Filing claim for duty-free treatment. Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, a claim for duty-free treatment under the ATPA may be made at the time of filing the entry summary by placing the symbol “J” as a prefix to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States subheading number applicable to each article for which duty-free treatment is claimed on that document.

Shipments covered by a formal entry—(1) Articles not wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary country—(i) Declaration. In a case involving an article covered by a formal entry for which duty-free treatment is claimed under the ATPA and which is not wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a single beneficiary country as defined in § 10.202(a), the exporter or other appropriate party having knowledge of the relevant facts in the beneficiary country as defined in § 10.202(a) where the article was produced or last processed shall be prepared to submit directly to the Center director, upon request, a declaration setting forth all pertinent detailed information concerning the production or manufacture of the article. When requested by the Center director, the declaration shall be prepared in substantially the following form:

I, ______ (name), hereby declare that the articles described below (a) were produced or manufactured in ______ (country) by means of processing operations performed in that country as set forth below and were also subjected to processing operations in the other beneficiary country or countries (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and any CBI beneficiary country) as set forth below and (b) incorporate materials produced in the country named above or in any other beneficiary country or countries (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and any CBI beneficiary country) or in the customs territory of the United States (other than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) as set forth below:

Retention of records and submission of declaration. The information necessary for the preparation of the declaration shall be retained in the files of the party responsible for its preparation and submission for a period of 5 years. In the event that the Center director requests submission of the declaration during the 5-year period, it shall be submitted by the appropriate party directly to the Center director within 60 days of the date of the request or such additional period as the Center director may allow for good cause shown. Failure to submit the declaration in a timely fashion will result in a denial of duty-free treatment.

Value added after final exportation. In a case in which value is added to an article in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or in the United States after final exportation of the article from a beneficiary country as defined in § 10.202(a), in order to ensure compliance with the value requirement under § 10.206(a), the declaration provided for in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section shall be filed by the importer or consignee with the entry summary. The declaration shall be completed by the party responsible for the addition of such value.

Articles wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary country. In a case involving an article covered by a formal entry for which duty-free treatment is claimed under the ATPA and which is wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a single beneficiary country as defined in § 10.202(a), a statement to that effect shall be included on the commercial invoice provided to Customs.

Shipments covered by an informal entry. The normal procedure for filing a claim for duty-free treatment as set forth in paragraph (a) of this section need not be followed, and the filing of the declaration provided for in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section will not be required, in a case involving a shipment covered by an informal entry. However, the Center director may require submission of such other evidence of entitlement to duty-free treatment as deemed necessary.

Evidence of direct importation—(1) Submission. The Center director may require that appropriate shipping papers, invoices, or other documents be submitted within 60 days of the date of entry as evidence that the articles were “imported directly”, as that term is defined in § 10.204.

Waiver. The Center director may waive the submission of evidence of direct importation when otherwise satisfied, taking into consideration the kind and value of the merchandise, that the merchandise was, in fact, imported directly and that it otherwise clearly qualifies for duty-free treatment under the ATPA.

Verification of documentation. The documentation submitted under this section to demonstrate compliance with the requirements for duty-free treatment under the ATPA shall be subject to such verification as the Center director deems necessary. In the event that the Center director is prevented from obtaining the necessary verification, the Center director may treat the entry as fully dutiable.