Application Approvals

What is the status of my privilege application? Why don’t I have an approval on my limited modification, even though I filed it in 2018 before the transition to TFTEA? When will I be paid on my claims? All of these are great questions, and you should know that we are working diligently on your behalf to see that they are answered, as shown in the update below:

  • Many filers submitted privilege applications to CBP prior to the transition to TFTEA in February of this year. Given that, CBP has said that they are processing the Core applications first, and then will be processing the TFTEA applications. We are working with the American Association of Exporters and Importers and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America to present a list to CBP of all applications that exceed 90 days, to show them how many claimants are waiting for their action within the regulatory time frames to process these applications.
  • In meetings with CBP, we have been told that a process is being developed to be released very soon to ensure that Accelerated Payment can continue on drawback claims while the limited modification for manufacturing drawback is under review. This will be important for filers who have significant refund amounts waiting to be distributed.
  • The good news is that claims can be filed in ACE to protect claim dates while we wait for the privilege applications and limited modifications to be approved. Once the approvals are received from CBP, we will reach out to the drawback specialists in the appropriate drawback office to allow us to modify the claims accordingly for processing. Unfortunately, despite efficiencies that were suggested by the trade in meetings prior to the transition to ACE, this is the process that we have to operate in at this time. We will continue to advocate on your behalf with CBP to see that this process works differently and more effectively in the future.

TFTEA Claim Reviews

While we have officially moved to the TFTEA drawback world full-time, there are still many pieces to the drawback puzzle that need to be put together. One of those pieces deals with TFTEA claim reviews. We have heard from CBP that they will be issuing notices through CBP Form 28s, with expected responses to be completed with a CBP Form 29. We continue to receive questions through email and sometimes via the postal service, but we have not yet encountered a CBP Form 28 request for drawback at this point. Claimants should look to their ACE portal account periodically to determine if they have received one of these requests. We will be working with CBP to ensure that the transmittal of these forms is communicated to the claimants as well as the drawback broker on file so that everyone is aware that a response will be required. Until we have more direction on what this process will look like, stay tuned!