The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) increased the de minimis value exemption of Section 321 shipments from $200 to $800; however, most partner government agencies (PGAs) do not provide exemptions from their respective requirements based on value. The de minimis value allowed entries to pass free of duty and tax, but it did not exempt them from PGA requirements including submission of the PGA data set.
In September 2019, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) introduced testing for a new entry type 86. The test allows for the electronic submission of de minimis entries through ABI, including those subject to PGA requirements.
Recently, the Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC)† published the “Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC) Guidance on Partner Government Agency (PGA) Policies Regarding the Section 321 De Minimis Value Rule, Returned American Goods and Household and Personal Effects,” which compiles input directly from relevant PGAs and includes useful charts:
- Chart 1 provides guidance on PGA policies related to Section 321 exemptions due to declared value,
- Chart 2 provides guidance regarding how to file PGA data in ACE using the new Entry Type 86 capability, and
- Chart 3 provides guidance on PGA policies related to returned American goods or personal effects. PGAs have differing policies for handling shipments wholly of returned American goods or personal effects.
†The Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC) is an interagency working group formally established by Executive Order 13659. The BIEC serves as an Executive Advisory Board and decision making body charged with enhancing coordination across federal customs, transport security, health and safety, sanitary, conservation, trade, and phytosanitary agencies with border management authorities and responsibilities to measurably improve supply chain processes and the identification of illicit and non-compliant shipments. BIEC membership includes senior leadership from agencies that provide approval before goods can be imported and exported, including the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, as well as representatives from the Executive Office of the President.