LIQ-9-01-RR:IT:EC 227023 GEV
Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
111 West Huron Street
Buffalo, New York 14202
RE: Application for further review of Protest No. 0901-95-102851; 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1);
mistake of fact; classification of jewelry;
necklaces/neck chains; C.J. Tower & Sons of
Buffalo, Inc. v. United States; Bar Bea Truck Leasing
Co., Inc. v. United States; PPG
Industries, Inc. v. United States
Dear Sir or Madame:
This is in response to your memorandum dated May 30, 1996,
forwarding the above-referenced protest to this office for
further review. We have considered the facts and issues raised,
and our decision follows.
FACTS:
This protest has been filed against your denial of a request
for reliquidation of the subject entries pursuant to 19 U.S.C.
1520(c)(1).
The protestant filed 10 entries from October 27, 1994,
through December 15, 1994, covering gold jewelry imported from
India. The subject jewelry was classified under subheading
7113.19.2900, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS), as necklaces/neck chains, and subheading 7113.19.5000,
HTSUS, which provides for other articles of jewelry made of
precious metal. The Special Program Indicator (SPI) "A" preceded
subheading 7113.19.2900 on line item 001 of each of the entries.
The jewelry was liquidated dutiable under both subheadings at
6.5%. These entries were liquidated as entered from February 10,
1995, through March 24, 1995.
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By letter dated August 9, 1995, the protestant requested
reliquidation of these entries on the basis of mistake of fact
with respect to the jewelry referenced on line item 001 on each
entry. The alleged mistake of fact pertains to the protestant's
misreading of Customs Administrative Message 5342071, dated
December 8, 1994, to Customs personnel notifying them that on
that date President Clinton signed into law the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (the "Act"). It further notified import
specialists, entry specialists, and other interested parties such
as brokers and importers, that 601 of Title VI, Subtitle A of
the Act provided for the renewal of the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) (which expired at midnight on September 30,
1994), through July 31, 1995, as well as for the refund of all
duties paid on GSP-eligible merchandise that was entered while
the program lapsed (i.e., the subject jewelry). The protestant
specifically focuses on paragraph 6 of Administrative Message
5342071which addresses the use of the SPI "A" for ABI entry
summaries to facilitate identification of affected line items.
The aforementioned paragraph provides as follows:
"6. Non-ABI filers who did not request a refund by
using the
Special Program Indicator "A" must request a
refund in
writing from the District Director of Customs at
the port
of entry by June 6, 1995."
The protestant read the above paragraph to mean as follows:
"Filers of Non-ABI entries who did indicate a request
for
refund by the use of the special program indicator
"A"
need not make a separate for a refund in writing."
The protestant stated that paragraph 6 of Administrative
Message 5342071, "led us to believe as fact that filers of Non-ABI entries who did request a refund by using the special program
indicator "A" would receive a refund automatically." As a
result, the protestant, an ABI-certified filer, did not make a
timely written refund request as so directed.
The request for reliquidation, which was received by Customs
more than 90 days after the date of liquidation, was treated as a
request for reliquidation under 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1). However,
because the petition for reliquidation did not meet the criteria
of 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1) requiring a clerical error, mistake of
fact or other inadvertence, the request was denied on September
19, 1995.
The protest at issue was filed on December 16, 1995,
attaching the following: supplemental documentation consisting of
handwritten "corrected" entries, invoices, certifications from
the Indian manufacturer, and air waybills (Exhibit A); and a copy
of the protestant's 19 U.S.C. 1520(c) request, dated August 9,
1995, and Customs denial thereof, dated September 19, 1995
(Exhibit B). The protestant states that, "We would like to
clarify our 520(c) in regard to [paragraph 6 of Administrative
Message 5342071] in that Ameri-Can [the protestant's customshouse
broker] is an ABI Certified entry filer and [paragraph 6 of
Administrative
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Message 5342071] referred to Non-ABI filers' not, more
correctly, to filers of Non-ABI entries." The protestant further
states that, "Ameri-Can is an ABI Certified entry filer who, in
the case of these specific entries, happened to file Non-ABI
entries."
The protestant also cites to paragraph 2 of Customs
Administrative Message 4252071, dated September 9, 1994, which
provides, in part, that "Non-ABI filers MAY NOT continue to use
the SPI A'." The protestant states that, "Customs accepted our
entry summaries with the SPI Indicator of A' shown immediately
preceding the HS number, reinforcing our belief that, as an ABI
Certified filer, we could request the refund by use of the
indicator even though the entries were filed Non-ABI."
In support of its position, the Protestant cites to C.J.
Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 68 Cust.Ct. 17,
C.D. 4327, 366 F.Supp. 1395 (1972), aff'd, 61 CCPA 90, C.A.D.
1129, 499 F.2d 1277 (1974).
ISSUE:
Whether the foregoing allegations amount to a mistake of
fact correctable under 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1)?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Initially we note that this protest was timely filed
pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(2)(B). The date of the decision
protested was September 19, 1995, and the protest was filed on
December 16, 1995. In addition, the refusal to reliquidate an
entry under 1520(c)(1) is a protestable matter pursuant to 19
U.S.C. 1514(a)(7).
Title 19, United States Code, 1514 (19 U.S.C. 1514) sets
forth the proper procedure for an importer to protest the
classification and appraisal of merchandise when it believes the
Customs Service has misinterpreted the applicable law. A protest
must be filed within ninety days after notice of liquidation or
reliquidation. Otherwise, the tariff treatment of merchandise is
final and conclusive.
Title 19, United States Code, 1520(c)(1) (19 U.S.C.
1520(c)(1)) is an exception to the finality of 1514. Under
1520(c)(1), Customs may reliquidate an entry to correct a
clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence, not
amounting to an error in the construction of a law. The error
must be adverse to the importer and manifest from the record or
established by
documentary evidence and brought to the attention of the Customs
Service within one year after
the date of liquidation. The relief provided for in 19 U.S.C.
1520(c)(1) is not an alternative to the relief provided for in
the form of protests under 19 U.S.C. 1514; 1520(c)(1) only
affords "limited relief in the situations defined therein."
(Phillips Petroleum Company v. United States, 54 CCPA 7, 11,
C.A.D. 893 (1966), quoted in Godchaux-Henderson Sugar Co., Inc.
v. United
States, 85 Cust.Ct. 68, 69, C.D. 4874, 496 F.Supp. 1326 (1980);
see also, Computime, Inc. v.
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United States, 9 CIT 553, 555, 622 F.Supp. 1083 (1985), and
Concentric Pumps, Ltd. v. United States, 10 CIT 505, 508, 643
F.Supp. 623 (1986)).
Essentially the protestant's claim is that its misreading of
paragraph 6 of Administrative Message 5342071 resulted in its
failure to follow the refund procedures set forth therein which
were necessary for the subject jewelry to receive duty-free
treatment attributed to the classification of such merchandise
under the GSP. Consequently, the protestant believes the alleged
mistake of fact is correctable under 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1).
With respect to the protestant's claim, it is readily
apparent that it did not meet the requisite criteria for
reliquidation under 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1) in that there is no
mistake of fact manifest from the record or documentary evidence.
Neither Administrative Message 4252071 nor 5342071 was materially
misleading. Both messages refer to entries, such as the ones
under consideration, that are filed Non-ABI simply because there
is no way to track these in Customs Automated Commercial System
(ACS). With respect to the classification of the subject jewelry
under subheading 7113.19.2900, HTSUS, at 6.5% without benefit of
GSP, it should be noted that the courts have consistently taken
the position that an erroneous classification of merchandise is
not a clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence
within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1), but is an error in
the construction of law. See, Mattel Inc. v. United States, 377
F.Supp. 955, 72 Cust.Ct. 257, C.D. 4547 (1974); and C.J. Tower &
Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 366 F.Supp. 1395, 68
Cust.Ct. 17, C.D. 4327, aff'd, 499 F.2d 1277, 61 CCPA 90 (1972).
Here, the only error established by the protestant is its own
failure to follow procedures established in the aforementioned
administrative messages in order to obtain duty-free treatment
for GSP-eligible merchandise, which could only have been
corrected by the filing of a 19 U.S.C. 1514 protest within 90
days of the original liquidation. In support of its protest, the
protestant cites to C.J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. In
Tower, neither the District Director of Customs nor the importer
were aware of the nature of the imported merchandise, which would
have entitled it to duty-free treatment, until after the
liquidation became final. The court held that such a lack of
knowledge did not amount to an error in the construction of the
law but came within the statutory language "mistake of fact or
other inadvertence." Degussa Canada Ltd. v. United States, 889
F.Supp. 1543 (CIT, June 13, 1995) citing C.J. Tower & Sons, 68
Cust.Ct. at 22, 336 F.Supp. at 1399. We find the court's
decision in Tower inapplicable in this case because the entry
documentation submitted with the protest nonetheless indicates
that the protestant was aware of the specific type of jewelry
imported.
Other than its misreading of Administrative Message 5342071,
and the consequent classification of the subject jewelry under
subheading 7113.19.2900, HTSUS, at 6.5% without benefit of GSP,
the protestant has failed to bring to Customs attention any
"mistake of fact, clerical error or other inadvertence"
correctable under 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1). The CIT has ruled that
mere assertions by a complainant without supporting evidence will
not be regarded as sufficient to overturn a Customs official's
decision. Bar Bea Truck Leasing Co., Inc. v. United States, 5
CIT 124, 126 (1983). Further, upon an assertion that merchandise
has been wrongly classified due to a mistake of fact, "it is
incumbent on the plaintiff to show by sufficient evidence
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the nature of the mistake of fact." PPG Industries, Inc. v.
United States, 4 CIT 143, 147-148 (1982), citing Hambro
Automotive Corp. v. United States, 81 Cust.Ct. 29, 31, 458
F.Supp. 1220, 1222 (1978) aff'd, 66 CCPA 113, C.A.D. 1231, 603
F.2d 850 (1979). It is insufficient for the protestant to notify
Customs that the classification was wrong. This does not
identify and explain the correctable error. It fails to
demonstrate that the error was other than a mistake in legal
conclusion. See Headquarters Ruling 223625, dated May 4, 1992.
In this case, the protestant has failed to set forth any
correctable error, and no error is manifest from the record. The
classification error was an error in the construction of a law
which, pursuant to T.D. 54848 "occurs when a person knows the
true facts of a case but has a mistaken belief of the legal
consequences of those facts and acts on that mistaken belief."
The error in the construction of law in this and another other
such cases can only be remedied by the filing of a protest within
90 days of liquidation pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1514.
HOLDING:
The allegations of the protestant were correctable by the
filing of a 19 U.S.C. 1514 protest within 90 days of liquidation;
relief is not available under 19 U.S.C. 1520(c)(1).
Accordingly, the protest is denied.
In accordance with 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099
3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest
Directive, this decision should be mailed by your office no later
than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of
the entry in accordance with this
decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the
decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to
make the decision available to customs personnel via the Customs
Ruling Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription
Service, Freedom of Information Act and other public access
channels.
Sincerely,
Director
International Trade Compliance
Division