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Author - Adrienne Braumiller
Last June (2023), in response to a ruling request from Your Special Delivery Services Specialty Logistics (YSDS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued HQ H324098, clarifying what it means to be an “owner or purchaser” with sufficient financial interest to act as importer of record (IOR).
The ambiguity surrounding the question of who has the right to act as IOR arises from the language of the applicable law. 19 USC § 1484(a)(1)-(2) states that only a party “qualifying as ‘IOR’ […]” shall make entry and that only “the owner or purchaser […] or, when appropriately designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee of the merchandise, [a licensed customs broker]” shall transmit the materials necessary to make entry.
Based on the law’s plain language, the IOR may be an owner, a purchaser, or a licensed customs broker. But where numerous parties—including logistics companies like YSDS—have different contractual rights, interests, and obligations with regard to the same merchandise, the definition of “owner or purchaser” is murkier than the plain language suggests.