Title 19

SECTION 146.32

146.32 Application and permit for admission of merchandise.

§ 146.32 Application and permit for admission of merchandise.

(a)(1) Application on CBP Form 214 and permit. Merchandise may be admitted into a zone only upon application on a uniquely and sequentially numbered CBP Form 214 (“Application for Foreign Trade Zone Admission and/or Status Designation”) and the issuance of a permit by the port director. Exceptions to the CBP Form 214 requirement are for merchandise temporarily deposited (§ 146.33), transiting merchandise (§ 146.34), or domestic merchandise admitted without permit (§ 146.43). The applicant for admission shall present the application to the port director and shall include a statistical copy on CBP Form 214-A for transmittal to the Bureau of Census, unless the applicant has made arrangements for the direct transmittal of statistical information to that agency.

(2) CBP Form 214 and Importer Security Filing submitted via a single electronic transmission. If an Importer Security Filing is filed pursuant to part 149 of this chapter via the same electronic transmission as CBP Form 214, the filer is only required to provide the following fields once to be used for Importer Security Filing and CBP Form 214 purposes:

(i) Country of origin; and

(ii) Commodity HTSUS number if this number is provided at the 10-digit level.

(b) Supporting documents - (1) Commercial documentation. The applicant shall submit with the application two copies of an examination invoice meeting the requirements of subpart F, part 141, of this chapter, for any merchandise, other than that excepted in paragraph (a) of this section, to be admitted to a zone. The notation of tariff classification and value required by § 141.90 of this chapter need not be made, unless the merchandise is to be admitted in privileged status.

(2) Evidence of right to make entry. The applicant for admission shall submit with the application a document similar to that which would be required as evidence of the right to make entry for merchandise in Customs territory under § 141.11 or § 141.12 of this chapter.

(3) Release order. Merchandise will not be authorized for delivery by Customs to a zone until a release order has been executed by the carrier which brought the merchandise to the port, unless the merchandise is released back to that same carrier for delivery to the zone (see § 141.11 of this chapter). When a release order is required, it will be made on any of the forms specified in § 141.111 of this chapter, or by the following statement attached to CBP Form 214:

Authority is hereby given to release the merchandise described in this

application to Name of Carrier Signature and title of carrier representative

A blanket or qualified release order may be authorized for the transfer of merchandise to a zone as provided for in § 141.111 of this chapter.

(4) Application to unlade. For merchandise unladen in the zone directly from the importing carrier, the application on CBP Form 214 will be supported by an application to unlade on Customs Form 3171.

(5) Other documentation. The port director may require additional information or documentation as needed to conduct an examination of merchandise under Customs selective entry processing criteria, or to determine whether the merchandise is admissible to the zone.

(c) Conditions for issuance of a permit. The port director will issue a permit for admission of merchandise to a zone when:

(1) The application is properly executed and includes the zone status desired for the merchandise, as provided in subpart D of this part;

(2) The operator's approval appears either on the application or in a separate specific or blanket approval;

(3) The merchandise is retained for examination at the place of unlading, the zone, or other location designated by the port director, except for merchandise for direct delivery to a zone under §§ 146.39 and 146.40. The merchandise may be examined as if it were to be entered for consumption or warehouse; and

(4) All requirements have been fulfilled.

(d) Blanket application for admission of merchandise. Merchandise may be admitted to a zone under blanket application upon presentation of a CBP Form 214 covering more than one shipment of merchandise. A blanket application for admission is for:

(1) Shipments which arrive under one transportation entry as described in § 141.55 of this chapter, or

(2) Shipments which are destined to the same zone applicant on a single business day, in which case the applicant shall:

(i) Present the examination invoices required by paragraph (b) of this section to the port director before the merchadise is admitted into the zone,

(ii) Have been approved for the direct transmittal of statistical trade information to the Bureau of Census under an agreement with that agency; and

(iii) Have examination invoices containing a unique identifier to trace the shipment to the manifest of the carrier that brought the merchandise to the port having jurisdiction over the zone, as well as to the inventory control and recordkeeping system of the operator as described in subpart B.

[T.D. 86-16, 51 FR 5049, Feb. 11, 1986, as amended by CBP Dec. 08-46, 73 FR 71782, Nov. 25, 2008]

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