U.S. Customs
 
November 19, 2001
 

• U.S. Customs has provided guidelines on its updated procedures resulting from the events of September 11, 2001 (updated as of 9:00 AM, November 07, 2001):

Duty Payment Policy

• The Customs Service is declaring a Snow Day policy that will cover the period from September 11, 2001, through October 2, 2001. ACH Filers who feel that their circumstances warrant coverage under this extended Snow Day policy should immediately contact their assigned Client Representative. Non-ACH payments should continue to be presented locally and Snow Day determinations will be made at each port.

Filing of Entry Documents at New York

• SILs, PEAs, formal and informal entries, entry summaries and protests, that were originally filed in the Port of New York (1001) should now be submitted in Customs Ports of Newark (4601) and/or JFK (4701). Any reconciliation entries for port 1001 will be accepted at 4601 only. All entries originally designated as 1001 should remain 1001. All ABI transmissions should follow this same principle.

Filing Procedures for Protests, Requests for Administrative Review, SILs and PEAs

• Due to the loss of entry summary documents at 6 World Trade Center, new filings of protests, requests for administrative review and Supplemental Information Letters must be accompanied by a copy of the summary document(s) ("reconstructed entry"). Additionally, new Post Entry Amendments that relate to revenue issues for the above entry summaries also must be accompanied by a copy of the summary document(s). Appeals will be processed according to the port of unlading, i.e., the port code identified on the entry summary.

• For those protests and requests for administrative review that were filed on or prior to September 11, 2001, U.S. Customs advises importers to wait for the Agency’s notification on how to reconstruct these claims and their associated entry summaries.

• For Supplemental Information Letters filed on or prior to September 11, 2001, a copy of the claim must be resubmitted and labeled "Duplicate." To avoid any processing delay, importers are advised to also submit a copy of the entry summary. Alternatively, if there is little time remaining within the one-year liquidation period, Customs recommends that importers wait until the liquidation occurs. A protest may then be filed with the appropriate Area, as explained above.

Vessel Repair Entry Summaries

• All Vessel Repair entry summaries that were previously filed at 6 World Trade Center, should be filed at the U.S. Customs Service, 1210 Corbin Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201, Attn: Marine Unit. Filers should use port code 4601 on these entries.

Bulletin Notices of Liquidation (BNOL)

• On September 14, 2001, the BNOL for the entire Port of New York was posted at Building 77, JFK International Airport. On September 21, 28, and October 5, the BNOL was posted at both JFK International Airport and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Effective October 12, 2001, the BNOL will be posted at only one of the two Customs sites, based on the port code under which the listed shipments were entered.

Bonds (CF301)

• Effective immediately, Bonds, Riders, and terminations may be filed at either US Customs at 1210 Corbin Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201, attention Bond Desk or at US Customs at JFK Airport, Building 77, Jamaica, NY 11430, attention Branch D.

Drawback Entries

• Instructions for the reconstruction of drawback entries for Port 1001 will be forthcoming.

• Drawback entries normally filed for Port 1001 must be filed with the Entry Division at Newark location.

Reconciliation Entries

• Hard copies of reconciliation spreadsheet information, diskettes, and supporting entry documentation designated for port 1001 or 4601 should be mailed to the Entry Section / Reconciliation Desk at the Newark location.

• Filers who utilize the above temporary method of filing for NAFTA reconciliation entries must ensure that Customs receives all three components within 12 months of import date for the claim to be accepted timely.

Enforcement of Time Limits

• The suspension of enforcement of time limits will be lifted effective October 5, 2001. Any merchandise arriving on or after October 5, 2001, will be subject to the 15-day lay-order period and the 20-day reporting limit established by Customs Regulations. Customs officers will enforce the time limits on this merchandise. Merchandise that arrived prior to October 5, 2001, will still be granted the 15-day suspension of time limit enforcement.

Statement Processing

• Effective November 12, 2001, all NY, JFK, or Newark Statements (both ACH and check payments), with the exception of statements involving reconciliations, should indicate the processing port where the statement is actually to be filed. 1001 will be used as the processing port for statements involving reconciliation summaries only. However, it is understood that some filers may not be able to comply with this, pending reprogramming of their computer software, and for an unstated period of time Customs will not reject statements because they have the wrong port processing code.

Customs Addresses in the New York Area

• New York Strategic Trade Center: U.S. Customs Service, Strategic Trade Center, 1 Penn Plaza, 11^th Floor, New York, NY 10119

• JFK Airport: Building 77, JFK Airport, Jamaica, NY 11430, 718-553-1750

• NY/Newark Area: 1210 Corbin Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201, 201-443-0110

• New York Customs Management Center: U.S. Customs Service, 1 Penn Plaza, 11^th Floor, New York, NY 10119

The above information is only a summary of the updated Customs procedures. For more information, please visit the U.S. Customs Web site at http://www.customs.ustreas.gov or consult your Holland & Knight customs attorney.

• The U.S. Customs has amended its regulations to reflect the addition of two preclearance facilities at Orangestad, Aruba, and at Ottawa, Canada. This makes a current total of 11 preclearance facilities operating in both Canada and the Caribbean. Preclearance facilities primarily serve to facilitate low-risk passengers and to relieve passenger congestion at federal inspection facilities in the United States. In most cases, U.S. bound passengers who are precleared in either Canada or the Caribbean are permitted to arrive at a U.S. domestic facility and either directly connect to a U.S. domestic flight or leave the airport. Additionally, all preclearance operations are being consolidated under a single Director, Preclearance, located in the Office of Field Operations at Customs Headquarters.

• U.S. Customs has issued proposed amendments to the Customs Regulations to allow an importer of record, under certain conditions, to submit a single entry to cover multiple portions of a single shipment, which was split by the carrier, and arrives in the United States separately. The proposed amendments would implement statutory changes made to the merchandise entry laws by the Tariff Suspension and Trade Act of 2000. The public is invited to submit comments on or before January 15, 2002. The proposed amendments are discussed in the Federal Register of Friday, November 16, 2001 (66 FR 57688 – 57692).

• U.S. Customs has announced a deadline extension for customs brokers participating in the remote location filing (RLF) prototype to submit national permit numbers to Customs. Due to the recent disruptions in mail service to Customs Headquarters, the deadline for submitting this data to Customs Headquarters has been extended from November 6, 2001 to December 6, 2001.

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