Posted on: Sunday, October 15, 2006
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SAVVY TRAVELER
Travelers must know U.S. Customs rules
By
Irene Croft Jr.
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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service, under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, publishes information for the benefit of American travelers. The most useful booklet is "Know Before You Go" (CBP publication No. 0000-0512), which is online at www.CBP.gov. Click Travel. Here is an outline for the leisure traveler:
Customs Declaration Form: When traveling overseas, you will receive a Customs Declaration Form (No. 6059B) aboard your flight or vessel before you return to the U.S. You must fill out the identification portion at the top. Families returning together may prepare a joint declaration. Declare the total fair retail value of all articles acquired abroad and in your possession at the time you return. These includes items you bought, gifts you received, repairs or alterations made while you were out of the U.S., and any items you brought home for someone else. (Items you intend to sell or use in a business must be declared separately).
If you understate the value of or otherwise misrepresent an article you have declared, you could be assessed penalties in addition to duty.
Standard exemption: Your duty-free exemption, in most cases, is $800 if you are a U.S. resident and the items you acquired abroad accompany you. This duty-free exemption may include 100 cigars (excluding those of Cuban origin) and 200 cigarettes and one liter of wine, beer, or liquor if you are at least 21 years old. The standard exemption is $1,600 if returning from American Samoa, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Goods brought in for personal use from specific developing countries are duty-free under a trade program called the Generalized System of Preferences. Other initiatives and free-trade agreements permit zero or reduced rates, to certain goods from Caribbean, Andean and sub-Saharan African nations, as well as from Canada and Mexico and from Israel, Jordan, Chile and Singapore. Check the CBP Web site for details.
Family members, regardless of age, who live in the same home and return together to the U.S. may combine their personal exemptions to make a joint declaration. A family of three, for example, would be entitled to a standard total exemption of $2,400.
Assessed duty: Duty will be assessed at the current rate — varying up to a stunning 100 percent — on the first $1,000 above your exemption unless waived by specific trade initiatives. You must itemize these purchases/acquisitions on the back of the declaration form. Sales slips, invoices, or other evidence of purchase will be helpful when you complete your customs declaration. Keep in mind that items produced in countries of the European Union are subject to a 100 percent rate of duty if total cost exceeds the $800 per person standard exemption. Payment of duty is immediate by U.S. cash, personal check or sometimes by charge card.
The Harmonized Tariff System, a reference manual the size of an unabridged dictionary, provides duty rates for virtually every item that exists. Although some CBP experts spend years learning how to properly classify an item in order to determine its correct duty rate, you are likely to conclude after only one confrontation that exceeding your exemption is worth neither the hassle nor expense.
Mailing gifts and purchases from abroad: Gifts mailed from abroad to people in the U.S. can be received by them free of duty if the value of the entire gift package does not exceed $100. Non-gift purchases mailed home will pass duty-free if their value does not exceed $200. The outer wrapping must be marked with the fair retail value of the contents; the contents' identity (e.g., shirt, belts, watch, figurines, etc.); and whether the package is an unsolicited gift ($100 exemption) or for personal use ($200 exemption).
Duty owed on a mailed package must be paid after it arrives in the U.S. No matter what a shop owner abroad may advise, you cannot prepay duty.
Prohibited or restricted items: Absinthe (alcohol), automobiles, biological items, ceramic tableware, cultural artifacts and cultural property (art/artifacts), dog and cat fur, drug paraphernalia, firearms, fish and wildlife, food products (prepared), fruits and vegetables, game and hunting trophies, gold, meats, livestock and poultry, prescription medications, merchandise from embargoed countries, pets, plants and seeds, soil, textiles and clothing, and trademarked and copyrighted articles.
Duty-Free shops: Articles purchased in duty-free shops, or on a plane or ship, are subject to customs duty and other restrictions but may be included in your exemption. Articles bought in American duty-free shops are subject to customs duty and IRS tax if re-entered into the U.S.
Currency: If you transport more than $10,000 in currency or "negotiable instruments," you must file a report (FinCEN Form 105) with CBP. This can be done at any port of arrival or departure. Failure to do so can result in civil or criminal penalties.
Search authority: CBP officers' border search authority, derived from the U.S. Code, states that "all persons, baggage and merchandise arriving in the Customs territory of the United States from places outside thereof are liable to inspection." CBP officers randomly select individuals for inspections to ensure compliance with U.S. laws.
Customer service: If you have any questions about CBP procedures, requirements, or policies regarding travelers, or if you have complaints about officers or your CBP processing, call the Service Center at (877) 227-5511.
Irene Croft Jr. of Kailua, Kona, is a travel writer and 40-year veteran globetrotter. Her column is published in this section every other week.
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