Issue 470, March 31, 2005

Importers are required to maintain access to import records for a period of five (5) from the date of entry of imported goods or five (5) years from the date of the activity that created an import record. (CFR 163.2, 163.3, 163.4). Hard copy, scanned or otherwise imaged documents are acceptable methods of document retention.

While Customs entries are scheduled to liquidate in a regulated cycle of 314 days from the date of entry summary, many are subject to open inquiries by Customs Border and Protection (CBP), suspended liquidations due to Anti-dumping or Countervailing cases, or extended liquidations due to ongoing CBP activity or investigation. As such, the life span of an import transaction can be longer than the 5 year record retention statutes.

You, as the Importer of Record (IOR) are not required to keep records for more than five years. However, if kept, they may become subject to the scrutiny of attorneys and Customs investigators under a Summons. It will be your individual business decision whether or not to maintain records for more than five years.

Monitoring the liquidation of your entries, however, is critical to your recordkeeping requirements and such monitoring can be accomplished in several ways:

		As the IOR you are likely already receiving individual Courtesy Notices for entries filed using your bond. This allows you to monitor individual entries.
		A second step would be to secure a Customs Liquidation Extract from CBP which will identify all liquidated and un-liquidated entries. Danzas AEI Customs Brokerage Services (DAEI) can assist you in making this Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request. CBP will expect compensation for this data.
		Alternatively, participation in Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) affords you the privilege of access to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) portal for critical compliance and entry detail including liquidation information.
		If you prefer, DAEI can provide liquidation status reports of your entries filed with them in an electronic format. There is a fee associated with the reports supplied by DAEI.
		You can also access DAEI liquidation information from our https://dnims.dhl.com//ims/ website through our Information Management System (IMS). Signon and passwords are required.
		Finally, DAEI can arrange for you to access all of your liquidation information through the National Importer Liquidation System (NILS). This will allow you to sign on to the DAEI website and run reports of all liquidated entries regardless of what Customs Broker filed the entry. There is a fee associated with the set-up. Contact karl.krueger@dhl.com to make NILS arrangements.

We encourage you to review your options and processes for record retention and liquidation monitoring as it is the Importer of Record’s responsibility to have access to critical Customs import up to and including the 5 year record keeping statute of limited.

For further information, please contact your local DHL Danzas Air & Ocean representative.

Our contributing writer, Daniel See, is a Technical Advisor for DHL Danzas Air & Ocean. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Mr. See at (248)-263-1182 and Daniel.see@dhl.com.

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.