Title 19

SECTION 190.91

190.91 Waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy.

§ 190.91 Waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy.

(a) General - (1) Scope. The requirement in § 190.35 for prior notice of intent to export or destroy merchandise which may be the subject of an unused merchandise drawback claim under section 313(j) of the Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1313(j)), or a rejected merchandise drawback claim under section 313(c), as amended (19 U.S.C. 1313(c)), may be waived under the provisions of this section.

(2) Effective date for claimants with existing approval. For claimants approved for waiver of prior notice before February 24, 2019, and under 19 CFR part 191, such approval of waiver of prior notice will remain in effect, but only if the claimant provides the following certification as part of each complete claim filed on or after that date, pursuant to § 190.51(a)(2)(xvi): “The undersigned acknowledges the current statutory requirements under 19 U.S.C. 1313 and the regulatory requirements in 19 CFR part 190, and hereby certifies continuing eligibility for the waiver of prior notice (granted prior to February 24, 2019) in compliance therewith.” This certification may only be made for waiver of prior notice for the specific type of drawback claim for which the application was previously approved under 19 CFR 191, except that applications approved under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(1) will also be applicable to claims for the same type of merchandise if made under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(2).

(3) Limited successorship for waiver of prior notice. When a claimant (predecessor) is approved for waiver of prior notice under this section and all of the rights, privileges, immunities, powers, duties and liabilities of the claimant are transferred by written agreement, merger, or corporate resolution to a successor, such approval of waiver of prior notice will remain in effect for a period of 1 year after such transfer. The approval of waiver of prior notice will terminate at the end of such 1-year period unless the successor applies for waiver of prior notice under this section. If such successor applies for waiver of prior notice under this section within such 1-year period, the successor may continue to operate under the predecessor's waiver of prior notice until CBP approves or denies the successor's application for waiver of prior notice under this section, subject to the provisions in this section (see, in particular, paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section).

(b) Application - (1) Who may apply. A claimant for unused merchandise drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j) or rejected merchandise drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(c) may apply for a waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy merchandise under this section.

(2) Contents of application. An applicant for a waiver of prior notice under this section must file a written application (which may be physically delivered or delivered via email) with the drawback office where the claims will be filed. Such application must include the following:

(i) Required information:

(A) Name, address, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) number (with suffix) of applicant;

(B) Name, address, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) number (with suffix) of current exporter(s) or destroyer(s) (if more than 3 exporters or destroyers, such information is required only for the 3 most frequently used exporters or destroyers), if applicant is not the exporter or destroyer;

(D) Commodity/product lines of imported and exported or destroyed merchandise covered by this application;

(E) Origin of merchandise covered by this application;

(F) Estimated number of export transactions or destructions during the next calendar year covered by this application;

(G) Port(s) of exportation or location of destruction facilities to be used during the next calendar year covered by this application;

(H) Estimated dollar value of potential drawback during the next calendar year covered by this application;

(I) The relationship between the parties involved in the import and export transactions or destructions; and

(J) Provision(s) of drawback covered by the application.

(ii) A written declaration whether or not the applicant has previously been denied a waiver request, or had an approval of a waiver revoked, by any other drawback office, and whether the applicant has previously requested a 1-time waiver of prior notice under § 190.36, and whether such request was approved or denied; and

(iii) A certification that the following documentary evidence will be made available for CBP review upon request:

(A) For the purpose of establishing that the imported merchandise was not used in the United States (for purposes of drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(1)) or that the exported or destroyed merchandise was not used in the United States and satisfies the requirements for substitution with the imported merchandise (for purposes of drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(2)) or that the rejected merchandise that was exported or destroyed satisfies the relevant requirements (for purposes of drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(c)), and, as applicable:

(1) Records;

(2) Laboratory records prepared in the ordinary course of business; and/or

(3) Inventory records prepared in the ordinary course of business tracing all relevant movements and storage of the imported merchandise, substituted merchandise, and/or exported or destroyed merchandise; and

(B) Any other evidence establishing compliance with other applicable drawback requirements, upon CBP's request under paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section.

(3) Samples of records to accompany application. To expedite the processing of applications under this section, the application should contain at least one sample of each of the records to be used to establish compliance with the applicable requirements (that is, sample of import document (for example, CBP Form 7501, or its electronic equivalent), sample of export document (for example, bill of lading) or sample of evidence of destruction, and samples of business, laboratory, and inventory records certified, under paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(A)(1) through (3) of this section, to be available to CBP upon request).

(c) Action on application - (1) CBP review. The drawback office will review and verify the information submitted on and with the application. CBP will notify the applicant in writing within 90 days of receipt of the application of its decision to approve or deny the application, or of CBP's inability to approve, deny, or act on the application and the reason therefor. In order for CBP to evaluate the application, CBP may request any of the information listed in paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(A)(1) through (3) of this section. Based on the information submitted on and with the application and any information so requested, and based on the applicant's record of transactions with CBP, the drawback office will approve or deny the application. The criteria to be considered in reviewing the applicant's record with CBP include, but are not limited to:

(i) The presence or absence of unresolved CBP charges (duties, taxes, or other debts owed CBP);

(ii) The accuracy of the claimant's past drawback claims;

(iii) Whether waiver of prior notice was previously revoked or suspended; and

(iv) The presence or absence of any failure to present merchandise to CBP for examination after CBP had timely notified the party filing a Notice of Intent to Export, Destroy, or Return Merchandise for Purposes of Drawback on CBP Form 7553 of CBP's intent to examine the merchandise (see § 190.35).

(2) Approval. The approval of an application for waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy, under this section, will operate prospectively, applying only to those export shipments or destructions occurring after the date of the waiver. It will be subject to a stay, as provided in paragraph (d) of this section.

(3) Denial. If an application for waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy, under this section, is denied, the applicant will be given written notice, specifying the grounds therefor, together with what corrective action may be taken, and informing the applicant that the denial may be appealed in the manner prescribed in paragraph (g) of this section. The applicant may not reapply for a waiver until the reason for the denial is resolved.

(d) Stay. An approval of waiver of prior notice may be stayed, for a specified reasonable period, should CBP desire for any reason to examine the merchandise being exported or destroyed with drawback prior to its exportation or destruction for purposes of verification. CBP will provide written notice, by registered or certified mail, of such a stay to the person for whom waiver of prior notice was approved. CBP will specify the reason(s) for the stay in such written notice. The stay will take effect 2 working days after the date the person signs the return post office receipt for the registered or certified mail. The stay will remain in effect for the period specified in the written notice, or until such earlier date as CBP notifies the person for whom waiver of prior notice was approved in writing that the reason for the stay has been satisfied. After the stay is lifted, operation under the waiver of prior notice procedure may resume for exports on or after the date the stay is lifted.

(e) Proposed revocation. CBP may propose to revoke the approval of an application for waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy, under this section, for good cause (such as, noncompliance with the drawback law and/or regulations). CBP will give written notice of the proposed revocation of a waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy. The notice will specify the reasons for CBP's proposed action and provide information regarding the procedures for challenging CBP's proposed revocation action as prescribed in paragraph (g) of this section. The written notice of proposed revocation may be included with a notice of stay of approval of waiver of prior notice as provided under paragraph (d) of this section. The revocation of the approval of waiver of prior notice will take effect 30 days after the date of the proposed revocation if not timely challenged under paragraph (g) of this section. If timely challenged, the revocation will take effect after completion of the challenge procedures in paragraph (g) of this section unless the challenge is successful.

(f) Action by drawback office controlling. Action by the drawback office to approve, deny, stay, or revoke waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy, unless reversed by CBP Headquarters, will govern the applicant's eligibility for this procedure in all CBP drawback offices. If the application for waiver of prior notice of intent to export or destroy is approved, the claimant must refer to such approval in the first drawback claim filed after such approval in the drawback office approving waiver of prior notice and must submit a copy of the approval letter with the first drawback claim filed in any drawback office other than the approving office, when the export or destruction upon which the claim is based was without prior notice, under this section.

(g) Appeal of denial or challenge to proposed revocation. An appeal of a denial of an application under this section, or challenge to the proposed revocation of an approved application under this section, may be made by letter to the drawback office issuing the denial or proposed revocation and must be filed within 30 days of the date of denial or proposed revocation. A denial of an appeal or challenge made to the drawback office may itself be appealed to CBP Headquarters, Office of Trade, Trade Policy and Programs, and must be filed within 30 days of the denial date of the initial appeal or challenge. The 30-day period for appeal or challenge to the drawback office or to CBP Headquarters may be extended for good cause, upon written request by the applicant or holder for such extension filed with the appropriate office within the 30-day period.