Wednesday, January 2, 2013

New Year, New Diet, and New Customs Rule on $2500 “Informal Entry” Limit


It’s not uncommon to find people engage in *new* things, such as a new workout routine, new diet, or maybe even a new boyfriend/girlfriend (hey, why not?) at the start of a new year.

Like people, federal agencies also start things at the new year as US Customs is doing with it’s new dollar (USD) limit for which merchandise being imported into the US may reach in order to qualify for an “informal entry.” 

For more about entry, check out this article here.

The informal entry limit is going from $2,000 to $2,500 and when an importation qualifies as an ‘‘informal entry,” it eliminates the need for a surety bond, expedites the customs clearance process, and reduces another required charge, known as the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) to $2 (assuming the entry is filed electronically).

New Rule Effective 07-Jan-2013

Reasons for this increase are to mitigate the effects of inflation between the United States and Canada and to harmonize the value thresholds for expedited customs clearance to $2,500 from the current levels of $2,000 for the United States and $1,600 for Canada. 

For any merchandise valued over $2,500, formal entry is required and importers must provide a surety bond (more info. on this can be found here), complete Customs form 7501 (instructions here), and pay a minimum of $25 in MPF. 
 Unless exempt under a free trade agreement, and in addition to any duty or tax owed, merchandise requiring a formal entry is subject to a 0.3464 percent ad valorem MPF, which may be no greater than $485 and no less than $25.  Formal entry also requires detailed information regarding the import transaction as well as commercial documents pertaining to the transaction.

Of course, based on his/her discretion, a port director, may always require an importer to file a formal entry.

For more information, you can read the entire final rule on the informal entry limit in the Federal Register (73 FR 72715) here.

Questions/comments?  Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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