Issue 402, May 15, 2003
As part of the recent Homeland Security initiatives, U.S. Customs has reorganized and changed their name to "Customs and Border Protection" (CBP). As a result of this name change, CBP is now requesting that all checks (such as bank drafts, cashiers checks, personal checks, company checks and uncertified checks) submitted for the payment of Customs duties, taxes, penalties and other fees be made payable to "Customs and Border Protection" effective this coming Monday, May 19, 2003.

Importers who make payments directly to U.S. Customs are requested to comply as soon as possible. As before, all checks must be drawn on a U.S. financial institution and payable in U.S. funds. Although Customs has not said that checks made payable to "U.S. Customs" will be rejected, we expect that this could become a possibility in the near future and recommend that all importers who regularly make payments to U.S. Customs update their records to reflect the new name sooner than later.

Our contributing writer, Karl Krueger, is a technical advisor for DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, located in Detroit, Michigan. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Mr. Krueger at karl.krueger@dhl.com or 248-263-8817.

Please note that due to the complex nature of the subject matter, DHL Danzas Air & Ocean cannot be responsible for actions taken by the reader in reliance on the information contained herein without prior consultation with DHL Danzas Air & Ocean.