Inspecting and Releasing Goods at a Land, Air, or Sea Border

Abstract

A method and system for use by a Customs Agency for clearing shipments of goods into a country is disclosed. A customs resource application may be used to integrate alert information, news, research, and communications capabilities. Customs inspectors may use the resource application with a conventional computer, or with a portable device in the field as they perform customs inspections. The portable device provides access to alert information regarding shipments that are to be inspected by the inspector, and provides alert resolution capabilities so that the inspector can clear shipments into the country from the location of the inspection and/or shipped goods without requiring the inspector to return to a field office to clear the goods.

1 . A portable device comprising:
 a display screen;   a processing unit; and   memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the portable device to perform the steps of:   (i) receiving a task list, wherein each task includes information known about shipments of goods prior to the shipments being inspected;   (ii) displaying task information on the display screen to inform a user about upcoming inspections;   (iii) displaying shipment information on the display screen to inform a user about one of the shipments of goods in the task list;   (iv) receiving inspection results from the user, wherein an on-site inspection of one of the shipments of goods in the task list is performed by the user and the inspection results correspond to the user's on-site inspection of one of the shipments of goods in the task list; and   (v) transmitting the inspection results.   
     
     
         2 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein step (i) is performed over a wireless communications link. 
     
     
         3 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein step (i) is performed during one or more wired synchronization procedures. 
     
     
         4 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein each task corresponds to a shipment of goods that is to be inspected. 
     
     
         5 . The portable device of  claim 1 , further comprising a camera, and wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the portable device to perform the steps of:
 (vi) photographing at least a portion of the one shipment of goods using the camera;   (vii) storing the photograph in the memory; and   (viii) associating the photograph with the task corresponding to the one shipment of goods.   
     
     
         6 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the device to perform the step of:
 (vi) sending a communication to a second device associated with an X-ray team, based on the inspection results, said communication requesting an x-ray of the corresponding shipment.   
     
     
         7 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the device to perform the step of:
 (vi) sending a communication to a device associated with an import specialist, said communication comprising inspection results.   
     
     
         8 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the device to perform the step of:
 (vi) sending a communication to at least one device associated with a customs inspector, said communication comprising inspection results.   
     
     
         9 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed shipment information includes an alert sent from another portable device. 
     
     
         10 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed shipment information includes news articles. 
     
     
         11 . The portable device of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed shipment information includes research tools including an inspection look up function. 
     
     
         12 . A portable device comprising:
 a display screen having a first region for displaying task information and a second region for displaying shipment information;   a processing unit; and   memory storing a database and computer readable instructions, wherein each entry in the database is representative of a task; and   wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the portable device to perform the steps of:   (i) receiving a task list, wherein each task includes information known about shipments of goods prior to the shipment being inspected;   (ii) displaying a task summary list on the display screen in the first region to inform a user about upcoming inspections;   (iii) displaying shipment information on the display in the second region, wherein the shipment information includes information related to one of the shipment of goods in the task list;   (iv) receiving inspection results from the user, wherein the inspection results correspond to the shipment of goods; and   (v) transmitting the inspection results.   
     
     
         13 . The portable device of  claim 12  wherein each task in the database includes a priority level, an arrival data, an importer name, and a risk level, and the first region includes display fields for the priority level, the arrival date, the importer name, the risk level, and the commodity name of a selected task. 
     
     
         14 . A method of clearing a shipment of goods into a country, comprising the steps of:
 receiving at a portable handheld computer a task list including a plurality of tasks, wherein each task includes information known about shipments of goods received at a customs border prior to the shipment being inspected;   displaying the task list on a display of the portable handheld computer to inform a user about upcoming inspections;   receiving user input selecting a first task from a plurality of tasks in the task list;   displaying task detail information corresponding to the first task to inform the user about upcoming inspections;   receiving user input into the portable handheld computer corresponding to the user's on-site inspection of the shipment of goods corresponding to the first task;   sending a inspection result corresponding to the first task from the portable handheld computer to a server computer, wherein the inspection result is determined as a function of the received user input; and   sending shipment information corresponding to the first task from the portable handheld computer to another portable handheld computer for display on the display of the other portable handheld computer, wherein the shipment information is determined as a function of the received user input.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the method further includes the step of: displaying recent shipment information corresponding to recent inspection result of a shipment of goods similar to the shipment of goods corresponding to the first task. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the information known about shipments of goods includes an image of how the goods are expected to look upon inspection. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the method further includes the steps of: accessing a research tool from the portable handheld computer; and performing research corresponding to the shipment of goods. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the research tool comprises reports of trends of imported goods. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the research tool comprises an inspection lookup function. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the method further includes the step of determining a risk rating related to the shipments of goods based on criteria from the group of: importer information, carrier information, type of merchandise, amount of times the carrier has been inspected, and amount of times contraband has been found for a particular carrier. 
     
     
         21 . A method, comprising the steps of:
 displaying a task list on a display of a portable handheld computer, wherein each task in the plurality of tasks includes information known about shipments of goods received at a customs border prior to the shipments being inspected;   identifying one of the shipments of goods to be inspected based on the information known about the shipments of goods;   at a location of goods being inspected, receiving user input into the portable handheld computer corresponding to the user's on-site inspection of the shipment of goods corresponding to the identified shipment of goods; and   transmitting the inspection results from the portable handheld computer to a server computer.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining a risk rating related to the identified shipments of goods based on one or more criteria from the group of: importer information, carrier information, type of merchandise, amount of times the carrier has been inspected, and amount of times contraband has been found for a particular carrier.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the risk rating identifies shipments that are likely to contain illegal goods. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of the identified shipment of goods from a user; and   in response to the selection, displaying detailed information related to the identified shipment of goods, including at least one of: importer number, importer name, importer Address, country of departure, broker, commodity, quantity, weight, declared value, packaging, shipper, shipper address, risks, arrival date, bill of lading number, and a digital image.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the task list is displayed based on user preferences, including at least one of layout display preferences and content display preferences.