US Customs’ Los Angeles Field Office, along with the Agricultural and Prepared Products Center of Excellence and Expertise, has released a Public Bulletin announcing clarification and guidance on revenue refund requests for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulated merchandise which has been refused admission into the US.
The bulletin is directed towards “the local trade community,” so it is not clear whether this guidance has nationwide applicability.
Key points:
- In general, all FDA regulated goods are considered restricted merchandise, and therefore are not necessarily subject to refunds by law
- CBP will not automatically issue refunds on FDA refused merchandise
- CBP will no longer automatically accept cancellation requests on entries where duties and/or fees were paid, and the refused merchandise was exported or destroyed (cancellation requests are considered if not duties/fees were paid)
- To obtain refunds, importers can file a post entry claim or protest, but the refused merchandise must not in any way be able to be reconditioned
Here’s the public notice: LA:LB 2016 Clarification on Refunds of Duties and Fees for FDA Refused Merchandise
See also our blog post on LA/LB’s new rules for refused merchandise (Dec. 2014).