Occasionally, companies express an interest in listing more than one entity on a bond. In these situations, Customs does allow separately incorporated entities to be listed on the same bond as co-principals as long as the entities each have the same distinct legal status, such as corporations, partnerships or sole proprietorships. It is important for a … Read more
In our office’s November 3, 2011 newsletter our office included an article on Carnet bonds. As a reminder, the use of a Carnet allows a principal to avoid posting of financial security at the time of entry, eliminates value added taxes (VAT) and simplifies customs procedures. This is done under the premise that the goods … Read more
What happens when goods come into the United States and the importer wants to store them in a warehouse (without paying the duty)? Or when the goods must be transported to a destination outside the port of entry from a Customs secured area? What about freight forwarders or trucking companies who may arrange to move … Read more
A Temporary Importation entry, or TIB (which stands for Temporary Importation Bond, a misnomer), is one of several ways goods can be entered into the U.S. When goods are entered in this manner, the importer is declaring to Customs that they are exempt from having to pay duties as the merchandise will be exported out … Read more
While many other lines of insurance can be terminated on any day the client chooses, Customs bonds require sufficient advance notice and some forethought before being cancelled. The two most common ways to terminate a Customs bond is by a request from the principal, or at the request of the surety. When a principal would … Read more
Duty Drawback, or the 301-1A, is a process by which an entity, known as the claimant, may recover up to 99% of the duty they paid on goods to enter those goods into the country & then either exported or destroyed those goods. The claimant may file a claim with Customs up to 3 years … Read more
Customs periodically monitors the sufficiency of active bonds they have on file. If Customs finds that an active Importer bond is not sufficient based on the import activity of the principal, they will provide a sufficiency notice to the principal requiring the bond to be rewritten at a higher amount. When sending this notice to … Read more
Through the years, Customs has had a number of different policies for ensuring that principals maintain bonds in an adequate amount. Customs’ current requirement is that a continuous importer bond be set in an amount equal to 10% of the duty, taxes, and fees paid to Customs in the last 12 months – or $50,000 … Read more
The easiest and most common way to make a change to any bond is to file a rider, however, Customs only permits changes through four (4) specific riders. Changes not defined by these riders require the bond to be rewritten. Riders available to change the information on the bond are: an Address change rider, a … Read more
An importer bond, or Activity Code 1, is the most common type of Customs bond. This type of bond allows an importer of merchandise to bring their goods into the United States. The bond guarantees that the entry paperwork is filed correctly by the principal or principal’s customs broker and the appropriate amount of duties, … Read more
