Instruments of International Traffic (CBP Shipment Type)
| This article is part of the Shipment Release Types Guide |
| This article is about the U.S. Shipment Type. For the Canadian Shipment Type, see Instruments of International Trade |
Instruments of International Traffic, aka IIT or 10.41a, is a U.S. Shipment Type for goods to clear through CBP and ACE Manifest. It allows for the release at the border of shipments consisting of skids, containers and similar articles.
In order to qualify as Instruments of International Traffic, the goods must be suitable for repeated use, must either arrive containing merchandise or arrive empty to be filled with merchandise to be exported to a foreign country, and must be covered under a continuous bond filed by either the importer or the carrier on Customs Form 301.[1][2]
Goods entering as Instruments of International Traffic are free of duty and tax.
Declaring IITs in ACE eManifest
Instruments of International Traffic are required to be reported on an ACE eManifest. To report an IIT shipment the carrier will need to set the IIT status on either the truck or trailer, depending on where the IITs are loaded. This tells Customs there are IITs aboard. The carrier will not create an ACE shipment to report the IITs, they must be reported using the IIT status only.[3] The example below shows how to report IIT shipments using BorderConnect's ACE eManifest software.
When setting the IIT status, the carrier will need to indicate whether the IITs are covered under the importer's bond or the carriers, as well as whether IITs are the only thing loaded or there are other shipments aboard. (e.g. PAPS) While it is more common for IITs to be covered under the importer's bond, the carrier must still ensure that the importer has an active bond covering the IITs. It is also advisable for the carrier to obtain the bond number from the importer and ensure that the driver is aware of it.
At the border, the Customs officer will not typically require any additional paperwork to process the IIT shipment, although the driver may be asked to provide bills of lading or the IIT bond number at the officer's discretion.
References
- ↑ 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/19/1322
- ↑ 19 CFR 10.41a http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/19/10.41a
- ↑ Automated Commercial Environment Review of Shipment Release Types: Trucks https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/shipment_types_3.pdf