Assertion Partly supported AI assessment confidence: 92% certainty 3/5 debate potential 1/5

Schneider: US shipping container import filings are digitized and publicly purchasable

Brad Schneider · Why Vague Data Searches Produce Vague Results — and Who Profits · Sep 16, 2021 · at 12:44

Nomad Data CEO Brad Schneider explains commercial alternative data sources, noting that US maritime import customs filings are digitized public records sold by the government.

0:00 / 0:17exact quote · 17.7s

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“So any container that comes into the United States, there's form filing requirements that have to be done. All those forms are digitized under the, I believe it's the Freedom for Information Act, and they're publicly available. Granted, you have to buy them from the government, but they're part of this process that's sort of built into something.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

All import form filings for shipping containers entering the United States are digitized and made publicly available for purchase from the US government.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

The claim correctly identifies the statutory mechanism by which U.S. ocean container shipping data is digitized and sold by the federal government, but overstates the scope by claiming 'all' import form filings are made publicly available. Under 19 U.S.C. § 1431 and 19 C.F.R. § 103.31(e), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) digitizes vessel manifest data from the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE/AMS) and sells daily feeds containing 22 specific cargo data elements to the public at production cost (which trade intelligence firms like ImportGenius and Panjiva purchase). However, this public disclosure is strictly limited to vessel manifests: complete customs entry documentation (e.g., CBP Form 7501 Entry Summaries, Form 3461, commercial invoices, valuation, and classification codes) is exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 4 and the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1905). Additionally, Importer Security Filings (ISF / 10+2) are per se exempt under 19 C.F.R. § 103.31a, and companies may opt out of having their identifying information published in the manifest feeds via confidentiality requests under 19 C.F.R. § 103.31(d).

19 U.S.C. § 1431(c) and 19 C.F.R. § 103.31(e) mandate the daily compilation and sale of electronic vessel manifest transaction feeds to the public at production cost.
19 C.F.R. § 103.31(e)(3) limits public manifest data feeds to 22 specific elements, rather than all import documentation.
CBP Form 7501 entry filings, commercial invoices, and financial transaction values are legally protected from public release under FOIA Exemption 4 and 18 U.S.C. § 1905.
19 C.F.R. § 103.31a expressly designates Importer Security Filings (ISF) as exempt from disclosure, and 19 C.F.R. § 103.31(d) allows importers to request confidentiality for names and addresses.

Checked against

[1] ecfr.gov [2] valexander.com [3] house.gov [4] freightwaves.com [5] customsandinternationaltradelaw.com [6] customsdatalock.com [7] govinfo.gov [8] federalregister.gov

air rail truck manifest public disclosure 19 CFR 103.31 19 USC 1431 public disclosure manifest shipping container US government CBP vessel manifest data public disclosure purchase 19 CFR 103.31 US Customs purchase vessel manifest data digitized CD-ROM ACE are customs entry filings public CBP Form 7501 manifest difference "CBP Form 7501" public disclosure FOIA commercial confidential CBP FOIA vessel manifest data purchase fee confidentiality

assessed as of 2026-09-02

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

Freedom for Information Act United States

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