ENT 1-01
OT:RR:CTF:ER
H286759 KF
Debbie Shaffer
L-3 Mission Integration
10001 Jack Finney Blvd
Greenville, TX 75402
Re: HQ H283024; 19 C.F.R. § 148.6; CBP Form 3299.
Dear Ms. Shaffer:
This is in response to Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H283024 (April 3, 2017), concerning whether a corporate employer may enter the personal effects of employees returning from abroad by acting as the importer of record or an authorized agent. For the reasons set forth below, we hereby revoke HQ H283024. This revocation is not subject to the notice and comment provisions of 19 U.S.C. § 1625(c) because HQ H283024 has been in effect for less than 60 days.
FACTS:
L-3 provides contractual logistical support services, requiring its employees to travel and temporarily remain in various locations abroad. Employees returning to the United States upon the completion of their assignments may opt to ship their personal to their homes. L-3 proposes to act as the importer of record for these shipments, and to complete United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Form 3299 on behalf of its employees. L-3 intends to establish its status as the importer of record by notarizing a letter from its employees authorizing it to import baggage on their behalf. L-3 seeks to import its employees’ unaccompanied baggage duty free under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS.
ISSUE:
Whether a company may act as the importer of record for shipments of its employees’ personal effects, entered under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS, provides that the following may be imported duty free:
Articles imported by or for the account of any person arriving in the United States who is a returning resident thereof (including American citizens who are residents of American Samoa, Guam or the Virgin Islands of the United States): All personal and household effects taken abroad by him or for his account.
The right to duty free entry for personal effects taken abroad is accorded to returning residents of the United States by subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS, pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 148.31(a). Employees of L-3 that take their personal or household effects abroad in order to complete an assignment abroad thus have the right to return these effects to the United States free of duty. Id. For purposes of this decision, we assume that the personal belongings of employees that L-3 seeks to import as unaccompanied baggage consist solely of personal and household effects qualifying for duty free entry under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS. We note that if the unaccompanied baggage of L-3’s employees’ contains articles acquired abroad, such articles would require entry under different subheadings and are subject to different entry requirements and restrictions. See e.g. 19 C.F.R. § 148.33; 9804.00.05, HTSUS; HQ 224804 (November 15, 2993).
A returning resident’s right to enter qualifying personal and/or household effects duty free is termed a “personal exemption” from payment of duty. See e.g. HQ 222024 (March 7, 1990); HQ 224027 (August 17, 1992); HQ 226334 (March 4, 1996). A personal exemption is “considered an individual exemption available only to persons…[such that] a corporation or other entity cannot claim entitlement to a personal exemption.” See HQ 224027; HQ 226334 (finding that a corporate entity “is not a ‘person’ for the purpose” of a Chapter 98 personal exemption). We thus find that L-3 cannot claim the personal exemption accorded to its employees under subheading 9804.00.05, HTSUS.
Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 148.6(a), personal and household effects duly classified under 9804.00.45, HTSUS, may be imported as unaccompanied baggage so long as the importer executes a declaration supporting the claim for free entry on CBP Form 3299. We thus find that L-3 employees can return the personal and household effects they took abroad as unaccompanied baggage subject to proper execution of a CBP Form 3299 to support their claim for free entry.
The right to make entry for goods entering the customs territory of the United States, including unaccompanied baggage, however, is limited to the importer of record. See Customs Directive No. 3530-002A, 5.1.2. (June 27, 2001) (citing amended Section 484 of the Tariff Act of 1930, P.L. 76-446). An importer of record is the “owner or purchaser of…goods or, when designated…a licensed Customs broker.” Id.; 19 U.S.C. § 1484(a)(2)(B). The term “owner or purchaser” includes any party with a financial interest in a transaction, and excludes any party who is a nominal consignee “effectively possess[ing] no…right, title, or interest in the goods except as…possessed under a bill of lading, airway bill, or other shipping document.” See Customs Directive No. 3530-002A, 5.3.1.
In HQ 242069 (February 6, 2014), CBP determined that an employer seeking to provide relocation services for its employees by importing household goods on their behalf was no more than a nominal consignee because the employer did not appear to obtain a financial benefit from the transaction. CBP found that absent evidence “indicating a relationship between [the employer’s] compensation for [its services] and the imported merchandise,” the employer could not evidence a sufficient financial interest to act as the importer of record for the transaction. Within the circumstances described by L-3, we find that L-3 similarly possesses no right, title, or financial interest in its employees’ unaccompanied baggage and is a nominal consignee that would not obtain a financial benefit from its importation, such that L-3 cannot act as the importer of record for the baggage.
The policy objective behind barring parties without a financial interest in an entry transaction from serving as its importer of record is to prevent entities other than licensed brokers “from filing entries and thereby engaging in the transaction of Customs business without a license.” Id. at 5.1.4. Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 111.1, “transactions with CBP concerning the entry and admissibility of merchandise, its classification and valuation, [and] the payment of duties, taxes, or other charges assessed or collected by CBP on merchandise by reason of its importation” constitute customs business. CBP Form 3299 is a document concerning the entry of merchandise, and is identified in 19 C.F.R. § 143.21(d) as an informal entry procedure for personal and household effects entitled to free entry under Chapter 98, HTSUS. CBP Form 3299 is also a document concerning the duties being assessed by CBP on unaccompanied baggage by reason of its importation. See 19 C.F.R. § 148.6(a) (describing the declaration as a document required to support a finding that the merchandise is entitled to duty free entry). Accordingly, we find that execution of CBP Form 3299 constitutes customs business. In HQ H258892 (March 21, 2017), CBP determined that preparation of documents intended to be submitted to CBP served to facilitate the entry of merchandise, and therefore constituted customs business. L-3’s proposed execution of CBP Form 3299 on behalf of its employees likewise constitutes the preparation of documents intended to be submitted to CBP to facilitate the entry of its employees’ unaccompanied baggage, and therefore constitutes customs business that can only be transacted by a licensed broker unless otherwise permitted by applicable regulations. Id.; Customs Directive No. 3530-002A, 5.3.1.
CBP Form 3299 expressly limits the entities permitted to execute the declaration to the importer or an authorized agent. See CBP.gov, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, October 2009. CBP Form 3299 defines an authorized agent as a “person who has actual knowledge of the facts and who is specifically empowered under a power of attorney to execute this declaration (see 19 CFR 141.19, 141.32, 141.33).” Id. The regulations cited to for this definition refer to a consignee in whose name an entry is being made, a broker authorized to conduct customs business by a power of attorney, and an individual acting as an agent for a single non-commercial shipment. See 19 C.F.R. § 141.19, § 141.32, § 141.33. We find that because the unaccompanied baggage is not being entered in L-3’s name, and L-3 is not a licensed broker or an individual, L-3 cannot act as an agent authorized to execute CBP Form 3299 on behalf of its employees.
We note, however, that as a nominal consignee, L-3 may be granted limited agency authority by its employees for the purpose of appointing a broker to execute CBP Form 3299 on behalf of its employees. See Customs Directive No. 3530-002A, 5.1.3; HQ H242069.
HOLDING:
Based on the above, we find that L-3 can neither claim its employees’ personal exemption, nor can it act as the importer of record or an authorized agent to enter its employees’ unaccompanied baggage by executing CBP Form 3299 on their behalf.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruing letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.” If any fact in the transaction varies from the facts stipulated to herein, this decision shall not be binding on CBP, as provided for in 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b).
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director Commercial & Trade Facilitation Division