U.S. Customs Surety Bond

• Due to the risk from the perspective of the bonding company, Customs Bonds are very carefully underwritten and priced accordingly. Part of the cost of this bond will be the time and effort needed to provide the documentation and information the bonding company will require. In all cases, personal credit, personal financials, and business financials will be required. Of course, we can typically handle all credit types and financial situations — from excellent to poor — as such those terms vary.
• Customs Bonds can be written for lower than a 1% rate of the bond amount when applicants have excellent credit (700 FICO or higher), excellent personal financials, excellent business financials and excellent experience. So for example, a $50,000 U.S. Customs Bond could cost as low as $259.

Customs Bonds are in place to ensure the Principal abides by all U.S. laws and the regulations specified in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Subpart G of Part 113. The obligations are different for each Principal depending on the type of transactions or activities they are engaged in. For example, an importer will have different obligations than a carrier or a warehouse proprietor. By posting a surety bond the Principal is guaranteeing all, or a combination of, the payments of all duties, taxes, and fees owed to the federal government, submission of entry documentation, redelivery of merchandise to CBP upon lawful demand, compliance with regulations relating to the receipt, carriage, safekeeping, and disposition of bonded merchandise, maintenance of all records required by regulations relating to merchandise, and the production of records when demanded by the CBP.

Title 19, U.S. Code, Section 1623 gives The United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection the authority to require these surety bonds. The required surety bond form is the CBP Form 301. The Obligee on the bond is the United States.

• A single transaction Customs bond is not renewable since it is only valid for a single entry or transaction.
• A continuous transaction Customs bond remains in full force from the effective date for one year and for each succeeding annual period, or until canceled. The surety bond may be canceled by the surety with 30 days notice to the Principal (entity seeking to do business with CBP) and Obligee (CBP). The Principal may cancel the bond with at least 10 days notice to the Obligee and the Surety. The bonding company will renew and bill for the bond on an annual basis. It is likely that variations in business volume each year will require a different bond amount than the prior year.

Contact The ProSure Group. As surety bond experts in business over 23 years, The ProSure Group has experience handling Customs Bonds and has partnerships with more than 30 different surety companies. This ensures that we get you the best, most competitive pricing and terms available in the marketplace. You just need to complete our simple application and one of our specialists will quickly contact you.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection requires those that wish to do business with a continuous bond to submit an application package. The package should include the surety bond form (CBP 301), a letter of intent on a company letterhead, and a CBP Form 5106, if applicable. Your statement of intent should include the type of surety bond (i.e. import bond, international carrier bond, cartage bond, etc.), the amount of duties and taxes paid to CBP the preceding year or the amount you expect to pay, and a description of merchandise being imported. The application package must be submitted to the Entry office at the port through which the majority of your goods are imported.