Patent Publication Number: US-2005131842-A1

Title: Method for indicating the prepayment of customs duties

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      Reference is made to commonly assigned copending patent application, Docket No. F-769 filed herewith entitled “Method For The Prepayment Of Customs Duties” in the names of Ronald P. Sansone and Erik D. N. Monsen. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates generally to the field of mailing systems and, more particularly, to methods for indicating the prepayment of customs duties.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Taxes and customs duties are compulsory payments by persons or organizations to the government. Even though governments receive payments from other sources such as publicly owned electric power facilities or the sale of timber from public lands, reparations, or from gifts, taxes are the most important source of government revenue. The revenue collected by the government is used to support itself and to provide public services.  
      Economic activity, in a modern market economy, is varied and complex, and governments have exercised great ingenuity in devising instrumentalities of taxation to match the complexities. As a result, there is no simplified classification of taxes that is considered satisfactory for all purposes.  
      One type of tax used by many governments is customs duties. A customs duty is the tax levied by a government for the importation of goods into a country and the use of the goods in the country. Customs duties have been used to protect local industries as well as to collect revenue. Countries have entered into tariff agreements in which the customs duties to be paid for the importation of goods from one country to another have been agreed upon. To collect the customs duties, shippers are required to complete time-consuming detailed forms that are manually processed by customs agents.  
      When goods are shipped in a package from a first country to a second country by the post office of the first country, the package is transferred from the postal service of the first country to the second country at the border. A postal agent in the second country decides whether or not the package may continue their journey. If the second country postal agent determines that the package may continue its journey, the postal agent transmits the package to the recipient&#39;s local post office. Then the recipient&#39;s local post office notifies the recipient that recipient&#39;s package is available to be picked up at the post office. When the recipient arrives at the post office to pick up the package, recipient is informed how much duty recipient has to pay. The recipient pays the duty and receives the package. The foregoing is time consuming to the post office and to the recipient. If the second country postal agent determines that the package may not continue its journey, the postal agent delivers the package to the appropriate authorities. Thus, a problem of the prior art is that no provision is made for the prepayment in a first country of customs duties on shipments addressed for delivery in a second country.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by utilizing a method for the prepayment by a shipper of customs duties and fees in a first country on shipments addressed for delivery in a second country that will be charged to the shippers&#39; meter, i.e., postage meter. For instance, if a package is mailed in the United Kingdom and delivered to a destination in the United States, the shipper&#39;s postage meter will place a Royal Mail postal indicia on the package for that portion of the postal delivery cost that is attributable to the United Kingdom post office and a United States Postal and Customs postal and customs indicia on the package for that portion of the delivery cost that is attributable to the United States Postal Service and United States Customs. The United States postal and customs indicia and the Royal Mail postal indicia may or may not include the proportional amount of postage charged in the United States and Royal Mail postal indicium. The amount of postage paid may be totaled or written in an encrypted or coded form in the indicia, in the vicinity of the indicia and/or in a radio frequency identification tag. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that carriers other than posts, i.e., Federal Express®, Airborne®, DHL®, UPS®, etc., may use the meter disclosed hereunder for the payment of customs duties, terminal dues and fees.  
      An advantage of this invention is that it provides more accurate reporting and checking of the contents of mail for the collection of duties.  
      An additional advantage of this invention is that it decreases the amount of time it takes goods to be shipped from one country to another by reducing the amount of processing time required by Customs.  
      A further advantage of this invention is that it enables a shipper to automatically complete customs forms for the payment of duties.  
      An additional advantage of this invention is that it allows a postage meter to be used for the collection of customs duties and allows the sender to pay the duties. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1A  is a drawing of a package having a label with a postal meter indicia printed on the label and a radio frequency identification tag device embedded in the label that is affixed to the package;  
       FIG. 1B  is a drawing of a package having a label with a Royal Mail postal meter indicia printed on the label, a United States Postage and Customs Duty indicia printed on the label, and a radio frequency identification tag device embedded in the label that is affixed to the package;  
       FIG. 1C  is a drawing of a package having a label with a Royal Mail postal meter indicia printed on the label, a United States Postage and Customs Duty indicia printed on the label, and a two-dimensional bar code printed on the label that is affixed to the package;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a dual meter that contains an electronic postage meter and a radio frequency identification reader/writer;  
       FIG. 3  is a drawing of a portion of a table of import duties for specified goods that United States customers ship from the United Kingdom to the United States;  
       FIG. 4  is a drawing of a statement showing the amount of import duties that are being prepaid for goods that are shipped from the United Kingdom to the United States; and  
       FIG. 5  is a drawing showing the payment of customs duties for goods that are shipped into the United States. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring now to the drawings in detail and more particularly to  FIG. 1 , the reference character  10  represents a package or flat that has a label  11  containing a sender address field  12 , a recipient address field  13 , and a label  14  that is affixed to package  10 . Printed on label  14  are Royal Mail postal indicia  15  and an international mail destination  16 . Label  14  also contains a flat radio frequency identification tag  17  that contains specified information. Postal indicia  15  may be a permit indicia, information-based indicia, printed indicia, penalty indicia, etc. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  17  may be the 4×6 RFID Smart Label Philips manufactured by RAFEC USA of 999 Oakmont Plaza Drive, Suite 200, Westmont, Ill. 60559. The information contained in tag  17  is the sender address field  12 , recipient address field  13 , a unique identification number for the package  10 , amount of postage, amount of terminal dues, description of goods in package  10 , weight of each of the goods in package  10 , date goods were mailed, rates of duties for goods in package  10 , customs duties that are due for the goods in package  10 , fees, ECCN numbers for the goods in package  10 , and type of special service to be performed by the carrier etc. The expected recipient&#39;s delivery time may also be written into tag  17 .  
       FIG. 1B  is a drawing of a package having a label with a Royal Mail postal meter indicia printed on the label, a United States Postage and Customs Duty indicia printed on the label and a radio frequency identification tag device embedded in the label that is affixed to the package. Package or flat  20  has a label  21  containing a sender address field  22 , a recipient address field  23 , and a label  24  that is affixed to package  20 . Printed on label  24  are Royal Mail postal indicia  25 , an international mail destination  26  and prepaid United States Postage and Customs duty indicia  28 . Label  24  also contains a flat radio frequency identification tag  27  that contains specified information. Postal indicia  25  may be a permit indicia, information-based indicia, printed indicia, penalty indicia, etc. Postal indicia  28  contains the postage and customs duties  29  that are due for mailing the goods contained in package  21  from the United Kingdom to the United States. Postal indicia  28  also contains the serial number  30  of the postage meter that printed indicia  28 , the date  31  that indicia  28  was printed, and an indication  32  that package  20  was mailed from the United Kingdom to Zip Code 06883-1223. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tag  27  may be the 4×6 RFID Smart Label Philips manufactured by RAFEC USA of 999 Oakmont Plaza Drive, Suite 200, Westmont, Ill. 60559. The information contained in tag  27  is the sender address field  22 , recipient address field  23 , a unique identification number for the package  20 , amount of postage, amount of terminal dues, description of goods in package  20 , weight of each of the goods in package  20 , date goods were mailed, rates of duties for goods in package  20 , customs duties that are due for the goods in package  20 , fees, ECCN numbers for the goods in package  20 , and type of special service to be performed by the carrier etc. The expected recipient&#39;s delivery time may also be written into tag  27 .  
       FIG. 1C  is a drawing of a package having a label with a Royal Mail postal meter indicia printed on the label, a United States Postage and Customs Duty indicia printed on the label, and a two-dimensional bar code printed on the label that is affixed to the package. Package or flat  40  has a label  41  containing a sender address field  42 , a recipient address field  43 , and a label  44  that is affixed to package  40 . Printed on label  44  are Royal Mail postal indicia  45 , an international mail destination  46 , and prepaid United States Postage and Customs duty indicia  48 . Label  44  also contains a two-dimensional bar code  47  that contains specified information. Postal indicia  45  may be a permit indicia, information-based indicia, printed indicia, penalty indicia, etc. Postal indicia  48  contains the postage and customs duties  49  that are due for mailing the goods contained in package  41  from the United Kingdom to the United States. Postal indicia  48  also contains the serial number  50  of the postage meter that printed indicia  48 , the date  51  that indicia  48  was printed, and an indication  52  that package  40  was mailed from the United Kingdom to Zip Code 06883-1223. Two-dimensional bar code  47  may be encrypted. The information contained in bar code  47  is the sender address field  42 , recipient address field  43 , a unique identification number for the package  40 , amount of postage, amount of terminal dues, description of goods in package  40 , weight of each of the goods in package  40 , date goods were mailed, rates of duties for goods in package  40 , customs duties that are due for the goods in package  40 , fees, ECCN numbers for the goods in package  40 , and type of special service to be performed by the carrier etc. The expected recipient&#39;s delivery time may also be bar code  47 .  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a dual meter  149  that contains electronic postage meter  150 , a radio frequency identification reader/writer  151 , tape feed module  148  and a tape attach module  109 . Postage meter  150  may be the B700 Post Perfect postage meter manufactured by Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford, Conn.  
      Metering controller  152  functions as a meter controller for postage meter  150  and a controller for radio frequency identification reader/writer  151 . Controller  152  is coupled to last tag buffer  157 , comparator  158 , current read tag buffer  159 , radio frequency identification read non-volatile memory buffer  160 , radio frequency identification encode/decode routines  161 , radio frequency identification read, erase and record routine  102 , customs duty list non-volatile memory  139 , and issued tag data registers non-volatile memory  140 . Comparator  158  is coupled to last tag identification buffer  157  and current tag read buffer  159 . Buffer  159  is coupled to radio frequency identification read module  176 , and radio frequency identification encode/decode routines  161  is coupled to radio frequency identification read, erase and record routine  102 . Routines  102  are also coupled to radio frequency identification read/erase/record module  177 .  
      Electronic meter  150  includes meter routines  153 , modem  154 , indicia image routines  155 , clock calendar non-volatile memory registers and battery  156 , I/O routines  107 , I/O ports keyboard and display  108 , buffer memory  110  and compose and print indicia image and data fields  165 . Controller  152  is coupled to modem  154 , I/O routines  107 , meter routines  153 , I/O port keyboard and display  108 . Compose and print indicia  165  is coupled to meter indicia print module  173 .  
      Meter  150  begins to function when a user  170  sets the postage dollar amount by weighing package  10 ,  20 , or  40  on scale  171  and enters the information which is described in the description of  FIG. 4  into I/O ports, keyboard and display  108  of meter  150 . Alternatively, the information described in the description of  FIG. 4  may be supplied by customs duty list  139 . The weight and amount of postage and amount of customs duties and/or fees that are due for package  10 ,  20 , or  40  is displayed by display  108 . Controller  152  will compose an image of indicia  15  ( FIG. 1A ), indicia  25  and  28  ( FIG. 1B ), indicia  45  and  48  ( FIG. 1C ) using the fixed graphic indicia images from indicia images ROM  155  and compose and print indicia images and data field  165 . The above image will be stored in buffer memory  110 . Buffer memory  110  will provide the above image to meter controller  152 .  
      Meter routines  153  will handle the accounting functions of meter  150 . Routines  153  are not being described, because one skilled in the art is aware of their operation and function. Clock calendar non-volatile memory registers and battery  156  will transmit the date and time to controller  152 .  
      Modem  154  may communicate with meter data upload data center  172  during a refill of postage meter  150  by exchanging funds. User  170  of postage/customs dual meter  149  communicates with I/O ports keyboard display  108 . Postal scale  171  is coupled to I/O ports keyboard display  108  and is used to determine the weight of package  10 ,  20 ,  40 . Postal border office  178  is coupled to meter data upload data center  172 . Mail entry office  118  receives packages that have been processed by dual meter  149 . Packages flow from office  118  to postal border office  178 . Meter data upload data center  172  is coupled to data center  178 , and mail entry office  118 . I/O routines  107  will control the interfacing of various components so that the information in customs duty list  139  will be sent to meter data upload center  172  soon after the type of goods in packages  10 ,  20 , or  40  are entered into I/O ports, keyboard display  108  and written in tag  17  ( FIG. 1A ),  27  ( FIG. 1B ),  47  ( FIG. 1C ). The images and data fields of indicia  15 ,  25 ,  28 , 45 , and  48  will be transmitted from compose and print indicia  165  to meter indicia print module  173 .  
      Radio frequency identification tag read/writer  151  will begin to function when controller  152  enters the last tag identification value in buffer  157  and current tag read buffer  159  receives the information that module  176  read from the tag  15  portion of label  17  ( FIG. 1 ). Comparator  158  will compare the last tag identification value stored in buffer  157  with the value read by module  176 . If comparator  158  determines that the above values are the same, then tag  15  is being used a second time for adjustment purposes, i.e., corrected information is going to be recorded into tag  17 ,  27   47 .  
      Radio frequency identification read buffer  160  is a nonvolatile memory that is used to store the information that is read from tag  17 ,  27 ,  47  in case of a power failure, and radio frequency identification encode/decode routines  161  are used to decode the information read from tag  17 ,  27 ,  47  and encode data that is going to be recorded in tag  17 ,  27   47 . Radio frequency identification read, erase and record routine  102  are used to read, erase and record information into tag  17 ,  27   47 .  
      Customs duty list  139  contains a list of import duties for goods that are imported into the United States. List  139  indicates the duties for goods that may be placed in package  10 ,  20 , and  40 . List  139  will be more fully described in the description of  FIG. 3 . Issued tag data registers nonvolatile memory  140  stores the information recorded in tag  17 ,  27 ,  47 , which is uploaded to data center  178  via data center  172 .  
      Tape and feed module  148  contains a stack of labels  105  that includes tags  17 ,  27 , or  47 . Label  14  ( FIG. 1A ),  24  ( FIG. 1B ),  44  ( FIG. 1C ) is transported past radio frequency identification read module  176 . Module  176  is positioned in a manner that it will be able to read the information recorded in tags  17 ,  27 , or  47  so that module  176  will be able to determine whether or not information has been previously recorded into tag  17 ,  27 , or  47 . Then label  14 ,  24 ,  44  will be transported to module  177  where information will be read, erased and recorded on tag  17 ,  27 ,  47 . Then label  14 ,  24 ,  44  will be transported to paper tape attach module  109 . After information is recorded on tag  17 , label  14 , or tag  27  label  24  or tag  47  label  44  will be positioned adjacent module  173  so that indicia may be printed on the respective labels. Module  109  will affix label  14  to package  10 , ( FIG. 1A ), label  24  to package  20 , ( FIG. 1B ), label  44  to package  40  ( FIG. 1C ).  
       FIG. 3  is a drawing of a portion of a table  200  of import duties for specified goods that United States customers ship from the United Kingdom to the United States. The information listed in table  200  is stored in customs duty list  139  ( FIG. 2 ) and displayed on I/O ports keyboard, display  108  ( FIG. 2 ). Column  201  list the United States Customs heading/subheading for particular goods and column  202  indicates the Statute suffix for particular goods. Column  203  list a description of the goods and column  204  list the rate of duty for these goods. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that list  200  may include other relevant customs information and that other customs information will be added when a customs mandated update is required.  
       FIG. 4  is a drawing of a statement showing the amount of import duties that are being prepaid for goods that are shipped from the United Kingdom to the United States. Seller  251  prepared statement or invoice  250  for buyer  252 . Statement  250  has an indication  253  that the buyer has elected to have the seller prepay all the United States Customs duties for the buyer and that the applicable customs rates as of Dec. 25, 2002. Column  254  lists the seller&#39;s reference number for goods that are being ordered and column  255  lists the United States Customs heading/subheading for particular goods. Column  256  indicates the Statute suffix for particular goods. Column  257  indicates the description of the goods and column  258  indicates the rate of duty for the goods. The information contained in statement  250  will be recorded in tag  17  ( FIG. 1A ), tag  27  ( FIG. 1B ), tag  47  ( FIG. 1C ).  
      Line  259  indicates that the buyer has selected delivery in the United States by the United States Postal Service and statement  260  indicates that the order will be delivered to the buyer&#39;s home address in the United States by the United States Postal Service. Column  261  lists the seller&#39;s reference number for goods that are being ordered, and column  262  lists a description of the goods. Column  263  lists the quantity of goods ordered, and column  264  lists the unit price of the goods ordered. Column  265  indicates the customs duty for the goods ordered, and column  266  indicates the weight in ounces of the goods ordered. Column  267  indicates the subtotal of the goods ordered. Line  268  indicates the postal shipping charges including terminal dues for the goods ordered, and line  269  indicates the respective totals for columns  263 ,  265  and  267 .  
      The information contained in statement  250  is stored in buffer memory  110  ( FIG. 2 ) and displayed on I/O ports keyboard, display  108  ( FIG. 2 ).  
       FIG. 5  is a drawing showing the payment of customs duties for goods that are shipped into the United States. When package  10  is mailed in the United Kingdom and delivered to a destination in the United States, the mailer&#39;s dual postage/customs duty meter  149  will have previously placed a United Kingdom Postal Indicia  15  and a RFID tag  17  ( FIG. 1A ) for the delivery cost for delivering package  10  to the recipient in the United States and paying the USPS for the United States postage and the US customs for the customs duties that are due for the goods contained in package  10 . The foregoing data will be transferred from meter  149  to United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172 . Then the data will be transmitted to United Kingdom Meter payment data center  370 . Data center  370  will then deposit the monies attributable to indicia  15  in Royal Mail Bank  372 . Thus if the goods listed in statement  250  were placed in package  10 , indicia  15  would indicate an amount of 0.45 pounds for postage.  
      When package  20  is mailed in the United Kingdom and delivered to a destination in the United States, the mailer&#39;s dual postage/customs duty meter  149  will have previously placed a United Kingdom Postal Indicia  25 , a prepaid United States Postage and Customs duty indicia  28  and a RFID tag  27  ( FIG. 1B ) for the delivery cost for delivering package  20  to the recipient in the United States and paying the USPS for the United States postage and the US customs for the customs duties that are due for the goods contained in package  20 . The foregoing data will be transferred from meter  149  to United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172 . Then the data will be transmitted to United Kingdom Meter payment data center  370 . Data center  370  will then deposit the monies attributable to indicia  25  in Royal Mail Bank  372 . Thus, if the goods listed in statement  250  were placed in package  20 , indicia  25  would indicate an amount of 0.45 pounds for postage, and prepaid United States Postage and Customs duty indicia  28  would indicate an amount of $17.13.  
      When package  40  is mailed in the United Kingdom and delivered to a destination in the United States, the mailer&#39;s dual postage/customs duty meter  149  will have previously placed a United Kingdom Postal Indicia  45 , a prepaid United States Postage and Customs duty indicia  48 , and a two-dimensional bar code  47  ( FIG. 1C ) for the delivery cost for delivering package  40  to the recipient in the United States and paying the United States Postal Service (USPS) for the United States postage and the US customs for the customs duties that are due for the goods contained in package  40 . The foregoing data will be transferred from meter  149  to United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172 . Then the data will be transmitted to United Kingdom Meter payment data center  370 . Data center  370  will then deposit the monies attributable to indicia  45  in Royal Mail Bank  372 . Thus, if the goods listed in statement  250  were placed in package  40 , indicia  45  would indicate an amount of 0.45 pounds and prepaid United States Postage and Customs duty indicia  48  would indicate an amount of $17.13.  
      United Kingdom meter data center  172  will maintain the accuracy of the United States customs duties and fees by accessing United States customs data center  300 . Data Center  172  will maintain the accuracy of the terminal dues by accessing terminal dues data center  375 . After package  20  ( FIG. 1B ) is posted it will be sorted, routed and transferred by the Royal Mail in mail entry office  118 , and the delivery status of package  20  will be sent to United Kingdom meter data center  172 . Scanners at postal border office  178  will read indicia  25 , indicia  28  and RFID tag  27  including the unique identification number contained within tag  27  so that the amount of postage and amount of customs duties will be interpreted and forwarded to United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172 .  
      At the same time, the United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172  notifies the USPS meter data center  384  that package  20  is departing. As package  20  approaches the United States border  373 , scanners at postal entry border office  380  will read indicia  25 , indicia  28 , and RFID tag  27 , including the unique identification number contained within tag  27 . The foregoing read data will be interpreted and sent to USPS meter data center  384 , which transmits the data to USPS meter payment data center  385  and United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172 .  
      Package  20  will be processed by postal sort route and deliver process  381  and delivered to recipient  383 . Process  381  will inform data center  384  and U.S. customs data center  300  that package  20  has been processed. Then data center  384  will inform United States Meter Payment Data Center  385  and United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172  that package  20  has been processed. United Kingdom Meter Data Center  172  will inform United Kingdom Meter Payment Data Center  370  that package  20  has been processed. Data center  370  will transfer the money for United States postage, United States customs, duties and United States fees that have been charged to meter  149  for the affixing of indicia  28  and RFID tag  27  to package  20  to United States Meter Payment Data Center  385 . Data center  385  will transmit the postage monies to USPS bank  386 , and the monies for the United States customs, duties and the United States fees to United States Customs bank  387 .  
      The above specification describes a new and improved method for indicating the prepayment of customs duties. It is realized that the above description may indicate to those skilled in the art additional ways in which the principles of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.