The latest from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (CSMS 17-000248):atf-logo

The Department of the Treasury, Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has posted an updated ACE Filing Guide for TTB Related Commodities, V7.5.

A list of changes may be found on page 4 of the document.  The primary reason for the update is to provide guidance to the filer for the use of Disclaim Code “C” in the PG01 line of the TTB Message Set.

For all HTS numbers that identify a product regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), in lieu of submitting the TTB Message Set, the filer may opt to meet TTB data requirements through other approved means.  Disclaim Code “C” is used to indicate that the filer is opting to meeting TTB data requirements through such means.  Refer to TTB regulations for more information about the requirements that apply to importers who elect not to file TTB data electronically.

TTB is also implementing business rules to enforce the regulatory requirements that have already been spelled out in the IG. If certain data is not provided, it will result in warnings to trade. Specifically:

  • for malt beverages, wine and distilled spirits, two PG14s must be provided
  • If a PG29 is present, the allowed unit of measure is only PCS
  • For a small set of TB1 flags, disclaim codes A and C are allowed; otherwise, only C is allowed.

Finally, TTB will begin enforcing their HTS flags per the schedule below.

  • TTB business rules in CERT: Expected no later than May 18, 2017
  • TTB flagging enforced in PROD: June 22, 2017