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Avoid
Penalties and Fines
If
you're not using accurate Schedule B Commodity Classification codes on
your export documents, the U.S. Customs Office can delay your shipments
and hit you with stiff fines!
Don't take
unnecessary risks with your export shipments. The 2002 Schedule B CD-ROM
published by the U.S. Bureau of Census allows you to quickly find the
correct commodity number from more than 8,000 official Schedule B Codes.
You can also use this valuable resource to find the Schedule B commodity
numbers for which you need to locate export statistics.
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Easy-to-use
CD-ROM allows you to search by product name or key word
descriptions.
-
Eliminates
the need for the bulky printed schedule.
-
Requires
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.
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Priced
at only $50, the 2002 Schedule B CD-ROM is an investment that
could save you thousands of dollars.
The
2002 Schedule B numbers include a number of changes. Don't be caught
using the wrong codes. Order
online or call: 1-888-890-7447
Preparing
for the U.S. Customs Exam
If you're planning to take the
U.S. Customs Broker licensing examination, this 12-week correspondence
course is designed to assist you in preparing and passing the test.
The course gives you an in-depth,
hands-on approach to study. You will learn by reviewing previous
Customs exams and taking frequent quizzes based on actual and
anticipated exam questions. You will be given tips to enable you to
successfully pass the intensive four-hour exam.
This correspondence course is
also highly recommended for importers who want to meet the new
"Reasonable Care" requirements under the Customs
Modernization Act.
The $995 class includes the following:
- Customs Brokers Course Book
- Last 6 Customs Brokers Examinations
- 12-weeks of interactive consulting
- Application form for the Customs Brokers Examination
- Handouts and tips on taking the exam
- Instruction by a Licensed Customs Broker and International Trade
Consultant
Note: You will need the most recent edition of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule (HTSUS) and Parts 1-199 of the U.S. Customs Regulations. These
may be purchased from the Government
Printing Office.
For more information or to register for the class online, visit International
Business Training or call:
1-800-641-0920
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Understanding
U.S. Principal
Party in Interest (Part 3)
By Catherine
J. Petersen
 This
is the third of four articles that will discuss the definition and use
of the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) and provide real-life
case studies (with the names changed) of which firm is legally the
USPPI.
As I discussed
in my first
two articles in this series, one of the biggest changes to the
Shipper's Export Declaration (SED) required on April 1, 2001, involves
the change from "exporter" to "USPPI."
Rather than
wanting the name of the exporter on the new SED, the U.S. Census
Bureau wants to know which person in the U.S. receives the primary
benefits, monetary or otherwise, of the export transactions. Generally
that person is the U.S. seller, manufacturer, order party or foreign
entity. If you like countless exporters sell under the trade term Ex
Works (ExW - Incoterms 2000), then you and the buyer have agreed to a
trade term where the buyer selects the freight forwarder.
The following
case study illustrates just such a situation:
Seller:
John's Fishing Co.
Rural
Route 5
Brainerd,
MN 55555
John's
Fishing Co. sold 30 Metric Tons of frozen fish to Hong Kong Fish
Trading Co. ExW Brainerd, MN. The buyer's freight forwarder arranged
with the ocean carrier to deliver an empty 40-foot refrigerated
container to John's warehouse in MN. All transportation charges will
be charged to the account of the consignee in Hong Kong.
John's
Fishing will be paid under a letter of credit requiring that their
company's name appear as the shipper on the international ocean bill
of lading and all other commercial documents.
USPPI and
the Exporter in this transaction:
John's Fishing Co.
John's
Fishing Co. will be the USPPI and the exporter because John's Fishing
Co. made the international sale and is getting the most benefit from
the sale.
If you have
sold under the trade term "Exw", you have the responsibility
to provide 10 pieces of information to the freight forwarder in this
transaction for preparation of the Shipper's Export Declaration (SED).
They are:
- Name and
address of the U.S. principal party in interest,
- U.S.
principal party in interest's EIN (Employer Identification
Number),
- Point of
origin-State or Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ),
- Schedule B
description of commodities,
- Domestic
(D), Foreign (F), or Foreign Military Sale (M) code,
- Schedule B
Number,
- Quantity/unit
of measure,
- Value,
- Upon
request by the foreign principal party in interest or its agent,
the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) or sufficient
technical information to determine the ECCN, and
- Any
information that it knows will affect the determination of license
authority.
Alternatively,
you can choose to file the SED electronically by using the free
government service called the Automatic Export System (AES), use AES
PcLink or use software like Shipping
Solutions. In this case, instead of providing the above list of
information, you would provide the forwarder with the AES generated
reference number.
Ms.
Petersen's bio.
Additional Resources:
If you've found this article to be helpful, you can find an
assortment of free import-export articles available at the
International Business Training website: www.i-b-t.net.
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