In the first place, they would not have accepted the glib assurance of the Florence clerk that he would take care of everything. Instead, they would have instructed the clerk to mail the glass bowl by parcel post, marked as a “tourist purchase.” When the package arrived in New York, the post office would have turned it over to Customs in routine fashion for examination. An examiner would have verified the contents and its value and then returned the package to the post office to be forwarded directly to the Smiths in their home town. If any duty were due, it could have been paid to the postmaster after filling out a simple entry form. No broker. No delay. No red tape.
But this is what happened to the Smith’s glass bowl after it was purchased in Florence: the clerk turned the package over to a forwarding agent with no special instructions. The agent routinely consigned the shipment to a broker in New York with whom he had been doing business for years. The bill of lading was made out to the New York broker, which meant that when the package arrived in New York, the broker had legal title to the glass bowl because it was consigned to him.
What few travellers realize is that there is no automatic movement of merchandise arriving by ship from overseas. Someone has to be on hand to clear each shipment with Customs and pay any duties that might be due. Someone must see to it that the merchandise is moved from the piers to its destination. And this is usually the job of the broker, a point which many people do not understand and which causes considerable difficulty.
The broker is the expediter of the multi-billion-dollar flow of merchandise through the ports of entry in the United States. He is the legal representative of his client in dealing with Customs problems.
The Customs Service is not interested in merchandise until it arrives within the limits of a port of entry to be unloaded. At this point the merchandise legally becomes an import. And the merchandise passes through Customs under two types of general entries. One is called the “consumption entry” and the other is known as a “warehouse entry.”
Most imports arrive and are passed through Customs under the consumption entry, which permits the importer to pay the duties, obtain a release, and get immediate possession of all of his merchandise.
When merchandise is brought into the country under a warehouse entry, the major part of the merchandise is sent to a Customs bonded warehouse for storage. No duties are deposited when the papers are filed except for that portion of the merchandise which is to be taken immediately by the importer. In other words, the importer is permitted to place his goods in storage without payment of duties and then is permitted the privilege of making partial withdrawals from the warehouse, paying duties on whatever he draws for consumption.
There is a continual movement of merchandise from one bonded warehouse to another. This is particularly true in movements of liquor from one part of the country to another. Liquors may move across the country and may be in six or a dozen different bonded warehouses before they are withdrawn for consumption and taxes are paid. This system permits merchants to move their merchandise freely to meet shifting consumer demands.
The normal period for bonded storage is three years, but this period may be extended. If no extension is granted and the goods still remain in a bonded warehouse beyond the three-year period, they are considered unclaimed and abandoned to the government. The government then puts the merchandise up for public auction.
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