[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 2, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29953-29954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14511]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 10

[T. D. 98-52]
RIN 1515-AC18


Procedural Change Regarding American Shooks and Staves

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document amends the Customs Regulations by requiring the 
submission of a Customs Form (CF) 4455, Certificate of Registration, 
rather than a CF 3311, Declaration for Free Entry of Returned American 
Products, when shooks and staves produced in the United States are 
exported from the United States with the intention that they will be 
returned to the United States, exempt from duty, in the form of 
complete boxes or barrels in use as usual containers of merchandise. 
When boxes or barrels made from the exported American shooks and 
staves, for which a CF 4455 has been submitted, are imported, the 
importer of the boxes or barrels must use the CF 4455 as well to make 
such a claim. Shooks and staves produced in the United States that are 
exported and so returned are exempt from customs duties provided their 
identity is established by the proper submission of the CF 4455. The 
amendment helps to clarify the procedures regarding the free entry of 
such American produced shooks and staves returned to the United States.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 2, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Wygant, Office of Field 
Operations, 202-927-1167.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 10.5, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.5) provides that 
shooks and staves produced in the United States and returned in the 
form of complete boxes or barrels in use as the usual containers of 
merchandise are exempt from any duties imposed by the tariff laws upon 
similar containers made of foreign shooks or staves, provided their 
identity is established under the regulations.
    Paragraph (d) of Sec. 10.5 provides that an exporter of shooks or 
staves in respect of which free entry is to be claimed when returned as 
boxes or barrels shall file a notice of intent to export on a Customs 
Form (CF) 3311 in triplicate with the director of the port of

[[Page 29954]]

exportation at least 6 hours before the lading of the articles on the 
exporting vessel. The CF 3311 is a Declaration for Free Entry of 
Returned American Products.
    Paragraph (e) of Sec. 10.5 provides that the certification of 
exportation block of CF 3311 shall be completed in triplicate by the 
port director after verification from the manifest of the exporting 
vessel and the return of the lading officer. The original shall be 
forwarded by the port director to the consignee. The duplicate copy 
shall be given to the exporter and the triplicate copy shall be 
retained.
    Paragraph (f) of Sec. 10.5 provides that whenever boxes or barrels 
alleged to have been manufactured from American shooks or staves are 
shipped to the United States from a person abroad other than the one to 
whom the shooks and staves were exported from the United States, the 
importer shall be required to obtain from the foreign consignee to whom 
the shooks or staves were originally exported the CF 3311s covering the 
exportation of the shooks or staves from the United States, or an 
extract therefrom signed by such consignee, showing the number of 
shooks or staves covered by such CF 3311s, together with the number of 
superficial feet of such shooks or staves. Such CF 3311 or extract 
therefrom, shall be filed by the importer in connection with the entry 
of the boxes or barrels.
    Section 10.6, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.6), provides that an 
importer, seeking an exemption from duty on account of boxes or barrels 
made from American shooks or staves, must make such a claim on a CF 
3311 at the time of filing the entry.
    It has come to Customs attention that the CF 3311 may no longer be 
the best form available for Customs to track the exportation of United 
States-produced shooks and staves intended to be returned to the United 
States in the form of complete boxes or barrels and the importation of 
the boxes or barrels made from those shooks and staves. Further, as the 
CF 3311 was modified in 1990 and no longer contains the certification 
of exportation block, which is specifically mentioned in Sec. 10.5(e), 
the regulations regarding shooks and staves are unclear as to the 
procedures.
    After consideration of the best way of tracking the exportation of 
shooks and staves and the importation of boxes or barrels made from 
United States-produced shooks and staves, Customs has determined that 
the CF 4455, the Certificate of Registration, is the best vehicle. 
Accordingly, Customs is amending Secs. 10.5 and 10.6 to require the CF 
4455 rather than the CF 3311 for tracking shooks and staves.

Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866

    Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the 
provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply.
    This document does not meet the criteria for a significant 
regulatory action under Executive Order (E.O.) 12866.

Inapplicability of Public Notice and Comment Requirements

    Inasmuch as this amendment merely substitutes one Customs Form for 
another, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2) and (b)(B), good cause exists 
for dispensing with the notice and public procedure thereon as 
unnecessary.

Drafting Information

    The principal author of this document was Janet Johnson, 
Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, U. S. Customs 
Service. However, personnel from other offices participated in its 
development.

List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 10

    Caribbean Basin Initiative, Customs duties and inspection, Exports, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Amendments to the Regulations

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 10 of the Customs 
Regulations (19 CFR part 10) is amended as set forth below.

PART 10--ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, 
ETC.

    1. The general authority citation for part 10 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 (General Note 20, Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)), 1321, 1481, 1484, 
1498, 1508, 1623, 1624, 3314;
* * * * *
    2. Section 10.5 is amended by:
    a. Revising the heading;
    b. Removing in paragraph (d) the words ``a notice of intent to 
export, Customs Form 3311'' and by adding the words ``a Certificate of 
Registration, Customs Form 4455'' in their place;
    c. Revising the first sentence of paragraph (e); and
    d. Removing the Customs Form number ``3311'' wherever it appears in 
paragraphs (f) and (g) and by adding in its place ``4455''.
    The revisions read as follows:


Sec. 10.5  Shooks and staves; cloth boards; port director's account.

* * * * *
    (e) The Certificate of Registration, CF 4455, shall be completed in 
triplicate by the port director after verification from the manifest of 
the exporting vessel and the return of the lading officer. * * *
* * * * *


Sec. 10.6  [Amended]

    3. Section 10.6 is amended by removing the Customs Form number 
``3311'' and by adding in its place ``4455''.

    Approved: May 5, 1998.
Samuel H. Banks,
Acting Commissioner of Customs.

John P. Simpson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 98-14511 Filed 6-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P