Collect the 10 importer-provided data elements: seller, buyer, importer of record, consignee, manufacturer/supplier, ship-to party, country of origin, commodity HTS, container stuffing location, and consolidator
Prepare the 2 carrier-provided elements (vessel stow plan and container status messages) which CBP receives directly from the ocean carrier
Submit the ISF via ACE ABI ISF transaction at least 24 hours before vessel departure from the last foreign port using your licensed broker's ISF filing module
Monitor ACE for the ISF match status and resolve any holds (ISF not on file, mismatch with B/L) with CBP's National Targeting Center before vessel arrival
Update the ISF with final data (e.g., actual bill of lading number replacing the booking number) no later than 24 hours prior to arrival at the first US port of unlading
Known gotchas
ISF filing deadlines are 24 hours before foreign port departure, not US port arrival; a filing that is technically on time for arrival but not for departure is still a late filing
ISF penalties under 19 USC 1484a can reach $10,000 per violation; even a timely filing with materially inaccurate data is subject to penalty
The ISF bond is separate from the entry bond; importers without a continuous ISF bond must file a single-entry ISF bond for each shipment
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp