CBP Issues its Instructions Allowing New AGOA III Textile and Apparel Claims to be Filed, Etc
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its instructions for claiming the new benefits available under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004 (Public Law (P.L.) 108-274), for eligible textiles and apparel entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after July 13, 2004.
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(The AGOA Acceleration Act, often referred to as AGOA III, was signed into law by President Bush on July 13, 2004.)
CBP had previously stated that it would not issue these instructions until the President had issued a proclamation amending the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) for AGOA III. (See ITT's Online Archives or 08/02/04 news, 04080205 for BP summary of CBP's earlier statement. See ITT's Online Archives or 09/10/04 news, 04091005 for Part I of BP summaries of Proclamation 7808 for AGOA III, etc.)
In order for an importer to make a claim under the AGOA III provisions, CBP states that certain documentation requirements must be met (e.g. a textile certificate of origin and a commercial invoice with the necessary visa stamp issued by the government of the AGOA beneficiary country1 is required).
In addition, CBP states that importers who paid duties on textile or apparel articles that were eligible for AGOA III duty benefits that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, on or after July 13, 2004 may apply for a full refund of duties, and may avail themselves of all applicable post entry procedures.
Updated Preference Groupings and Special Rules as Amended by AGOA III
CBP's instructions also update the AGOA preference groupings (for visa groupings 1 - 9) and certain AGOA special rules and definitions, to reflect the changes made by AGOA III.
The language in the updated AGOA preference groupings largely mirrors the AGOA III changes to HTS 9802.00.8042 and HTS 9819.11.03 - 9819.11.30, and are especially useful as the International Trade Commission's online HTS has not yet been updated to reflect AGOA III.
The special rules and definitions affected by AGOA III that are listed in CBP's message cover the:
list of components (e.g. collar or cuffs, drawstrings, belts attached to articles, etc.) that would not render an otherwise eligible article ineligible for AGOA preferential treatment, regardless of the country of origin of the component
new 10% de minimis rule threshold (from 7%)
definition of "former AGOA beneficiary country" 1
definition of ethnic printed fabrics
Requests for Retroactive AGOA II/AGOA III Benefits for October 1, 2000 - July 12, 2004 Due Soon
As CBP has stated in an earlier message, AGOA III also provides for certain retroactive AGOA II (The Trade Act of 2002) and AGOA III benefits for eligible textiles and apparel entered on or after October 1, 2000 and before July 13, 2004.
Liquidation or reliquidation to obtain these retroactive AGOA II and AGOA III benefits may only occur if a request is received by CBP at the port of entry within 90 days after July 13, 2004, and the request contains sufficient information to enable CBP to locate the entry, or reconstruct the entry if it cannot be located.
According to trade sources, the last day to file for these AGOA II and AGOA III retroactive benefits at the applicable port of entry is approximately October 11, 2004.
1 actually termed "former beneficiary sub-Saharan African country(ies)" or "beneficiary sub-Saharan African country(ies)", as applicable
(See ITT's Online Archives or 08/04/04 news, 04080405 for BP summary of CBP's instructions on applying for retroactive benefits. Note that these CBP instructions also identify the AGOA II and AGOA III changes to the preference groupings (and consequently the salient AGOA II and AGOA III changes to the HTS Chapter 98 AGOA tariff numbers.)
CBP Contact: Susan Thomas (202) 344-3719
CBP TBT-04-024-01 (dated 09/16/04) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/tbts/TBT2004/tbt_04_024_01.ctt/tbt_04_024_01.doc