The following is a checklist regarding the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rules and requirements that importers of maquila shipments need to be aware of.

      Under Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free trade Agreement Implementation Act, importers are responsible for correctly valuing, classifying and determining the country of origin of their importations into the United States.   Importers who make mistakes in their importation documentation may be penalized under Title 19 USC §1592 if it is determined that they did not exercise reasonable care as required by Title 19 § 1484 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.   In order to ensure that your company is in full compliance with the rules and regulations of importing into the United States, I suggest you review the following items as they apply to your own particular situation.

Important notice on advance notification

      Implementation of the advance notification final rule is now in effect requiring electronic pre-notification of arrival of all cargo carried by any mode of transportation.  This pre-notification is required one hour (non-FAST) or + hour (FAST Participant) prior to arrival at the U.S. port.     Remember to include the Mexican carrier’s SCAC code on all commercial invoices.

General requirements

      Ensure your Customs continuous bond and/or Reconciliation bond rider is not about to expire.

      •Review the status of all open Temporary Importation Bonds (TIBs); ensure that none of the TIBs are about to expire.

      •If you import goods into the United States that are marked with a trade mark or trade name that is not registered to your company, you should have a letter issued by the owner of the trade marked or trade named goods authorizing your company to import the goods into the United States. A copy of the letter should be given to your U.S. customs broker and the Customs import specialist team assigned to your account.

Commercial invoices

      A commercial invoice, prepared by the maquila is acceptable for customs purposes provided it is prepared in accordance with §141.86, Customs Regulations.  Special  information may

be required on certain goods or classes

of goods in addition to the information normally required on the invoice.  The special information is found is §141.89

of the Customs Regulations.

      Are special programs (NAFTA; Assembly 9802.00.80; Repair/Alteration 9802,00.50; American Goods Returned 9801.00.10) annotated on the invoice?

      Is the country of origin of each article annotated?

      Does the name of a responsible employee with knowledge of the relevant facts appear on the invoice?

      If the imported merchandise is appraised under the computed value method is that fact  reflected in the commercial invoice?

HTSUS classification requirements

      §152.11 Customs Regulations states that all merchandise imported into the U.S. shall be classified in accordance with the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States as interpreted by administrative and judicial rulings. 

      Ensure that the HTSUS classification numbers covering your importations into the U.S. are correct by establishing reliable procedures to ensure you provide correct classifications for your merchandise. Don’t assume the HTSUS numbers you used in the past are correct.   Because of court decisions and BCP revocations of administrative rulings, numerous HTSUS classifications that in the past were considered to be correct are now incorrect.   Under the U.S. Customs Reasonable Care Checklist, importers must review all transactions for accuracy if performed by other parties.

Customs valuation requirements

      Importers are required to include in the commercial invoice submitted to Customs the customs value of the imported merchandise.  The valuation provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 are found in section 402, as amended by the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

      Ensure all goods imported into the United States are valued in accordance with the valuation principles stipulated in the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 and implemented in §152 Customs Regulations.

      If your importations are valued using estimated and/or standard costs you are required to submit periodic value reconciliations.

      If you are participating in the ACS Reconciliation Prototype, determine if any of your consumption entries were flagged during January 2005.   Remember, you have 21 months from the date of the earliest flagged consumption entry to file the Reconciliation Entry.  Importers who file late Reconciliation Entries are subject to liquidated damages.  The U.S. Customs ACS Reconciliation Prototype Operations Handbook states that the ACS Reconciliation Prototype is the exclusive means to reconcile entries for Value (19 USC1484 (b). Previous methods of making post-entry adjustments such as “Block Appraisement” by presenting a Computed Value Cost Submission (CF 247) are no longer permitted.

NAFTA requirements

      Goods produced in Mexico that satisfy Article 401 of the NAFTA are allowed to enter the U.S. as originating goods subject to preferential tariff treatment provided the importer has a valid NAFTA Certificate of Origin issued by the maquila at the time of importation.

      Review all NAFTA Certificates of Origin executed by the maquila to ensure the blanket reporting period of the Certificate has not expired.

      Recalculate the de minimis and RVC percentages of all goods using updated costs.

      Because of issues such as devaluations of the peso, changes in purchase price, and possible changes in the NAFTA status of materials, it is imperative you ensure all goods you have originated using de minimis or by satisfying a RVC requirement, continue to qualify as originating.

      If you originated goods by satisfying a Regional Value Content requirement under the Net Cost Method using estimated and/or standard costs, you are required under PART III, Section 6 (20) NAFTA Rules of Origin Regulations to recalculate the RVC percentage of those goods using actual costs.

      Ensure all goods covered by NAFTA Certificates of Origin continue to satisfy the requirements of Article 401 of the NAFTA before you enter the goods into the United States as originating goods.

      If you qualified a good using NAFTA Preference Criterion B, ensure the specific rule of origin stipulated in GN 12(t), HTSUS has not changed or that your company has not switched sourcing of critical materials from NAFTA originating to non-originating.

      If you qualified a good using NAFTA Preference Criterion C, ensure that you have valid NAFTA Certificates of Origin covering each material incorporated into the good.

      Request new NAFTA Certificates of Origin from your suppliers in North America covering all materials that you have claimed to be originating.  This is extremely important for any material that must originate in order for your good to originate.

      Ensure that you have a valid NAFTA Certificate of Origin in your possession before you import goods into the United States claiming the benefits of NAFTA.

      Don’t forget to file a NAFTA Post Importation Duty Refund claim for goods that were entered as non-originating and you have subsequently determined they satisfied the NAFTA Rules of Origin.  Remember, you have 12 months from the date of importation to file a NAFTA Post Importation Duty Refund claim and receive a refund of duty and Merchandise Processing Fee.

      Make an indicator on the commercial invoice that is presented to Customs, such as MX or NAFTA, next to each good that satisfies the NAFTA Rules of Origin as stipulated in Article 401 of the agreement which you desire to be entered as an originating good and claim the benefits of NAFTA.

      If you have issued a NAFTA Certificate for a good for a blanket period and have determined it is no longer eligible, you must advise each person to whom you issued the NAFTA Certificate of  this change in eligibility.

Preferential Tariff Provision 9801.00.10, HTSUS, Requirements

      Articles of U.S.-origin sent to Mexico and subsequently returned to the U.S. are allowed duty-free entry into the U.S. under preferential tariff provision 9802.00.10, HTSUS,  provided they were not advanced in value or improved in condition while in Mexico and the statutory requirements of §10.1 Customs Regulations are satisfied.

      Determine that the product is of U.S.-origin and that it was not advanced in value or improved in condition while in Mexico.

      Ensure you have documentary evidence in the form of a NAFTA Certificate of Origin or a Manufacturer’s Affidavit issued by the producer of the goods stating the goods being returned to the U.S. are products of the United States.

      If the value of the American good being returned is $2,000 or more ensure the required Declaration by the Foreign Shipper and the Declaration by the U.S. Importer is attached to the commercial invoice.

Preferential Tariff Provision 9802.00.50, HTSUS, Requirementstc "Preferential Tariff Provision 9802.00.50, HTSUS, Requirements"

      Articles sent to Mexico to be repaired or altered are allowed duty-free entry into the United States under preferential tariff provision 9802.00.50 provided they satisfy all of the statutory requirements of §10.8  Customs Regulations.

      Ensure that the articles sent to Mexico for repair or alteration either are of United States origin, or, if of foreign origin, they have been formally entered into the commerce of the U.S. and any duties due have been paid before being shipped to Mexico.

      Ensure the required Declaration by the person who performed the repairs or alterations and the Declaration by the importer in the U.S. is attached to the U.S. commercial invoice.

      Ensure that the dutiable value of the imported articles is determined in accordance with §10.8, Customs Regulations.

      Ensure the repair or alteration performed in Mexico is not considered by BCP to be further processing or operations performed on a product that had never been completed for its intended use.

Preferential Tariff Provision 9802.00.80, HTSUS, Requirements     

      Preferential Tariff Provision 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides for articles to be assembled in Mexico and when returned to the United States, customs duties are assessed on the customs value of the article less the cost of the U.S. –fabricated components incorporated into the article.

      Request Manufacturer’s Affidavits from your suppliers in the United States for all components declared to be U.S.-made and eligible for the duty exemption under tariff item 9802.00.80, HTSUS.

      Update all Assembly Description Forms submitted to Customs. The Customs Service requires that Assembly Description Forms be updated at least once a year (Customs Regulation §10.21 requires this every six months) or whenever there is a change in the country of origin of a component from U.S. to foreign.

      Send the import specialist team a new Master List of Assemblies.

      Ensure the individual who signed the Foreign Assemblers Declaration is still with the company and continues to serve in the same capacity.

      Ensure the U.S. components used in your Mexican assemblies are (a) exported in a condition ready for assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their physical identity by change in form shape or otherwise (c) have not been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and except by operations incidental to assembly.

Determination of Country of Origin

      Importers are required to include in the commercial invoice submitted to Customs the country of origin of the imported articles. The country of origin of goods produced in Mexico must be determined in accordance with the NAFTA Rules of Origin stipulated in Part 102, Customs Regulations.

      Ensure the country of origin appearing on your U.S. commercial invoices is correct as per Part 102 of the U.S. Customs Regulations - The NAFTA Rules of Origin.    Don’t assume the country of origin of all articles produced in Mexico is “Mexico”, since not all goods produced in Mexico are considered to be products of Mexico.

Country of Origin Markings

      Part 134, Customs Regulations requires all imported articles to be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article permits, with the English name of the country of origin of the article, to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the name of the country of origin in which the article was manufactured or produced.

      Ensure that the goods produced in Mexico are properly marked in accordance with Part 134 U.S Customs Regulations.

      Ensure that exceptions to the requirements of country of origin markings approved by Customs have not expired.  Customs requires that all country of origin marking waivers be resubmitted yearly for approval.

      Ensure if the words “United States,” or “American,” the letters “U.S.A.” or the names of any city or locality in the United States, or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced appear on the imported article or its container, there appear in close proximity to such words, letters or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin of the good preceded by the legend “Product of,” “Made in,” or words of similar meaning.

      If the imported articles will be repackaged in the U.S. and the articles are not individually marked with their country of origin, ensure you have provided the U.S. Customs Service Port Director the required “Letter of Certification”. 

      If the articles you import into the U.S. are not marked with their country of origin and any of your clients located in the U.S. may repackage the imported merchandise, make sure you send your client the “Notice to Subsequent Purchasers” as required by § 134.26 of the U.S. Customs Regulations. 

Record keeping Requirements

      Part 163 U.S. Customs Regulations sets forth the recordkeeping requirements and procedures governing the maintenance, production, inspection, and examination of records.

      Ensure that all records appearing in the Appendix to part 163 of Customs Regulations -known as the (a) (1) (A) list] - that apply to your importations into the U.S. are kept in a manner that will allow the company to provide a listed record to Customs within 30 calendar days of demand.

      All records listed in the “(a) (1) (A) List’ must be maintained for a period of five years.  Under the Mod Act, importers who do not present a listed document within 30 calendar days of receipt of a demand may be penalized.

Customs compliance manual

      If your company does not have an Import Compliance/ Procedures Manual you need to develop one. With the introduction of the Focused Assessment Program (F.A), it is more important than ever for importers to have a comprehensive procedures manual and written documentation of import processes.  As part of the Pre-Assessment Survey, BCP auditors evaluate the importer’s internal controls over Customs operations. During a F.A. Customs auditors will be looking for formalized written import procedures.