U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection was established on March 1, 2003 in the Directorate for Border and Transportation Security, Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for guarding nearly 7,000 miles of land border the United States shares with Canada and Mexico and 2,000 miles of coastal waters surrounding the Florida peninsula and off the coast of Southern California. The agency also protects 95,000 miles of maritime border in partnership with the United States Coast Guard.

CBP’s priority mission is to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States and ensuring the security of our nation at America's borders and ports of entry. We must maintain this line of defense while allowing legitimate travel and trade that is vital to our economy and way of life. CBP is responsible for apprehending individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally; stemming the flow of illegal drugs and other contraband; protecting our agricultural and economic interests from harmful pests and diseases; protecting American businesses from theft of their intellectual property; and regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. trade laws.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues binding advance rulings and other legal decisions in connection with the importation of merchandise into the United States. Advance rulings provide the international trade community with a transparent and efficient means of understanding how CBP will treat a prospective import or carrier transaction.

For example, a ruling letter may address the tariff classification or appraised value of merchandise, the liquidation of an entry, or the exclusion of merchandise from entry. As such, ruling letters facilitate trade by enabling companies to make business decisions that are dependent on how their goods will be treated on importation.

CBP also issues other binding decisions such as internal advice decisions letters (covering current import and carrier transactions), and protest review decisions (appeals of CBP decisions on completed transactions).

With a view to promoting transparency, CBP also makes available to the public various other guidance including the following: the Customs Rulings On-Line Search System (CROSS – a database of published rulings), the Customs Bulletin and Decisions, pertinent Federal Register Notices, CBP Directives and Handbooks, Informed Compliance Publications, and a summary of laws enforced by CBP.