ENT 1-01
OT:RR:CTF:ER
H283024 KF

Debbie Shaffer
L-3 Mission Integration
10001 Jack Finney Blvd
Greenville, TX 75402

Re: Personal Effects; Subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS; 19 C.F.R. § 148.31; 19 U.S.C. § 1484; CBP Form 3299.

Dear Ms. Shaffer:

This is in response to your letter dated December 20, 2016, requesting a ruling deciding whether L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, LP (“L-3”), may act as the importer of record to import the personal effect of its employees, who are returning to the United States from assignment abroad, under subheading 9804.00.45, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).

FACTS: L-3 provides contractual logistical support services, requiring its employees to travel and temporarily remain in various locations abroad. Employees returning to the United States upon the completion of their assignments may opt to ship their personal to their homes. L-3 proposes to act as the importer of record for these shipments, and to complete United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Form 3299 on behalf of its employees. L-3 intends to establish its status as the importer of record by notarizing a letter from its employees authorizing it to import baggage on their behalf. L-3 seeks to import its employees’ unaccompanied baggage duty free under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS.

ISSUE:

Whether a company may act as the importer of record for shipments of its employees’ personal effects, entered under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS.

LAW AND ANALYSIS: Subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS, provides that the following may be imported duty free:

Articles imported by or for the account of any person arriving in the United States who is a returning resident thereof (including American citizens who are residents of American Samoa, Guam or the Virgin Islands of the United States): All personal and household effects taken abroad by him or for his account.

The right to duty free entry for personal effects taken abroad is accorded to returning residents of the United States by subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS, pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 148.31(a). Employees of L-3 that take their personal or household effects abroad in order to complete an assignment abroad thus have the right to return these effects to the United States free of duty. Id. For purposes of this decision, we assume that the personal belongings of employees that L-3 seeks to import as unaccompanied baggage consist solely of personal and household effects qualifying for duty free entry under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS. We note that if the unaccompanied baggage of L-3’s employees’ contains articles acquired abroad, such articles would require entry under different subheadings and are subject to different entry requirements and restrictions. See e.g. 19 C.F.R. § 148.33; 9804.00.05, HTSUS; Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) 224804 (November 15, 2993).

A returning resident’s right to enter qualifying personal and/or household effects duty free is termed a “personal exemption” from payment of duty. See e.g. HQ 222024 (March 7, 1990); HQ 224027 (August 17, 1992); HQ 226334 (March 4, 1996). A personal exemption is “considered an individual exemption available only to persons…[such that] a corporation or other entity cannot claim entitlement to a personal exemption.” See HQ 224027; HQ 226334 (finding that a corporate entity “is not a ‘person’ for the purpose” of a Chapter 98 personal exemption). However, a corporation may enter effects “for the account of,” or on behalf of, individuals capable of claiming a personal exemption. See C.S.D. 80-84 (August 14, 1979); HQ 224027 (August 17, 1992).

Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 148.6(a), personal and/or household effects may be entered into the United States as unaccompanied baggage without filing a formal entry. In lieu of a formal entry, United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Form 3299 must be filed in order to effect a declaration substantiating a returning resident’s claim to a personal exemption. Id. CBP Form 3299 states on its face that it may be certified by “the owner, importer, or agent of the importer of the personal and household effects for which free entry is claimed.” See CBP.gov, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, October 2009. The instructions promulgated by CBP to guide importers on how to complete CBP Form 3299 specify that an agent can complete and submit the form on behalf of the importer, so long as the agent presents CBP with a power of attorney. See CBP.gov, Instructions For CBP Form 3299 – Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, accessed on March 6, 2017 (“The Instructions”). Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 141.32, a power of attorney may be established either by completing CBP Form 5291 or drafting a letter proving the agent has limited authority to clear the subject goods.

For effects entered under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS, as unaccompanied baggage, the returning resident claiming duty free entry for the shipment constitutes the importer for the shipment. See 19 C.F.R. § 148.6(a) (“[w]hen effects claimed to be free of duty…do not accompany the importer on his arrival in the United States…a declaration of the importer on Customs Form 3299, or its electronic equivalent, shall be required to support the claim for free entry”); The Instructions. The right to enter goods into the customs territory of the United States is limited to the goods’ importer of record, who is their owner. See 19 U.S.C. § 1484(a)(2)(B). The definition of an importer of record or owner extends to a party with a right, title, or interest in the goods. See Customs Directive No. 3530-002A (June 27, 2001). Accordingly, we find that L-3 may not act as the importer of record for shipments of its employees’ unaccompanied baggage, because it is not the owner of the shipment and cannot claim its employees’ personal exemption under its own name. We find that L-3 may instead import its employees’ unaccompanied baggage for their account, with individual employees serving as the importer of record, acting as an agent authorized by power of attorney to complete and submit CBP Form 3299 on their behalf.

To briefly address your question regarding what information must be submitted with CBP Form 3299, we note that The Instructions specify all the information that must be disclosed regarding the shipment. Itemization of the goods within a shipment of unaccompanied baggage is not required so long as CBP Form 3299 is submitted as a written declaration. Id.; 19 C.F.R. § 148.6(a).

HOLDING:

Based on the information provided, we find that L-3 may enter the personal and household effects of its returning resident employees under subheading 9804.00.45, HTSUS, by completing CBP Form 3299 on their behalf, so long as L-3 executes a power of attorney with the importer of record authorizing L-3 to act as an agent.

Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruing letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.” If any fact in the transaction varies from the facts stipulated to herein, this decision shall not be binding on CBP, as provided for in 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b).
Sincerely,

Monika R. Brenner
Acting Chief
Entry Process & Duty Refunds Branch