Prior Disclosure
Staff Report

The following information is provided by the Customs Service to help you understand the basics of prior disclosure. This provision of law provides reduced penalties to parties who advise Customs of noncompliance with import laws and regulations - before Customs discovers and notifies the party of the noncompliance. In some cases, the penalty may be reduced to zero.

Valid prior disclosures can save you time and money, but all parties (including Customs) must be aware of prior disclosure rules, and play by the rules in order to realize the benefits of this provision of law.

It is important to remember that this publication only involves prior disclosures

submitted pursuant to 19 U.S.C. §l .592.

Who may submit a prior disclosure to Customs?

Any party involved in the business of importing into the United States. This includes, but is not limited to, importers, accountants, customs brokers, exporters, shippers, foreign suppliers/ manufacturers, etc.

What is a prior disclosure?

A valid prior disclosure reveals the circumstances of a violation of 19 U.S.C. §1592. This section of law permits Customs to assess monetary penalties against parties who make material false statements, acts or omissions in connection with their importations - the material false statements, acts or omissions must result from the parties’ negligence, gross negligence or fraudulent conduct. Some typical examples of such violations include undervaluation, misdescription of merchandise, overvaluation, antidumping/countervailing duty order evasion or improper country of origin declarations or ....

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