Entry Forms for Employee Personal Effects Is Customs Business, Can't Be Done by Corporate Employer, CBP Says

The submission of documentation related to the importation of personal and household effects is customs business, and a company can’t submit the required form on behalf of its employees returning to the U.S., CBP said in a recent ruling (here). Reversing an earlier ruling letter it issued in April, CBP found that Form 3299, “Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles,” may only be completed by the employee, a customs broker or an individual serving as the employee’s authorized agent.

CBP said it was able to revoke the earlier ruling without notice and comment because the ruling, HQ H283024 (here), has been in effect for fewer than 60 days. In that ruling, CBP found L-3 and other corporations could enter effects “‘for the account of,’ or on behalf of, individuals claiming a personal exemption,” even though CBP has ruled corporations cannot themselves claim the personal exemption. CBP also found L-3 could not act as importer of record, but could import its employees’ unaccompanied baggage “for their account, with individual employees serving as the importer of record, acting as an agent authorized by power of attorney to complete and submit CBP Form 3299 on their behalf.”

In HQ H286759, issued June 1, CBP reversed itself on both counts. In earlier rulings CBP has held “that a corporate entity ‘is not a “person” for the purpose’ of a Chapter 98 personal exemption,” it said. “We thus find that L-3 cannot claim the personal exemption accorded to its employees under subheading 9804.00.05, HTSUS,” CBP said.

“The right to make entry for goods entering the customs territory of the U.S., including unaccompanied baggage … is limited to the importer of record,” CBP said. In another recent ruling, “CBP found that absent evidence ‘indicating a relationship between [the employer’s] compensation for [its services] and the imported merchandise,’ the employer could not evidence a sufficient financial interest to act as the importer of record for the transaction,” CBP said. “Within the circumstances described by L-3, we find that L-3 similarly possesses no right, title, or financial interest in its employees’ unaccompanied baggage and is a nominal consignee that would not obtain a financial benefit from its importation, such that L-3 cannot act as the importer of record for the baggage.”

CBP Form 3299 is a document “concerning the entry merchandise” and “concerning the duties being assessed by CBP on unaccompanied baggage by reason of its importation,” CBP said. “Accordingly, we find that execution of CBP Form 3299 constitutes customs business” that can “only be transacted by a licensed broker unless otherwise permitted by applicable regulations,” CBP said. CBP Form 3299 cites regulations that refer only to ”a consignee in whose name an entry is being made, a broker authorized to conduct customs business by a power of attorney, and an individual acting as an agent for a single non-commercial shipment,” CBP said. “We find that because the unaccompanied baggage is not being entered in L-3’s name, and L-3 is not a licensed broker or an individual, L-3 cannot act as an agent authorized to execute CBP Form 3299 on behalf of its employees,” CBP said.