Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Say "Good-Bye" To Our Old Friend The SIL

On August 21, CBP announced that the Supplemental Information Letter (SIL) procedure would be discontinued and the Post Entry Amendment (PEA) processing test would be extended for another year starting August 21. This change means that the PEA is the only procedure for making post summary adjustments to entries prior to liquidation.

What does this mean to importers and brokers?

The elimination of the SIL means that importers and brokers will not be able to simply write a letter and submit it to CBP any time they find an error. The PEA procedures require that certain errors be reported using the individual amendment letter, while other errors must be reported using a quarterly tracking report. With all of the demands placed on the importer and broker, it can be difficult to for them to keep track of the errors that must be reported using the individual letters and which ones must be added to the quarterly tracking report. We’ve tried to make this task a little easier for you by creating a chart of each type of error and the appropriate method of reporting. (This chart is taken from our Importer's Policy and Procedure Manual, a regularly-updated compliance tool.)


To view this chart and the official announcement from CBP, please click on the links below.



PEA Individual Amendment Letter & Quarterly Report Requirements (PDF)

CBP: Modification and Extension of the Post-Entry Amendment Processing Test (PDF)

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