19 U.S.C. § 1411 — National Customs Automation Program

submitted 96 years ago by Pub. L. 103-182 to r/title-19-CUSTOMS-DUTIES · 1,229 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

The Secretary must establish an electronic National Customs Automation Program for processing commercial imports, including listed existing and planned components. The section also establishes the International Trade Data System, assigns agency duties, and requires annual reports.

(a) Establishment. The Secretary must establish the National Customs Automation Program, an automated electronic system for commercial import processing. Existing components are electronic merchandise entry, entry summaries, invoices, manifests, duty/fee/tax payments, liquidation and reliquidation status, and high-risk entry selection. Planned components are electronic protest filing and status; electronic entry-information filing from any location, including remote filing under section 1414; import-activity summaries and reconciliation; bonds; penalties; drawback claims, records, or entries; and any other Customs Service component serving this subpart’s goals. (b) Participation. The Secretary must set eligibility rules by regulation and may require electronic submission of subsection (a) information or other information separately required under this subpart. (c) Foreign-trade zones. By January 1, 2000, the Secretary must include foreign-trade-zone commercial-import data. (d) International Trade Data System. (1) The Treasury Secretary must oversee an electronic trade-data interchange called ITDS, implemented no later than full implementation of ACE. Its purpose is one Customs and Border Protection portal to collect and distribute standard electronic import and export data required by participating agencies, eliminating duplicate requirements, regulating commerce efficiently, and enforcing trade laws. Agencies requiring cargo-clearing or licensing documents must participate, unless OMB’s Director waives all or part of the requirement for a vital national interest. The Secretary must help agencies move documents from paper to electronic form, consult private stakeholders including the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee on uniform requirements, procedures, and schedules, and coordinate ITDS among agencies and the responsible Customs and Border Protection office. (2) An Interagency Steering Committee, consulting participating agencies, must define and periodically update standard data elements consistently with collection and protection laws, and ensure compatibility with United States WCO and WTO commitments. (3) The Committee consists of the Secretary as chair, the OMB Director, and each participating-agency head, and assists with implementation and participation. (4) The Secretary must work with agencies and the Committee to ensure each agency maintains needed technology, shares information with Customs and Border Protection through an agreement or other action, identifies and transmits admissibility criteria and data elements by June 30, 2016, and by December 31, 2016 uses ITDS as the primary way to receive standard data and relevant documents, except permit, license, and certification applications. No action is required if it would compromise an investigation or national security. (5) Before each fiscal year ends, the President must report to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees on implementation, agency participation, barriers, WCO/WTO consistency, improvements, and ACE’s development, implementation, and management. (6) Congress considers agency participation an important Federal priority and expects close coordination. (7) This section does not amend or modify section 301(g) of title 13. (8) “Commercial Operations Advisory Committee” means the committee under section 4316 or its successor.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Establishment

The Secretary shall establish the National Customs Automation Program (hereinafter in this subpart referred to as the “Program”) which shall be an automated and electronic system for processing commercial importations and shall include the following existing and planned components:

(1)

Existing components:

(A)

The electronic entry of merchandise.

(B)

The electronic entry summary of required information.

(C)

The electronic transmission of invoice information.

(D)

The electronic transmission of manifest information.

(E)

Electronic payments of duties, fees, and taxes.

(F)

The electronic status of liquidation and reliquidation.

(G)

The electronic selection of high risk entries for examination (cargo selectivity and entry summary selectivity).

(2)

Planned components:

(A)

The electronic filing and status of protests.

(B)

The electronic filing (including remote filing under section 1414 of this title) of entry information with the Customs Service at any location.

(C)

The electronic filing of import activity summary statements and reconciliation.

(D)

The electronic filing of bonds.

(E)

The electronic penalty process.

(F)

The electronic filing of drawback claims, records, or entries.

(G)

Any other component initiated by the Customs Service to carry out the goals of this subpart.

(b) Participation in Program

The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe the eligibility criteria for participation in the Program. The Secretary may, by regulation, require the electronic submission of information described in subsection (a) or any other information required to be submitted to the Customs Service separately pursuant to this subpart.

Not later than January 1, 2000, the Secretary shall provide for the inclusion of commercial importation data from foreign-trade zones under the Program.

(d) International Trade Data System

(1) Establishment

(A) In general

The Secretary of the Treasury (in this subsection, referred to as the “Secretary”) shall oversee the establishment of an electronic trade data interchange system to be known as the “International Trade Data System” (ITDS). The ITDS shall be implemented not later than the date that the Automated Commercial Environment (commonly referred to as “ACE”) is fully implemented.

(B) Purpose

The purpose of the ITDS is to eliminate redundant information requirements, to efficiently regulate the flow of commerce, and to effectively enforce laws and regulations relating to international trade, by establishing a single portal system, operated by the United States Customs and Border Protection, for the collection and distribution of standard electronic import and export data required by all participating Federal agencies.

(i) In general

All Federal agencies that require documentation for clearing or licensing the importation and exportation of cargo shall participate in the ITDS.

(ii) Waiver

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may waive, in whole or in part, the requirement for participation for any Federal agency based on the vital national interest of the United States.

(D) Consultation

The Secretary shall consult with and assist the United States Customs and Border Protection and other agencies in the transition from paper to electronic format for the submission, issuance, and storage of documents relating to data required to enter cargo into the United States. In so doing, the Secretary shall also consult with private sector stakeholders, including the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee, in developing uniform data submission requirements, procedures, and schedules, for the ITDS.

(E) Coordination

The Secretary shall be responsible for coordinating the operation of the ITDS among the participating agencies and the office within the United States Customs and Border Protection that is responsible for maintaining the ITDS.

(2) Data elements

(A) In general

The Interagency Steering Committee (established under paragraph (3)) shall, in consultation with the agencies participating in the ITDS, define the standard set of data elements to be collected, stored, and shared in the ITDS, consistent with laws applicable to the collection and protection of import and export information. The Interagency Steering Committee shall periodically review the data elements in order to update the standard set of data elements, as necessary.

(B) Commitments and obligations

The Interagency Steering Committee shall ensure that the ITDS data requirements are compatible with the commitments and obligations of the United States as a member of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the entry and movement of cargo.

(3) Interagency Steering Committee

There is established an Interagency Steering Committee (in this section, referred to as the “Committee”). The members of the Committee shall include the Secretary (who shall serve as the chairperson of the Committee), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the head of each agency participating in the ITDS. The Committee shall assist the Secretary in overseeing the implementation of, and participation in, the ITDS.

(4) Information technology infrastructure

(A) In general

The Secretary shall work with the head of each agency participating in the ITDS and the Interagency Steering Committee to ensure that each agency—

(i)

develops and maintains the necessary information technology infrastructure to support the operation of the ITDS and to submit all data to the ITDS electronically;

(ii)

enters into a memorandum of understanding, or takes such other action as is necessary, to provide for the information sharing between the agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection necessary for the operation and maintenance of the ITDS;

(iii)

not later than June 30, 2016, identifies and transmits to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection the admissibility criteria and data elements required by the agency to authorize the release of cargo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for incorporation into the operational functionality of the Automated Commercial Environment computer system authorized under section 58c(f)(4) of this title; and

(iv)

not later than December 31, 2016, utilizes the ITDS as the primary means of receiving from users the standard set of data and other relevant documentation, exclusive of applications for permits, licenses, or certifications required for the release of imported cargo and clearance of cargo for export.

(B) Rule of construction

Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require any action to be taken that would compromise an ongoing law enforcement investigation or would compromise national security.

(5) Report

The President shall submit a report before the end of each fiscal year to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives. Each report shall include information on—

(A)

the status of the ITDS implementation;

(B)

the extent of participation in the ITDS by Federal agencies;

(C)

the remaining barriers to any agency’s participation;

(D)

the consistency of the ITDS with applicable standards established by the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization;

(E)

recommendations for technological and other improvements to the ITDS; and

(F)

the status of the development, implementation, and management of the Automated Commercial Environment within the United States Customs and Border Protection.

(6) Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that agency participation in the ITDS is an important priority of the Federal Government and that the Secretary shall coordinate the operation of the ITDS closely among the participating agencies and the office within the United States Customs and Border Protection that is responsible for maintaining the ITDS.

(7) Construction

Nothing in this section shall be construed as amending or modifying subsection (g) of section 301 of title 13.

(8) Definition

The term “Commercial Operations Advisory Committee” means the Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 4316 of this title or any successor committee.

Source credit: (June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, § 411, as added Pub. L. 103–182, title VI, § 631(2), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2188; amended Pub. L. 106–36, title II, § 2405, June 25, 1999, 113 Stat. 169; Pub. L. 107–210, div. A, title III, § 338, Aug. 6, 2002, 116 Stat. 980; Pub. L. 109–347, title IV, § 405, Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1929; Pub. L. 114–125, title I, § 107, Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 135.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1930Enacted · Pub. L. 103-182 · 107 Stat. 2188
1999Amended · Pub. L. 106-36 · 113 Stat. 169
2002Amended · Pub. L. 107-210 · 116 Stat. 980
2006Amended · Pub. L. 109-347 · 120 Stat. 1929
2016Amended · Pub. L. 114-125 · 130 Stat. 135

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 103-182 on 1930-06-17.

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