[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 67 (Friday, April 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24024-24025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07230]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection


Republic of Korea Steel Imports Approved for the Electronic 
Certification System (eCERT)

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

ACTION: General notice.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that the export certification 
requirement for imports of steel products of the Republic of Korea that 
are subject to an absolute quota will be collected through the 
Electronic Certification System (eCERT). As a result, all imports of 
steel of the Republic of Korea that are subject to an absolute quota 
must have a valid export certificate with a corresponding eCERT 
transmission at the time of entry for consumption or withdrawal from 
warehouse for consumption. The transition to eCERT will not change the 
quota filing process or requirements.

DATES: The use of the eCERT process for Korean steel importations that 
are subject to an absolute quota will be required for steel entered, or 
withdrawn from a warehouse, for consumption on or after April 22, 2024. 
CBP will automatically reject filings without correct eCERT information 
starting May 20, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Peterson, Chief, Quota and 
Agriculture Branch, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of Trade, (202) 
384-8905, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Absolute quotas are established by Presidential proclamations, 
Executive orders, and legislation. See section 132.2(a) of title 19 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR 132.2(a)). On April 30, 2018, 
President Donald J. Trump signed Proclamation 9740 (83 FR 20683) 
imposing, among other things, absolute quota limits \1\ on certain 
steel products of the Republic of Korea, pursuant to U.S. Note 16(e), 
subchapter III, chapter 99, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS), and subheadings 9903.80.05 through 9903.80.58, HTSUS. 
Subsequently, on August 29, 2018, President Trump signed Proclamation 
9777 (83 FR 45025), wherein clause 7 provides that where a government 
of a country identified in the superior text to subheadings 9903.80.05 
through 9903.80.58, HTSUS, notifies the United States that it has 
established a mechanism for the certification of exports to the United 
States of the products covered by the quantitative limitations 
applicable to those subheadings, U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) may require that importers of these products furnish relevant 
certification of export information in order to qualify for the 
treatment set forth in those subheadings. Where CBP adopts such a 
requirement, it must publish notice of the requirement in the Federal 
Register, along with procedures for the submission of the relevant 
export certification information. No article that is subject to an 
export certification requirement may be entered for consumption, or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, except upon presentation of a 
valid and properly executed export certification.
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    \1\ Absolute quotas strictly limit the quantity of goods that 
may enter the commerce of the United States for a specific period.
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    The Republic of Korea is a country identified in the superior text 
to subheadings 9903.80.05 through 9903.80.58, HTSUS. The government of 
the Republic of Korea has notified the United States that it has 
established a mechanism for the certification of exports to the United 
States. On September 18, 2019, CBP published a notice in the Federal 
Register (84 FR 49115), announcing that, on October 18, 2019, CBP would 
begin requiring official export certificates issued by the Republic of 
Korea for importation of certain steel products into the United 
States.\2\ Following publication of the Federal Register notice, CBP 
issued a message through the Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) 
announcing that filers failing to provide the correct export 
certificate number would receive a warning message from the Automated 
Commercial Environment (ACE) until January 1, 2020, at which time ACE 
would begin to reject entries lacking the correct export certificate 
number. Subsequent CSMS messages delayed the implementation of ACE 
rejection until

[[Page 24025]]

further notice, such that steel imports of the Republic of Korea 
without an export certificate received warning messages, but were not 
rejected.\3\
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    \2\ Only exporters may obtain valid and properly executed 
certificates of exportation, which exporters may apply for online 
via the Korea Iron and Steel Association (KOSA) website at http://sq.kosa.or.kr/. The Republic of Korea has authorized KOSA to issue 
export certificates. Importers should obtain these certificates of 
exportation from exporters.
    \3\ See CSMS #40196360 (October 10, 2019) (initial announcement 
of the testing period), followed by CSMS #41021976 (December 17, 
2019) and CSMS #42445519 (April 21, 2020). Full implementation of 
the certificate requirement was put on hold, while the United States 
and the Republic of Korea addressed issues related to the management 
of the certificates.
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    The Electronic Certification System (eCERT) is a system developed 
by CBP that uses electronic data transmissions of information normally 
associated with a required export document, such as a license or 
certificate, to facilitate the administration of quotas and ensure that 
the proper restraint levels are charged without being exceeded. The 
Republic of Korea currently submits export certificates to CBP via 
email, and in the administration of the quota, CBP validates the 
certificate numbers provided by importers on their entry summaries with 
the information provided by the Republic of Korea. The Republic of 
Korea requested to participate in the eCERT process to comply with the 
United States' absolute quota limits for steel exported from the 
Republic of Korea for importation into the United States. CBP has 
coordinated with the Republic of Korea to implement the eCERT process, 
and now the Republic of Korea is ready to participate in this process 
by transmitting its export certificates to CBP via eCERT.\4\
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    \4\ An exporter's KOSA number functions as the eCERT number.
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    Foreign countries participating in eCERT transmit information via a 
global network service provider, which allows connectivity to CBP's 
automated electronic system for commercial trade processing, ACE. 
Specific data elements are transmitted to CBP by the importer of record 
(IOR), or an authorized customs broker, when filing an entry summary 
with CBP, and those data elements must match eCERT data from the 
participating country before the subject importations will be entered 
or withdrawn for consumption. Importers must provide the participating 
country with their IOR number in advance of filing an entry, and, in 
turn, the participating country must submit the IOR number as an 
additional data element of information within the transmission for 
eCERT.\5\ For entries filed through ACE, additional guidance on the 
submission of the export certificate information is available in the 
CBP and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR), specifically 
in the chapter entitled Entry Summary Create/Update, regarding the 
record entitled Importer's Additional Declaration Detail (https://www.cbp.gov/document/guidance/ace-catair-entry-summary-createupdate-v88). If a certificate number is not translated properly, the entry 
will be rejected.
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    \5\ 87 FR 52015.
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    This document announces that the Republic of Korea will be 
implementing the eCERT process for transmitting export certificates for 
steel product entries subject to the absolute quota limitation. The 
entry summary data elements transmitted to CBP for merchandise that is 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after April 
22, 2024 must match the eCERT transmission of an export certificate 
from the Republic of Korea for the merchandise to be entered or 
withdrawn for consumption. CBP will automatically reject filings 
without correct eCERT information starting May 20, 2024. The transition 
to eCERT will not change the absolute quota filing process or 
requirements. Importers will continue to provide the export certificate 
numbers from the Republic of Korea in the same manner as when currently 
filing entry summaries with CBP. The format of the export certificate 
numbers will not change as a result of the transition to eCERT. CBP 
will reject entry summaries that otherwise comply with the absolute 
quota limitations when filed without a valid export certificate in 
eCERT.

AnnMarie R. Highsmith,
Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade.
[FR Doc. 2024-07230 Filed 4-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P