[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 26, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57564-57565]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-27965]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Customs Service
19 CFR Part 19
[T.D. 99-78]
RIN 1515-AC41
Customs Bonded Warehouses
AGENCY: Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This document amends the Customs Regulations regarding the
filing of certain inventory reports by bonded warehouse proprietors.
Instead of requiring that these reports be filed with Customs, the
document requires that bonded warehouse proprietors maintain these
inventory reports after their preparation. In some instances when the
inventory report is prepared, a letter must be submitted to Customs
certifying that the report has been prepared. As amended, the port
director is the Customs officer to whom certification letters must be
submitted and to whom the annual report covering smelting or refining
operations must be submitted. These changes and other changes made by
this document are intended to simplify inventory recordkeeping
procedures for warehouse proprietors. The changes are consistent with
Customs' movement toward a post-audit environment and the spirit of
``shared responsibility'' embodied in the Customs Modernization
provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation
Act.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 26, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward Bowles, Senior Auditor,
Regulatory Audit Division, (202-927-0071).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
By a document published in the Federal Register (64 FR 16868) on
April 7, 1999, Customs proposed several amendments to part 19, Customs
Regulations (19 CFR part 19), concerning the submission to Customs of
certain inventory reports covering merchandise in a bonded warehouse.
Instead of requiring that certain reports be filed with Customs, the
document proposed to amend the Customs Regulations to require that
bonded warehouse proprietors maintain these inventory reports after
their preparation. In certain instances, when the inventory report is
prepared, a letter must be submitted to Customs certifying that the
report has been prepared. Under the proposed amendment, the port
director would be the Customs officer to whom certification letters
would be submitted and to whom the annual report covering smelting or
refining operations would be submitted. These proposed changes and
other changes contained in the proposed rule were intended to simplify
inventory recordkeeping procedures for warehouse proprietors and are
consistent with Customs' movement toward a post-audit environment and
the spirit of ``shared responsibility'' embodied in the Customs
Modernization provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement
Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182).
Adoption of Proposal
No comments were received from the public in response to the
proposed rule. Following further consideration and review of the
matter, Customs has determined that the proposed rule published in the
Federal Register (64 FR 16868) on April 7, 1999, should be adopted as a
final rule without change.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866
The amendments are intended to simplify inventory recordkeeping
procedures for warehouse proprietors and be consistent with Customs'
movement toward a post-audit environment and the spirit of ``shared
responsibility'' embodied in the Customs Modernization provisions of
the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. As such,
pursuant to the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.), it is certified that the amendments will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Accordingly, they are not subject to the regulatory analysis or other
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. Nor do the amendments result in a
``significant regulatory action'' under E.O. 12866.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collections of information contained in this rulemaking have
been previously reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
assigned the following OMB control numbers: 1515-0093 for bonded
warehouse proprietor's submissions; 1515-0121 for information to be
supplied by owners or lessees in support of applications to establish a
bonded warehouse facility; 1515-0127 for applications by manufacturers
to bond (or discontinue a previously bonded) an establishment engaged
in the smelting or refining of metal-bearing materials; and 1515-0135
for records of smelting or refining operations showing receipt and
disposition of each
[[Page 57565]]
shipment of material. This document restates the collections of
information without substantive change.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid
control number assigned by OMB.
Comments concerning suggestions for reducing the burden of the
collections of information should be sent to the Regulations Branch,
Office of Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs Service, 1300
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20229. A copy
should also be sent to U.S. Customs Service, Information Services
Group, Attention: J. Edgar Nichols, Room 3.2-C, 1300 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20229.
List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 19
Customs duties and inspection, Exports, Freight, Imports, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Warehouses.
Amendments to the Regulations
Part 19, Customs Regulations (19 CFR part 19), is amended as set
forth below.
PART 19--CUSTOMS WAREHOUSES, CONTAINER STATIONS, AND CONTROL OF
MERCHANDISE THEREIN
1. The general authority citation for part 19, and the relevant
sectional authority citation, continue to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 (General Note 20,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States), 1624.
* * * * *
Sections 19.17-19.25 also issued under 19 U.S.C. 1312;
* * * * *
2. Section 19.12 is amended by revising the seventh and eighth
sentences of paragraph (d)(3), by revising the first sentence of
paragraph (g), adding a sentence thereafter, and revising the last
sentence of paragraph (g), and by revising the first sentence,
respectively, of paragraphs (h)(1) and (h)(3), to read as follows:
Sec. 19.12 Inventory control and recordkeeping system.
* * * * *
(d) Accountability for merchandise in a warehouse. * * *
(3) Theft, shortage, overage or damage. * * * The proprietor must
also record all shortages and overages as required in the Customs Form
300 or annual reconciliation report under paragraphs (g) or (h) of this
section, as appropriate. Duties and taxes applicable to any non-
extraordinary shortage or damage and not required to be paid earlier
must be reported and submitted to the port director no later than the
date the certification of preparation of Customs Form 300 is due or at
the time the certification of preparation of the annual reconciliation
report is due, as prescribed in paragraphs (g) or (h) of this section.
* * *
* * * * *
(g) Warehouse proprietor submission. Except as otherwise provided
in paragraph (h) of this section or Sec. 19.19(b) of this part, the
warehouse proprietor must prepare a Warehouse Proprietor's Submission
on Customs Form (CF) 300 within 45 calendar days from the end of the
business year and maintain the Submission on file for 5 years from the
end of the business year covered by the Submission. The proprietor must
submit to the port director, within 10 business days after preparation
of the CF 300, a letter signed by the proprietor certifying that the CF
300 has been prepared, is available for Customs review, and is
accurate. * * * An alternative format may be used for providing the
information required on the CF 300.
(h) Annual reconciliation. * * *
(1) Report. Instead of preparing Customs Form 300 as required under
paragraph (g) of this section, the proprietor of a class 2, importers'
private bonded warehouse, and proprietors of classes 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and
9 warehouses if the warehouse proprietor and the importer are the same
party, must prepare a reconciliation report within 90 days after the
end of the fiscal year unless the port director authorizes an extension
for reasonable cause. * * *
* * * * *
(3) Certification. The proprietor must submit to the port director
within 10 business days after preparation of the annual reconciliation
report, a letter signed by the proprietor certifying that the annual
reconciliation has been prepared, is available for Customs review, and
is accurate. * * *
* * * * *
3. Section 19.17 is amended by revising the first and second
sentences of paragraph (g) to read as follows:
Sec. 19.17 Application to establish warehouse; bond.
* * * * *
(g) Statement of inventory and bond charges. Where two or more
smelting or refining warehouses are included under one blanket smelting
and refining bond, an overall statement must be prepared and maintained
by the principal named in the bond by the 28th of each month, showing
the inventory as of the close of the preceding month, of all metals on
hand at each plant covered by the blanket bond and the total of bonded
charges for all plants. If the warehouses covered by an overall
statement are located in more than one port, each port director may
choose to verify the accuracy of the inventory report only with respect
to that portion of the report that relates to amounts held at a plant
that is located within that port director's jurisdiction. * * *
4. Section 19.19 is amended by revising the first sentence of
paragraph (b) to read as follows:
Sec. 19.19 Manufacturers' records; annual statement.
* * * * *
(b) Every manufacturer engaged in smelting or refining, or both,
must prepare and submit to the port director at the port nearest which
the plant is located an annual statement for the fiscal year for the
plant involved not later than 60 days after the termination of that
fiscal year. * * *
Raymond W. Kelly,
Commissioner of Customs.
Approved: September 15, 1999.
John P. Simpson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 99-27965 Filed 10-25-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P