ENT-1-RR:IT:EC 115392 jsj
Ms. Elaine Stevens
Schenker, Inc.
Corporate Broker’s Office
Assistant Vice President – Customs
15800 International Plaza Drive
Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77032
Re: Customs Broker Management; 19 C.F.R. 111.1 and 111.28(a); Responsible Supervision and Control; Electronic Versions of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and Customs Regulations.
Dear Ms. Stevens:
The purpose of this correspondence is to respond to your request of May 24, 2001, for a binding Customs Service ruling letter. The request you made on the behalf of Schenker, Inc., Corporate Broker’s Office, concerns the interpretation of Customs Brokers Regulations, Part 111 of the Customs Regulations.
This ruling is being issued subsequent to the following: (1) A review of your submission dated May 24, 2001; (2) A review of the Customs Brokers regulations, 19 C.F.R. Part 111; and (3) Consultations with Customs Office of Field Operations, Broker Management Branch.
FACTS
Schenker has approximately forty offices throughout the United States in which it maintains paper copies of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), Customs Regulations, Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as other publications Schenker describes as “reference materials [it] is required to maintain by regulation.” Schenker additionally subscribes to a service available by way of the internet “that serves as a training tool for our staff to educate themselves in forwarding and Customs clearance and regulations for both.”
The service to which Schenker subscribes, in addition to functioning as a training tool “also provides links to Government Web Pages that contain the Customs Regulations (19 CFR), The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States as well as other reference materials.”
ISSUE
If Schenker, Inc. subscribes to an internet-based service that provides links to government web sites which contain the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, Customs Regulations, as well as other reference materials, will this satisfy the Customs broker’s obligation to “exercise responsible supervision and control” pursuant to 19 C.F.R. 111.28, as defined in 19 C.F.R. 111.1, with respect to “the maintenance of current editions of the Customs Regulations, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, and Customs issuances” ?
LAW AND ANALYSIS
Customs Regulations, Part 111, addresses Customs Brokers. Customs brokers, pursuant to 19 C.F.R. 111.28 (a), are required to “exercise responsible supervision and control…over the transaction of the customs business.” “Responsible supervision and control” is defined in 19 C.F.R. 111.1 and means “that degree of supervision and control necessary to ensure the proper transaction of the customs business of the broker.” Section 111.1 further provides that:
[w]hile the determination of what is necessary to perform and maintain responsible supervision and control will vary depending on the circumstances in each instance, factors which Customs will consider include, but are not limited to:…the maintenance of current editions of the Customs Regulations, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, and Customs issuances. 19 C.F.R. 111.1.
A review of Part 111 of Customs Regulations establishes that a broker is not required to maintain paper copies of the HTSUS, Customs Regulations or other Customs issuances to be compliant with section 111.28(a). A broker will be considered as exercising “responsible supervision and control…over the transaction of the customs business,” at least with respect to the maintenance of required publications, if the broker utilizes electronic versions of current editions of the HTSUS, Customs Regulations and other Customs issuances.
Although brokers have the option of utilizing electronic versions of the necessary materials, the burden remains on the broker to assure that the versions utilized by way of the internet are current and readily available. Schenker should not immediately conclude that World Wide Web sites, whether provided by the government or a private service, are authoritative or current. Shencker should also not operate under the assumption that referencing a government web site is tantamount to employing a customs expert.
Any web site to which Schenker may refer, to be compliant with Customs Regulations, should be one that is at least as current as a paper version of the requisite materials and should be regularly available. The burden of confirming the current status of the material, as well as its availability remains on the broker, not the Customs Service.
It is, additionally, the customs broker’s responsibility to assure that the service to which it subscribes on the internet and the broker’s connectivity to the internet, i.e., its internet service provider, are regularly available. Schenker should have in place reasonably available back-up reference materials.
HOLDING
A customs broker utilizing internet access to current, regularly available electronic versions of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, the Customs Regulations and other Customs issuances will be considered as exercising “responsible supervision and control…over the transaction of the customs business” with regard to its obligation to maintain these publications pursuant to 19 C.F.R. 111.28(a), as defined in 19 C.F.R. 111.1.
Sincerely,
Larry Burton
Chief
Entry Procedures and Carriers Branch