CBP's New 301 Bond Form Available, Must be Used Jan 1
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made available for immediate use new CBP Forms 301 (Customs Bond) and 301A (Addendum for additional co-principals) for continuous and single transaction bonds. The CBP Form 301 has been revised to list additional activity codes, including one for the Importer Security Filing, and to better harmonize the form with current and future automation requirements.
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Old 301 Form Allowed for Rest of 2011
CBP states that for the remainder of 2011, it will accept either the new versions of the forms, or the Customs Form 301 version with an expiration date of 12/31/2010.
Only New Form Accepted on/after Jan 1, 2012
CBP states that for any bonds presented to CBP on or after January 1, 2012, the new version of the CBP Form 301 (and its addendum if applicable) with an expiration date of 3/31/2014 must be used.
Changes Contained in New Form
Section II of the new CBP Form 301 lists several additional activity codes for the form, including:
- Airport security bond (code 11)
- International Trade Commission (ITC) exclusion bond (code 12)
- In-Bond Export Consolidator Bond (code 14)
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) (code 15)
- Importer Security Filing (ISF) (code 16)
- Marine Terminal Operator -continuous bond only- (code 17)
The following additional changes are contained in Sections II and III of CBP Form 301 (partial list):
- Space for the broker filer code and surety reference number is provided at the top of the form.
- The form identifies Activity Codes 2 (Custodian of bonded merchandise), 3a (IIT), 4 (FTZ), and 17 (MTO) as “continuous bond only” activity codes. (“STB only” would continue to be noted for activity codes 6-10.)
- Activity Code 4 would be described as “foreign trade zone,” rather than the current “foreign trade zone operator.”
- The “complete name” of all trade names or unincorporated divisions that will be permitted to obligate the bond needs to be listed.
- The physical address (as opposed to just the address) of the principal is required. In addition, instead of providing for a second “principal”, a second entity is called a “co-principal”. The physical address of this second co-principal and the surety (and any co-surety) are also required.
- Instead of requiring the seals of the principal(s) and surety(s) to be imprinted on the form, the form would have a check box to indicate that these entities have a seal in accordance with regulations.
(Note that the CBP Form 301A (Addendum to form 301) is used when there is more than two co-principals.)
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 05/12/11 news, 11051213, for BP summary that highlights a number of the draft changes to the 301 form, some of which were not made final.)
CSMS #11-000183 announcing revised CBP Forms 301 and 301A is available here.
New CBP Form 301 (Customs Bond) available here
New CBP Form 301A (Addendum to CBP Form 301) available here