CBP Form 7553: Notice of Intent to Export or Destroy for Drawback

CBP Form 7553 is the Notice of Intent to Export, Destroy, or Return Merchandise for Purposes of Drawback. It tells CBP that goods you plan to claim drawback on are about to leave the country or be destroyed, and it gives CBP the chance to inspect them first. Miss it, or file it late, and the drawback on those goods is at risk.

When you need it

The notice matters most for unused merchandise drawback, where you export or destroy goods in the same condition you imported them. It also notifies CBP of a destruction for any drawback type based on destroying the goods.

The filing deadlines

• Export: File at least 5 working days before the intended export date, unless CBP approves a different period. CBP then has 2 working days to decide whether it wants to examine the goods, and must examine them within 5 working days after you present them.
• Destruction: File at least 7 working days before the intended destruction date. CBP has 4 working days to tell you in writing whether it will witness the destruction.

If CBP doesn't respond to a destruction notice within those 4 working days, you can destroy the goods without delay, and the destruction counts as done under CBP supervision.

What the form asks for

• The exporter or destroyer, with its IRS number
• The intended action and date
• Where the goods are now and, for a destruction, where and how they will be destroyed
• For each import entry: the entry number and line, description, HTSUS number, quantity, and the drawback amount
• The drawback type the claim will be filed under

You also certify that the goods have not been used in the United States.

Proof after a destruction

When CBP chooses not to witness, the claimant has to show the destruction happened as described in the notice. That evidence must come from a disinterested third party, such as a landfill operator or a destruction facility, and it belongs in the claim file.

Waivers

Claimants for unused or rejected merchandise drawback can apply to their drawback office for a waiver of prior notice under 19 CFR 190.91. An approved waiver removes the 5-working-day Form 7553 for covered exports (19 CFR 190.35(a)).

Destructions are less clear. The text of 19 CFR 190.71(a) still requires a Form 7553 at least 7 working days before any destruction, with no waiver exception, even though CBP said in the 2018 final rule that it meant to extend waivers to destructions. File the notice for every destruction unless your approval letter expressly covers destructions, and keep the supporting records ready for CBP to inspect.

Where Form 7553 fits

Caspian tracks the export and destruction schedule and prepares the 7553. Once the goods are gone, it files the duty drawback claim. New to drawback? Start with what duty drawback is and who qualifies.

Works Cited:

• 19 CFR 190.35, Notice of intent to export or destroy; examination of merchandise
• 19 CFR 190.71, Drawback on articles destroyed under CBP supervision
• CBP: Drawback overview
• 19 CFR 190.91, Waiver of prior notice of intent to export