CUSTOMS CALLS POST ENTRY AMENDMENT A PROTOTYPE

CUSTOMS CALLS POST ENTRY AMENDMENT A PROTOTYPE    In an about-face yesterday U.S. Customs said the Post Entry Amendment process will start out as a prototype.
   The Post Entry Amendment was developed as a quarterly method for reporting minor discrepancies in import data prior to liquidation. Its purpose is to replace Supplemental Information Letters (SIL).
   When Customs made the announcement last week, the import industry was under the impression that SILs would be replaced by the Post Entry Amendment process by Oct. 1. Stu Seidel, assistant commissioner of Customs' Office of Regulations and Rulings, called it a “failure in Customs communications.” He said the Post Entry Amendment prototype would be announced in an upcoming Federal Register notice, and will be “open to everyone.”
   Meanwhile, many industry officials are bitter about Customs communications error, because they had begun scrambling to meet the original Oct. 1 deadline.