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Apparel | Newsletter |
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Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act Signed By President Bush |
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December 29, 2004 On the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004" (H.R.1047) was signed into law by President Bush on Friday, December 3, 2004, becoming Public Law No: 108-429. Customs has also issued an Implementation Summary, dated December 15, 2004. Significant Provisions Relating to Customs Protests and Mistake of Fact/Clerical Errors The Act contains significant provisions relating to entry, protest and liquidations, which apply to merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after Dec 18, 2004. See sections 2101 through 2107 of the Act. We caution that various other subparts of the Act contain their own effective dates, which may differ. Also, in some instances, affirmative actions, such as declarations or certifications, may be required of the importer (for example, in the case of some duty suspensions, certain vessel repairs and drawback) before benefits may be obtained.
The protest provisions of 19 U.S.C. 1514, which related to protests of Customs actions have been changed to 180 days after either the date of liquidation or the date of some other protestable action. Thus, for merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after December 18, 2004, the applicable protest period shall be 180 days after liquidation. It is important to note that for merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption prior to December 18, 2004, the 90-day protest period after liquidation will still be the applicable law. Thus, for example, an entry liquidating in January 2004 would still likely be subject to the 90-day protest period, because the merchandise would most likely have been entered prior to December 18, 2004.
Current provisions for correcting mistakes of fact and clerical errors (19 U.S.C. section 1520(c)) are repealed, pursuant to H.R. 1047 section 6005. These existing provisions contain a different statutory deadline (1 year from the date of liquidation or exaction), and was seen as needlessly confusing, and unnecessary if subsumed under the protest provisions. Such provisions are moved to a revised 19 U.S.C. 1514(a), which will provide for "any clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence, whether or not resulting from or contained in an electronic transmission, adverse to the importer, in any entry, liquidation, or reliquidation" Provisions Relating to Entry, Liquidation and Reliquidation Changes have been effected for the purpose of accommodating future releases of the Automated Commercial Environment.
The Act further amends 19 U.S.C. §1484(b)(1) to allow the importer of record to file reconciliations not later than 21 months after the date the importer declares his intent to files that reconciliation. The current statutory requirement is for the reconciliation to be filed within 15 months of such a declaration. In addition, the deemed liquidation period of an entry for which reconciliations are filed shall be revised to be the earlier of the date filed or the date that the reconciliation should have been filed under 19 U.S.C. section 1504(a)(4). Vessel Entry Amendments and Drawback Provisions Amended Numerous amendments are made to 19 U.S.C. sections 1313 and 1466 which are provisions related to drawback claims and vessel repair duties, respectively. The changes to vessel entries essentially allow for the non-dutiable nature of repairs made on the high-seas by regular crew, and will be applied retroactively beginning April 25, 2001. The drawback provisions in part contain provisions related to returned retail merchandise, and these provisions contain a more complex scheduling for determining the effective dates of the statue. We plan to issue further in-depth descriptions of these changes in the near future. Provisions Relating to Various Trade Programs
Other Miscellaneous Amendments Other provisions related to duty suspension and duty reductions are provided in Title I of the Act. Certain entries have also been approved for liquidation or reliquidation at duty free rates. These include various chemical and other products subject to duty reductions, or suspensions. Finally, there are a number of other programs which are amended or provided for example: a study and report relating to customs user fees; a wool trust fund; amendments to trade programs as regards intellectual property rights; provisions relating to Iraqi cultural antiques; provisions relating to cotton fabrics; and etc. If you have any questions on any of the issues raised in this newsletter, please contact George R. Tuttle, Sr. at (415) 288-0425 or via email at grt@tuttlelaw.com, or George R. Tuttle, III at (415) 288-0428 or via email at geo@tuttlelaw.com. George R. Tuttle, Sr., and George R. Tuttle, III are attorneys with the Law Offices of George R. Tuttle in San Francisco. The information in this article is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship with respect to any event or occurrence, and may not be considered as such. Copyright © 2005 by Tuttle Law Offices. All rights reserved. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our offices or by others, we do not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and are not responsible for any errors, omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of such information.
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