Workshop B — A Practical Guide to Managing A CBP Audit From Start to Finish: A Deep Dive Amid a Surge in CBP Audits, Detainment and Seizure of Goods

Nov 6, 2023 1:30pm – 05:00 PM

Aaron Gothelf
Principal Counsel – Global Trade
The Walt Disney Company

Kelly Raia
Chief Operating Officer
Blue Tiger International

Patrick Togni
Partner
King & Spalding

  • Audit Notice and Process
    • CBP questionnaires eliciting information about internal procedures
    • CBP entry conference to discuss audit purpose, scope and duration
      • Estimating audit duration
      • Types of taxes and transactions to be examined
      • Auditing specific focus areas
        • Tariff classification
        • Valuation
        • Country of Origin
    • Filing a Prior Disclosure (PD) to obtain legal protection if penalties are found at commencement of audit
  • Focused Assessment Audits
    • Pre-Assessment Survey (PAS)
      • Sufficiency of internal controls through review of entry records
      • Review of select ledger accounts and foreign vendor payments
      • Drafting the results and assessment of conclusions
  • Assessment Compliance Audits
    • Identifying areas of non-compliance risk and audit sampling
    • Reevaluating compliance of each control sample
    • Calculating loss of revenue
    • Obtaining a “ruling” from CBP regarding the admissibility of your goods
  • Quick Response Audits
    • Interviews and walkthroughs of selected customs entries to understand the import process
    • CBP reports with their determination of areas with acceptable/unacceptable transaction risk
  • Audit Surveys
    • Quickly and efficiently obtaining onsite information about import activities relative to a specific trade area or issue
    • Issuing of a final audit report
    • No determination of acceptable/unacceptable transaction risk or level of compliance
  • CBP Audit Closing Conferences
    • If found non-compliant, creating a plan outlining corrective measure to increase compliance