Common use of Administrative Guidance Clause in Contracts

Administrative Guidance. 1. Each Party, through its Designated Representative, shall adopt or maintain an administrative procedure by which a customs office in the territory represented by the Party may request guidance from a designated centralized office of the customs administration of the territory represented by the Party as to the proper application of laws, regulations, and procedures of the territory represented by the Party for importation into, exportation from, or transit through that territory with respect to a specific customs transaction, regardless of whether the transaction is prospective, pending, or has been completed. This administrative procedure shall provide that 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 the territory represented by the Party, or a representative thereof. 2. Each Party, through its Designated Representative, shall provide that the designated centralized office of the customs administration of the territory represented by the Party shall provide guidance in response to a request by a customs office described in 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 represented by the Party. 3. Each Party, through its Designated Representative, shall make available on a free, publicly accessible website the procedures, including any forms, for an importer or exporter to request guidance as described in paragraph 1. 4. Each Party, through its Designated Representative, shall provide that an importer or exporter to whom a request described in paragraph 1 relates is allowed an opportunity to submit written views and information to the designated centralized office of the customs administration of the territory represented by the Party before it issues its guidance. 5. Each Party, through its Designated Representative, shall provide that guidance in response to a request described in 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 a Party, either on its own or through its Designated Representative, to require the customs administration of the territory represented by the Party to provide guidance on transactions for which: a determination has been made; a determination has been applied consistently throughout the territory represented by the Party; a determination is pending; an importer or exporter has requested a ruling or has received a ruling that has been applied consistently throughout the territory represented by the Party; or a determination or ruling is being reviewed.