OT:RR:CTF:VS H239669 SEK
Customs and Border Protection
Director, Trade Policy & Agreements Division
1400 L Street, NW, 12th Floor
Washington, DC 20229-1155
RE: Corrected NAFTA Certificates of Origin; 19 CFR 181.22(c)
Dear Sir:
This letter concerns Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 003906, issued on March 7, 1996 in response to a request for internal advice concerning corrected NAFTA Certificates of Origin under CBP Regulation 181.22 (19 CFR 181.22). After reviewing HQ 003906, we have found it contains incorrect citations to the relevant CBP Regulations. Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1625(c)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186 (1993), we are modifying the ruling to contain the correct citations to the CBP Regulations.
FACTS:
The Certificate of Origin (CBP Form 434) is used to certify that a good qualifies as an originating good for purposes of preferential tariff treatment under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The form includes fields for the name and address of the producer, importer and exporter; the blanket period for which preferential treatment is claimed; a description of goods; the preference criterion; the Harmonized System tariff classification number; the country of origin; the authorized signature; the date of signature.
ISSUES:
Whether a port director must allow an importer to correct the contents of CBP Form 434 pursuant to 19 CFR 181.22(c)?
Whether such a Certificate must be signed by the exporter?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Corrected Certificates
Generally, the Certificate of Origin must be used to claim preferential tariff treatment under the NAFTA. 19 CFR 181.11. According to 19 CFR 181.22(b), an importer claiming preferential treatment shall provide, at the request of the port director, a copy of each Certificate of Origin pertaining to the goods in question. In addition, the Regulation states in part that the Certificate of Origin must be on Customs Form 434 or other format approved by the Office of Trade Operations and must be signed by the exporter or the exporter's authorized agent.
19 CFR 181.22(c) states in pertinent part that:
A Certificate of Origin shall be accepted by the port director as valid for the purpose set forth in 181.11(a) of this part, provided that the Certificate is completed, signed and dated in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section. If the port director determines that a Certificate is illegible or defective or has not been completed in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section, the importer shall be given a period of not less than five working days to submit a corrected Certificate. Acceptance of a Certificate will result in the granting of preferential tariff treatment to the imported good unless, in connection with an origin verification initiated under subpart G of this part or based on a pattern of conduct within the meaning of 181.76(c) of this part, the port director determines that the imported good does not qualify as an originating good or should not be accorded such treatment for any other reason as specifically provided for elsewhere in this part.
Under the terms of 19 CFR 181.22(c), the port director must allow an importer at least five working days to cure a Certificate of Origin that has not been completed in accordance with 19 CFR 181.22(b). As noted above, 19 CFR 181.22(b) requires that the Certificate of Origin must be on CBP Form 434 or other approved format. Accordingly, the port director must allow the importer at least five working days to correct CBP Form 434, including the data fields contained therein. Further, pursuant to 19 CFR 181.22(c), the port director must accept the corrected CBP Form 434 as valid unless he or she determines that the imported good does not qualify as originating for reasons provided for elsewhere in Part 181 of the Regulations.
Signing the Corrected Certificate
Article 501, subsection (3), of the NAFTA states in pertinent part that each Party shall:
require an exporter in its territory to complete and sign a Certificate of Origin for any exportation of a good for which an importer may claim preferential tariff treatment on importation of the good into the territory of another Party; and
provide that where an exporter in its territory is not the producer of the good, the exporter may complete and sign a Certificate on the basis of
its knowledge of whether the good qualifies as an originating good,
its reasonable reliance on the producer's written representation that the good qualifies as an originating good, or
a completed and signed Certificate for the good voluntarily provided to the exporter by the producer.
Thus, the NAFTA requires an exporter to sign a NAFTA Certificate of Origin. In many instances, the exporter will be the producer of the good. However, when this is not the case the producer is not permitted to sign the Certificate for the exporter. Rather, the exporter must sign the form on the basis of his or her knowledge of whether the good qualifies as an originating good or upon the producer's written declaration to that effect. 19 CFR 181.22(b)(2) reflects subsection 501(3) of the NAFTA and states that the Certificate of Origin "shall be signed by the exporter or by the exporter's authorized agent having knowledge of the relevant facts." In view of the foregoing, only the exporter or the exporter's authorized agent may sign a corrected Certificate of Origin.
HOLDING:
The port director must allow an importer at least five days to correct the contents of the NAFTA Certificate of Origin (CBP Form 434). A corrected Certificate must be signed by the exporter or the exporter's authorized agent.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
HQ 003906, dated March 7, 1996, is hereby modified.
This modification is not subject to the notice and comment provisions of 19 U.S.C. § 1625(c) because it is only correcting clerical errors.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial & Trade Facilitation Division