"By sometime in the first quarter, we should be able to clear shipments from anywhere in the United States for our customers by the use of a visionary software that we just finished testing," said Dennis Mitchell, corporate compliance officer and a licensed customs broker for Lynden.

The Alliance software will allow the company to transmit U.S. Customs forms directly to the agency from anywhere in the country. The software will save time by automatically filling in shipper information and updating required shipping information.

Lynden's one-stop brokerage service also is newly offered at airports in Newark, N.J., New York, Houston and Los Angeles.

"We tested the software in September and made an application to the national customs office early in December 2000," Mitchell said. "This should take about 30 days for official approval."

The new automated software will have to be presented to each U.S. Customs district and approved regionally by customs, he said.

The unique aspect of the company's new service is that it will allow shipments to be cleared without a customs broker on-site where the freight is arriving.

But this is not to say that a client doesn't need the services of the licensed broker, Mitchell added. It simplifies the broker's job of processing required paperwork in a more timely manner, with information that was previously gathered, he said.

"U.S. Customs prefers businesses to utilize customs brokers," Mitchell said. "It is my job to guide my client through the minefield of customs requirements, not only to clear their shipment but to save them money by fulfilling the importers filing obligations."

Scan Home, an Anchorage importer of Scandinavian and office furniture, has used Lynden's customs brokerage for 16 years.

"This works the way you want it to -- no hassle," said Carl Probst, president of Scan Home Inc. "Lynden clears 20 to 25 containers a year for me. They do everything. There is no headache. They give us very nice service."

Mitchell, one of a few customs brokers licensed in Alaska, said that requirements to become a broker call for knowing the federal regulations, taking a 75-question test, and passing it with a score of 75 percent or better, and passing a background check. According to Mitchell, only a small percentage of people who take the open-book exam pass. The testing is offered twice a year.

Alaska has four brokerage companies: Lynden, United Parcel Service, Fritz Cos. and Perman Stoler.

Mitchell, with 20 years in the business, was licensed in 1985 and is a corporate officer for Lynden. He started working for Lynden six years ago after operating his own business.

Mitchell works with Lois DeLarra, who earned a license in 1984 and has 32 years of experience clearing freight through customs for Lynden in Alaska.

Lynden's statewide Alaska coverage hits all modes of transportation -- air, ship, rail and truck -- which require a customs broker to clear shipments. Lynden clears between 200 and 300 shipments monthly in Alaska, not many compared to UPS or FedEx, but each one may be very different from the other.

Not clearing a shipment properly can cost companies time and money, Mitchell said.

"There are very stiff penalties for improper paperwork and necessary information about shipments," he said.

The burden of knowing customs policy and regulation falls on the importer, not the licensed customs broker, he said.

Customs brokers specialize in detail-oriented regulations, knowing the necessary hurdles to cross, and shipment by shipment what documentation U.S. Customs requires for each type of goods and what duty fees to pay.

"Virtually every manifest of freight that is shipped is made known to customs," Mitchell said.

Customs can fine up to three times the value of a shipment's contents as a penalty for violating regulations as simple as not providing a certificate of origin.

Besides the geographical location of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, one of the attractions for freight integrators like FedEx and UPS is their relationship with U.S. Customs.

"One of the biggest selling points of Anchorage is the ease and professionalism which U.S. Customs has shown the shipping community here at Anchorage International Airport," said Dennis Bird, managing director of FedEx in Anchorage.

U.S. Customs officials have districts that they refer to as ports.

Customs has long had a reputation of using technology, Mitchell said. The agency, under the Treasury Department, implemented computer and software interfaces with brokers in the 1980s and later in the early 1990s required computers for automated forms and direct-dial modem connections for filing to the national customs computer network.

The new computer software for the remote location filing is part of Lynden's vision for customer service, but the relationship with U.S. Customs is highly valued and part of the equation of doing business.

"U.S. Customs has ways of limiting your ability as a broker if you make mistakes," Mitchell said. "If you make too many mistakes over a period of time, you could find yourself no longer able to file electronically.

"I can clear a shipment on my computer in five minutes," Mitchell said. "Or you can type it by hand and submit it to Customs in person, and they might get you through in four or five hours; that would kill your business."