Supporting Statement 2008

Supporting Statement

Commercial Invoice

1651-0090

A. Justification

1. The collection of the information on Commercial invoices is necessary for conducting adequate examination of merchandise and determination of the duties due on imported merchandise as required by 19 CFR 141.81, 141.82, 141.83, 141.84, 141.85, and 141.86 and by 19 U.S.C. 1481 and 1484. [NOTE 19 USC 1482 removed.]

2. The information, which is supplied by the foreign shipper, is used to ascertain the proper tariff classification and Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) valuation of imported merchandise, as required by the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Tariffs Agreement Act of 1979. The absence of this information would delay the collection of appropriate duties on imports. The contents of the invoice is necessary for CBP to determine admissibility in compliance with all laws and regulations, including, but not limited to those ensuring public health and safety. Invoice information is also essential for CBP to make intelligent targeting determinations for anti-terrorist enforcement. To facilitate trade, shippers are allowed to use their existing invoices to comply with these regulations. The commercial invoice is not a CBP form.

3. CBP and the trade community are currently working on development of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), which seeks to streamline and modernize the entire cargo processing system. It is anticipated that the commercial invoice will be automated in ACE by 2011.

4. The commercial invoice is a document used for commercial purposes. Its use reduces unnecessary duplication in that an existing document is being used instead of a special government form.

5. This information collection does not significantly impact small businesses or small entities because it uses a document that already exists.

6. This information is different for each shipment of imported merchandise and, therefore, must be made available at CBP request. This collection is necessary to ensure proper collects of revenue and to make proper determinations on the admissibility of cargo.

7. This information collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5(c)(2).

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8. Public comments were solicited through a 60-day Federal Register notice dated October 18, 2007 (Vol.72, Page 59103) and a 30-day notice dated January 16, 2008 (Vol. 73, Page 2931). As of this submission no comments have been received. If CBP receives any comments while this collection is under review at OMB, they will be forwarded.

9. There is no offer of a monetary or material value for this information collection.

9. No specific assurances of confidentiality are provided with this information collection except those provided under the Trade Secrets Act.

9. There are no questions of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Estimated Annualized Burden on The Public. The estimated burden for this information collection is approximately 130,200 hours. This is based on an estimated 38,500 respondents each filing approximately 1,207 invoices (responses) annually, for a total of 46,500,000 invoices (responses) submitted annually. These invoices are attached to the entry summary, Form 7501. Each response is estimated to require .0028 hours (10 seconds) to complete for an approximate burden of 130,200 hours (46,500,000 x .0028).

Estimated Annualized Cost on the Public. The estimated cost to the respondent is $2,050,650 per year. The cost to the public is minimal since the information on the commercial invoice is provided by the foreign seller or shipper in the normal course of business. The only burden involved is the attachment of the invoice to the entry summary when the entry summary is requested by CBP. The cost to the respondents is based on an estimated 130,200 burden hours at an average rate of $15.75 per hour (130,000 x $15.75).

13. Estimated Record Keeping Burden on the Public. There is no record keeping burden associated with this collection.

Estimated Capitalization Cost Burden on the Public. There are no capitalization cost associated with this collection.

14. Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government. The estimated cost to the Federal Government associated with labor for analyzing and processing the information on the commercial Invoice is $82,026,000. This is based on 2,734,200 at an average hourly rate of $30.00.

14. There are no changes to the burden hours.

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14. This information collection will not be published.

14. This collection does not involve a form so there is no printed expiration date.

18. There are no exceptions to the certification statements identified in Item 19 on the 83-i.

2. No statistical methods were employed.