Reporting Requirements Begin December 18 for Private Aircraft Arriving or Departing the United States

The new regulation requiring private aircraft to transmit traveler manifest and arrival and departure information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) using the Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS) goes into effect later this week.

On Thursday, December 18, 2008, CBP will begin to accept voluntary APIS manifests for private aircraft arriving in and departing from the United States. On May 18, 2009, the voluntary compliance period will end and private aircraft pilots or their designees must adhere to the requirements of this final rule. This new regulation requires private pilots or their designees to transmit electronically to CBP:

• Traveler manifest information for each individual traveling onboard the aircraft
• Notice of arrival information
• Notice of departure information

This data must be received by CBP no later than 60 minutes prior to departure for flights arriving in or departing from the United States.

CBP has developed a component within the eAPIS web site (https://eapis.cbp.dhs.gov) to assist private pilots in comply with the rule. CBP has also created an eAPIS web based training program, which consists of several training modules on various aspects of eAPIS.

Under the new regulation, pilots that fail to comply with the reporting requirements are subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.