[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8809]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 13, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
19 CFR Part 142

[T.D. 94-39]

 

Identifying Information Required on Entry Documents

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final interpretive rule.

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SUMMARY: This document sets forth examples that correctly identify the 
party in the U.S. to whom imported merchandise is sold or consigned, or 
the premises in the U.S. to which it is delivered. This information is 
required by regulation to be shown on Customs entry or release 
documents for the merchandise.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 13, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lou Samenfink, Office of Cargo 
Enforcement and Facilitation, (202-927-0510).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Merchandise imported and entered for consumption must be supported 
by Customs entry and entry summary documentation. Briefly stated, this 
entry documentation is detailed in Sec. 142.3, Customs Regulations (19 
CFR 142.3), and consists of the information which must be filed with 
Customs to secure the release of imported merchandise from Customs 
custody (19 CFR 141.0a(a)); entry summary documentation is that which 
must be filed in order to enable Customs to assess duties, and collect 
statistics with respect to the merchandise, and to determine whether 
other requirements of law or regulation are met (19 CFR 141.0a(b)).
    In addition, in certain circumstances as enumerated in Sec. 142.21, 
Customs Regulations (19 CFR 142.21), merchandise may be initially 
released under a special permit for immediate delivery, in accordance 
with Sec. 448(b), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1448(b)), 
and in these circumstances as well, the information required by 
Sec. 142.3 must be provided, except that a commercial invoice need not 
be submitted at such time (see 19 CFR 142.22(a)).
    Customs capability to identify fully all parties involved with 
imported merchandise being entered or released is essential in order to 
support investigative efficiency. Information concerning the party in 
the U.S. to whom such merchandise is sold or consigned represents one 
of several elements which Customs considers in the process of assessing 
the risks associated with the transaction and determining the 
appropriate level of examination to be accorded the merchandise 
involved. This process is known generally as ``cargo selectivity''.
    In this latter regard, principally to correct a problem on the 
Northern Border, Sec. 142.3 was amended by T.D. 90-92, 55 FR 49879, to 
add a new paragraph (a)(6), in order to specifically require that entry 
or release documents set forth the identity, including the importer 
identification number, of the party in the U.S. to whom the imported 
merchandise is sold or consigned, or if this is unknown at the time of 
entry or release, the premises in the U.S. to which the merchandise is 
delivered.
    Under Sec. 142.3(a)(6), the required information, including the 
appropriate importer identification number or numbers, must be provided 
for each entry of imported merchandise processed through cargo 
selectivity, whether the entry is electronically or manually 
transmitted to Customs.
    In particular, for a consolidated entry, where the entry is made 
listing one broker or freight forwarder as consignee, the required 
information must be submitted for each separate and distinct shipment 
within the consolidated shipment.
    The notice of proposed rulemaking which led to the final rule 
adopting Sec. 142.3(a)(6) set forth seven examples which were designed 
and intended to illustrate the application of the identification 
requirement contained in this regulation (55 FR 2528, 2529). These 
examples, however, were dropped from the final rule because they 
created confusion on the part of the brokerage community as to which 
party should be identified in some of the more complex import 
transactions (T.D. 90-92, 55 FR 49879, 49883). However, it was noted in 
the final rule that examples meeting the needs of both Customs and the 
trade would be developed and issued separately (ibid.).
    Accordingly, after working with the trade community in this 
endeavor, Customs published a notice of clarification in the Federal 
Register on July 29, 1992 (57 FR 33463), proposing, and asking for 
public comment on, a number of examples intended to effectively 
illustrate the correct application of Sec. 142.3(a)(6).
    A total of twelve commenters responded during the public comment 
period. A number of the comments made were outside the scope of the 
notice, inasmuch as they did not address or concern the examples 
themselves. A description of the specific issues that were raised with 
respect to these examples, together with Customs response, is set forth 
below.

Discussion of Comments

    Comment: One commenter requested an explanation of the procedures 
for including the ultimate consignee on the entry documents when there 
are multiple ultimate consignees (both electronically via the Automated 
Commercial System and on the paperwork).
    Response: While this comment is beyond the scope of this notice, as 
a result of the passage of the Customs modernization portion of the 
North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-
182, Title VI), Customs will be undertaking a broad-based review of its 
regulations. This comment would be more appropriately addressed at that 
time.
    Comment: One commenter wanted to know what would happen if a 
``customer'' refuses to give his ultimate consignee number or power of 
attorney to his broker.
    Response: If the ultimate consignee number is not provided on the 
required entry documents, the documentation shall not be considered to 
be filed in proper form and shall be returned to the importer for 
correction pursuant to Sec. 141.64, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 
141.64).
    Comment: Examples 2, 5 and 11 (now 10) are cited as situations 
where the Canadian shipper should be listed as the ultimate consignee.
    Response: It would not be possible for the foreign shipper to be 
listed as the consignee or ultimate consignee on entry documents at the 
time of immediate delivery, entry or release. The notice of 
clarification indicated the party in the United States to whom 
merchandise is sold or consigned. It is this party who is required to 
be identified in the entry documents.
    Comment: Example 9 is cited as a case where a Canadian company is 
listed on the entry documents as the buyer. The merchandise is shipped 
to a trucking company in the United States, presumably for shipment to 
the buyer in Canada. It is suggested that the Canadian buyer be listed 
as the ultimate consignee on U.S. entry documents.
    Response: The U.S. trucking company is properly listed as the 
ultimate consignee in this situation. Customs Regulations call for 
using the premises to which the merchandise is to be delivered in the 
United States as the effective ultimate consignee on the entry, when 
there is no known U.S. buyer at the time of immediate delivery, entry 
or release.
    Comment: It was requested that a new example be issued for entries 
filed on merchandise that arrives by pipeline.
    Response: The examples do not cover this because the mode of 
transportation is not a factor in identifying the ultimate consignee.
    Comment: One commenter gave examples where the consignee or 
premises could change after the entry has been processed.
    Response: It is the party to whom the merchandise is sold or 
consigned, or the premises to which it is to be delivered, at the time 
of entry or release, which must be listed in the Customs entry or 
release documents.
    Comment: One commenter wanted to know who the consignee would be if 
an importer was shipping merchandise from Canada ``directly'' to 
Mexico, through the United States, and chose to make a consumption 
entry. The commenter pointed out that the merchandise might be free of 
duty and both the client and the carrier might not want the shipment to 
move in-bond.
    Response: A situation where a shipment moves from the point of 
entry to exportation from the United States is outside the scope of 
Sec. 142.3(a)(6). Consequently, Customs will establish a procedure to 
accommodate importers who wish to file a consumption entry for 
merchandise that will transit the United States.

Conclusion

    After careful consideration of the comments received and further 
review of the matter, Customs has determined to adopt the examples 
without substantive change, with the exception of one example (Example 
10 in the notice of clarification) which is removed because the special 
steel invoice the subject thereof is no longer being used. The 
succeeding examples are renumbered accordingly. In addition, the 
following two typographical errors are corrected: in Example 5, the 
reference to ``Example 4'' is changed to ``Example 3''; and in Example 
9, the second sentence beginning with ``Acme shops'' is changed to 
``Acme ships''.

Examples

    Example 1. ABC Company, a distributor of telephone equipment 
located in Seattle, Washington, places an order with Canadian Bell 
Limited of Vancouver, Canada, and arranges for the importing carrier to 
deliver the goods directly to several customers of ABC Company in the 
U.S.
    ABC Company is the ultimate consignee for Customs purposes, since 
that is the party which purchased the merchandise from the Canadian 
shipper.
    Example 2. XYZ Limited is a Canadian company which produces and 
delivers baked goods to twenty retail food stores in the U.S. on a 
daily basis.
    Since the baked goods are ordered/purchased separately from the 
Canadian supplier by the individual stores in the U.S., each of these 
stores is the ultimate consignee for Customs purposes.
    Example 3. Montreal Furniture Company, a Canadian manufacturer of 
office furniture, leases storage space at the Champlain Warehouse 
Service in Champlain, New York. As orders are received from customers 
in the U.S., delivery is made from the Champlain storage facility.
    The Champlain Warehouse Service should be shown on the entry or 
release documents in accordance with Sec. 142.3(a)(6), since there is 
no known buyer of the merchandise at the time of its importation and 
those are the premises in the U.S. to which the imported goods are 
being delivered.
    Example 4. Calgary Instruments Limited ships a small parcel 
containing a medical instrument to the UPS (United Parcel Service) hub 
in Sweetgrass, Montana, for subsequent delivery to Memorial Hospital in 
Great Falls, Montana. Reliable Broker is the importer of record for 
this shipment.
    Memorial Hospital is the ultimate consignee for this shipment, 
since it is the purchasing party, and UPS is merely a nominal consignee 
in the transaction.
    Example 5. An employee of Ontario Jewelry Sales Limited of 
Mississauga, Canada, imports in her personal baggage a collection of 
diamonds for display and possible sale at a jewelry exhibition taking 
place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Manhattan, New York.
    As in Example 3, since this shipment is not being imported subject 
to a contract of purchase or delivery at the time of importation, the 
Intercontinental Hotel should be shown on the entry or release 
documents in accordance with Sec. 142.3(a)(6), since that is the place 
to which the diamonds are being delivered.
    Example 6. The Wilkins Fur Company, Limited, of Toronto, ships 
twenty mink coats to the Williamson Exposition Company of Boston, which 
is handling the arrangements for a trade fair on behalf of the National 
Association of Fur Garment Wholesalers to be held at the Plaza Hotel in 
New York City.
    Since there is no known buyer at the time of importation of the 
mink coats, the Williamson Exposition Company of Boston should be shown 
on the entry or release documents in accordance with Sec. 142.3(a)(6), 
since that is the entity to which the coats are consigned.
    Example 7. Manitoba Auto Supply of Winnipeg ships ignition kits to 
the U.S. The buyer shown on the invoice is Minneapolis Auto Specialties 
of 2800 Hennepin, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Marty's Car Parts in Racine, 
Wisconsin, is shown as the ``ship to'' party.
    As in Example 1, the ultimate consignee for Customs purposes is 
Minneapolis Auto Specialties, since that is the party which purchased 
the merchandise from the Canadian shipper.
    Example 8. Manitoba Auto Supply ships ignition kits to Minneapolis 
Auto Specialties in Duluth, Minnesota. The buyer shown on the invoice 
is Minneapolis Auto Specialties located at 2800 Hennepin in 
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
    As in Example 7, Minneapolis Auto Specialties in Minneapolis is the 
ultimate consignee since that is the party in the U.S. which purchased 
the merchandise.
    Example 9. Acme Compressor Company, Limited, of Edmonton, Alberta, 
buys an air compressor from the Trucking Supply Company of Regina, 
Saskatchewan, and is listed as the buyer on the invoice. Acme ships the 
compressor to the Lindquist Trucking Company in Ambrose, North Dakota.
    The Lindquist Trucking Company should be shown on the entry or 
release documents in accordance with Sec. 142.3(a)(6), since that is 
the place in the U.S. to which the goods are being delivered.
    Example 10. Beauty Limited of Montreal, Quebec, sells a shipment of 
cosmetics to Total Woman, Inc. (a U.S. company) in care of (c/o) Unique 
Image of Albany, New York. There is no address listed on the invoice 
for the buyer, Total Woman, Inc.
    The ultimate consignee in this case is Total Woman, Inc., which is 
the buyer in this transaction. Its name and address must therefore be 
included on the Customs entry or release documents.
    Example 11. Spring Water Company of Los Angeles purchases a load of 
bottled water from Healthy Water Limited of Calgary, Alberta. The 
address of Spring Water Company is listed as a post office box in Los 
Angeles. The water is shipped to Ralph's Grocery Store on Sepulveda 
Boulevard in Los Angeles.
    The ultimate consignee is Spring Water Company of Los Angeles as 
the U.S. buyer of the water, regardless of the fact that its address 
shows a post office box.
    Example 12. FTX Company in Mexico City ships a load of door knobs 
to the Rio Company in El Paso, Texas. There are no other parties 
located in the U.S. shown on the invoice.
    The Rio Company should be shown on the entry or release documents 
in accordance with Sec. 142.3(a)(6) since there is no known buyer of 
the merchandise at the time of its importation and those are the 
premises in the U.S. to which the imported goods are being delivered. 
However, if there is a known buyer that name must be used.
    Example 13. ABC Garments of Edmonton, Alberta, manufactures 
children's clothing and sells to small boutiques in the U.S. These 
boutiques place orders (usually small) with ABC Garments which will 
accumulate a number of orders before sending them as a consolidated 
shipment with their customhouse broker listed as consignee.
    Although Sec. 141.51, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 141.51), allows 
all merchandise arriving on one vessel and consigned to one consignee 
(in this case, the broker) to be included in one entry, the ultimate 
consignee (i.e., the person to whom the merchandise is sold) for each 
shipment in the consolidated entry must be provided to Customs in 
accordance with Secs. 141.86(a)(2) and 142.3(a)(6), Customs Regulations 
(19 CFR 141.86(a)(2) and 142.3(a)(6)). Furthermore, pursuant to 
Secs. 24.5(a) and 142.3(a)(6), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 24.5(a) and 
142.3(a)(6)), a Customs Form 5106 would also have to be filed for each 
ultimate consignee for which entry is made.
    Example 14. Through Quicksilver Delivery, an international courier 
company, Just Fabrics, Limited, of Montreal, ships a parcel of fabric 
cuttings to Dresses-Are-Us in London, England. Dresses-Are-Us is listed 
as the destination party on the invoice. After Customs clearance, the 
parcel is forwarded to England by A-1 Freight Forwarders of Buffalo, 
New York.
    Because there is no known buyer in the U.S., A-1 Freight Forwarders 
in Buffalo, New York, should be shown on the entry or release documents 
in accordance with Sec. 142.3(a)(6), since theirs are the premises in 
the U.S. to which the merchandise is to be delivered before being 
forwarded to England.
    Example 15. Top Hat, Ltd., ships twenty orders of clothing 
accessories on individual bills of lading to various consignees. The 
entire shipment is included on a master bill of lading designating a 
customs broker as consignee.
    One entry would be filed in this situation in accordance with 
Sec. 141.51, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 141.51). Although the broker 
listed as consignee on the master bill of lading may be the importer of 
record, tariff-line items would designate the individual ultimate 
consignees. Ultimately, all twenty ultimate consignees would be listed 
on the entry. Some line items may be repeated for more than one 
ultimate consignee.

Drafting Information

    The principal author of this document was Russell Berger, 
Regulations Branch, U.S. Customs Service. However, personnel from other 
offices participated in its development.
George J. Weise,
Commissioner of Customs.
    Approved: March 29, 1994.
John P. Simpson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 94-8809 Filed 4-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P