CBP Posts "Latest News and Developments" on Processing Bond Applications
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to the Pilot Bond Centralization Program section of its Web site a July 8, 2005 guidance document entitled "Latest News and Developments." According to CBP, this document provides information about the Pilot Bond Centralization Program and current issues, policies, and procedures for processing bond applications.
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This is Part I of a two-part series of summaries on the July 8, 2005 document. See future issue of ITT for Part II.
Processing Times for Bond Applications under Pilot Bond Centralization
CBP states that it is currently taking 5-7 business days to initially review a bond application under pilot bond centralization. If discrepancies are detected during that initial review, the file is referred to the Reject Team. The Reject Team will finalize the reject notice and fax that notice to the point of contact of the bond filer identified in the bond application.
CBP notes that referral to the Reject Team may add an additional 5 business days to the overall processing time required for the bond application. Faxed notifications of bond approvals will be issued 3-5 business days after approval of the bond. CBP states that parties with access to ABI may query that system for immediate notification of bond approvals.
Bond Reject Team to Handle Questions When Applications are Referred for Rejection
CBP states that once a bond application has been referred for rejection, any questions about that application should be directed to the Reject Team by leaving a voicemail at (317) 614-4881. CBP states that inquiries or corrections may also be emailed to cbp.bondquestions@dhs.gov.
CBP states that if an email is sent to the above address in regards to a rejected bond application, the word "reject" should be included in the email subject line. CBP states that the fax cover sheet transmitted with the rejection notice to the bond filer will contain additional contact information for the Reject Team.
CBP notes that failure to respond to all of the items contained in the reject notice will significantly delay approval of the bond application and that bond filers should exercise the necessary care to insure responses are complete. According to CBP, the Reject Team will not immediately notify bond filers of incomplete responses to reject notices.
Processing of Bond Termination Requests
CBP states that bond termination requests for any type 1 continuous bond that are received by CBP's Revenue Division at least 30 days prior to the requested termination date will be processed by the Revenue Division. Otherwise, bond termination requests must be presented to the Port where the continuous bond is currently on file.
CBP states that even if the bond termination request has been properly filed at another Port, the Bond Team requests that a copy of the termination request accompany the 'replacement' bond application package (if the principal is obtaining a new bond).
Surety Information on the CBP 301 and Bond Riders
Effective 30 days from the date of this July 8, 2005 posting, the Bond Team will require that the surety information on the CBP 301 include the complete, physical address of the surety.
CBP states that this address should match either the address listed for the surety on the most recent Treasury Department Circular 570 listing (http://www.fms.treas.gov/c570/c570.htmlcertified), or the address currently on file with CBP.
Effective 30 days from the date of this posting, all bond riders and surety termination requests must show the 3-digit surety code assigned by CBP, the surety name, and the social security number of the authorizing surety agent. CBP notes that because some sureties have very similar names, providing the 3-digit code will reduce the chance of errors.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/21/05 news, 05062105, for BP summary on CBP's notice that all new Activity Code 1 bonds are to be handled by CBP's Revenue Division (and not the ports), etc. effective June 20, 2005.)
CBP notice (dated 07/08/05) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/communications_to_industry/pilot_program/latest_news_and_developments/newsdev2.ctt/newdev2.doc.