Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah’s 8 nights, or another form of gift-giving at this time of year, it is usually an exciting experience thinking about what your friends, children, parents, or maybe a co-worker would want. This year, CBP has decided to give their holiday gift early…in the form of a Drawback Compliance Measurement program for liquidated claims!

After the review from the Office of the Inspector General determined that overpayment continues to occur on drawback claims, along with overdrawing on continuous bonds, CBP will be re-instituting a post-liquidation review, although different from a few years ago.

    The claims that will be chosen during the 2015 fiscal year:

  • Will be selected monthly;
  • will be for liquidated claims only, starting with October 2014 claims;
  • will be chosen by random statistical sample, eliminating the human element;
  • will impact ~400 claims nationwide, or ~30 per month from October 2014 through September 2015 liquidation periods;
  • will incorporate 30 imports for review for each claim selected; and
  • will include proof of export validation.

Claimants will have 30 days to respond to the drawback specialist request (which we hope to receive electronically to save time) and we are told that extensions will be provided as needed. Once a request has been made, there will not be a secondary request for information for the same claim (where Desk Reviews sometimes get a second or third request for more information). These requests will take priority over desk reviews and other tasks that the drawback specialists perform, so we may see a reduction in desk reviews from all ports. If the claimant cannot obtain the paperwork for a particular import because it is beyond the regulatory limits for recordkeeping, they are to respond that the records are outside of the regulatory requirements and that the documents are no longer available. If a discrepancy is found between what was originally claimed and what is found on the review, CBP should notify the claimant of the discrepancy and what action, if any, can be taken. These notices will be out shortly; don’t be afraid to ask questions when the time comes!

CBP continues to finalize the details of this program, and as always, manages to add an extra element of work to what normally is a very hectic time of year! With the gifts that you buy for someone else, you’re always hoping to find the perfect gift, but with this surprise, let’s hope this isn’t the gift that keeps on giving!