CBP Issues Reminder of Obligations and Requirements in Completing Origin Documents
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a reminder regarding requirements and an importer’s obligation in completing certificates of origin documents for submission to CBP such as origin declarations, origin statements and certificates of origin. In CSMS #63096696, CBP clarifies that these documents must be a responsible official of importer, exporter or producer, or an authorized agent that has knowledge of the relevant facts for the declaration. In its guidance CBP stated that a consignee who is not the importer of record (IOR) may not sign these declarations. This includes parties named as the ultimate consignee on the Customs entry. CSMS #6396696 can be found at: CSMS # 63096696 – UPDATED GUIDANCE – Importer Obligation and Requirements in Completing Origin Documents – Declarations, Statements, and Certifications of Origin. The original notice, CSMS #6588866, can be found at: CSMS # 60588866 – GUIDANCE: Importer Obligation & Requirements in completing Origin documents – Declarations, Statements, and Certifications of Origin
Senator Wyden Introduces a Bill on De Minimis Restrictions
Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden has introduced a bill that would remove goods subject to 301 duties and goods determined to be import sensitive under GSP for qualifying for release under de minimis qualifications. The bill, called Fighting for America Act of 2024 (S.5324), would legislate much of what President Biden included in his Presidential Executive Order a few weeks ago to reduce the number of de minimis shipments flooding the country, It also calls for the inclusion of a 10-digit HTSUS number to be added to the data requirements that accompanies each de minimis shipment to help CBP better evaluate the review of the shipments coming in under Section 321.
Lacey Phase VII Will Begin Enforcement
On December 1, 2024, the US Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) will begin the implementation of Phase VII of the Lacey Act. This means that CBP will have a tariff flag added for potential Lacey Act products for about 450 HTSUS numbers. Importers will need to know if the products contain any wood or agriculture materials for Lacey enforcement. The full list of products is to be included in Phase VII. A full list of regulated products can be found in a May 31 Federal register linked here:
If you would like additional information about the Lacey Act and Phase VII, You can go to this link: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-imports/file-lacey-act-declaration.
UFLPA Entity List is Now Up to 107 Companies
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has added 29 companies to the UFLPA entities list whose goods cannot be entered into the United States. There are 24 companies that deal with mining and ore processing, one deals with electronic and aluminum alloy products, and the other 24 deal with agriculture products. This brings the total to 107 companies. The number of shipments stopped by CBP in October was 557 with a value of $38 million.