President to Sign ATPA/ATPDEA Renewal Bill on Oct 21, CBP Confirms Refund Steps
The President is scheduled to sign the bill that renews the Andean Trade Preference Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act program on October 21, 2011. The ATPA/ATPDEA provision, which takes effect 15 days after that date (approximately November 5), will renew ATPA/ATPDEA retroactively from February 13, 2011 through July 31, 2013. This notice describes the renewal provisions in H.R. 3078 and the process that CBP is expected to follow for refund requests for entries made during the lapsed period.
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(H.R. 3078 also contains provisions to implement the Colombia free trade agreement, etc.)
Extension of ATPA/ATPDEA thru July 31, 2013
As passed by Congress, H.R. 3078 would renew ATPA/ATPDEA through July 31, 2013, effective for articles entered1 on or after 15 days after the date of enactment, which is approximately November 5.
Regional Fabric TPL, Brassiere and Emergency Tariff Provisions also Renewed
H.R. 3078 also renews the ATPDEA regional fabric tariff preference level (TPL) and brassiere provision through July 31, 2013. Authority for the President to take certain bilateral emergency tariff actions with respect to ATPDEA apparel would also be renewed through July 31, 2013.
Renewal Retroactive to February 13, 2011
Goods entered after ATPA/ATPDEA expired on February 12, 2011, but before the effective date of the renewal provision (approximately November 5), that would have qualified for duty-free treatment or other preferential treatment under ATPA/ATPDEA had the entry been made before ATPA/ATPDEA expired, will be eligible to be liquidated or reliquidated, with a refund of duty.
Refund Requests Due Within 180 Days of Oct 21
A request for liquidation or reliquidation will need to be filed with CBP no later than 180 days after the October 21 date of the enactment and contain sufficient information to enable CBP to locate the entry, or to reconstruct the entry if it cannot be located. Any amounts owed would be paid, without interest, not later than 90 days after the date of liquidation or reliquidation.
As CBP did not permit the continued use of the ATPA/ATPDEA Special Program Indicators (J and J+) when ATPA/ATPDEA expired on February 12, 2011, CBP is not able to process refunds automatically and a request for liquidation or reliquidation must be filed.
PEAs. According to CBP sources, it is likely that Post Entry Amendments can be used to request an ATPA/ATPDEA refund, as long as the rules for PEAs are followed. (Note that PEAs are no longer allowed for ACE entry summaries. See ITT’s Online Archives 11092014 for summary on use of PSCs for ACE.)
PSCs. Similarly, Post Summary Corrections should be able to be used for ATPA/ATPDEA refund requests as long as the rules for the program are followed.
Protests may be needed for liquidated entries. If the entry has liquidated, it is likely a protest will be needed.
CBP may provide additional guidance on use of PEAs/PSCs for refunds. CBP may issue instructions on the use of PEAs and PSCs for ATPA/ATPDEA refund requests when it issues its instructions on the renewal of ATPA/ATPDEA, or it could address this issue in a FAQ.
Colombia to Lose ATPA/ATPDEA Beneficiary Status on Date FTA Enters into Force
H.R. 3078 will also require the President to terminate the designation of Colombia as an ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary country on the date the Colombia FTA enters into force.
When Colombia loses its ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary status, Ecuador will be the only remaining ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary. (Peru’s ATPDEA eligibility expired on December 31, 2010 (Peru has a FTA with the U.S.). Bolivia lost its ATPA/ATPDEA benefits in 2008 over its failure to cooperate in counternarcotics efforts.)
1In this instance, the term “entry” includes a withdrawal from warehouse for consumption.
See ITT’s Online Archives 11021411 for summary of CBP’s instructions when ATPDEA expired on February 12, 2011.)
(See ITT’s Online Archives 11101306 for announcement of the passage of Colombia FTA bill by Congress.
See ITT’s Online Archives 11021411 for summary of CBP’s instructions on the expiration of ATPA/ATPDEA.)