OT:RR:CTF:VS H241894 KSG
Port Director
U.S. Customs & Border Protection
301 E. Ocean Blvd Suite 700
Long Beach CA 90802
RE: Protest #2704-12-102923; GSP
Dear Director:
This is in response to an Application for Further Review filed by a broker on behalf of the protestant, Abric North America, in response to Protest #2704-12-102923 involving the eligibility of imported goods for preferential tariff treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”).
FACTS:
Imported goods were entered on September 11, 2011, from Thailand. Pursuant to Public Law 112-40 (Pub. L. 112-40, October 21, 2011), the GSP was reinstated after its expiration on December 31, 2010. The importer timely submitted a retroactive application for GSP treatment for the goods via a post entry amendment. In a Request for Information (CBP Form 28), dated December 20, 2012, CBP requested documentation to substantiate the GSP claim in accordance with 19 CRFR 10.173. The importer failed to submit any supporting documentation. CBP denied GSP treatment for the imported goods.
ISSUE:
Whether the claim for retroactive application for GSP treatment for certain imported goods was properly denied.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C.A. 2461-65), authorizes the President to establish a Generalized System of Preferences to provide duty-free treatment for eligible articles from beneficiary developing countries (“BDCs”). Articles produced in a BDC may qualify for duty-free treatment under the GSP if the articles are imported directly into the customs territory of the U.S. from the BDC and the cost or value of the materials produced in the BDC plus the direct costs of processing operations performed in the BDC is not less than 35 percent of the appraised value of the article at the time of entry into the U.S. See 19 U.S.C. 2463(a)(2) and (3).
General Note 3(c)(i), HTSUS, provides, in part, that special tariff treatment under the GSP is indicated in the “Special” subcolumn in the tariff by the symbols “A”, “A*,” or “A+”. Thailand is designated as a beneficiary developing country for GSP purposes under General Note 4(a), HTSUS.
The GSP Program expired on December 31, 2010. On October 21, 2011, the President signed H.R. 2832, which extended the GSP Program through July 31, 2013, and provided for retroactive application for eligible entries entered or withdrawn from warehouse on or after January 1, 2011, through November 5, 2011. Pub. L. 112-40; Oct. 21, 2011. The importer was given 180 days after the date of enactment of H.R. 2832 to submit a request for a refund, and was required to provide sufficient information to enable CBP to locate the entry or to reconstruct the entry if it could not be located.
The importer timely submitted a request for retroactive application of the GSP. Thailand is a BDC country. We assume for the purposes of this ruling that the good is a GSP eligible good. However, when CBP issued a Request for Information, to seek information regarding the production and manufacture of the merchandise, the importer failed to submit documentation to substantiate its claim. The only information in the record pertains to the invoice for the merchandise. While there is no requirement that substantiating documentation be submitted with retroactive claims, CBP retains the right to ask for such information with regard to all GSP claims, including claims filed retroactively. The Protest was properly denied.
HOLDING:
The Protest in this case is properly denied.
In accordance with Section IV and VI of the CBP Protest/petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision Regulations and Rulings of the Office of International Trade will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP home page on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial & Trade Facilitation Division