CBP Sets Time Period for Requesting DR-CAFTA Textile Duty Benefits/Interest Retroactive to Jan 1, 2004 (El Salvador is Eligible)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an interim rule on the time period and other requirements for requesting refunds of any excess customs duties paid on entries of a country's textile or apparel goods that are entitled to the retroactive application of preferential tariff treatment under the Dominican Republic - Central America - U.S. Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
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(The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has also determined that El Salvador is eligible for these retroactive textile and apparel duty benefits (See link below).)
According to CBP, this interim rule is effective March 7, 2006, and amends 19 CFR by adding a Subpart J (DR-CAFTA) to Part 10 and a new 10.699 (Retroactive Preferential Tariff Treatment for Textile and Apparel Goods - Refunds of Excess Customs Duties).
Refunds for qualifying "originating goods," retroactive to Jan 1, 2004. New Section 10.699 provides for the payment of refunds in order to retroactively apply DR-CAFTA duty rates to a country's textile or apparel goods that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2004 and before the date of entry into force of the CAFTA-DR for that country, if such goods would have qualified as "originating" had they been entered after the date of entry into force of the DR-CAFTA for that country.
Requests for liquidation/reliquidation due by later of 12/31/06 or 90 days after CAFTA-DR enters into force for a country. Section 10.699 also states that requests for liquidation or reliquidation must be filed with CBP at the port where the entry was originally filed by the later of December 31, 2006 or the date that is 90 days after the date of entry into force of the DR-CAFTA for that country.
Requests must contain sufficient information. According to Section 10.699, requests must contain sufficient information to enable CBP to locate the entry, or to reconstruct the entry if it cannot be located, and to determine that the good would have been "originating" under DR-CAFTA had it been entered after the date of entry into force of the CAFTA-DR for that country.
(According to CBP sources, the request must reference 19 CFR 10.699. In addition, sources note that a copy of the entry (which should include the invoice) will usually be sufficient for this purpose.)
Payment of interest to occur. In addition, CBP states that Section 10.699 provides that any resulting refund of excess customs duties be accompanied by interest from the date of the affected entry, pursuant to a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), Orlando Foods Corp. v. U.S. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/22/05, 05122230 for BP summary.)
(The DR-CAFTA was entered into by the governments of Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the U.S. on August 5, 2004. To date, it has only entered into force for El Salvador, effective March 1, 2006.)
- Written comments on this interim rule are due by approximately May 8, 2006
CBP contacts: Robert Abels (202) 344-1959 (operational); Cynthia Reese (202) 572-8812 (legal)
CBP Dec. 06-06 (FR Pub 03/07/06) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-2070.pdf.
USTR determination that El Salvador is eligible for these retroactive benefits (FR Pub 03/06/06) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-3109.pdf
BP Notes
- This interim rule carries out Section 205 of the DR-CAFTA Implementation Act (P.L. 109-53). (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/22/05 news, 05122230 for BP summary covering this section.)
- The DR-CAFTA is also referred to as CAFTA-DR.
- CBP's 10.699 defines the term "textile or apparel good" to mean a good listed in the Annex to the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing referred to in section 101(d)(4) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 USC 3511(d)(4)), other than an good listed in Annex 3.29 of the Agreement.)
- This interim rule is from both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Treasury Department.