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Certifying for Release via Entry Summary on
multiple Ultimate Consignee Shipments
January 10, 2005
U.S.
Customs has issued a National Directive that they will no longer allow
entry filers (brokers) to "certify for release via entry summary" on
multiple Ultimate Consignee shipments. This process allowed U.S.
Customs Brokers to just declare the highest valued Ultimate
Consignee. U.S. Brokers have been using the process for some
clients. Customs has not put a stop to this work-around and made the
new directive retroactive to January 1, 2005.
Effective immediately, each item going to each Ultimate Consignee must
be declared separately to Customs. Remember, the Customs definition
of Ultimate Consignee is, "The party in the U.S. to whom the foreign
company sold the imported merchandise" (meaning the buyer). Therefore
if there are multiple buyers and multiple actual consignees on a
single shipment, each item for each buyer has to be transmitted
separately to Customs in order for goods to be released. Further,
when the shipment shows up at the border, the physical paperwork also
needs to list the actual consignees in addition to the Ultimate
Consignees (buyers).
Shippers should change paperwork in reporting correct information
immediately.
Also keep in mind MULTIPLE ULTIMATE
CONSIGNEES
& shipment that are NOT subject to FDA-PN, each line valued at or over
$2000 needs an Ultimate Consignee with a valid IRS#
and each line valued under $2000 needs a consignee listed with a name
and address (IRS# is optional).
Carriers, this also means separate transactions requiring separate
advance cargo reporting.
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Front Page
CBP Changes Policy on Remote Filing for Textile
Entries
15 FEb 2005,
ST&R
US Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) recently issued a memorandum to its field
offices (TBT-05-003) regarding remote filing for textile entries. CBP
announced that, effective February 11, filers may utilize Remote
Location Filing (RLF) or the Electronic Invoice Program (EIP) for
Entry Type 01 textile entries if certain requirements are met. This
marks a change in CBP’s policy regarding submission of textile country
of origin declaration.
CBP’s regulations require that an appropriate textile country of
origin declaration accompany all importations of textiles and textile
products. However, CBP has found a method by which such declarations
can be collected for the purpose of facilitating participation in RLF
and EIP, which allow the electronic transmission of entries from a
location within the US other than the port of arrival or location of
examination. Specifically, RLF and EIP entries for textile merchandise
must indicate in the electronic invoice transmission, through the use
of certain codes, that a textile country of origin declaration is on
file and is readily available to CBP upon request.
For textile entries using these new procedures, if CBP requests the
paper submission of the textile country of origin declaration, the
filer must provide it immediately. Failure to respond to CBP’s request
may result in the discontinuation of entries being processed via RLF/EIP
for that filer. CBP also warns that a pattern of making incorrect
origin claims or classification determinations that result in the
circumvention of a safeguard or other admissibility restraint may
result in the discontinuation of entries being processed via RLF/EIP
for that filer.
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Front Page
U.S. Customs drops C-TPAT requirement for ACE
02 Feb 2005,
CSCB
The following
article is excerpted from the 2 February 2005 edition of "American
Shipper".
Participation in
the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism [C-TPAT] is no longer
a prerequisite for importers and their brokers who want to establish
an account in the Automated Commercial Environment or participate in
further development tests of the new automated system for processing
trade data, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
CBP officials
first disclosed in January during the Customs Trade Symposium their
intent to open the periodic monthly payment system to all importers by
removing the C-TPAT requirement. Access to ACE was held out as a
benefit for importers for joining C-TPAT and taking steps to follow
best practices for securing their supply chains. C-TPAT participation
was never a requirement for carriers who filed commercial shipping
data through ACE.
Customs officials
said the change was made because they want to encourage more importers
to use ACE, which is designed to streamline communications between the
trade and U.S. government agencies, and enhance border security.
CBP said it wants
to get as many companies involved with ACE now so that the system
works smoothly when the current computer system is eventually phased
out and ACE becomes mandatory. Import and export entries are processed
through the legacy computer on a transaction basis and all fees must
be paid within 10 days after the goods are released by Customs. ACE
marks a significant change in business because importers, brokers and
carriers are billed and can pay duties, taxes and fees on a monthly
basis.
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Stricter C-TPAT to offer
prompt clearance
January 14, 2005
Importers that adhere to the very best security
practices will get long-promised expedited clearance for their cargo
before the end of the year, according to Robert C. Bonner,
Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.
Bonner told reporters...that his agency plans to take its
Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism to a higher level by
offering what he called "C-TPAT-Plus" companies that have gone beyond
the minimal requirements for the anti-terror program immediate
clearance of cargo on arrival in the U.S.
Bonner was the keynote speaker at the agency's fifth trade symposium.
"My vision is to provide them this year with the "green lane", and
that means no inspections upon arrival, immediate release, because we
have validated that they in fact are using the best supply-chain practices," Bonner said.
Those practices include validated supply-chain security from the point
of origin at a foreign manufacturer; the use of a "smart" container
equipped with high-security seal and internal sensors to detect
tampering, and shipment through a port.... that participates in
Customs' Container Security Initiative.
Those steps "sufficiently removes the risk, that we are better off
devoting our inspectional resources to non-C-TPAT shipments or less
secure shipments," Bonner said. He declined to predict how many
containers may get the green lane treatment by the end of the year.
Importers may still have containers stopped for random inspections, or
if there is tactical intelligence that a container should be
inspected.
Participants in C-TPAT generally may expect to meet more demanding
"security criteria," although Bonner avoided calling them standards.
The agency released a new C-TPAT Strategy, which has been derived in
part from the draft standards that Customs began circulating among
industry leaders last October.
However, Bonner said that the C-TPAT benefits will increase along with
the government's expectations. He said a C-TPAT company is six times
less likely to have its cargo stopped for security, and four times
less likely to be inspected for trade-compliance reasons than a non-C-TPAT
company.
Bonner said Customs will issue C-TPAT "annual statements" to
participants to show financially how companies have benefited from the
program.
This article was extracted
from the January 13, 2005 Edition of "The Journal of Commerce".
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