§10.246. Maintenance of records and submission of Certificate by importer. — Inbound Citations

Title II of Pub. L. 102-182 (105 Stat. 1233), entitled the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) and codified at 19 U.S.C. 3201 through 3206, authorizes the President to proclaim duty-free treatment for all eligible articles from any beneficiary country and to designate countries as beneficiary countries. The provisions of §§ 10.202 through 10.207 set forth the legal requirements and procedures that apply for purposes of obtaining that duty-free treatment for certain articles from a beneficiary country which are identified for purposes of that treatment in General Note 11, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), and in the “Special” rate of duty column of the HTSUS. Provisions regarding preferential treatment of apparel and other textile articles under the ATPA are contained in §§ 10.241 through 10.248, and provisions regarding preferential treatment of tuna and certain other non-textile articles under the ATPA are contained in §§ 10.251 through 10.257.

(1) Textiles and apparel articles which were not eligible articles for purposes of the ATPA on January 1, 1994, as the ATPA was in effect on that date, except as otherwise provided in §§ 10.241 through 10.248;

Title XXXI of Public Law 107-210 (116 Stat. 933), entitled the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), amended sections 202, 203, 204, and 208 of the Andean Trade Preference Act (the ATPA, 19 U.S.C. 3201-3206) to authorize the President to extend additional trade benefits to countries that are designated as beneficiary countries under the ATPA. Section 204(b)(3) of the ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3203(b)(3)) provides for the preferential treatment of certain apparel and other textile articles from those ATPA beneficiary countries which the President designates as ATPDEA beneficiary countries. The provisions of §§ 10.241 through 10.248 of this part set forth the legal requirements and procedures that apply for purposes of obtaining preferential treatment pursuant to ATPA section 204(b)(3) and Subchapter XXI, Chapter 98, HTSUS.

When used in §§ 10.241 through 10.248, the following terms have the meanings indicated:

(2) If the Center director determines that an importation described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section forms part of a series of importations that may reasonably be considered to have been undertaken or arranged for the purpose of avoiding a Certificate of Origin requirement under §§ 10.244 through 10.246, the Center director will notify the importer in writing that for that importation the importer must have in his possession a valid Certificate of Origin to support the claim for preferential treatment. The importer will have 30 calendar days from the date of the written notice to obtain a valid Certificate of Origin, and a failure to timely obtain the Certificate of Origin will result in denial of the claim for preferential treatment. For purposes of this paragraph, a “series of importations” means two or more entries covering articles arriving on the same day from the same exporter and consigned to the same person.

(a) A claim for preferential treatment made under § 10.245, including any statements or other information contained on a Certificate of Origin submitted to CBP under § 10.246, will be subject to whatever verification the Center director deems necessary. In the event that the Center director for any reason is prevented from verifying the claim, the Center director may deny the claim for preferential treatment. A verification of a claim for preferential treatment may involve, but need not be limited to, a review of:

(1) All records required to be made, kept, and made available to CBP by the importer or any other person under part 163 of this chapter;

(2) Documentation and other information regarding the country of origin of an article and its constituent materials, including, but not limited to, production records, information relating to the place of production, the number and identification of the types of machinery used in production, and the number of workers employed in production; and

(3) Evidence to document the use of U.S. or ATPDEA beneficiary country materials in the production of the article in question, such as purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading and other shipping documents, and customs import and clearance documents.

(14) Block 15 should be completed if the Certificate is intended to cover multiple shipments of identical articles as described in block 4 that are imported into the United States during a specified period of up to one year (see § 10.246(b)(4)(ii)). The “from” date is the date on which the Certificate became applicable to the article covered by the blanket Certificate (this date may be prior to the date reflected in block 14). The “to” date is the date on which the blanket period expires; and

(a) In connection with a claim for preferential treatment for an apparel or other textile article described in § 10.243, the importer must make a written declaration that the article qualifies for that treatment. The inclusion on the entry summary, or equivalent documentation, of the subheading within Chapter 98 of the HTSUS under which the article is classified will constitute the written declaration. Except in any of the circumstances described in § 10.246(d)(1), the declaration required under this paragraph must be based on a Certificate of Origin that has been completed and properly executed in accordance with § 10.244, that covers the article being imported, and that is in the possession of the importer.