U.S. CUSTOMS MODIFIES PROCEDURES FOR RECONCILIATION PROTOTYPE

U.S. CUSTOMS MODIFIES PROCEDURES FOR RECONCILIATION PROTOTYPE

   U.S. Customs said it will modify the filing procedures of its National Customs Automation Program reconciliation prototype.

   The agency said the changes, which will be implemented throughout the rest of the year and early 2003, were necessary after it “observed several practices engaged in by test participants that are not consistent with the procedures Customs expects the participants to follow.”

   Reconciliation is an automated process that allows an importer, at the time an entry summary is filed, to identity undeterminable information to Customs and to provide the outstanding information at a later date. Undeterminable information may include entry information, such as value and duty-free eligibility under the North American Free Trade Agreement, but not that which affects admissibility.

   Reconciliation entries are flagged in the Customs’ Automated Broker Interface. “The flagged issues will be liquidated at the time the reconciliation entry is liquidated,” Customs said.

   The modifications cover several areas of the prototype, such as NAFTA reconciliation entries and the acceptance by Customs of reconciliation spreadsheets on compact disks.

   For more information about the modifications to the reconciliation prototype, access on line: http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=40879327550+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve, or Customs’ Web site at http://www.customs.gov/recon.

   The two-year test of the reconciliation prototype began on Oct. 1, 1998, and was extended indefinitely on Oct. 1, 2000. “Applications to participate in the test will be accepted throughout the duration of the test,” Customs said.