In a Federal Register Notice to be published on August 27, 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is announcing a new test regarding the manifesting and entry of residue found in containers arriving to the U.S. as Instruments of International Traffic (IIT).

In the notice, CBP explained that the test was developed "in order to determine a less burdensome way for the trade to manifest and enter residual cargo in IITs while also ensuring the safety and security of CBP Officers and the transportation of such IITs.”

Consumption entries are required for shipments exceeding the following percentage of residue:
- 7% for Rail
- 5% for Air
- 3% for Ocean

For all containers that have less than the above percentage of residue, the importer will need to:
- Submit a residue entry
- State that the residue has no commercial value
- Describe the residue at the 6-digit HTS level
- Confirm that the country of origin for the residue is country of origin from which the container is arriving

The notice also explains that importers who do not wish to participate in the test are still required to “classify, enter and manifest” the residual merchandise in accordance with underlying statues and implementing regulations. CBP will begin enforcing this requirement 90 days after the publication of the notice. The test will also begin on this date and will last for a period of one year, which may be extended.

The full text of the Federal Register notice is available online here.