§ 810.600 Recordkeeping requirements.

(a) General. The Administrator is authorized by section 206(b)(4)(B) of the USMCA Implementation Act to require a producer to make, keep, and render for examination and inspection, records and supporting documentation related to a producer's certification of compliance with the LVC requirements set forth in Article 7 of the Automotive Appendix or, if the producer is subject to the alternative staging regime, under Articles 7 and 8 of the Automotive Appendix.

(b) Form of records. No particular order or form of records is required, and records may be maintained in any medium; however, the Administrator prefers electronically generated or machine-readable data.

(c) Inspection of records. The records described in this section must be made available to an authorized representative of the Department for inspection, copying, and transcription upon written request to the producer. The request will describe with reasonable specificity the records that are being sought, and the party receiving the request will have 30 days from the date of the written request to provide the requested records, unless the party receiving the request has requested and obtained an extension of this time period at the discretion of the Department.

(d) Period of retention. Importers must ensure that records specified in these regulations are kept for 5 years from the date of importation of any vehicle for which preferential tariff treatment was claimed, and exporters and producers must ensure that records specified in these regulations are kept for 5 years from the date on which the certification of origin was completed, or for a longer period if the USMCA Countries so specify. Producers must be able to provide records upon request by the Department, as described in § 810.600(c), but the records may be physically maintained by a supplier or contractor. The Department will accept records directly from a supplier or contractor where, for example, the producer and supplier or contractor have contracted for such an approach.