Preparing for a (US) Customs Audit: 2-day Workshop

Course Description:

All countries regulate the movement of goods across their borders. In most countries, this activity, for both import and exports, is governed by a Customs Agency or Customs Service, In the United States, since 2001’s 9/11, US imports are governed by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). Pre-dating 9/11, entering into force in 1994, the U. S. Customs Modernization Act (a Congressional ACT), known as “the Mod Act”, migrated the responsibility of adhering to all US import laws and regulations to a shared responsibility between CBP and the U.S. Importer.

As the party primarily responsible for adherence to these laws and regulations with respect to imported goods, the importer should have a robust internal control program surrounding all its import activities. However, the government does not rely solely on the importer to be wholly compliant, and, as part of its obligations to protect the federal revenue, has a robust audit program of its own. As of the time of this writing, US Customs, or CBP, has a program known as “Focused Assessment” or “FA”.

If you are a U S Importer of any size, it is more likely than not that, at some point, CBP will conduct an audit of your import operations and transactional compliance. This is a serious matter and should be handled with no less care and dedication than a tax/IRS audit, with appropriate resources and guidance. An unprepared importer can and most likely will suffer far greater penalties, up to and including loss of import privileges if not properly prepared. This course will guide you through all aspects of preparing for such an audit.

Course Benefit:

Proactively enhance your internal control program
Protect your company and the trade compliance employees
Reduce levels of culpability
Mitigate customs penalties
Learning Objectives:

Understand the legal framework of a Customs Audit
Learn “Do’s and Don’ts” when speaking to a Customs Auditor
Identify strengths and weaknesses in your current Import/Customs Management program
Learn how to access all your import data and proactively mitigate penalties
Protect yourself and your company from escalation of culpability
Areas Covered in the Seminar:

Focused Assessment Guidelines
Pre-Assessment Phase
Assessment Phase
Post-Assessment Phase
Customs Improvement Plan (CIP)
Negligence, Gross Negligence and Fraud
The Role of Prior Disclosures
Offsetting
Protection under Attorney-Client Privilege
Who will Benefit:

All professionals who want to expand their knowledge in import/customs compliance, notably in the US, but truly across the globe would benefit greatly from attending this session. Knowing what the government is looking for and how they will look for it is essential to efficiently and effectively managing scarce resources to the most benefit.

For Registration -http://www.complianceonline.com/us-custom-audit-program-mod-act-cbp-seminar-training-80315SEM-prdsm?channel=worldconferencecalendar

Note: Use coupon code and get 10% off on registration, Valid till Dec 31st 2015