[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 19, Volume 2]

[Revised as of April 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 19CFR181.12]



[Page 357-358]

 

                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES

 

   CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF 

        HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED)

 

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



[[Page 358]]



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 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]