[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