"WildCattle," et al., your response is most intriguing. Unless you meant to originally convey the impression that you are importing your antique firearms for commercial purposes and / or for resale, which I do not believe you mean to say, you ran partly afoul of the classically incompetent bureaucrat, here the "agent," who also seems to have abused her authority irrespective of the fact she obviously did not understand what the proper course of action should have been concerning your antique firearm shipment, yet nonetheless bumbled on recklessly, causing confusion and an unnecessary lightening of your wallet. It was not ideology that affected the odd decisions you remarked, it was ignorance buttressed by conceit.
When you used the terms "formal" and "informal entry" in your previous post, I was too quick in being dismissive of them as meaningless jargon unconnected to what had been said to you, and for not connecting it to that which led to what occurred. I thought that someone had intended to address tariffs instead and their application to imported antiques, if any, and that they had erroneously conflated these terms. From reading your recent post, I was mistaken in my assumption in that respect.
Let us first review what the cited terms, formal entry and informal entry, mean in practice. With reference to the information on U.S. Customs' website, the terms are found under the requirements for clearing goods bought by an individual for commercial purposes, which informs the reader that we are dealing with official commercial terms. Naturally, there is an important difference between goods imported into the U.S. for personal use and goods imported for commercial sale.
Consider too the following points:
1. Certain types of goods will automatically require a formal entry. Generally, that is anything whose entry into the U.S. is subject to another federal government agency's approval and thereby requiring a formal entry. Recall that the 'antique firearm' classification is not subject to any federal agency approval for importation purposes; ergo, no formal entry is required;
2. The monetary value of the goods is also a critical factor. If the total monetary value is over $2,500, regardless of what the commercial item is, a "formal entry will be required. Items that are not subject to any special agency requirements might be eligible to be entered as an informal entry (Such is typically the case with international travelers who have bought items abroad for personal use and not for domestic resale, who must declare their value upon entry.), as long as their total monetary value is not over $2,500. A formal entry is required for antiques imported for resale if the value of the combined shipment is over $2,500. Whether due to incomplete or nebulous paperwork, or a misunderstanding or ignorance of applicable law and / or regulations, some or all of these factors probably formed the basis for U.S. Custom's mistaken belief that your antique firearm was being imported for commercial purposes, and it is this aforesaid inappropriately applied requirement that caused the formal entry and taxing of your shipment;
A personal "firearm" (This legal term's definition excludes "antique firearm."), for example, cannot be imported for the purpose of resale and needs completion and prior approval of ATF Form 6. For U.S. Customs and Border Protection purposes an 'antique' must be over 100 years of age at time of importation. Significantly, none of the immediately foregoing encumbrances has the remotest application to your antique firearm; and
3. Goods being imported for commercial purposes are not eligible for the duty-free exemption that is applied toward goods brought into the United States for personal use, nor are they eligible for the 3% flat rate of duty for the first $1,000 worth of goods that exceed the $800 duty free exemption. All commercial goods are dutiable at the rate of duty specified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, and a merchandise processing fee of approximately $25 is charged for clearing the goods. Since your antique firearm was not imported for commercial purposes, this too had no application to your situation.
I read in your correspondence that you had paperwork proving the age of the subject gun and would believe that it amply demonstrated this point. However, other than the lack of knowledge on the part of the aforementioned agent and her dysfunctional attitude, there might be other contributing factors to this disastrous mess as well.
To reiterate an earlier point, in my case, the exporter employed its Single Individual Export License, which means my E. J. Churchill gun was exported on my Declaration (to U.S. Customs) and End-User Undertaking (to U.K. Customs), amongst other prepared documents, so there may be some comparative variation to what I write here. Here is what my End-User Undertaking states in-part: After first certifying that the goods were ordered by me from Holt's Auctioneers and describing the "goods," the question appears, "And are for the following purpose(s)," to which I answered. "Collecting / Sporting purposes," and then typed just below that, "I also certify that the goods above are for my own use and will not be re-exported."
I would look at your Undertaking and find whether it has similar language concerning the purpose and intent. If not, that may be where the ensuing problem had its origin. This is to say, someone may have later assumed a purpose if none was provided on the face of the document. The 'pre-flight' paperwork, which should have been provided you by the exporter, is another place to look for inconsistencies. This bundle would have later become the packet of information attached to your shipment and passed to the carrier for the carrier's final paperwork preparation, of which you also should have received copies for personal review and eventual presentation to U.S. Customs. Of course, one first visits the carrier to receive copies of the documentation (I have it emailed to me to save a back-and-forth trip.) before traveling to U.S. Customs with the same for their approval and clearance.
The carrier's documentation is based on what information the exporter provides the carrier, and in the case of FedEx, the carrier's initial advisory paperwork is completed by the exporter. When I state that I require two basic documents to collect my antique firearm shipments, it is painting with a broad rhetorical brush, because I am assured that all other underlying paperwork is correct and appropriate to the circumstance. I ensure this is so by diligently policing the exporter and to some degree the carrier. This is why I am able to report, as I did in a previous posting, the correction of an experienced exporter that had gotten it wrong and was heading my shipment in a disastrous direction. I was informed on the legalities and confident of my position, and thus was able to objectively demonstrate to the exporter where he was wrong and then require the exporter to correct his actions before disaster struck.
The fact, as you have written, that a FedEx employee suggested a customs broker to sort matters out, tells me that the shipment paperwork you first needed to retrieve from them before presenting to U.S. Customs and Border Protection at time of attempting to collect your shipment, strongly suggests FedEx saw something amiss with the paperwork and anticipated a problem. Again, all the item's and export / import information shown on these very key carrier documents comes from the exporter.
The reason your curio and relic license did not cure the import situation is self-evident and goes back to basics. There are three firearm classifications specifically and uniquely defined in federal statutes and regulations that address firearms: (modern) "firearm," "curio and relic firearm," and "antique firearm." These are legal terms and not generic terms, or are they synonymous or interchangeable. Always look to their definitions as provided under each applicable federal code title (e.g. 26, 27, etc.) or regulation first.
Moreover, the exported / imported firearm in this instance was declared as and is an antique firearm but is not a curio and relic firearm, which is what the paperwork reflected, and the item is necessarily declared either one or the other but not both, or subject to redefinition or default; it is what it is, period. One does not legally define the firearm class, the statute and /or regulation does. An apple cannot become an orange because the apple crop failed.
Hopefully, the foregoing will contain useful information. It is hoped as well there will be no next time, or that a similar situation involving formal or informal entry will again arise.
Finally, I find it interesting that a modern double rifle found your door without the notice of ATF or needed the costly ministrations of a customs broker, though such is not required, and arrived via the USPS, too. Though I have known this to happen with antique firearms, where an express carrier is involved and they have their own custom brokers that take care of clearing an antique firearm at port of entry without the consignee's participation, and which antique firearm subsequently appeared on a doorstep as if fallen from the sky. But I would have to think the appearance of a modern firearm in like manner a definite fluke, given the requirement for a completed and pre-approved ATF Form 6, etc.
Good luck with your--and everyone's--importation endeavors in the future!
Regards,
Edwardian
