Customs Seeks New Rules for GA

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Pilots of private aircraft that cross the U.S. border in either direction would be required to submit a roster listing everyone on board to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, if a new rule proposed this week (PDF) is made final. Under the proposed rule, the information must be received by the CBP no later than 60 minutes before an arriving private aircraft departs from a foreign location and no later than 60 minutes before a private aircraft departs a U.S. airport for a foreign destination. The CBP wants to check those rosters against its no-fly list. Yes, says AOPA, “This applies to short trips across the border with your family or friends in your Cessna 172.” The rosters must be submitted electronically, so pilots departing from remote airports without Internet access would have to land at another airport with Internet service and complete the information before entering or leaving the United States. “That’s not practical,” says AOPA.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Congress last week that the new rule would allow inspectors more time to fully pre-screen travelers and crews and take necessary actions to resolve threats, whether that means denying entry into U.S. airspace, re-routing an aircraft, or meeting the aircraft upon arrival. Currently, passenger manifests are required upon arrival in the U.S. There are no current requirements to submit information about passengers before leaving the country. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted for 60 days.

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