. This is based on the estimated burden hours (83,333) multiplied (x) hourly rate ($73.71).
13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information.
There are no recordkeeping, capitalization or start-up costs associated with this collection.
Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal Government. Also provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.
The estimated cost associated with collecting the information is $10,129,320. This is based on an estimated time per response (10 minutes or .166 hours) x total responses (1,000,000) = 166,000 hours expended multiplied (x) by the estimated average hourly rate of $61.02 = $10,129,320.
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 12 or 13 of this Statement.
There has been no increase or decrease in the estimated annual burden hours previously reported for this information collection. There is no change to the information collected or to CBP Form 7507.
16. For collection of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation, and publication.
This information collection will not be published for statistical purposes.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.
CBP will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.
CBP does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
No statistical methods were employed.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | Preferred Customer |
| Last Modified By | DENNING, TRACEY |
| File Modified | 2015-02-27 |
| File Created | 2014-10-09 |