Introduction
importers must comply with a variety of laws, and are also ultimately responsible for ensuring that their agents comply. Laws regulating the export and import of products, services, and information , for the most part, are federal laws.
They are enforced by the U.S. Customs Service, an agency within the Department of the Treasury. Violators of import laws face a host of civil and criminal penalties, depending on the violation. Moreover, importers face new and important responsibilities for complying with import laws.
Thus, it is now more important than ever for importers to have a program for keeping and maintaining records relating to importation, and by making sure that they comply with all relevant rules and procedures. Although import laws threaten with a heavy, menacing stick, they also provide the occasional carrot.
Benefits available to importers may include preferential treatment allowed by treaty, special programs such as duty-free importations to a bonded warehouse or foreign trade zone, and duty drawback. Although this guide does not deal with these programs, importers should investigate whether they qualify.
This guide provides a general treatment of some of the more important compliance issues, including classification and valuation, antidumping and countervailing duties, record-keeping, and country-of-origin marking.
importers Must Use Reasonable Care
Instead of the Customs Service reviewing every entry of merchandise into the country, importers are responsible for the correct value and classification of the merchandise, and for complying with all other relevant customs laws. Moreover, importers must use "reasonable care" in exercising this responsibility.
importers must also meet the "informed compliance" requirement by either developing in-house customs expertise or enlisting the assistance of a qualified outside professional. To ensure that importers are using reasonable care, there are significant legal requirements on importers and their agents to keep and maintain import records and documents. Moreover, the Customs Service has extensive powers to audit importers and impose stiff penalties on violators.
This checklist is for importers to use to help them comply with the reasonable care standard, plus a glossary with some important definitions. This checklist and glossary provide only the most basic, generalized treatment of a complex area of the law. Before importing, you should consult with a knowledgeable professional to ensure that you are complying with the most current laws and regulations.
