Reminder on CBP's "Uniform Procedure" on the Detention Timeframes for Textiles and Apparel
On July 17, 2002, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice containing guidance on the detention timeframes for textiles and wearing apparel under 19 CFR 151.16 and 19 USC 1499(c), which CBP sources state is still current policy.
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(Both 19 CFR 151.16 and 19 USC 1499(c) pertain to CBP's detention of merchandise in general, and are not specific to textiles and apparel.)
CBP states that its notice presents the legal requirements for uniform procedure in the detention process for textiles and apparel country of origin claims at all ports. The following are highlights of this procedure:
CBP must decide whether to detain merchandise within 5 days. According to CBP, once a shipment is presented for examination, CBP must decide whether to detain the merchandise within five business days. If CBP does not release the merchandise within five business days of the date the merchandise is presented for examination, the merchandise shall be considered to be detained (deemed detained).
If merchandise is detained, the port must issue a "Notice of Detention" to the importer and any other person having interest in the disposition of the merchandise no later than five business days after such detention.
Information requested in a detention notice must be submitted within 30 days. CBP explains that if it does not make a final determination regarding the admissibility of merchandise within 30 days after the merchandise has been presented for CBP examination, or such longer period, if specifically authorized by law, the merchandise is excluded by operation of law. Therefore, if a detention notice requests additional information, the importer has only 30 days to submit that information to the detaining officer.
CBP notes that if the importer submits the requested information near the end of the detention period, the entry may be excluded if the detaining officer cannot sufficiently review the information within the 30 days.
CBP adds that ports will not provide any minimum time frame for when the additional information must be submitted. In addition, CBP states that it is understood that if the additional information is not submitted, or if the port does not complete review of the additional information within the 30 days, the shipment will be deemed excluded.
Importer has 90 days to protest an exclusion. CBP states that if merchandise is excluded, the importer has 90 days to protest the exclusion. By statute, if a protest against a decision to exclude has not been allowed or denied in whole or in part before the 30th day after the day the protest was filed, the protest shall be treated as having been denied. If the protest is denied, the importer can then summons that decision to court.
According to CBP, it can review documents submitted to substantiate production after the merchandise has been deemed excluded; however, the 90 days the importer has to file a protest begins once the merchandise has been deemed excluded. CBP should review all the documents that are submitted with the protest within 30 days of submission of the protest, and CBP should not allow a protest to be denied by operation of law without reviewing the documents submitted with the protest.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 07/25/02 news, 02072517, for previous BP summary of this CBP notice.)
CBP contact - Robert Abels (202) 927-1959
TBT-02-006 (dated 07/17/02) available at http://www.cbp.gov/ImageCache/cgov/content/import/textiles/tbt/tbt2002/tbt_2d02_2d006_2edoc/v1/tbt_2d02_2d006.doc; also issued as Adm: 02-0912 (dated 07/19/02)