[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 184 (Friday, September 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49528-49529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24119]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Customs Service
Delayed Processing of Renewed Generalized System of Preferences
Duty-Free Claims
AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.
ACTION: General notice.
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SUMMARY: The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a renewable
preferential trade program that allows the eligible products of
designated developing countries to directly enter the United States
free of duty. The provisions of the GSP program expired at midnight on
July 31, 1995; however, the provisions were recently renewed--beginning
October 1, 1996, with retroactive effect to August 1, 1995--by the GSP
Renewal Act of 1996 (the 1996 Act). This document provides notice to
importers that claims for duty-free treatment under the GSP will be
accepted for articles entered on or after October 1, 1996, and sets
forth a duty refund procedure for merchandise entered between July 31,
1995, and September 30, 1996, that became eligible for GSP treatment
under the retroactive provisions of the 1996 Act. This document also
advises the public that certain designated products from Pakistan, for
which the U.S. Tade Representative has recommended to the President
that GSP eligibility be suspended, will not be entitled to duty-free
treatment if entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on
or after July 1, 1996, notwithstanding the retroactive provisions of
the 1996 Act.
DATES: The plan for delayed payment of refunds with interest set forth
in this document will become effective as of October 1, 1996. Customs
expects the processing of refunds to take from four to eight weeks for
certain, formal Automated Broker Interface (ABI) entries.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general operational questions:
Formal entries
Carol Argentine, 202-927-0021
Informal entries
Mike Craig, 202-927-0156
Mail entries
Dan Norman, 202-927-0542
Passenger claims
Robert Jacksta, 202-927-1311
For specific questions relating to the Automated Commercial
Systems: Irv Fisher, Office of Information and Technology, 202-927-
0241.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 501 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the 1974 Act), as amended (19
U.S.C. 2461), authorizes the President to establish a Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) to provide duty-free treatment for eligible
articles imported directly from designated beneficiary countries for
specific time periods. Sections 502(a) and 503(a) of the 1974 Act, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 2462(a) and 2463(a)), authorize the President to
designate beneficiary developing countries and articles eligible for
duty-free treatment under the GSP by Executive Order or Presidential
Proclamation. Pursuant to section 504 of the 1974 Act, as amended (19
U.S.C. 2464), the President has authority, under certain circumstances,
to withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment
under the GSP. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2465(a), as amended by section 601
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, 19 U.S.C. 2465 note, Pub.L. 103-
465, 108 Stat. 4990 (1994), duty-free treatment under the GSP program
expired on July 31, 1995.
On August 20, 1996, the President signed the Small Business Job
Protection Act of 1996 (Pub.L. 104-188, 110 Stat. 1755), Subtitle J of
Title I of which contains provisions entitled the GSP Renewal Act of
1996 (the 1996 Act, 110 Stat. 1917). The 1996 Act provides that GSP
duty-free treatment will apply to eligible articles from designated
beneficiary countries that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,
for consumption on or after October 1, 1996, through May 31, 1997, and
also that GSP duty-free treatment will have certain retroactive
applications to articles entered after July 31, 1995, and before
October 1, 1996, as follows:
(1) Articles entered during the period August 1, 1995-December 31,
1995, are eligible for duty-free treatment if the articles would have
been eligible for GSP treatment if entered on July 31, 1995; and
(2) Articles entered during the period January 1, 1996-September
30, 1996, are eligible for duty-free treatment if the articles would
have been eligible for GSP treatment if entered after September 30,
1996.
Regarding the retroactive provisions, the 1996 Act further provides
that, not before October 1, 1996, Customs shall liquidate or
reliquidate entries made during the period August 1, 1995-September 30,
1996, and refund any duties collected with interest, provided that a
request for liquidation or reliquidation is filed with Customs by
February 16, 1997, i.e., within 180 days after the date of the 1996
Act's enactment, that contains sufficient information to enable Customs
to locate the entry or to reconstruct the entry if it cannot be
located.
Recognizing the impact that retroactive renewal and consequent
numerous reliquidations will have on both importers and Customs,
Customs has developed a mechanism to facilitate refunds that will be
implemented on October 1, 1996.
[[Page 49529]]
Duty-Free Entry Summaries
Effective October 1, 1996, filers again will be entitled to file
GSP eligible entry summaries without the payment of estimated duties.
Up until that time, however, estimated duties at the most-favored-
nation rate must be deposited, or a claim may be made under another
preferential program for which the merchandise qualifies (for example,
the Andean Trade Preference Act, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, or the
U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Agreement).
Refunds With Interest
A. Formal Entries
Customs will liquidate or reliquidate all affected entry summaries
and refund any duties deposited for items denominated on the GSP line.
Field locations shall not issue GSP refunds except as instructed to do
so by Customs Headquarters.
If an ABI entry summary was or will be filed with payment of
estimated duties using the Special Program Indicator (SPI) for the GSP
(the letter ``A'') as a prefix to the tariff number, no further action
by the filer is required; filings with the SPI ``A'' will be treated as
conforming requests for refunds.
Non-ABI filers who either did or did not request a refund by using
the SPI ``A'' must request a refund in writing from the Port Director
at the port of entry by February 16, 1997. The letter may cover either
single entry summaries or all entry summaries filed by an individual
filer at a single port. To expedite refunds, Customs recommends the
following information be included in each letter:
1. A statement requesting a refund, as provided by section 1953 of
the GSP Renewal Act of 1996;
2. An enumeration of the entry numbers and line items for which
refunds are requested; and
3. The amount requested to be refunded for each line item and the
total amount owed for all entry summaries.
Interest on duties deposited will be paid, pursuant to section 505
of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1505), based on the
quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate
interest on refunds of Customs duties as follows:
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Percent
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July 1, 1995-Mar. 31, 1996..................................... 8
Apr. 1, 1996-June 30, 1996..................................... 7
July 1, 1996-Dec. 31, 1996..................................... 8
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B. Informal Entries
Refunds with interest on informal entries filed via ABI on a
Customs Form 7501 with the SPI ``A'' will be processed in accordance
with the procedures discussed above.
C. Mail Entries
The addressees must request a refund of GSP duties and return it,
along with a copy of the CF 3419A, to the appropriate International
Mail Branch (address listed on bottom right hand corner of CF 3419A).
It is essential that a copy of the CF 3419A be included, as this will
be the only means of identifying whether GSP products have been entered
and estimated duties and fees have been paid.
D. Baggage Declarations and Non-ABI Informals
If travelers/importers wrote a statement directly on their Customs
declarations (CF 6059B) or informal entries (CF 363 or CF 7501)
requesting a refund, no further action by the traveler/importer will be
required; the statement will be treated as a conforming request for
refunds. Failure to request a refund in this manner does not preclude a
traveler/importer from otherwise making a timely request in writing, as
described above for non-ABI filers.
Retroactive Suspension of Certain GSP Benefits for Pakistan
As indicated earlier in this document, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2464,
the President has authority, under certain circumstances, to withdraw,
suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment under the GSP.
In a Federal Register notice published June 17, 1996 (61 FR 30646), the
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that
it had recommended to the President the suspension of GSP eligibility
for certain products from Pakistan, effective July 1, 1996. It is
anticipated that on or about October 1, 1996, the President will
exercise his authority under 19 U.S.C. 2464 and suspend GSP duty-free
treatment for such products as recommended by the USTR. Accordingly,
duties on the following list of products from Pakistan will not be
refunded if the products were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for
consumption on or after July 1, 1996:
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Item (Terms below are for
HTSUS descriptive purposes only)
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03926.20.30......................... Gloves designed for use in sports,
of plastics.
4203.21.20.......................... Batting gloves.
4203.21.55.......................... Cross-country ski gloves, mittens
and mitts.
4203.21.60.......................... Ski or snowmobile gloves, mittens
and mitts.
4203.21.80.......................... Gloves, mittens, etc., of leather,
specially designed for use in
sports.
5701.10.13.......................... Carpets.
5702.10.10.......................... Carpets.
5702.91.20.......................... Carpets.
5805.00.20.......................... Carpets.
6304.99.10.......................... Carpets.
6304.99.40.......................... Carpets.
9018.90.80.......................... Surgical instruments.
9506.62.80.......................... Inflatable balls, excluding
footballs or soccer balls.
9506.91.00.......................... Articles or equipment for
exercise.
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Dated: September 16, 1996.
John B. McGowan,
Acting Assistant Commissioner, Field Operations.
[FR Doc. 96-24119 Filed 9-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P
