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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 126 / Tuesday, July 6, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
importers obligations regarding importations when claiming preferential tariff treatment Article 5.4; the exporters and producers obligations Article 5.6; the recordkeeping requirements for importers, exporters, and producers Article 5.8; the general origin verification requirements and procedures Article 5.9; the determination of origin provisions Article 5.10; the right to file for refunds and claims for preferential tariff treatment after importation Article 5.11; and the confidentiality provisions related to the exchange of information between USMCA countries Article 5.12. Additionally, Article 5.5 of the USMCA sets forth the exceptions to the certification of origin requirement.
Pursuant to Article 5.5, a certification of origin is not required, with some exceptions related to evading compliance, for a claim of preferential tariff treatment if the value of the importation does not exceed $1,000 U.S.
dollars or any higher amount as the importing USMCA country may establish, or it is an importation of a good for which the USMCA country into whose territory the good was imported has waived the requirement for a certification of origin. Consistent with this article, the United States has established, with the same exceptions related to evading compliance, a higher importation value amount of $2,500
U.S. dollars for commercial importations and has waived the certification of origin requirement for the entire category of non-commercial importations.
The penalties provisions for the USMCA are described in Chapters 5 and 7. Article 5.13 provides that each USMCA country shall maintain criminal, civil, or administrative penalties for violations of its laws and regulations related to Chapter 5 see also Articles 5.4.2 and 5.6.3. Chapter 7 of the USMCA generally sets forth provisions related to customs administration and trade facilitation.
Specifically, Article 7.18 states that each USMCA country shall adopt or maintain measures that allow for the imposition of a penalty by a USMCA countrys customs administration for breach of its customs laws, regulations, or procedural requirements, including those governing tariff classification, customs valuation, transit procedures, country of origin, or claims for preferential tariff treatment.
Chapter 7 of the USMCA also contains the confidentiality provisions related to the protection of information collected from traders. The confidentiality provisions in Article 7.22, in combination with the confidentiality
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provisions in Article 5.12, ensure the protection of confidential information provided to a USMCA countrys customs administration and prevent the unauthorized disclosure of this information to third parties and to other USMCA countries.
The Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 7 provisions discussed above are reflected in this IFR.
2. Customs Related Provisions Addressed in Previously Published IFR
Chapter 4 of the USMCA contains the general rules of origin for preferential tariff treatment provisions, and Chapter 6 includes the rules of origin specific to textiles and apparel goods. CBP has already incorporated these rules of origin into the CBP regulations. On July 1, 2020, CBP published an IFR in the Federal Register 85 FR 39690 to, in part, add the Uniform Regulations regarding rules of origin trilaterally agreed upon by the United States, Mexico, and Canada as Appendix A of new part 182 to title 19 of the CFR 19
CFR part 182.
3. Customs Related Provisions To Be Addressed in Subsequent Rulemaking Any additional CBP regulations needed to implement USMCA
provisions will be included in a subsequent rulemaking to be published in the Federal Register at a later date.
B. Verifications and Determinations of Origin Chapter 5 of the USMCA and the Uniform Regulations regarding origin procedures govern the verification and determination of origin requirements and procedures. Pursuant to Article 5.9.1 of Chapter 5 of the USMCA, a USMCA country, through its customs administration, may conduct a verification to determine whether a good qualifies for USMCA preferential tariff treatment by one or more of the following means: A written request or questionnaire seeking information, including documents, from the importer, exporter, or producer; a verification visit to the premises of the exporter or producer in order to request information, including documents, and to observe the production process and the related facilities; for a textile or apparel good, the procedures set out in USMCA Article 6.6; or any other procedure as may be decided by the USMCA countries. For textile or apparel goods, the verification procedures set out in USMCA Article 6.6 provide an alternative verification means that a USMCA country has the discretion to utilize only when conducting a textile or apparel goods verification. The
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USMCA Article 6.6 site visit verification requirements and procedures will be addressed in a subsequent rulemaking to be published in the Federal Register at a later date.
A USMCA country may choose to initiate a verification, using any of these verification means, with the importer or with the person who completed the certification of origin. See USMCA
Article 5.9.2. If the USMCA country initiates a verification other than with the importer, it must inform the importer, only for the purpose of the importers knowledge, of the initiation of the verification. See USMCA Article 5.9.6 and the Uniform Regulations regarding origin procedures.
USMCA Article 5.9 and the Uniform Regulations regarding origin procedures set forth the information that must be contained in a written request for information, questionnaire, or request for a verification visit see USMCA
Article 5.9.5, the requirements that a USMCA country must follow during a verification see USMCA Article 5.9.7a and b, the time that the importer, exporter, or producer has to respond to a request for information or questionnaire see USMCA Article 5.9.7c, and the time that the exporter or producer has to consent to or refuse a verification visit request see USMCA
Article 5.9.7d.
Pursuant to USMCA Article 5.9.9, when a USMCA country initiates a verification through a verification visit request, the USMCA country is required to provide a copy of the verification visit request to the customs administration of the USMCA country in whose territory the visit is to occur, and, if requested by the USMCA country in whose territory the visit is to occur, the embassy of that USMCA country in the territory of the USMCA country proposing to conduct the visit. USMCA
Article 5.9 contains additional provisions governing verification visit procedures, including providing the circumstances under which the exporter or producer whose premises are to be visited during the verification visit, or the customs administration of the USMCA country in whose territory the verification visit is to occur, may postpone the verification visit. See USMCA Article 5.9.10 and 5.9.11.
During a verification, there are also requirements that records be made available for inspection. USMCA Article 5.8 requires that importers, exporters, and producers maintain certain documentation and records. Pursuant to the Uniform Regulations regarding origin procedures, these records must be maintained in such a manner as to enable an officer of the USMCA

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