November 3, 2022

Temporary Duty-Free Treatment of Infant Formula Under the Formula Act

Temporary Duty-Free Treatment of Infant Formula Under the Formula Act – Update for Fees

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is providing duty-free treatment to a limited number of certain infant formula products entered or withdrawn from warehouses for consumption from July 22, 2022, through December 31, 2022. The eligible infant formula products will not be subject to any additional safeguard duties that may be imposed under subchapter IV of Chapter 99 of the HTS, or any other import quotas, tariff-rate quotas, additional duties, or any other duties, exactions, or charges that otherwise would apply to such articles. Entries under the Formula Act are exempt from Merchandise Processing Fees (MPF) and dairy fees, although Harbor Maintenance Fees (HMF) are still applicable. Entries under the Formula Act should not be filed as Type 02 Quota Entries.

Effective October 27, 2022, CBP deployed a change in ACE to no longer require the dairy fee or MPF on Formula Act entries through December 31, 2022. Importers/brokers who have submitted entries eligible for the Formula Act and paid the dairy fee and/or MPF may request a refund of those fees.

For MPF refunds, importers/brokers must file a Post Summary Correction.
For refunds of paid dairy fees, importers/brokers must submit their requests to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with a letter specifying the reason for a reimbursement, supporting documentation (for example, original and adjusted bills of lading, packing lists, commercial invoices, letters from the manufacturer, laboratory test results, and adjusted CBP form 7501).

Additional documents may be requested during the review. All documents should be submitted with the request by email to john.galbraith@usda.gov (Subject: USDA, AMS, Dairy Program) or by Mail:

USDA, AMS, Dairy Program

Attention John Galbraith

1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Room 2958-S

Washington, D.C. 20250-0233

Should you have questions or concerns regarding this guidance, please get in touch with the Office of Trade, Commercial Operations Revenue and Entry (CORE) Division at OTENTRYSUMMARY@cbp.dhs.gov.