CUSTOMS POSTS REVISED ENTRY REVISION PROJECT PROPOSAL

CUSTOMS POSTS REVISED ENTRY REVISION PROJECT PROPOSAL    U.S. Customs has released its second draft of its proposal to modernize the country’s import entry process.
   The first draft of the Entry Revision Project (ERP) was released on Dec. 14. The agency received 10 comments from various trade groups. Additional comments about the proposed ERP came from industry meetings and discussions with the Senate and House staffers.
   “The intent of the first draft was to initiate a dialogue so that we might find a common approach to entry issues that would reflect modern business practices while still meeting the government’s requirements,” said Stuart P. Seidel, assistant commissioner for Customs’ Office of Regulations and Rulings in a letter to the industry.
   Some of the areas in the ERP discussed with the industry include cargo release and entry. Although the agency supports simplifying the current data requirements, the Census Bureau needs this information for the country’s trade statistics.
   In the proposed money management system for duty payments, which will be set up similar to a monthly credit card statement, Customs said the process must be “revenue neutral” with the government. Any extension of duty payment beyond the current 10 days would require a charge for interest.
   Other areas of change include the extended option corrective period of 18 months and an improvement to the timeliness of antidumping/countervailing duty liquidations. Customs has also addressed industry concerns in ERP regarding protests and sureties.
   “As the current proposal stands, the statutory changes required to implement these entry revisions are, for the most part, minor technical adjustments to the original Mod Act (1993 Customs Modernization Act) language,” Seidel said.
   “While we believe that these modifications represent a further step on the road to a true account-based approach to import compliance, it must be remembered that full implementation of such an approach is conditional on the development of ACE (Automated Commercial Environment),” he added.
   The industry may view the complete second draft of ERP on the Customs Internet Web site: https://www.customs.gov. The draft is subject to further industry comment, but the agency said it’s possible to incorporate the changes into this year’s miscellaneous tariff bill.