In any investigation or inquiry conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of any entry, for determining the liability of any person for duty, fees and taxes due or duties, fees and taxes which may be due the United States, for determining liability for fines and penalties, or for insuring compliance with the laws of the United States administered by the United States Customs Service, the Secretary (but no delegate of the Secretary below the rank of district director or special agent in charge) may-
to appear before the appropriate customs officer at the time and place within the customs territory of the United States specified in the summons (except that no witness may be required to appear at any place more than one hundred miles distant from the place where he was served with the summons), to produce records, as defined in subsection (d)(1)(A), and to give such testimony, under oath, as may be relevant to such investigation or inquiry; and
A summons issued pursuant to this section may be served by any person designated in the summons to serve it. Service upon a natural person may be made by personal delivery of the summons to him. Service may be made upon a domestic or foreign corporation or upon a partnership or other unincorporated association which is subject to suit under a common name, by delivering the summons to an officer, or managing or general agent, or to any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process. The certificate of service signed by the person serving the summons is prima facie evidence of the facts it states on the hearing of an application for the enforcement of the summons. When the summons requires the production of records, such records shall be described in the summons with reasonable specificity.
then notice of such summons shall be given to any persons so identified within a reasonable time before the day fixed in the summons as the day upon which such records are to be examined or testimony given. Such notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the summons which has been served and shall contain directions for staying compliance with the summons under paragraph (5)(B) of this subsection.
The Customs Service shall identify and publish a list of the records or entry information that is required to be maintained and produced under subsection (a)(1)(A).
After consultation with the importing community, the Customs Service shall by regulation establish a recordkeeping compliance program which the parties listed in section 1508(a) of this title may participate in after being certified by the Customs Service under paragraph (2). Participation in the recordkeeping compliance program by recordkeepers is voluntary.
A recordkeeper may be certified as a participant in the recordkeeping compliance program after meeting the general recordkeeping requirements established under the program or after negotiating an alternative program suited to the needs of the recordkeeper and the Customs Service. Certification requirements shall take into account the size and nature of the importing business and the volume of imports. In order to be certified, the recordkeeper must be able to demonstrate that it-
For purposes of this subsection, the term "information" means any record, statement, declaration, document, or electronically stored or transmitted information or data referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A).
Except as provided in paragraph (4), if a person fails to comply with a lawful demand for information under subsection (a)(1)(A) the following provisions apply:
except that any liquidation or reliquidation under clause (i) or (ii) shall be at the applicable column 2 rate of duty if the Customs Service demonstrates that the merchandise should be dutiable at such rate.
No penalty may be assessed under this subsection if the person can show-
Any penalty imposed under this subsection shall be in addition to any other penalty provided by law except for-
A penalty imposed under this section may be remitted or mitigated under section 1618 of this title.
Nothing in this subsection shall limit or preclude the Customs Service from issuing, or seeking the enforcement of, a customs summons.
When a recordkeeper who-
does not produce a demanded record or information for a specific release or provide the information by acceptable alternative means, the Customs Service, in the absence of willfulness or repeated violations, shall issue a written notice of the violation to the recordkeeper in lieu of a monetary penalty. Repeated violations by the recordkeeper may result in the issuance of penalties and removal of certification under the program until corrective action, satisfactory to the Customs Service, is taken.
A notice of violation issued under subparagraph (A) shall-
Within a reasonable time after receiving written notice under subparagraph (A), the recordkeeper shall notify the Customs Service of the steps it has taken to prevent a recurrence of the violation.
The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to implement this paragraph. Such regulations may specify the time periods for compliance with a demand for information and provide guidelines which define repeated violations for purposes of this paragraph. Any penalty issued for a recordkeeping violation shall take into account the degree of compliance compared to the total number of importations, the nature of the demanded records and the recordkeeper's cooperation.
19 U.S.C. § 1509
EDITORIAL NOTES
REFERENCES IN TEXTTitle I, referred to in subsec. (g)(2)(C), means title I of act June 17, 1930, ch. 497, which contains the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and which is not set out in the Code. See notes preceding section 1202 of this title and Publication of Harmonized Tariff Schedule note set out under section 1202 of this title.
PRIOR PROVISIONSProvisions substantially the same, in most respects, as those in this section, were contained in act Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, §III, O, 38 Stat. 188, which substantially reenacted the provisions of Customs Administrative Act of June 10, 1890, ch. 407, §16, 26 Stat. 138, as renumbered and reenacted without other change by the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of Aug. 5, 1909, ch. 6, §28, 36 Stat. 100. Section III of the 1913 act was superseded and more closely assimilated to this section by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, §508, 42 Stat. 968, and repealed by section 643 thereof. Section 508 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 509 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.Prior provisions similar to those in this section and section 1510 of this title were made by R.S. §§2922-2924, repealed by section 29 of the Customs Administrative Act of 1890, 26 Stat. 141.
AMENDMENTS2020-Subsec. (a)(2)(A)(i). Pub. L. 116-113, §209(b)(1), inserted at end "or a vehicle producer whose good is subject to a claim of preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA (as defined in section 4502 of this title),".Subsec. (a)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 116-113, §209(b)(2), substituted "a USMCA country (as defined in section 4502 of this title)" for "a NAFTA country (as defined in section 3301(4) of this title)".2002-Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 107-210 added par. (6).1996-Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 104-295, §3(a)(1), substituted "(d)(1)(A)" for "(c)(1)(A)" in concluding provisions.Subsec. (b)(3), (4). Pub. L. 104-295, §3(a)(10), substituted "officer designated pursuant to regulations" for "appropriate regional commissioner".1993-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(1)(A), substituted ", fees and taxes" for "and taxes" in two places in introductory provisions.Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(1)(B), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: "examine, or cause to be examined, upon reasonable notice, any record, statement, declaration or other document, described in the notice with reasonable specificity, which may be relevant to such investigation or inquiry;".Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(1)(C), amended subpar. (A) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: "the person who imported, or knowingly caused to be imported, merchandise into the customs territory of the United States,". See Construction of 1993 Amendment note below.Subsec. (a)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 103-182, §205(b), amended generally cl. (ii), as amended by Pub. L. 103-182, §615(1)(C). Prior to amendment, cl. (ii) read as follows: "exported merchandise, or knowingly caused merchandise to be exported, to Canada,". See Construction of 1993 Amendment note below.Subsec. (a)(2)(B), (C). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(1)(C), amended subpars. (B) and (C) generally. Prior to amendment, subpars. (B) and (C) read as follows:"(B) any officer, employee, or agent of such person,"(C) any person having possession, custody, or care of records relating to such importation, or".Subsec. (a)(2)(D). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(1)(D), substituted a semicolon for comma at end.Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(2), (3), added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d).Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(2), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d).Subsec. (d)(1)(A). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(4)(A), substituted "those" for "statements, declarations, or documents" in introductory provisions.Subsec. (d)(1)(C)(i). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(4)(B), inserted ", unless such customhouse broker is the importer of record on an entry" after "broker".Subsec. (d)(2)(B). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(4)(C), (D), substituted "the transactions described in section 1508 of this title" for "the import transactions".Subsec. (d)(4)(A). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(4)(E), inserted ", fees," after "duties".Subsec. (d)(4)(B). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(4)(C), (D), substituted "the transactions described in section 1508 of this title" for "the import transactions".Subsecs. (e) to (g). Pub. L. 103-182, §615(5), added subsecs. (e) to (g).1986-Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 99-570, §3117(1), substituted "as defined in subsection (c)(1)(A)" for "required to be kept under section 1508 of this title" in concluding provisions.Subsec. (c)(1)(A). Pub. L. 99-570, §3117(2), amended subpar. (A) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: "The term 'records' includes statements, declarations, or documents required to be kept under section 1508 of this title."1978- Pub. L. 95-410substituted subsec. (a) to (c) provisions for examination of books and witnesses for prior provisions for examination of importer and others, which authorized appropriate customs officers to issue citations for examination under oath of any owner, importer, consignee, agent, or other person upon any material matter or thing respecting any imported merchandise then under consideration or previously imported within one year, in ascertaining the classification or the value thereof or the rate or amount of duty and to require production of any letters, accounts, contracts, invoices, or other documents relating to the merchandise, and the reduction of the testimony to writing, required the testimony to be filed and preserved under Customs Court rules, and authorized consideration of the evidence in subsequent proceedings relating to the merchandise.1970- Pub. L. 91-271substituted "Appropriate customs officer" for "Collectors and appraisers".1948-Act June 25, 1948, struck out "and judges and divisions of the United States Customs Court" after "Collectors and appraisers" in first sentence.
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2020 AMENDMENTAmendment by Pub. L. 116-113 effective on the date the USMCA enters into force (July 1, 2020) and applicable with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after that date, see section 209(d) of Pub. L. 116-113 set out as a note under section 1304 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2002 AMENDMENTAmendment by Pub. L. 107-210 applicable to petitions for certification filed under part 2 or 3 of subchapter II of chapter 12 of this title on or after the date that is 90 days after Aug. 6, 2002, except as otherwise provided, see section 151 of Pub. L. 107-210 set out as a note preceding section 2271 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENTAmendment by Pub. L. 104-295 applicable as of Dec. 8, 1993, see section 3(b) of Pub. L. 104-295 set out as a note under section 1321 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1993 AMENDMENTAmendment by section 205(b) of Pub. L. 103-182effective on the date the North American Free Trade Agreement enters into force with respect to the United States (Jan. 1, 1994), see section 213(b) of Pub. L. 103-182 formerly set out as an Effective Date note under former section 3331 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1970 AMENDMENTFor effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 91-271 see section 203 of Pub. L. 91-271 set out as a note under section 1500 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1948 AMENDMENTAct June 25, 1948, ch. 646, §38, 62 Stat. 992, provided that the amendment made by that act is effective Sept. 1, 1948.
CONSTRUCTION OF 1993 AMENDMENTAmendment by section 205(b) of Pub. L. 103-182to be made after amendment by section 615 of Pub. L. 103-182 is executed, see section 212 of Pub. L. 103-182 formerly set out as a note under section 58c of this title.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONSFor transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury, including functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 203(1), 551(d), 552(d),and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. For establishment of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Department of Homeland Security, treated as if included in Pub. L. 107-296 as of Nov. 25, 2002, see section 211 of Title 6, as amended generally by Pub. L. 114-125 and section 802(b) of Pub. L. 114-125 set out as a note under section 211 of Title 6.