[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3292 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3292

  To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to make the Postmaster General the 
    importer of record for non-letter class mail and to require the 
  provision of advance electronic information about shipments of non-
letter class mail to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 7, 2016

 Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Johnson, and Ms. Ayotte) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to make the Postmaster General the 
    importer of record for non-letter class mail and to require the 
  provision of advance electronic information about shipments of non-
letter class mail to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose 
Prevention Act of 2016'' or the ``STOP Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO UNITED STATES MAIL SECURITY.

    (a) Importer of Record.--
            (1) In general.--Subparagraph (B) of section 484(a)(2) of 
        the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B)) is amended to 
        read as follows:
            ``(B)(i) When an entry of merchandise is made under this 
        section, the required documentation or information shall be 
        filed or electronically transmitted--
                    ``(I) by the owner or purchaser of the merchandise;
                    ``(II) when appropriately designated by the owner, 
                purchaser, or consignee of the merchandise, by a person 
                holding a valid license under section 641; or
                    ``(III) in the case of non-letter class mail, by 
                the Postmaster General or a designee of the Postmaster 
                General, which may include a person holding a valid 
                license under section 641.
            ``(ii) When a consignee declares on entry that he or she is 
        the owner or purchaser of merchandise, U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection may, without liability, accept the declaration.
            ``(iii) For the purposes of this Act, the importer of 
        record must be one of the parties who is eligible to file the 
        documentation or information required by this section.
            ``(iv) In this subparagraph, the term `non-letter class 
        mail' means any product of the United States Postal Service or 
        a Universal Postal Union designated operator that is provided 
        pursuant to--
                    ``(I) the Universal Postal Union's Parcel Post 
                Regulations and Final Protocol; or
                    ``(II) the Universal Postal Union's Letter Post 
                Regulations and Final Protocol, except `small letters' 
                as defined in Article RL 124(1), as such regulations 
                were in effect on the date of the enactment of the 
                Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act of 
                2016.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date that is six months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Informal Entries.--Section 498 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
U.S.C. 1498) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Regulations Related to Informal Customs Entries.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, not later than six months after the date of the enactment 
        of the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act of 
        2016, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue regulations to 
        require the Postmaster General or designee of the Postmaster 
        General, which may include a person holding a valid license 
        under section 641, to file informal customs entries for all 
        non-letter class mail that meets the informal entry 
        requirements of this section and subpart C of part 143 of title 
        19, Code of Federal Regulations.
            ``(2) Non-letter class mail.--In this subsection, the term 
        `non-letter class mail' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 484(a)(2)(B)(iv).''.
    (c) De Minimis Shipments.--
            (1) Reduction or modification of exemption.--Section 321 of 
        the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321) is amended by adding at 
        the end the following:
    ``(c) The Postmaster General or a designee of the Postmaster 
General, which may include a person holding a valid license under 
section 641, shall be designated as the importer of record for non-
letter class mail (as that term is defined in section 484(a)(2)(B)(iv)) 
that is subject to the regulations issued pursuant to subsection (a) or 
(b).''.
            (2) Regulations.--Not later than six months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall issue regulations to implement the amendment made by 
        paragraph (1).
    (d) Customs Fees.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (6) of section 13031(a) of the 
        Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 
        U.S.C. 58c(a)(6)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(6)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), for each 
        item of dutiable mail for which a document is prepared by a 
        customs officer, $5.
            ``(B) For the arrival of each item of any non-letter class 
        mail (as that term is defined in clause (iv) of section 
        484(a)(2)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
        1484(a)(2)(B))), $1.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date that is six months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
    (e) Mandatory Advanced Electronic Information for Non-Letter Class 
Mail.--
            (1) In general.--Subparagraph (K) of section 343(a)(3) of 
        the Trade Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-210; 19 U.S.C. 2071 note) 
        is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(K) The Secretary shall require the Postmaster 
                General to provide the information required in 
                paragraphs (1) and (2) to U.S. Customs and Border 
                Protection for any non-letter class mail (as that term 
                is defined in clause (iv) of section 484(a)(2)(B) of 
                the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B))) 
                imported into the United States.''.
            (2) Regulations.--Not later than six months after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall issue regulations to carry out subparagraph (K) of 
        section 343(a)(3) of the Trade Act of 2002, as amended by 
        paragraph (1).
    (f) Limitation on International Postal Arrangements.--The Secretary 
of State may not conclude any international postal arrangement pursuant 
to the authority set out in section 407 of title 39, United States 
Code, that is inconsistent with this Act or any amendment made by this 
Act.
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