[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 19, Volume 2]
[Revised as of April 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 19CFR181.12]

[Page 357-358]
 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
 
PART 181--NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart B--Export Requirements
 
Sec. 181.12  Maintenance and availability of records.

    (a) Maintenance of records--(1) General. An exporter or producer in 
the United States who completes and signs a Certificate of Origin shall 
maintain in the United States, for five years after the date on which 
the Certificate was signed, the Certificate (or copy thereof) and all 
other records relating to the origin of a good for which preferential 
tariff treatment may be claimed in Canada or Mexico, including records 
associated with:
    (i) The purchase of, cost of, value of, and payment for, the good 
that is exported from the United States;
    (ii) The purchase of, cost of, value of, and payment for, all 
materials, including indirect materials, used in the production of the 
good that is exported from the United States; and
    (iii) The production of the good in the form in which the good is 
exported from the United States.
    (2) Method of maintenance. The records referred to in paragraph (a) 
of this section shall be maintained in accordance with the Generally 
Accepted Accounting Principles applied in the United States and may be 
maintained in hard-copy form, on microfilm or microfiche or in automated 
record storage devices (for example, magnetic discs and tapes) if 
associated computer programs are available to facilitate retrieval of 
the data in a usable form.
    (b) Availability of records--(1) To Customs. For purposes of 
determining compliance with the provisions of this part, the records 
required to be maintained under this section shall be made available for 
examination and inspection by the port director or other appropriate 
Customs officer in the same manner as provided in part 163 of this 
chapter in the case of U.S. importer records.
    (2) To the Canadian or Mexican customs administration. If a U.S. 
exporter or producer receives notification of, and consents to, an 
origin verification visit by the Canadian or Mexican customs 
administration under Article 506 of the NAFTA (see Sec. 181.74(e) of 
this part), such consent shall constitute agreement by the U.S. exporter 
or producer to make available to an officer of that customs 
administration all records required to be maintained under this section 
and to provide facilities for the inspection thereof. If, during the 
course of an origin verification of a U.S. producer, the Canadian or 
Mexican customs administration finds

[[Page 358]]

that the U.S. producer has failed to maintain its records in accordance 
with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles applied in the United 
States, that customs administration will so inform the U.S. producer in 
writing and will give the U.S. producer 60 calendar days to conform the 
records to those Principles. If a U.S. exporter or producer fails to 
maintain records or make records available to the Canadian or Mexican 
customs administration in accordance with the provisions of this 
section, or if a U.S. producer fails to conform its records to Generally 
Accepted Accounting Principles as provided in this paragraph, the 
Canadian or Mexican customs administration may deny preferential tariff 
treatment to the good that is the subject of the verification visit.

[T.D. 95-68, 60 FR 46364, Sept. 6, 1995, as ameded by T.D. 98-56, 63 FR 
32955, June 16, 1998]