USTR Directs CBP to Permit DIS Submission of Visas for AGOA Beneficiaries

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative directed CBP to allow importers to send electronic images of an appropriate export visa from sub-Saharan beneficiaries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act when claiming preferential treatment for entries of textile and apparel products under the agreement, USTR said (here). USTR’s guidance specifically calls on the CBP commissioner to allow importers to provide an appropriate export visa submitted electronically via the Document Image System or other approved functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment or successor system. "A shipment still must be visaed by stamping an original circular visa, in blue ink only, on the front of the original commercial invoice," it said. The USTR directions modify 2001 instructions for implementing the use of ACE for eligible textile and apparel products that are entered or withdrawn from a warehouse for consumption, said USTR.