What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: the Abc's of Prior Disclosure

Publisher Marketing: The following information is provided by U. S. Customs and Border Protection to help you understand the "basics" of prior disclosure. Simply put, this provision of law provides reduced penalties to parties who advise U. S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") of noncompliance with import laws and regulations, before CBP, or U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), discovers the possible noncompliance and notifies the party of the discovery of the possible noncompliance. In some cases, the penalty may be reduced to zero! Valid prior disclosures can save you time and money, but all parties (including CBP) must be aware of prior disclosure rules, and play by the rules in order to realize the benefits of this provision of law. The official policy of CBP is to encourage the submission of valid prior disclosures! It is important to remember that this brochure only involves prior disclosures submitted pursuant to 19 U. S. C. 1592. We've followed up the "who, what, why, where, when and how" segments with a list of FAQ'S (frequently asked questions) involving prior disclosure. In addition, for those parties who have decided to submit a prior disclosure, there is a checklist following the FAQ's which may be helpful in completing the submission of the disclosure. Lastly, we've provided a copy of the CBP Regulations (19 CFR 162.74) governing prior disclosure for your information.