Ref : CR EIC 111/5/10/12/1
3 July 1998
Dear Sirs,
Commercial Information Circular No. 94/98
Notice to Exporters : Series 1 (USA) No. 38/98
USA : Prior Disclosure
The US Customs Service (USCS) has recently amended the Customs Regulations concerning prior disclosure of a violation of law involving, among other things, an entry or introduction, or attempted entry or introduction of merchandise into the United States by fraud, gross negligence, or negligence. This new regulations have already taken effect from 29 June 1998.
2.Under the amended regulations, if a person having committed the above mentioned violation for example, improper country of origin declarations or markings, discloses the circumstances of the violation before, or without knowledge of the commencement of a formal investigation of such violation, the merchandise in question shall not be seized and any monetary penalties to be assessed shall be limited. The USCS demands sufficient specificity in such prior disclosures, e.g. the class of merchandise involved, entries involved, the false information claimed and the true and accurate information to be declared.
3.Any party involved in the business of importing into the United States including, but not limited to, exporters, shippers, foreign suppliers/manufacturers, etc., may submit a prior disclosure to the USCS.
4.For details, please refer to the Federal Register Notice attached. Other relevant documents regarding the regulations are available for public reference at the Asia and Americas (Commercial Relations) Branch of the Trade Department on 18/F, Trade Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road, Kowloon (Tel.: 2398 5405).
ENQUIRIES
5.For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5682.
Yours faithfully,
(Miss Yanny CHUNG)
for Director-General of Trade
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