[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 144 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44986-44987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18459]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection


Renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences and Retroactive 
Application for Certain Liquidations and Reliquidations Under the GSP

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: General notice.

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SUMMARY: The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a renewable 
preferential trade program that allows the eligible products of 
designated beneficiary developing countries to directly enter the 
United States free of duty. The GSP program expired on July 31, 2013, 
but has been renewed through December 31, 2017, effective July 29, 
2015, with retroactive effect between August 1, 2013 to July 28, 2015, 
by a provision in the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015. This 
document provides notice to importers that U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) will again accept claims for GSP duty-free treatment 
for merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption 
and that CBP will process refunds on duties paid, without interest, on 
GSP-eligible merchandise that was entered during the period that the 
GSP program was lapsed. Formal and informal entries that were filed 
electronically via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) using Special 
Program Indicator (SPI) Code ``A'' as a prefix to the tariff number 
will be automatically processed by CBP and no further action by the 
filer is required to initiate the refund process. Non-ABI filers, and 
ABI filers that did not include SPI Code ``A'' on the entry, must 
timely submit a duty refund request to CBP. CBP will continue 
conducting verifications to ensure that GSP benefits are available to 
eligible entries only.

DATES: Effective July 29, 2015, the filing of GSP-eligible entry 
summaries may be resumed without the payment of estimated duties, and 
CBP will initiate the automatic liquidation or reliquidation of formal 
and informal entries of GSP-eligible merchandise that was entered on or 
after August 1, 2013 through July 28, 2015 and filed via ABI with SPI 
Code ``A'' notated on the entry. Requests for refunds of GSP duties 
paid on eligible non-ABI entries, or eligible ABI entries filed without 
SPI Code ``A,'' must be filed with CBP no later than December 28, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Instructions for submitting a request to CBP to liquidate or 
reliquidate entries of GSP-eligible merchandise that was entered on or 
after August 1, 2013 through July 28, 2015 are located at http://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/trade-agreements/special-trade-legislation/generalized-system-preferences.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General questions concerning this 
notice should be directed to Maggie Gray, Office of International 
Trade, Trade Agreements Branch, 202-863-6621. For operational questions 
regarding: Formal/Informal Entries and Baggage Declarations: Celestine 
Harrell, 202-863-6937; Mail Entries: Katherine Changes, 202-344-1767 or 
Robert Woods, 202-344-1236; Non-ABI Informal Entries: contact the port 
of entry where goods were entered. Questions from filers regarding ABI 
transmissions should be directed to their assigned ABI client 
representative.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 501 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2461), 
authorizes the President to establish a Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) to provide duty-free treatment for eligible articles 
imported directly from designated beneficiary countries for specific 
time periods. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2465, as amended by section 1011(a) 
of Public Law 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681, duty-free treatment under the 
GSP program expired on July 31, 2013. On June 29, 2015, the President 
signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (Publ. L. 114-27). 
Section 201 of Public Law 114-27 pertains to the extension of duty-free 
treatment and the retroactive application for certain liquidations and 
reliquidations under the GSP. Section 201(b)(1) provides that GSP duty-
free treatment will be applied to eligible articles from designated 
beneficiary countries that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption on or after July 29, 2015 through December 31, 2017. 
Section 201(b)(2) provides that for entries made on or after August 1, 
2013 through July 28, 2015, to which duty-free treatment would have 
applied if GSP had been in effect during that time period (``covered 
entries''), any duty paid with respect to such entry will be refunded 
provided that a request for liquidation or reliquidation of that entry, 
containing sufficient information to enable U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) to locate the entry or to reconstruct the entry if it 
cannot be located, is filed with CBP by December 28, 2015 (180 days 
after enactment of Pub. L. 114-27). Section 201(b)(2)(C) provides that 
any amounts owed by the

[[Page 44987]]

United States pursuant to section 2(b)(2)(A) will be paid without 
interest.
    Field locations will not issue GSP refunds except as instructed to 
do so by CBP Headquarters. The processing of retroactive GSP duty 
refunds will be administered by CBP according to the terms set forth 
below.

Duty-Free Entry Summaries

    Effective July 29, 2015, filers may resume filing GSP-eligible 
entry summaries without the payment of estimated duties.

GSP Duty Refunds

Formal/Informal Entries

    CBP will automatically liquidate or reliquidate formal and informal 
entries of GSP-eligible merchandise that were entered on or after 
August 1, 2013 through July 28, 2015 and filed electronically via the 
Automated Broker Interface (ABI) using Special Program Indicator (SPI) 
Code ``A'' as a prefix to the listed tariff number. Such entry filings 
will be treated as a conforming request for a liquidation or 
reliquidation pursuant to section 201(b)(2)(B) of Public Law 114-27, 
and no further action by the filer will be required to initiate a 
retroactive GSP duty refund. CBP expects to begin processing automatic 
refunds for these entries shortly after July 29, 2015.
    CBP will not automatically process GSP duty refunds for formal 
covered entries that were not filed electronically via ABI, nor for 
formal and informal covered entries that were filed electronically via 
ABI with payment of estimated duties, but without inclusion of the SPI 
Code ``A'' as a prefix to the listed tariff number. In both situations, 
requests for liquidation or reliquidation of covered entries must be 
made by December 28, 2015 pursuant to the procedures set forth in 
http://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/trade-agreements/special-trade-legislation/generalized-system-preferences.

Mail Entries

    For merchandise that was imported via the mail, addressees must 
request liquidation or reliquidation of covered entries by December 28, 
2015 pursuant to the procedures set forth in http://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/trade-agreements/special-trade-legislation/generalized-system-preferences.

Baggage Declarations and Non-ABI Informals

    Travelers/importers must request liquidation or reliquidation of 
covered entries by December 28, 2015 pursuant to the procedures set 
forth in http://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/trade-agreements/special-trade-legislation/generalized-system-preferences.

Countries Eligible for Retroactive Benefits

    The Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 reauthorization of GSP 
provides retroactive benefits only to goods from a country that is a 
beneficiary of the GSP program as of July 29, 2015. As such, this 
excludes countries such as Bangladesh \1\ and Russia \2\ that lost 
eligibility between July 31, 2013 and July 29, 2015.
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    \1\ See 78 FR 39949 (July 2, 2013).
    \2\ See 79 FR 60945 (October 8, 2014).

    Dated: July 23, 2015.
Brenda Smith,
Assistant Commissioner, Office of International Trade.
[FR Doc. 2015-18459 Filed 7-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9111-14-P