Effects of 2007 WCO Tariff Changes on NAFTA & Status of 2007 WCO Tariff Implementation

Issue 4, January 22, 2007

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a Questions and Answers document on their website regarding the conversion to the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) with World Customs Organization (WCO) Updates, scheduled to take effect on February 3, 2007.

A primary piece of information is guidance on the handling of North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) blanket Certificates of Origin (ECOs) in association with the WCO HTS changes going into effect. The following bullet points outline the basic guidelines of handling NAFTA ECO completion -

• The 2006 NAFTA rules of origin can be used for completing 2007 NAFTAs;
• ECOs completed using the 2006 NAFTA rules of origin will be valid for 2007;
• Because the 2006 rules of origin are being used, the 2006 HTSUS numbers must be referenced on the NAFTA ECO;
• When possible, the 2006 & 2007 HTSUS numbers should be shown on the NAFTA. On NAFTAs with only the 2006 HTSUS shown, CBP may request an amended NAFTA showing the 2007 as well.

CPB also confirms that the new HTSUS will take effect on February 3, 2007 with no exceptions. To facilitate the need for an easier transition to the WCO 2007 HTSUS changes, a 17-day grace period has been granted to the Trade to assist in the HTSUS conversion. CBP is allowing the Trade an additional 17 days to finalize internal classification changes. This grace period allows for the HTSUS legislative changes only and does not apply to any other filing error. The grace period begins on February 3, 2007 and ends COB February 20, 2007 and pertains to:

• Entries rejected by an Import Specialist or Entry Specialist either manually or electronically by RLF and returned to the filers for classification correction;
• Post entry classification corrections.

Additional details regarding the grace period can be found in the Q&A document.

The complete list of WCO HTSUS Q&As can be found on the CBP website at http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/import/communications_to_trade/world_customs_org/harmonized_tariff_qa.xml

Additional information on the WCO implementation can be found on the CBP website at http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/import/communications_to_trade/world_customs_org/

A draft copy of the 2007 HTSUS with the WCO changes can be viewed at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm