---

15 C.F.R. § 30.70   Statistical information required on import entries.

Title 15 - Commerce and Foreign Trade

Title 15: Commerce and Foreign Trade
PART 30—FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS
Subpart F—General Requirements—Importers

§ 30.70   Statistical information required on import entries.

Information for statistics on merchandise entering the United States from foreign countries, U.S. Foreign Trade Zones, and from the Virgin Islands of the United States, and other nonforeign areas (except Puerto Rico), is required to be reported by importers on the following CBP entry and withdrawal forms respectively required by U.S. CBP regulations for individual transactions: Custom Forms 7500, 7501, 7502, 7505, 7506, 7519, 7521, and 7535, and on CBP Form 7512 when used as an intransit entry to document immediate exportation or transportation and exportation. Upon request, the importer or import broker must provide the Census Bureau with information or documentation necessary to verify the accuracy or resolve problems regarding the reported import transaction received by the Census Bureau. The following items of information for statistics shall be reported on the respective forms:⁷

⁷ The information required for statistical purposes is in most cases also required by CBP regulations for other purposes. (See §30.80 for special reporting instructions for merchandise entering United States CBP Territory from United States Foreign Trade Zones.)

(a) District and port code. (All forms.) The CBP district code number and the port code number (as shown in Schedule D, Classification of CBP Districts and Ports) for the CBP port of entry or filing shall be supplied. (Where CBP does not require that the District and Port codes be inserted by importers, the codes will be filled in by CBP so that all entries and withdrawals received by the Bureau of the Census will bear these codes.)

(b) Importing vessel or carrier. (Not required for merchandise entering U.S. CBP territory from U.S. Foreign Trade Zones.) (1) (CBP Forms 7501, 7502, 7512, and 7521.) Information is required as to the carrier or means of transportation by which the merchandise was transported from a foreign country to the first port of unloading in the United States. If the merchandise has been further transported in bond between ports in the United States after having been unladen from the carrier on which it arrived in the United States, the name of the domestic carrier shall not be substituted, and the information furnished shall reflect the name of the carrier or means of transportation by which the merchandise arrived in the first U.S. port of unlading.

(2) For merchandise arriving in the United States by vessel, the name of the importing vessel is required. The importing vessel is the vessel which transported the merchandise from the foreign port of lading to the first U.S. port of unlading.

(3) For merchandise arriving in the United States by air, the name and nationality of the importing airline is required. The importing airline is the airline which carried the merchandise from the foreign port of lading to the first U.S. port of unlading, and not a domestic airline carrying the merchandise after the initial unlading in the United States.

(4) For merchandise arriving in the United States by means of transportation other than vessel or air, the means of transportation from the foreign country is required, in such terms as “parcel post,” “registered mail,” “railroad,” “trucks,” “pipeline,” etc.

(c) Foreign port of lading. (1) (CBP Forms 7501, 7502, 7512 and 7521.) For merchandise arriving in the United States by vessel or air, the name and country of the foreign port at which the merchandise was actually loaded on the vessel or aircraft that carried the merchandise to the United States is required. This information is not required for merchandise entering the U.S. CBP territory from a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone. For shipments originating in either Canada or Mexico by rail, truck, pipeline, or other nonvessel/nonair mode of transportation, supply the name of the province (Canada) or state (Mexico) where the merchandise was first loaded for exportation to the United States.

(2) For merchandise transshipped overseas in the course of shipment to the United States, whether or not covered by a through bill of lading, the information furnished shall reflect only the foreign port at which the merchandise was loaded on the vessel, aircraft, or other carrier which transported it to the first U.S. port of unlading. Neither the foreign port of original lading nor any port of lading other than the last foreign port of lading shall be substituted. When a single CBP form covers merchandise loaded at more than one foreign port, the foreign port of lading shall be indicated separately in the “Marks and numbers and Country of origin” column immediately below the Country of origin designation and on the same line as the merchandise laden at each foreign port.

(3) For merchandise entering the U.S. CBP territory from a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone, the number of the Foreign Trade Zone, preceded by the letters “FTZ” shall be shown in this space.

(d) U.S. port of unlading. (Not required for merchandise entering U.S. CBP territory from U.S. Foreign Trade Zones.) (1) (CBP Forms 7501, 7502, 7512, and 7521.) For merchandise arriving in the United States by vessel or air, the U.S. port (as listed in Schedule D) at which the merchandise was unloaded from the importing vessel or aircraft is required, whether or not such port is a CBP port of entry. (For example, if entry is filed at the Port of Los Angeles for merchandise unloaded from the importing vessel at Long Beach, California, the entry should show Long Beach as the port of unlading.)

(2) When merchandise is transported in bond from the U.S. port where unladen from the importing vessel or carrier to another U.S. port or ports to be entered for consumption or warehouse, the port of unlading required to be shown on the consumption or warehouse entry is the port or point where the merchandise was unladen from the importing vessel or carrier before transportation in bond.

(e) Date of importation. (All forms.) For merchandise arriving in the United States by vessel, the month, day, and year on which the importing vessel transporting the merchandise from the foreign country arrived within the limits of the U.S. port at which the merchandise was or is to be unladen is required. The date of importation to be reported for merchandise arriving in the United States other than by vessel is the date on which the merchandise arrives within the limits of the United States.

(f) Country of origin. (1) (All forms.) Country of origin shall be reported in the “marks and numbers and country of origin” column on entry and withdrawal forms (in the “marks and numbers” column on Forms 7512 and 7500), the “country of origin” space on the Special CBP Invoice form, and in a conspicuous place on commercial invoices supplied to CBP where the Special CBP Invoice form is not required. On multipage entries, country of origin should be shown on each page.

(2) Country of origin shall be reported in terms of the names designated in Schedule C-I, “Classification of Country and Territory Designations for U.S. Import Statistics,” unless a more specific geographic area is required to be shown for other purposes. The country of origin is defined as the country in which the product was mined, grown or manufactured. Further labor, work or material added to an article in another foreign country or the Virgin Islands of the United States must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such other country the “country of origin.” Such substantial transformations include smelting of ores, refining of crude products, and the like. The country of origin is not changed when the merchandise is subjected in another country merely to minor manipulations, such as sorting, grading, and the like. When the merchandise is invoiced in or exported from a country other than that in which it originated, the actual country of origin shall be specified rather than the country of invoice or exportation. The country of origin for imports of scrap and waste is the country in which the merchandise was reduced to scrap or waste. In the case of such commodities as industrial diamonds or antiques, if the origin of the merchandise is not known or cannot be ascertained with reasonable effort, the country from which the merchandise has been shipped shall be shown and shall be indicated as the “Country of Shipment.”

(3) Except as provided below, the country of origin shown on import entries and withdrawals should be based on information furnished by the foreign supplier on import invoices. The importer should inform his foreign supplier of the requirements and definitions of this section and instruct the foreign supplier to furnish information on the invoice as to country of origin in accordance with the above definition. If an invoice from the foreign supplier is not available at the time of entry, the importer shall enter the correct country of origin according to his best knowledge. In any case where the importer has reliable knowledge that the country of origin shown on the invoice is incorrect, he shall enter on the form the correct country of origin according to his best knowledge, indicating that it is a correction.

(4) When a single CBP form covers merchandise from more than one country of origin, the country of origin shall be indicated separately against each item (or group of items).

(g) Description of merchandise. (All forms.) Except on CBP Form 7512 when used as an Immediate Exportation or Transportation and Exportation entry, the description of merchandise shall be in terms of the Tariff Act in accordance with the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated for Statistical Reporting (TSUSA) and in sufficient detail to permit the identification of the TSUSA statistical reporting number to which each commodity properly belongs. The name of the commodity and any and all characteristics of the commodity which distinguish it from commodities of the same name covered by other TSUSA statistical reporting numbers shall be clearly and fully stated. For merchandise classified in TSUSA classifications for which the instruction “specify by name” is shown in TSUSA the specific name of the commodity or a further identifying description in addition to the description in the more general terms of the commodity classification definition is required. When CBP Form 7512 is used as an Immediate Exportation or Transportation and Exportation entry importers need only report in terms of the first five digits of TSUSA (i.e., in terms of TSUS).

(h) Gross weight in pounds. (CBP Forms 7501, 7502, 7512, and 7521, for merchandise transported to the United States by vessel or air only.) Gross shipping weight in pounds shall be reported in column (2a) immediately below the description of merchandise (in “Gross Weight in Pounds” column on Form 7512 on the same horizontal line with value). Separate gross weight information is required for the merchandise covered by each reporting number, but if gross weight is not available for each reporting number included in one or more packages, approximate shipping weight for each item shall be estimated and reported. The total of these estimated weights should equal the actual gross shipping weight of the entire package or packages. However, for containerized cargo carried in lift vans, cargo vans, or similar substantial outer containers, the weight of such containers should not be included in the gross shipping weight of the merchandise covered by each reporting number.

(i) Net quantity. (All forms except 7535.) When a unit of quantity is specified in TSUSA for the reporting number under which the item is reported, net quantity shall be reported in the specified unit, and (except where the unit is “No.” (number)) the unit in which reported shall also be shown on the entry following the net quantity figure. In cases where two units of quantity are shown for the commodity in TSUSA, net quantity shall be reported on the import entry in each of the specified units with the unit indicated in each case. The quantity in terms of the unit marked with a superior “v” in TSUSA should be shown on the entry on the same horizontal line with the value. The quantity in terms of any other units specified in TSUSA should be shown below the first quantity and should be enclosed in parentheses. If no unit of quantity is specified in TSUSA for the reporting number under which the item is reported, net quantity is not required to be reported on the import entry, and an “X” shall be entered in the “net quantity” column. Where the unit of quantity specified in TSUSA is “tons,” long tons of 2,240 pounds shall be reported unless short tons of 2,000 pounds are specified in TSUSA. Quantities shall be shown in whole units unless fractions of units are required for CBP purposes.

(j) Value. (All forms.) Except on CBP Form 7512 when used as an Immediate Exportation or Transportation and Exportation entry, the dollar value shall be reported on the forms in accordance with the definitions set forth in the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA) and sections 402 and 402a of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. Moreover, the value shall be reported in accordance with the format prescribed in the U.S. CBP Regulations. (On CBP Form 7512 when used as an Immediate Exportation entry, only the CBP value in accordance with sections 402 and 402a of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, need be reported.)

(k) TSUSA reporting number. (All forms.) Except on CBP Form 7512 when used as an in-transit entry, the reporting number according to the current edition of the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated shall be shown in the column provided on the form. The reporting number assigned shall reflect the correct TSUSA classification of the merchandise and be consistent with the rate of duty applicable to the commodity. Where correct reporting as indicated in TSUSA requires the use of more than one TSUSA commodity number, all required reporting numbers will be shown for an item on the CBP form. On CBP Form 7512 when used as an Immediate Exportation or Transportation and Exportation entry, the reporting number, in terms of the first five digits of TSUSA (TSUS), is required to be shown in the column provided on the form for “Description and Quantity of Merchandise.” This code should appear to the right of that column, on the same line as the reported gross weight and value.

[41 FR 9134, Mar. 3, 1976, as amended at 42 FR 59839, Nov. 22, 1977; 47 FR 29829, July 9, 1982; 65 FR 42565, July 10, 2000]