19 CFR § 10.257 - Verification and justification of claim for preferential treatment.

(a) Verification by Customs. A claim for preferential treatment made under § 10.255, including any statements or other information contained on a Certificate of Origin submitted to Customs under § 10.256, will be subject to whatever verification the Center director deems necessary. In the event that the Center director for any reason is prevented from verifying the claim, the Center director may deny the claim for preferential treatment. A verification of a claim for preferential treatment may involve, but need not be limited to, a review of:

(1) All records required to be made, kept, and made available to Customs by the importer or any other person under part 163 of this chapter;

(2) Documentation and other information regarding the country of origin of an article and its constituent materials, including, but not limited to, production records, information relating to the place of production, the number and identification of the types of machinery used in production, and the number of workers employed in production; and

(3) Evidence to document the use of U.S. or ATPDEA beneficiary country materials in the production of the article in question, such as purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading and other shipping documents, and customs import and clearance documents.

(b) Importer requirements. In order to make a claim for preferential treatment under § 10.255, the importer:

(1) Must have records that explain how the importer came to the conclusion that the article qualifies for preferential treatment. Those records must include documents that support a claim that the article in question qualifies for preferential treatment because it meets the country of origin and value content requirements set forth in § 10.253(c) and (d). A properly completed Certificate of Origin in the form prescribed in § 10.254(b) is a record that would serve this purpose;

(2) Must establish and implement internal controls which provide for the periodic review of the accuracy of the Certificate of Origin or other records referred to in paragraph (b)(1) of this section;

(3) Must have shipping papers that show how the article moved from the ATPDEA beneficiary country to the United States. If the imported article was shipped through a country other than an ATPDEA beneficiary country and the invoices and other documents from the ATPDEA beneficiary country do not show the United States as the final destination, the importer also must have documentation that demonstrates that the conditions set forth in § 10.253(b)(3)(i) through (iii) were met; and

(4) Must be prepared to explain, upon request from Customs, how the records and internal controls referred to in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(3) of this section justify the importer's claim for preferential treatment.