Jeffrey A. Newman
After NAFTA, Congress passed a new law called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The regulations include 19 CFR 182.1 which outline the responsibilities. Under this law, the U.S. importer of goods, including goods from China is responsible to ensure that the stated country of origin is valid.
Here is the critical language as written in the Code of Federal Regulations:
§ 182.12 Certification of origin.
(a) General. An importer who makes a claim, pursuant to § 182.11(b), based on a certification of origin completed by the importer, exporter, or producer that the good is originating must submit, at the request of CBP, a copy of the certification of origin. The certification of origin:
(1) Need not be in a prescribed format but must be in writing or must be transmitted electronically pursuant to any electronic means authorized by CBP for that purpose;
(2) May be provided on an invoice or any other document, except an invoice or commercial document issued in the territory of a non-USMCA country;
(3) Must be in the possession of the importer at the time the claim for preferential tariff treatment is made;
(4) Must include the following information to be valid:
(i) Whether the certifier is the importer, exporter, or producer in accordance with this subpart;
(ii) The certifier’s name, title, address (including country), telephone number, and email address;
(iii) The exporter’s name, address (including country), email address, and telephone number if different from the certifier, unless the producer is completing the certification of origin and does not know the identity of the exporter;
(iv) The producer’s name, address (including country), email address, and telephone number, if different from the certifier or exporter; or if there are multiple producers, “Various” or a list of producers (see also paragraph (c) of this section);
(v) If known, the importer’s name, address, email address, and telephone number; or if there are multiple importers, “Various” or a list of importers;
(vi) The legal name, address (including country), telephone number, and email address (if any) of the responsible official or authorized agent of the importer, exporter, or producer signing the certification;
(vii) A description of the good for which preferential tariff treatment is claimed, which must be sufficiently detailed to relate it to the invoice and the Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature;
(viii) The HTSUS tariff classification, to six or more digits, as necessary for the specific change in tariff classification rule for the good set forth in General Note 11, HTSUS;
(ix) The applicable rule of origin set forth in General Note 11, HTSUS, under which the good qualifies as an originating good;
(x) In the case of a good listed in Schedule II of Appendix A of this part, the following statement must be included: “Schedule II of the USMCA Rules of Origin Uniform Regulations”;
(xi) If the certification of origin covers a single shipment of a good, the invoice number related to the exportation, if known;
(xii) In case of a blanket certification issued with respect to multiple shipments of identical goods within any period specified in the certification of origin, not exceeding 12 months from the date of certification, the period that the certification covers; and
(5) Must include the following statement: “I certify that the goods described in this document qualify as originating and the information contained in this document is true and accurate. I assume responsibility for proving such representations and agree to maintain and present upon request or to make available during a verification visit, documentation necessary to support this certification.”
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer representing doctors, nurses and therapists who have become whistleblowers reporting Medicare and Medicaid fraud in False Claims Act (Qui Tam) cases. also a frequent writer on issues relating to the world economy. He also represents whistleblowers in tariff fraud cases. He can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
