U.S. CUSTOMS REINSTATES BINDING RULINGS PROGRAM

U.S. CUSTOMS REINSTATES BINDING RULINGS PROGRAM    U.S. Customs has reinstated its binding rulings program on Monday.
   The program, which'had been temporarily suspended after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, allows the importing industry to request written rulings or advice of counsel on the proper tariff classification or country of origin of particular goods.
   Requests should be sent to: Director, National Commodity Specialist Division, U.S. Customs, CIE/Ruling Request, One Penn Plaza, 10th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10119
   The agency said ruling requests sent prior to Sept. 11, which no response was received,'should be resubmitted.
   Samples of chemical or powdered substances should not be sent with ruling requests. Instead, the National Commodity Specialist Division (NCSD) will request them as needed and provide mailing instructions.
   “With the start-up of the binding rulings program, a large volume of ruling requests is anticipated,” Customs said. “While the goal of the NCSD is to continue to respond to ruling requests within 30 days, this goal may not be achieved in all instances during this initial stage.”