Issued: July 3, 2006
The U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (“the Act”; Public Law 109-53; 119 Stat. 462; 19 U.S.C. 4001 note) was signed into law on August 2, 2005. The Act allowed for the Agreement to take effect upon determination by the President for those countries that have taken measures to comply with the requirements of the Agreement. Currently, the Agreement is in effect for goods of El Salvador entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after March 1, 2006 as well as Honduras and Nicaragua for goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after April 1, 2006.
Presidential Proclamation 8034 posted on the White House website on June 30, 2006, implements the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) for goods of Guatemala entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after July 1, 2006. The Proclamation incorporates by reference Publication 3861 of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) is modified by the Annex to Publication 3861 by updating General Note 29. Additionally, the Proclamation removes Guatemala as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).
CBP issued implementation instructions for the CAFTA-DR on April 26, 2006, entitled “Amendments to the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement Implementation Instructions”. Those instructions will apply for purposes of Guatemala implementing the Agreement.
The document provides instructions on the filing and acceptance of claims for preferential tariff treatment made under the CAFTA-DR. For purposes of applying the implementation instructions to importations of goods of Guatemala, reference to a CAFTA-DR country is the U.S., El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. However, claims for preferential tariff treatment on goods that originate in Guatemala may only be made on goods that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after July 1, 2006. These claims shall be made at the time the entry summary is filed by placing on the document the SPI “P” or “P+” as a prefix to the HTS item number for each line on which preferential tariff treatment is claimed.
Program updates to the Automated Commercial System (ACS), which allow for automated processing, have been completed. Therefore, importers claiming preference under the CAFTA-DR may file ABI entries. Claims for preference under GSP, CBERA and CBTPA will no longer be allowed for goods of Guatemala entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after July 1, 2006.