CBP Sets New March Target for Chinese Postal Code Entry Requirement

An upcoming requirement to include a postal code for entries of China-origin goods and new and updated Chinese manufacturer IDs is now scheduled for deployment on March 18, and CBP is looking to also automate the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions process in the following months, according to an updated CBP ACE deployment schedule released Dec. 21.

The controversial “UFLPA region alert” postal code requirement now will also allow filers the ability to update an existing MID with a postal code. Software developers had noted after the UFLPA region alert was first announced that customs software often uses the MID to retrieve name and address information for the cargo release, and that because they did not have the ability to modify MIDs to add a postal code for inclusion in the cargo release, the new requirement would be particularly burdensome (see 2210270064).

Announced in October with a deployment date in November but quickly postponed until Dec. 15 and then indefinitely (see 2210260061 and 2211010032), the UFLPA region alert will use the Chinese postal code to generate an error message when the postal code is invalid, and a warning message when a Uyghur region postal code is provided. Along with the delay, CBP announced a Trade Support Network working group would be set up to discuss the deployment (see 2211030059).

The new ACE deployment schedule also adds a “UFLPA Detentions Process Related to Forced Labor,” with an anticipated deployment date of May 2023. The capability, for which CBP began development in August, will “create an automated process for Admissibility Reviews and Exception Requests,” including by automating the completion and issuance of CBP Form 6051D and attachment 2B, CBP said.

Plans for the automated UFLPA detention process also include a new “public site for the trade to upload documentation and submit for CBP review,” and will “allow CBP to track, review, and determine the final disposition from this site,” CBP said.