U.S. CUSTOMS IMPLEMENTS ELECTRONIC FILING AND STATUS OF PROTESTS NATIONWIDE

U.S. CUSTOMS IMPLEMENTS ELECTRONIC FILING AND STATUS OF PROTESTS NATIONWIDE    After several years of testing, U.S. Customs says it will implement the electronic filing and status of protests nationwide.
   The agency began testing the concept in 1996 as part of its National Customs Automation Program.
   By using transaction sets in Customs’ Automated Broker Interface system, importers and customs brokers in the test were able to electronically file and track the status of:
   * Protests against Customs decisions on the method of liquidating an entry (19 USC 1514).
   * Petitions or claims for duty refunds or corrections to errors made by an importer or broker requiring reliquidation (19 USC 1520 (c)).
   * Claims for refunds of Customs duties when duty-free treatment was not claimed at the time of entry under the North American Free Trade Agreement (19 USC 1520 (d)).
   * Intervention in an importer’s protest by an exporter or producer from a country that’s part of the agency’s rules under NAFTA.
   About a half-dozen importers, brokers, law firms and sureties participated in the test at eight Customs ports. By Feb. 12, 1999, a total of 3,861 protest filings were made during the test. Customs submitted an evaluation report to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees in December.
   While there are aspects of the program that could be improved, importers and brokers said the electronic filing procedures for protests eliminate the need for paper documents, make it easier to receive a protest status, and help to standardize the protest filing process.
   Customs said these improvement will lead towards its goal of a paperless import clearance environment.