Explains process of importing goods into the U.S., including informed compliance, invoices, duty assessments, classification and value, marking requirements, etc.

This publication provides an overview of the importing process and contains general information about import requirements. This edition contains much new and revised material brought about because of changes in the law, particularly the Customs Modernization Act. The Customs modernization provisions has fundamentally altered the process by shifting to the importer the legal responsibility for declaring the value, classification, and rate of duty applicable to entered merchandise.Chapters cover entry of goods, informed compliance, invoices, assessment of duty, classification and value, marking, special requirements for alcoholic beverages, motor vehicles and boats, import quotas, fraud, and foreign trade zones.In addition to the material provided by the U. S. Customs Service, the private commercial publisher of this book has provided a bonus chapter on how to build a tax-free import-export business.

An overview of the importing process and general info. about import requirements. Sections: customs mission and org.; entry of goods; informed compliance; invoices; assessment of duty; classification and value; marking; special requirements; fraud; foreign trade zones; invoices; customs valuation; and other agencies. Informed compliance is new. It involves the shared responsibility between Customs and the import community, wherein Customs communicates its requirements to the importer, and the importer, in turn, uses reasonable care to assure that Customs is provided accurate and timely data pertaining to imports.

On World Food Day in October 2008, former president Bill Clinton finally accepted decade-old criticism directed at his administration's pursuit of free-trade deals with little regard for food safety, child labor, or workers' rights. "We all blew it, including me when I was president. We blew it. We were wrong to believe that food was like some other product in international trade." Clinton's public admission came at a time when consumers in the United States were hearing unsettling stories about contaminated food, toys, and medical products from China, and the first real calls were being made for more regulation of imported products. Import Safety comes at a moment when public interest is engaged with the subject and the government is receptive to the idea of consumer protections that were not instituted when many of the Clinton era's free-trade pacts were drafted. Written by leading scholars and analysts, the chapters in Import Safety provide background and policy guidance on improving consumer safety in imported food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and toys and other products aimed at children. Together, they consider whether policymakers should approach import safety issues through better funding of traditional interventions—such as regulatory oversight and product liability—or whether this problem poses a different kind of governance challenge, requiring wholly new methods.

The manual is highly organized for ease of use and divided into the following major sections: - Commodity Index (how-to import data for each of the 99 Chapters of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule)- U.S. Customs Entry and Clearance- U.S. Import Documentation- International Banking and Payments (Letters of Credit)- Legal Considerations of Importing- Packing, Shipping & Insurance- Ocean Shipping Container Illustrations and Specifications- 72 Infolists for Importers