TPP Text Targets Improved Customs Transparency, Omits Member-Wide De Minimis
Trans-Pacific Partnership party New Zealand released the heavily-anticipated full TPP text on Nov. 5. Capitol Hill critics and advocacy groups opposed to the agreement immediately lashed into the terms outlined in the text, while a range of lawmakers, including TPP proponents, urged stakeholders and the American public to scrutinize the text over the coming days. Trade Promotion Authority forces USTR to go public with the text 90 days before the president signs a TPP deal.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has so far not followed suit, choosing only to release a summary of certain chapters in the agreement, including customs and trade facilitation. The customs and facilitation text (here) targets increased customs cooperation and transparency, saying each TPP partners should “endeavor to provide each party with advance noticed of any significant administrative change, modification of a law or regulation, or similar measure related to its laws or regulations that governs importations or exportations.”
TPP ratification and entry into force would require TPP parties to publish all customs laws, regulations and procedures “online and in English, if possible” in order to improve transparency, the USTR summary (here) says. The text says all TPP countries will be able to request information from other TPP members on shipments if it a party has “a reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity.” The following criteria may constitute such as suspicion:
- historical evidence of non-compliance with laws or regulations that govern importations by an importer or exporter
- historical evidence of non-compliance with laws or regulations that govern importations by a manufacturer, producer or other person involved in the movement of goods from the territory of one Party to the territory of another Party
- historical evidence of non-compliance with laws or regulations that govern importations by some or all of the persons involved in the movement of goods within a specific product sector from the territory of one Party to the territory of another Party
- other information that the requesting Party and the Party from which the information is requested agree is sufficient in the context of a particular request.
The text lays out concrete details on advance ruling mandates. “Each party shall issue an advance ruling as expeditiously as possible and in no case later than 150 days after it receives a request, provided that the requester has submitted all the information that the receiving party requires to make the advance ruling,” the text says. “This includes a sample of the good for which the requester is seeking an advance ruling if requested by the receiving party.”
But the text includes language on automation that only encourages parties to improve. Each party should “endeavor” to “make electronic systems accessible to customs uses,” as well as other automation improvements such as automated systems for risk analysis and a common set of data elements. TPP parties agreed to keep in place country-specific rules on de minimis entry. “TPP Parties will not charge any customs duties for express shipments valued below an amount that each government will set in order to further expedite the movement of goods and reduce documentation,” says the USTR summary.
TPP parties spell out detailed commitments on penalty impartiality. “Each Party shall ensure that it maintains measures to avoid conflicts of interest in the assessment and collection of penalties and duties,” says one of the criteria. “No portion of the remuneration of a government official shall be calculated as a fixed portion or percentage of any penalties or duties assessed or collected.” The text urges release of goods “to the extent possible … within 48 hours of arrival.” International Trade Today will provide more thorough analysis of the text in the coming days.