On June 18, 2018, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted on its website the procedures to be followed when requesting administrative review of an initial Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) determination as to evasion. The posting is summarized below:
Requests for administrative review of an initial EAPA determination as to evasion pursuant to 19 C.F.R. Part 165.27 must be submitted electronically to the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings, Penalties Branch (OT/RR/Penalties Branch) using the following email box: eapafad@cbp.dhs.gov, no later than 30 business days after the issuance of the initial determination. Any party to the investigation, its attorney, or duly authorized agent, may file a request and must comply with the requirements set forth in 19 C.F.R. Part 165.3 and with the specific content requirements set forth in 19 C.F.R. Part 165.41(f).
OT/RR/Penalties Branch will notify a party via email that a request for review has been accepted and provide a Headquarters case number. Failure to file in accordance with the regulatory requirements by the deadline will result in a rejection of the request for administrative review.
Requests for administrative review must also comply with the requirements for release of information as specified in 19 C.F.R. Part 165.4. 19 C.F.R. Part 165.4, requires each party who files a request for administrative review to provide the other parties to the investigation with a public version. A party who cites to a document that was previously filed on the administrative record will attach a copy of both the public document and the version containing business confidential information as an appendix to the request for administrative review within two days of filing its request. A public version of the request for administrative review, including the appendices, will be provided to the other parties on the same date that the request is filed with CBP.
Any party to the investigation, regardless of whether it submitted a request for administrative review, may submit a written response to the filed request(s) for review. The response must be submitted electronically to CBP at eapafad@cbp.dhs.gov no later than 10 business days from the commencement of the administrative review. The 60 business-day review period will commence on the date when CBP accepts the last properly filed request for administrative review and transmits electronically the assigned administrative review case number to all parties to the investigation.
After review of a complete and timely request for administrative review of an initial determination, the OT/RR/Penalties Branch will issue a final administrative determination. The administrative review will be completed within 60 business days of the date of commencement of the review.
A copy of the public version of the final administrative determination will be posted on the EAPA Final Determination webpage and emailed to the parties. The final administrative determination made by the OT/RR/Penalties Branch is subject to judicial review pursuant to section 421 of the EAPA.
