Visaed invoices without value or price information are unacceptable under T.D. 86-56

HQ 546077 August 22, 1995 VAL R:C:V 546077 CRS CATEGORY: Valuation Mr. John C. Van Toch Weltex Canada, Inc. 279 Sherbrooke Street W. Suite 410 Montreal, Quebec H2X 1Y2 CANADA RE: Visaed invoices without value or price information are unacceptable under T.D. 86-56 Dear Mr. Van Toch: Your letter of July 12, 1995, to Mr. Richard Crichton, concerning the acceptability of a visaed invoice, has been forwarded to this office for a reply. FACTS: Weltex Canada, Inc., a Canadian middleman, sells wearing apparel of Romanian origin to customers in the United States. The imported merchandise is shipped directly from the Romanian supplier to Weltex’s U.S. customer. The current bilateral visa agreement between Romania and the U.S. requires that articles of wearing apparel imported from Romania be accompanied by a visaed invoice indicating the export approval of the authorized issuing official. In the instant case, Weltex does not wish to be responsible for making entry; it also desires not to disclose to its U.S. customers the price it pays to the supplier of the imported wearing apparel. Weltex has therefore proposed presenting a visaed invoice to Customs that does not state any price or value information. In contrast, the commercial invoice attached to the entry documentation would reflect the price between Weltex and its U.S. customers. Consequently, under this proposal, a discrepancy between the visaed and commercial invoices would exist. ISSUE: The issue presented is whether a visaed invoice that does not contain any value or price information is acceptable for Customs purposes. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Pursuant to Treasury Decision (T.D.) 86-56, differences or discrepancies in the information contained in the entry documentation presented to Customs in connection with imported merchandise raise the presumption that the documents contain false or erroneous information. T.D. 86-56 provides further that entry documentation containing erroneous price or value information will not be accepted and must be returned to the importer for correction. 20 Cust. B. & Dec. 175, 177. However, the field instructions implementing T.D. 86-56, issued by Headquarters on May 1, 1986, state that Customs may accept an entry so long as an importer can provide an acceptable explanation for any differences in the price or value information contained in the entry documentation. You have asked whether a visaed invoice that does not contain any price or value information is acceptable under T.D. 86-56. As noted in T.D. 86-56, section 484(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1484(a)(1)), provides in pertinent part that importers must file such documentation as is necessary to enable Customs, inter alia, to collect accurate statistics with respect to the merchandise. Furthermore, invoices must set forth the purchase price of each item. 19 U.S.C. § 1481(a)(5); 19 C.F.R. § 141.86(a)(5). However, under Weltex’s proposal, the visaed invoice would not set forth any price or value information whatsoever. Accordingly, it is Customs’ position that the visaed invoice Weltex proposes to submit is unacceptable under T.D. 86-56. HOLDING: A visaed invoice that does not contain value or price information is unacceptable under T.D. 86-56. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division