Last year (2000), the company underwent more than 125 cargo exams at the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) port of entry. FNC is DFW's third-largest importer, and it was the subject of more than 11 percent of Customs compliance measurement exams performed at the port last year. This year, FNC's new low-risk designation will save the company time and money, savings that will presumably be passed on to its customers.

So, how, in just one short year, did the company so effectively improve its standing?

FNC worked closely with Customs compliance assessment teams -- the multi-disciplinary groups of specialists from the Offices of Strategic Trade and Field Operations -- to implement the teams' suggestions for improvement. But the programs and processes behind FNC' improved designation had actually been operating for two or three years. All seeds need time to bear fruit.

Among the important steps the company took were:

• FNC published a handbook for its customs brokers, which will be updated periodically. The handbook standardized the company's operating procedures regarding imports so that all imports will be handled identically at every U.S. port at which FNC imports. Among the immediate consequences of the handbook: fewer clerical errors -- striking the wrong key, accidentally entering wrong costs, prices, or other numeric information -- which can really disrupt a company's documentation if not found and corrected.
• The company now holds quarterly meetings with its customs broker. In the words of Ken Xi, the company's import/export manager, "Closer communications between the company and its broker make a difference when working toward high compliance." These meetings, attended by the entry writer, import manager, and representatives from the broker’s upper management, among others, are forums to discuss concerns, action items, and plans for improvement.
• FNC started what it calls "weekly classification reviews." These are meetings at which merchandise classifications (à la the Harmonized Tariff Schedule) made that week are discussed in order to assure consistency when deciding upon a final classification of a product. FNC states that this process, in particular, was straight out of "Importer Best Practices," which is contained in the Information Technology report distributed quarterly by Julia Cadena, an industry audit specialist in the Office of Strategic Trade's Regulatory Audit Office.
• The company now consults import specialist teams at the port and relies upon their expertise when tricky classification issues arise in order to eliminate as much uncertainty as possible from the classification process.

FNC is a true case study in compliance improvement and no longer has to suffer cargo delays or pay the high price in time and money that those delays represent. Paul Rimmer, DFW Port Director, who worked directly on the FNC case, put it best, "Our inspectors are... now free to examine cargo that is truly high risk."

It's a true win-win for both sides.