19 Cfr 181.22

§ 181.13

19 CFR Ch. I (4–1–03 Edition)

that the U.S. producer has failed to
maintain its records in accordance
with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles applied in the United
States, that customs administration
will so inform the U.S. producer in
writing and will give the U.S. producer
60 calendar days to conform the records
to those Principles. If a U.S. exporter
or producer fails to maintain records or
make records available to the Canadian or Mexican customs administration in accordance with the provisions
of this section, or if a U.S. producer
fails to conform its records to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
as provided in this paragraph, the Canadian or Mexican customs administration may deny preferential tariff treatment to the good that is the subject of
the verification visit.
[T.D. 95–68, 60 FR 46364, Sept. 6, 1995, as
ameded by T.D. 98–56, 63 FR 32955, June 16,
1998]

§ 181.13 Failure to comply with requirements.
The port director may apply such
measures as the circumstances may
warrant where an exporter or a producer in the United States fails to comply with any requirement of this part.
Such measures may include the imposition of penalties pursuant to 19
U.S.C. 1508(e) for failure to retain
records required to be maintained
under § 181.12.
[T.D. 95–68, 60 FR 46364, Sept. 6, 1995, as
ameded by T.D. 98–56, 63 FR 32955, June 16,
1998]

Subpart C—Import Requirements
§ 181.21 Filing of claim for preferential
tariff treatment upon importation.
(a) Declaration. In connection with a
claim for preferential tariff treatment
for a good under the NAFTA, the U.S.
importer shall make a written declaration that the good qualifies for such
treatment. The written declaration
may be made by including on the entry
summary, or equivalent documentation, the symbol ‘‘CA’’ for a good of
Canada, or the symbol ‘‘MX’’ for a good
of Mexico, as a prefix to the subheading
of the HTSUS under which each qualifying good is classified. Except as otherwise provided in § 181.22 of this part

and except in the case of a good to
which appendix 6.B. to Annex 300–B of
the NAFTA applies (see, however,
§ 12.132 of this chapter), the declaration
shall be based on a complete and properly executed original Certificate of
Origin, or copy thereof, which is in the
possession of the importer and which
covers the good being imported.
(b) Corrected declaration. If, after
making the declaration required under
paragraph (a) of this section or under
§ 181.32(b)(2) of this part, the U.S. importer has reason to believe that a Certificate of Origin on which a declaration was based contains information
that is not correct, the importer shall
within 30 calendar days after the date
of discovery of the error make a corrected declaration and pay any duties
that may be due. A corrected declaration shall be effected by submission of
a letter or other written statement to
the Customs office where the original
declaration was filed.
§ 181.22 Maintenance of records and
submission of Certificate by importer.
(a) Maintenance of records. Each importer claiming preferential tariff
treatment for a good imported into the
United States shall maintain in the
United States, for five years after the
date of entry of the good, all documentation relating to the importation
of the good. Such documentation shall
include a copy of the Certificate of Origin and any other relevant records as
specified in § 163.1(a) of this chapter.
(b) Submission of Certificate. An importer who claims preferential tariff
treatment on a good under § 181.21 of
this part shall provide, at the request
of the port director, a copy of each Certificate of Origin pertaining to the
good which is in the possession of the
importer. A Certificate of Origin submitted to Customs under this paragraph or under § 181.32(b)(3) of this part:
(1) Shall be on Customs Form 434, including privately-printed copies thereof, or on such other form as approved
by the Canadian or Mexican customs
administration, or, as an alternative to
Customs Form 434 or such other approved form, in an approved computerized format or such other medium or
format as is approved by the Office of

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United States Customs Service, Treasury
Field Operations, U.S. Customs Service, Washington, DC 20229. An alternative format must contain the same
information and certification set forth
on Customs Form 434;
(2) Shall be signed by the exporter or
by the exporter’s authorized agent having knowledge of the relevant facts;
(3) Shall be completed either in the
English language or in the language of
the country from which the good is exported. If the Certificate is completed
in a language other than English, the
importer shall also provide to the port
director, upon request, a written
English translation thereof;
(4) Shall be accepted by Customs for
four years after the date on which the
Certificate was signed by the exporter
or producer; and
(5) May be applicable to:
(i) A single importation of a good
into the United States, including a single shipment that results in the filing
of one or more entries and a series of
shipments that results in the filing of
one entry; or
(ii) Multiple importations of identical goods into the United States that
occur within a specified period, not exceeding 12 months, set out therein by
the exporter or producer.
(c) Acceptance of Certificate. A Certificate of Origin shall be accepted by the
port director as valid for the purpose
set forth in § 181.11(a) of this part, provided that the Certificate is completed,
signed and dated in accordance with
the requirements of paragraph (b) of
this section. If the port director determines that a Certificate is illegible or
defective or has not been completed in
accordance with paragraph (b) of this
section, the importer shall be given a
period of not less than five working
days to submit a corrected Certificate.
Acceptance of a Certificate will result
in the granting of preferential tariff
treatment to the imported good unless,
in
connection
with
an
origin
verification initiated under subpart G
of this part or based on a pattern of
conduct
within
the
meaning
of
§ 181.76(c) of this part, the port director
determines that the imported good
does not qualify as an originating good
or should not be accorded such treatment for any other reason as specifically provided for elsewhere in this

§ 181.22
part. A Certificate shall not be accepted in connection with subsequent importations during a period referred to
in paragraph (b)(5)(ii) of this section if,
based on an origin verification under
subpart G of this part, the port director
determined that a previously imported
identical good covered by the Certificate did not qualify as an originating
good.
(d) Certificate not required—(1) General. Except as otherwise provided in
paragraph (d)(2) of this section, an importer shall not be required to have a
Certificate of Origin in his possession
for:
(i) An importation of a good for
which the port director has in writing
waived the requirement for a Certificate of Origin because the port director
is otherwise satisfied that the good
qualifies for preferential tariff treatment under the NAFTA;
(ii) A non-commercial importation of
a good; or
(iii) A commercial importation of a
good whose value does not exceed
US$2,500, provided that, unless waived
by the port director, the producer, exporter, importer or authorized agent
includes on, or attaches to, the invoice
or other document accompanying the
shipment the following signed statement:
I hereby certify that the good covered by
this shipment qualifies as an originating
good for purposes of preferential tariff treatment under the NAFTA.
Check One:
( ) Producer
( ) Exporter
( ) Importer
( ) Agent
llllllllllllllllllllllll
Name
llllllllllllllllllllllll
Title
llllllllllllllllllllllll
Address
llllllllllllllllllllllll
Signature and Date

(2) Exception. If the port director determines that an importation described
in paragraph (d)(1) of this section forms
part of a series of importations that
may reasonably be considered to have
been undertaken or arranged for the
purpose of avoiding a certification requirement set forth in this part, the

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§ 181.23

19 CFR Ch. I (4–1–03 Edition)

port director shall notify the importer
in writing that for that importation
the importer must have in his possession a valid Certificate of Origin to
support the claim for preferential tariff
treatment. The importer shall have 30
calendar days from the date of the
written notice to obtain a valid Certificate, and a failure to timely obtain the
Certificate will result in denial of the
claim for preferential tariff treatment.
For purposes of paragraph (d)(2) of this
section, a ‘‘series of importations’’
means two or more entries covering
goods arriving on the same day from
the same exporter and consigned to the
same person.

good would have qualified as an originating good when it was imported into
the United States but no claim for
preferential tariff treatment on that
originating good was made at that
time under § 181.21(a) of this part, the
importer of that good may file a claim
for a refund of any excess duties at any
time within one year after the date of
importation of the good in accordance
with the procedures set forth in § 181.32
of this part. Subject to the provisions
of § 181.23 of this part, Customs may refund any excess duties by liquidation
or reliquidation of the entry covering
the good in accordance with § 181.33(c)
of this part.

[T.D. 95–68, 60 FR 46364, Sept. 6, 1995, as
ameded by T.D. 98–56, 63 FR 32955, June 16,
1998]

§ 181.32

§ 181.23 Effect of noncompliance; failure to provide documentation regarding transshipment.
(a) Effect of noncompliance. If the importer fails to comply with any requirement under this part, including
submission of a Certificate of Origin
under § 181.22(b) or submission of a corrected Certificate under § 181.22(c), the
port director may deny preferential
tariff treatment to the imported good.
(b) Failure to provide documentation regarding transshipment. Where the requirements for preferential tariff treatment set forth elsewhere in this part
are met, the port director nevertheless
may deny preferential tariff treatment
to an originating good if the good is
shipped through or transshipped in a
country other than the United States,
Canada or Mexico and the importer of
the good does not provide, at the request of the port director, copies of the
customs control documents that indicate to the satisfaction of the port director that the good remained under
customs control while in such other
country.

Subpart D—Post-Importation Duty
Refund Claims
§ 181.31 Right to make post-importation claim and refund duties.
Notwithstanding any other available
remedy, including the right to amend
an entry so long as liquidation of the
entry has not become final, where a

Filing procedures.

(a) Place of filing. A post-importation
claim for a refund under § 181.31 of this
part shall be filed with the director of
the port at which the entry covering
the good was filed.
(b) Contents of claim. A post-importation claim for a refund shall be filed by
presentation of the following:
(1) A written declaration stating that
the good qualified as an originating
good at the time of importation and
setting forth the number and date of
the entry covering the good;
(2) Subject to § 181.22(d) of this part, a
copy of each Certificate of Origin (see
§ 181.11 of this part) pertaining to the
good;
(3) A written statement indicating
whether or not the importer of the
good provided a copy of the entry summary or equivalent documentation to
any other person. If such documentation was so provided, the statement
shall identify each recipient by name,
Customs identification number and address and shall specify the date on
which the documentation was provided;
(4) A written statement indicating
whether or not the importer of the
good is aware of any claim for refund,
waiver or reduction of duties relating
to the good within the meaning of Article 303 of the NAFTA (see subpart E of
this part). If the importer is aware of
any such claim, the statement shall
identify each claim by number and
date and shall identify the person who
made the claim by name, Customs
identification number and address; and

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