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After close to six years of evaluations, U. S. Customs announced on August 21 that they intend to close three drawback centers, Boston, New Orleans and Miami, due to a reduction in the number of drawback claims they handle. Customs is planning on consolidating these three centers with other offices in an effort to promote efficiency in the processing of drawback claims. The San Francisco drawback center was saved from the padlock, though it was initially on the list for closure. Through a lengthy evaluation process by Customs and an independent contractor, it was determined that San Francisco should remain open for business.
Upon final adoption of this decision, Customs will phase in the closures of these three centers by closing the Boston and New Orleans offices first. This would take place thirty days following the final ruling to accept these proposed changes. Six months later Miami would close. At that time, the centers will no longer accept drawback claims, however they will remain open for a period of one year to process those drawback claims submitted prior to the start of the phase-in period. After the one-year period, any claims still out-standing will be transferred to one of the remaining five centers. The Boston office will forward claims to the New York center, New Orleans would send theirs to the Houston center and Miami will send their claims to the Chicago center.
Should a filer submit a claim to one of these centers after the appropriate phase-in period has begun, their claim would be rejected. It is up to the filer to submit their drawback claims to the appropriate new center for which they will continue to file. To do so, the filer will need to either apply for a district permit for that particular center or apply for a national permit which would allow them to file at any of the remaining five centers—New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Should a filer apply for a national permit, they will also be required to file drawback claims via ABI. So while you are applying for the national permit, don't forget to apply for ABI certification as well.
Of course, as all proposals go, Customs is giving the industry a comment period, albeit a short one, until September 20. Comments should be written in triplicate and submitted to the U. S. Customs Service, Office of Regulations and Ruling, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington DC 20229.
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