[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 69 (Friday, April 10, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17927-17928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9531]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Customs Service
Announcement of Program Test: Collection of Truck User Fees at
Houlton, Maine and Champlain, New York by Means of Electronic Commerce
Technology
AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.
ACTION: General notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces Customs plan to test a simplified
procedure pertaining to the collection of commercial truck user fees at
the ports located at Houlton, Maine and Champlain, New York. The test
will allow for the payment of the fees by use of electronic commerce
technology, and is designed to reduce the manual collection and
processing of cash fees by Customs Inspectors at truck booths at these
two ports, thus, allowing them to focus on inspectional work. Public
comments concerning any aspect of the test are solicited.
EFFECTIVE DATES: This test will commence no earlier than May 11, 1998
and will run for approximately six months, with evaluations of the
program occurring periodically. Comments must be received on or before
May 11, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Written comments regarding this notice or any aspect of this
test should be addressed to Richard Wilcox, North Atlantic Customs
Management Center, 10 Causeway Street, Suite 801, Boston, Massachusetts
02222-1056.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Supervisory Customs Inspector Dennis
Grenier, Port Trade Compliance Process Owner, Houlton, Maine, (207)
532-2131; or, Richard Wilcox, North Atlantic Customs Management Center,
Boston, Massachusetts, (617) 565-6324.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Customs Regulations pertaining to the collection of certain
user fees for Customs Services provide that these fee payments shall be
in the amounts prescribed and shall be in U.S. currency, or by check or
money order payable to the United States Customs Service, in accordance
with the provisions of Sec. 24.1 (19 CFR 24.1). See 19 CFR 24.22(i)(1).
In the case of commercial trucks, the fees are $5.00 per arrival,
unless a $100.00 prepayment has been made for the calendar year and a
decal has been affixed to the vehicle windshield to show that the
vehicle is exempt from payment of the fee on an individual arrival
basis during the applicable calendar year. See 19 CFR 24.22(c).
This fee collection procedure has tasked Customs officers for years
to collect the $5.00 user fee, in cash, from those commercial trucks
that do not display an annual decal. In general, there are several
problems which arise from this cash collection system. On the remitting
side, often, the driver has no cash or only has foreign currency. On
the collection side, Customs officers must spend many hours each day
collecting, verifying, reporting, depositing, and administering this
system, which keeps them from attending to inspectional and supervisory
work. Further, large trucking companies complain that, because of the
way the present user fee system operates, i.e., it is only economical
to purchase annual decals for those trucks that are routinely utilized
in cross-border deliveries, the non-decaled portion of their commercial
trucking fleets have become ``captive'' to utilization in less
profitable ventures. These large trucking companies argue that if all
their trucks could be utilized for timely cross-border work, this
circumstance would enable them to employ their resources more
efficiently and profitably.
As an example, under the present fee collection procedure followed
at the Houlton, Maine, port of entry, the Customs inspector visually
checks the truck window for the presence of a decal. If there is a
decal, the inspector proceeds to the entry/examination/release cargo
process. If there is no decal, the inspector must collect $5.00 in U.S.
currency, as required by Sec. 24.22(i)(1), Customs Regulations (19 CFR
24.22(i)(1)). Should the driver wish to purchase a decal at the time he
drives up to the booth, the inspector will have the driver park the
truck and go into the Customs/INS lobby area and purchase the decal
there. If the driver has neither the decal nor the U.S. $5.00, then the
driver is told to park the truck and ask the customs broker preparing
the entry for the $5.00 to pay the fee. Should this not occur, the
driver must wait until either another driver lends him the $5.00 or a
trucking company representative arrives at the port with
[[Page 17928]]
the payment. Approximately 33 percent of the roughly 450 trucks
arriving daily at the Houlton port of entry pay the user fee in cash.
The inspector who collects the $5.00 fee at Houlton rings it into
the cash register and issues a receipt to the driver. The senior
inspector or supervisor will then reconcile the cash each day and turn
it over to either a Customs aide or supervisor for a second
verification, and the money then will be placed in the safe. Two or
three times a week, an SF 215B Deposit Form is prepared by the Customs
aide or a supervisor, and the money is driven to the local bank for
deposit. This procedure requires many man-hours of administrative work
and is not an efficient method for the collection and processing of the
$5.00 cash fees.
To address this situation, Customs at Houlton, Maine put together a
Process Improvement Group: the Group was comprised of representatives
from Yellow Freight Trucking, the American Trucking Association, and
Roadway Express, Inc., the Vice President of KeyBank of Maine, and two
Customs Management Center facilitators. The members of this Group were
guided through the process improvement techniques, created a mission
statement, and determined that the test program should only be
conducted at Houlton, Maine and Champlain, New York, and that, if
successful, it could then be expanded to other test locations. The
mission statement adopted for this test program states that it is to
develop an efficient system/process for user fee payments by trucks,
without the use of cash or decals, for the benefit of all users and
Customs. The Group concluded that some form of automated debit
technology, such as a credit or debit card system, should be utilized,
one which would be uniform in application nationally and would accept
major credit cards such as VISA and MASTERCARD.
The Proposed Truck User Fee Collection System at Houlton
According to the simplified procedure proposed to be tested, the
Customs inspector will visually check the truck window for the presence
of a user fee decal. If there is no decal, the inspector will either
collect the U.S. $5.00 in accordance with the existing procedure, or
accept a VISA or MASTERCARD credit card from the driver, process it
through an automated system that will deposit the user fee directly
into the Treasury account via the Mellon Bank, issue a receipt to the
driver, keep a copy for Customs accounting purposes, and process the
merchandise transaction.
In this scenario, there will be much less handling of currency,
less administrative work required of supervisors and senior inspectors,
more control over the deposits, and fewer trips to the bank to deliver
cash. It will also allow those trucking companies with ``captive''
fleets to use all of their trucks for cross-border work, whether or not
they have decals. This system actually could eliminate the need for
truck decals altogether.
The implementation of such a user-friendly system would enable
Customs internal and external customers to work more efficiently and
effectively, eliminate the need for processing cash by Customs
inspectors, provide a secure deposit of fees directly into the Treasury
account, and free up resources and equipment for all concerned.
To aid in the development of this initiative, Customs proposes a
temporary change to the current procedures concerning the collection of
truck user fees to allow for the electronic payment of this user fee by
credit card. Accordingly, the fee payment requirements contained in
Sec. 24.22(i)(1) of the Customs Regulations will be suspended during
this test period so that electronic commerce technology will be
accepted. This procedure will only apply at the ports located at
Houlton, Maine and Champlain, New York, and will not otherwise affect
the procedures relating to other forms of user fee payments which are
still in effect. Trucking companies who wish to participate in this
pilot program should experience faster service, fewer delays at the
truck booth, and enhanced service to their cross-border customers.
Pursuant to Customs Modernization provisions in the North American
Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the Act), Pub. L. 103-182, 107
Stat. 2057, 2170 (December 8, 1993), Customs amended its regulations
(19 CFR chapter I), in part, to enable the Commissioner of Customs to
conduct limited test programs/procedures designed to evaluate the
effectiveness of new technology or operations procedures, which have as
their goal the more efficient and effective processing of passengers,
carriers, and merchandise. Section 101.9(a) of the Customs Regulations
(19 CFR 101.9(a)) allows for such general testing. See, TD 95-21. This
test is established pursuant to that regulatory provision.
The implementation date for a test of this new procedure will be in
early May of 1998 (approximately 30 days from publication in the
Federal Register). Upon implementation, Customs at Houlton, Maine and
Champlain, New York will begin an evaluation period of at least six
months to ensure the effectiveness of the program and to identify any
shortfalls. If the program is successful, Customs will amend its
regulations to make the new procedure permanent.
Regulatory Provisions Affected
During the automated user fee collection test, the normal user fee
collection requirements of 19 CFR 24.22(i)(1) will be suspended.
Enforcement Provisions
Nothing in this test in any way interferes with Customs enforcement
activities. Cargo will still be examined for compliance with laws and
regulations, stratified examinations will continue, and targeted
shipments will be stripped out of the trucks and examined as usual.
Comments and Evaluation of Test
Customs will review all public comments received concerning any
aspect of the test program or procedures, and finalize procedures in
light of those comments. Approximately 120 days after the conclusion of
the test, evaluations of the test will be conducted and final results
will be made available to the public upon request.
Dated: April 7, 1998.
Robert S. Trotter,
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations.
[FR Doc. 98-9531 Filed 4-9-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P