REGISTERED IMPORTER NEWSLETTER No. 28
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance
May 1, 2006
Revised HS-7 Declaration Form
We are issuing this newsletter to provide registered importers (RIs) with notice of certain revisions we have made to the HS-7 Declaration form. This form is furnished to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the time that a motor vehicle subject to the Federal motor vehicle safety, bumper, and theft prevention standards or an item of motor vehicle equipment subject to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) is imported into the United States. The HS-7 Declaration form contains a series of boxes, each of which corresponds to a separate basis on which a motor vehicle or covered item of motor vehicle equipment can be lawfully imported into the United States. Some of the revisions were required under amendments to regulations governing the activities of RIs that became effective on September 30, 2004. The Office of Management and Budget has approved the use of the HS-7 Declaration form, as it has now been revised. The new HS-7 Declaration form may be downloaded from the NHTSA web site under the heading “Forms and special instructions” at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/. The specific revisions that were made to the form, by Box number, are set forth below.
Box 1
A blank line was added for the importer to specify the date of manufacture, to support the declaration that the vehicle is 25 or more years old or the equipment item was manufactured on a date when no applicable safety or theft prevention standard was in effect.
Box 2B
The text accompanying this box was revised to correspond to the language of 49 CFR 591.5(g), which allows vehicles to be imported for personal use if they are certified to Canadian motor vehicle safety standards and the vehicle’s original manufacturer states that the vehicle complies with all but certain specified requirements in the FMVSS. As stated in the regulation, the requirements that such a vehicle need not meet are the labeling requirements of Standards Nos. 101, Controls and Displays and 110 Tire Selection and Rims or 120 Tire Selection and Rims for Motor Vehicles other than Passenger Cars, and/or the specifications of Standard No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment relating to daytime running lamps. The regulation further requires the importer to declare that the vehicle is not a salvage motor vehicle, a repaired salvage motor vehicle, or a reconstructed motor vehicle.
Box 3
The importer must now declare that the vehicle is not a salvage motor vehicle or a reconstructed motor vehicle, as required under the amendments to 49 CFR 591.5(f). You should note that RIs will no longer be able to enter under Box 3 motor vehicles that are imported for the purpose of preparing an import eligibility petition. Those vehicles must now be entered under Box 13, as discussed below. Box 3 never provided a fully appropriate means for the entry of these so-called “petition vehicles,” as it assumes that NHTSA has already determined the vehicle to be eligible for importation and requires the importer to furnish a DOT Conformance bond to ensure that the vehicle is either brought into conformity with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety and bumper standards within 120 days from the date of importation or is exported from, or abandoned to, the United States.
Box 8
This box covers the entry of vehicles that are not primarily manufactured for use on public roads, and therefore do not qualify as “motor vehicles” that must comply with all applicable FMVSS, and equipment that is not a system, part, or component of a motor vehicles, and therefore does not qualify as “motor vehicle equipment.” The description of the attachment that must be furnished with the Declaration form to support such an entry has been expanded to correspond to the text of the governing regulation at 49 CFR 591.6(a).
Box 9
This box covers the importation of vehicles or equipment that require further manufacturing operations to perform their required functions. The description of the attachment that must be furnished with the Declaration form to support such an entry has been expanded to correspond to the text of the governing regulation at 49 CFR 591.6(b).
Box 10
This box, which was marked “Reserved” on the HS-7 Declaration form previously in use, will now be used for the entry of nonconforming vehicles that are imported solely for the purpose of show or display. Before such a vehicle can be lawfully imported, NHTSA must determine that it has such technological or historical significance that it merits importation for those purposes. Show or display vehicles were previously entered under Box 7. That box was never fully appropriate for show or display vehicles, as those vehicles are ordinarily entered on a permanent basis, and Box 7 pertains principally to vehicles that are imported temporarily for certain specified purposes. To enter a vehicle under Box 10, the importer must declare that he or she will comply with all applicable restrictions on importers of such vehicles as specified in 49 CFR 591.7 and must attach to the HS-7 Declaration form a copy of a letter from NHTSA permitting the vehicle’s entry for purposes of show or display.
Box 13
As indicated above, this is a newly created box that will be used by an RI to import a nonconforming motor vehicle for the purpose of preparing an import eligibility petition. These vehicles were previously imported under Box 3, even though NHTSA had yet to determine them eligible for importation. As such, the RI was required to furnish a DOT Conformance bond to ensure that the vehicle is brought into conformity with all applicable standards within 120 days of entry, even though that requirement could rarely be met in case of a vehicle that had yet to be determined eligible for importation. We have developed a new procedure for the importation of these so-called “petition vehicles.” Prior to the vehicle’s importation, the RI must either petition NHTSA to determine the vehicle eligible or inform the agency that it intends to file such a petition and obtain written permission from NHTSA to import the vehicle for those purposes. A copy of the NHTSA permission letter must be attached to the HS-7 Declaration form given to Customs at the time of entry. The RI will then have 180 days from the date of entry to file with NHTSA an import eligibility petition covering the vehicle. If the RI withdraws the petition, or if NHTSA dismisses or denies the petition, the RI will have 30 days from the date of the petition’s dismissal, denial, or withdrawal to deliver the vehicle to Customs for exportation from, or abandonment to, the United States, unless the vehicle is destroyed. If the RI fails to submit a petition covering the vehicle, it will have 210 days from the date of entry to deliver the vehicle to Customs for exportation from, or abandonment to the United States, unless the vehicle is destroyed. If NHTSA grants the petition, the RI will have 15 days from the date it is notified of the grant to furnish a DOT Conformance bond covering the vehicle, and will thereafter have 120 days in which to either bring the vehicle into conformity with all applicable standards, or export it from, or abandon it to, the United States. If the RI elects to have the vehicle destroyed in lieu of exportation or abandonment, it must furnish NHTSA with proof of destruction within15 days from the date on which it occurs.
Declarations for ABI Entries
You should note that the above changes have been made to the paper version of the HS-7 Declaration form. We are aware that the paper form is not filed with CBP for most vehicles that are imported into the United States. Instead, a Customs broker uses an electronic version of the HS-7 Declaration form to enter these vehicles through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) system. We have been informed by CBP that the ABI system, which is in the process of being replaced, cannot be updated to incorporate the changes we have made to the HS-7 Declaration form. We therefore suggest that you notify your Customs broker that the form has been revised, and send the broker a completed copy of the new form for any vehicles that you may import in the future. In the event that you wish to import a vehicle for the purpose of show or display under Box 10, or a petition vehicle under Box 13, your broker will need to contact Ms. Rena Lee of the Import and Certification Division at 202-366-7982 to accomplish these entries since the ABI system is currently incapable of capturing a declaration under either of these boxes. We do not anticipate that this will pose a significant burden for the parties involved, since very few of these entries are made, and written approval must be obtained from NHTSA in any case before these entries can be made.