§10.255. Filing of claim for preferential treatment. — 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.

(4) Tuna prepared or preserved in any manner in airtight containers, except as otherwise provided in §§ 10.251 through 10.257.

When used in §§ 10.251 through 10.257, the following terms have the meanings indicated:

(a) Each importer claiming preferential treatment for an article under § 10.255 must maintain in the United States, in accordance with the provisions of part 163 of this chapter, all records relating to the importation of the article. Those records must include the original Certificate of Origin referred to in § 10.255(a) and any other relevant documents or other records as specified in § 163.1(a) of this chapter.

(a) A claim for preferential treatment made under § 10.255, including any statements or other information contained on a Certificate of Origin submitted to Customs under § 10.256, 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 Customs 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.

(a) Each importer claiming preferential treatment for an article under § 10.255 must maintain in the United States, in accordance with the provisions of part 163 of this chapter, all records relating to the importation of the article. Those records must include the original Certificate of Origin referred to in § 10.255(a) and any other relevant documents or other records as specified in § 163.1(a) of this chapter.