CBP States that Non-ABI Filing is Required for Australia FTA Goods Until Further Notice
According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notice and CBP sources, the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) filing of entries for goods eligible for U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (UAFTA) duty benefits is not available at this time due to ongoing system programming for the UAFTA.
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(CBP sources state that this affects all UAFTA eligible goods, including those subject to tariff rate quota (TRQ).)
As a result, non-ABI entries will be required for UAFTA goods until further notice.
Entries Subject to UAFTA TRQs to be Held Until Programming is Complete
CBP states that entries subject to a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) must be held by the ports until the above-described programming is completed. Once programming is completed, ports and the trade community will be notified and the ports can process the entries through the quota system.
(On December 23, 2004, Proclamation 7857 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) to implement the U.S.-Australia FTA was published in the Federal Register.
According to the proclamation, the U.S.-Australia FTA is generally in effect for goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after January 1, 2005, with subsequent staged duty reductions, etc. taking effect on other dates and/or in subsequent years. See ITT's Online Archives or 12/23/04 and 12/27/04 news, 04122305 and 04122705, for initial BP summary of Presidential Proclamation 7857 and the 2005 HTS, respectively. See ITT's Online Archives or 01/03/05 news, 05010320 for details of proclamation.)
CBP Contact - Christine DeRiso (202) 344-2319
CBP Notice (QBT-04-599, FR Pub 12/28/04) available athttp://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/qbts/QBT2004/04_599.ctt/04_599.doc