Another successful event hosted by the International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA) this past March. With educational sessions ranging from the Pros and Cons of Direct-filing to Understanding Incoterms, attendees were buzzing about the depth of knowledge presented at this conference.
Recordkeeping Best Practices
Electronic Keeping your records in an electronic format will allow you to expedite the document retrieval process as well as implement the following best practices. This will also allow your information to be stored in an "on-demand" centralized location. Electronic storage will need to be approved by Customs & Border Protection (CBP). *Your policies and procedures should require you to keep the originals for 120 days and all electronic records a minimum of 5 years!*
Policies & Procedures Comprehensively Documented CBP expects to see that you have policies in place prior to an audit. The policy must ensure the preservation of integrity, readability, and security of the information contained in the original records. Include in your procedures a standardized retrieval process for your records.
Completely Crossed Referenced If the document relates to information elsewhere, be sure to make that connection.
Exception Files Your import/export records should be able to "tell a story". Policies should require that any and everything be stored. If there was an email about it, store it. When in doubt, store it!
Audited Before Storage Set up a procedure for internal auditing of your documents as they move to storage. Penalties may result for negligence and failure to maintain records. This could be $10,000 per violation and each missing document could be considered a violation!