Common use of Administrative Guidance Clause in Contracts

Administrative Guidance. 1. Each Party shall adopt or maintain an administrative procedure by which a customs office in its territory may request the appropriate authority of the customs administration to provide guidance as to the proper application of laws, regulations, and procedures for importation into, exportation from, or transit through its territory with respect to a specific customs transaction, regardless of whether the transaction is prospective, pending, or has been completed. A customs office shall request guidance under this administrative procedure on its own initiative or at the written request of an importer or exporter in its territory, or a representative thereof. 2. The appropriate authority of a Party shall provide guidance in response to a request under paragraph 1 if the customs treatment applied or proposed to be applied by the customs office to the transaction is inconsistent with the customs treatment provided with respect to transactions that are identical in all material respects, including by another customs office in the territory of the Party. 3. Each Party shall make available to the public on a free, publicly accessible website the procedures, including any forms, for requesting guidance under paragraph 1. 4. Each Party shall allow an importer or exporter to whom a request under paragraph 1 relates an opportunity to submit written views and information to the appropriate authority of the customs administration before it issues guidance in response to a request. 5. Guidance in response to a request under paragraph 1 shall be taken into account by the customs office with respect to the transaction that is the subject of the request, provided that there is not a ruling or determination issued on the transaction and the facts and circumstances remain the same. 6. Nothing in this Article requires the appropriate authority of the customs administration to provide guidance on transactions for which a determination has been made, or for which a determination has been applied consistently throughout its territory; on transactions for which a determination is pending; if an importer or exporter has requested a ruling or has received a ruling that has been applied consistently throughout its territory; or on transactions for which a determination or ruling is being reviewed.