The U.S. Bureau of Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has implemented a statutory change made to the entry laws by the Tariff Suspension and Trade Act of 2000.  CBP has amended its regulations to allow an importer of record, under certain conditions, to submit a single entry to cover multiple portions of a single entity that, due to its size or nature, arrives in the U.S. on separate conveyances. This new rule will apply to merchandise shipped by air, land or sea.

The rule defines an unassembled or disassembled entity as:

(1) Merchandise that is not capable of being transported on a single conveyance, but which is purchased and invoiced as a single classifiable entity.

(2) Merchandise that by necessity, due to its size or nature, is placed on multiple conveyances that arrive at different times at teh same U.S. port of entry.  And, any portion of the entity that arrives at a different port must be transported in-bond to the destination port, where entry will be made.

(3) Merchandise of which all arriving portions are consigned

to the same person in the U.S.

CBP noted that importers may continue to file a separate entry for each portion of an unassembled or disassembled shipment, as it arrives, if they so choose.

These changes should provide relief to importers whose goods were unable to be carried on one conveyance due to size or nature of the goods.  The rule should also help importers whose shipments are divided at the initiative of the carrier.  These regulations are effective July 3, 2006.  For more information, contact BDP Trade and Security Compliance, 215-629-8924 or mford@bdpnet.com.

 

The information contained in this BDP trade advisory is provided as a service to the customers and affiliates of BDP, and does not constitute legal advice. We try to provide quality information, but we make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained in these publications. As legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case, and laws are constantly changing, nothing provided herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.