[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31125-31128]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8500]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Bureau of Customs and Border Protection

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

19 CFR Part 12

[USCBP-2006-0020]
RIN 1505-AB68


Entry of Certain Cement Products From Mexico Requiring a Commerce 
Department Import License

AGENCY: Customs and Border Protection (DHS); Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend title 19 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations to set forth special requirements for the entry of 
certain cement products from Mexico requiring a United States 
Department of Commerce import license. The cement products in question 
are those listed in the Agreement on Trade in Cement, entered into 
between the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the 
United States Department of Commerce, and Mexico's Secretaria de 
Economia,

[[Page 31126]]

on March 6, 2006. The changes proposed in this document require an 
importer to submit to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) an import 
license number on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501), as well as a valid 
Mexican export license with the entry documentation, for any cement 
product for which the United States Department of Commerce requires an 
import license under its cement licensing and import monitoring 
program.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 21, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number, by one 
of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments via docket number 
USCBP-2006-0020.
     Mail: Trade and Commercial Regulations Branch, Office of 
Regulations and Rulings, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, 1300 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (Mint Annex), Washington, DC 20229.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. For detailed instructions on submitting 
comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the 
``Public Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Submitted comments 
may also be inspected during regular business days between the hours of 
9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Office of Regulations and Rulings, Bureau 
of Customs and Border Protection, 799 9th Street, NW., 5th Floor, 
Washington, DC. Arrangements to inspect submitted comments should be 
made in advance by calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alice Buchanan, Office of Field 
Operations, Tel: (202) 344-2697.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation

    Interested persons are invited to participate in this rulemaking by 
submitting written data, views, or arguments on all aspects of the 
proposed rule. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also invites 
comments that relate to the economic, environmental, or federalism 
effects that might result from this proposed rule. Comments that will 
provide the most assistance to CBP in developing these procedures will 
reference a specific portion of the proposed rule, explain the reason 
for any recommended change, and include data, information, or authority 
that supports such recommended change.

Background

I. Agreement on Trade in Cement

    On March 6, 2006, the Office of the United States Trade 
Representative (USTR), the United States Department of Commerce 
(Commerce), and the Ministry of Economy of the United Mexican States 
(Secretaria de Economia) signed a bilateral Trade in Cement Agreement 
(Agreement) concerning trade in cement between the United States and 
Mexico. The Agreement applies only to cement from Mexico as defined in 
Section I.L. of the Agreement. A copy of the Agreement is available on 
the Commerce Web site: http://www.ia.ita.doc.gov/download/mexico-cement/cement-final-agreement.pdf.
    The Agreement calls for the settlement or suspension of litigation 
in multiple disputes before the North American Free Trade Agreement 
(NAFTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) panels, and for a compromise 
to claims on antidumping duties currently subject to administrative 
review. To assist in rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast, the 
Agreement also sets forth geographical quantitative restrictions 
whereby an annual 3 million metric ton export limit is apportioned to 
eight defined sub-regions of the United States. Lastly, the Agreement 
requires the creation of an Export Licensing Program by Mexico and an 
Import Licensing Program by Commerce to further enforce these 
quantitative restrictions. The Agreement is scheduled to expire on 
March 31, 2009, provided that it has not been terminated before that 
date. See Section XI.A. of the Agreement.

II. Proposed Department of Commerce Regulations

    The International Trade Administration of the Department of 
Commerce has just published in the Federal Register a proposed rule 
that would establish a cement licensing and import monitoring program 
as directed under the terms of the Agreement.
    Commerce's proposed rule would prescribe a web-based registration 
system for cement importers by which cement import licenses will be 
issued to registered importers, customs brokers or their agents through 
an automatic cement import licensing system. Once registered, an 
importer or broker will submit the required license application 
information electronically to Commerce, and the system will then 
automatically issue a cement import license number for inclusion on the 
entry summary documentation filed with CBP.
    Under the Commerce proposal, all importers of Mexican cement 
covered by the Agreement will be required to obtain a cement import 
license and to provide the license information (i.e., the import 
license number) to CBP on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501). Similarly, 
importers will be required to include the import license number on the 
application for admission and/or status designation into a Foreign 
Trade Zone (FTZ) on CBP Form 214 at the time of filing. Both the entry 
summary and FTZ filings must be paper filings. The proposed Commerce 
regulations also would require importers of the subject commodity to 
submit a valid Mexican export license to CBP together with the entry 
summary documentation.
    A cement import license will be required for every entry summary of 
covered cement products. It is noted, however, that a single import 
license may cover multiple products so long as the importer, exporter, 
manufacturer, first unaffiliated customer, final destination of the 
product, and country of origin and exportation are the same for all the 
merchandise. If any of the above information differs with respect to a 
given set of covered imported cement products, a separate import 
license will be required for that merchandise. As a result, a single 
CBP entry summary may require more than one cement import license.

III. Proposed Amendments to Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations

    Primary responsibility for the cement product import licensing and 
monitoring rests with the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of the 
Treasury, through CBP, is responsible for the promulgation and 
administration of regulations regarding making entry of the subject 
merchandise into the United States. Accordingly, this document proposes 
to amend title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR) to 
provide an appropriate regulatory basis for the collection of the 
required cement trade data in accordance with the proposed regulatory 
standards promulgated by the Department of Commerce.
    The proposed changes to 19 CFR set forth in this document consist 
of the addition of a new Sec.  12.155 (19 CFR 12.155) which requires 
the inclusion of a cement import license number on the entry summary 
(CBP Form 7501), and

[[Page 31127]]

the submission of a valid Mexican export license with the entry summary 
documentation, in any case in which a cement import license is required 
pursuant to the terms set forth in 19 CFR 360.201(d). Additionally, all 
shipments of covered Mexican cement into a FTZ will require an import 
license prior to the filing of the FTZ admission documents. The license 
must be reported on the application for FTZ admission and/or status 
designation (CBP Form 214) at the time of filing. There is no 
requirement to present physical copies of the import license forms at 
the time of submitting the CBP Forms 7501 or 214; however, parties must 
maintain copies in accordance with CBP's applicable recordkeeping 
requirements. In the case of the export license, the original must be 
submitted to CBP with the entry summary documentation. For multiple 
shipments at multiple ports, or multiple entries at a single port, the 
original Mexican export license must be presented to CBP with the first 
entry summary and a copy of the export license must be presented with 
each subsequent entry summary.
    The requirement to submit the import license number to CBP on the 
CBP Form 7501 will go into effect when the final rule adopting this 
proposal becomes effective.
    Failure to timely provide the required cement import license number 
to CBP will constitute a breach of the terms of the importer's bond 
under Sec.  113.62 of title 19 of the CFR (19 CFR 113.62) and could 
give rise to a claim for liquidated damages under the bond equal to the 
value of the merchandise involved in the default.

Comments

    Submitted comments will be available for public inspection in 
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and Sec.  
103.11(b) of title 19 of the CFR (19 CFR 103.11(b)), on regular 
business days between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Trade 
and Commercial Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, 
Customs and Border Protection, 799 9th St., NW., Washington, DC. 
Arrangements to inspect submitted documents should be made in advance 
by calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866

    Pursuant to the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.), it is certified that, if adopted, the proposed 
amendment will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. CBP believes that the proposed amendment, 
which involves the addition of only one data element to an existing 
required CBP form, will have a negligible impact on importer 
operations. Accordingly, the proposed amendment is not subject to the 
regulatory analysis or other requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. 
Further, these proposed amendments do not meet the criteria for a 
``significant regulatory action'' as specified in E.O. 12866.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collections of information in the current regulations have 
already been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507) 
and assigned OMB control number 1515-0065 (entry summary and 
continuation sheet) and OMB control number 1515-0086 (Application for 
foreign trade zone admission and/or status designation). This rule does 
not involve any material change to the existing approved information 
collection. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection of information displays a valid control number assigned by 
OMB.

Signing Authority

    This document is being issued in accordance with 19 CFR 0.1(a)(1).

List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 12

    Bonds, Customs duties and inspection, Entry of merchandise, 
Imports, Prohibited merchandise, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Restricted merchandise.

Proposed Amendment to the Regulations

    For the reasons stated above, it is proposed to amend part 12 of 
title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 12) as set 
forth below.

PART 12--SPECIAL CLASSES OF MERCHANDISE

    1. The authority citation for part 12 continues to read in part as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 (General Note 3(i), 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)), 1624;
* * * * *
    2. A new center heading and new Sec.  12.155 are added to read as 
follows:

Mexican Cement Products


Sec.  12.155  Entry or admission of Mexican cement products.

    (a) In general. On March 6, 2006, the United States Trade 
Representative, United States Department of Commerce and Mexico's 
Secretaria de Economia entered into an ``Agreement on Trade in Cement'' 
(Agreement). Pursuant to the Agreement, the United States Department of 
Commerce will administer an import licensing system that covers imports 
of Mexican cement as defined in section I.L. of the Agreement. The 
Secretary of the Treasury, through the Bureau of Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP), is responsible for the promulgation and 
administration of regulations regarding making entry of the subject 
merchandise into the United States. The Agreement will terminate on 
March 31, 2009, unless it has been terminated prior to that date.
    (b) Reporting the import license number. For every entry of 
merchandise for which a Mexican cement import license is required to be 
obtained under regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, set forth at 19 CFR 360.201-205, the entry (unless otherwise 
directed by CBP), must be a paper filing, and the license number must 
be included:
    (1) On the entry summary (CBP Form 7501), at the time of filing, in 
the case of merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption, in the custom territory of the United States; or
    (2) On CBP Form 214, at the time of filing under part 146 of this 
chapter, in the case of merchandise admitted into a foreign trade zone.
    (c) Recordkeeping. There is no requirement to present physical 
copies of the import license to CBP at the time of filing the CBP Form 
7501 or CBP Form 214; however copies must be maintained in accordance 
with the applicable recordkeeping provisions set forth in the chapter.
    (d) Export license information. Under regulations promulgated by 
the U.S. Department of Commerce, set forth at 19 CFR 360.201(d), 
importers of Mexican cement must submit a valid Mexican export license 
to CBP with the entry summary documentation. For multiple shipments at 
multiple ports, or multiple entries at one port, the original physical 
copy of the Mexican export license must be submitted to CBP with the 
first entry summary and a copy of the export license must be presented 
with each subsequent entry summary.

[[Page 31128]]

    (e) The provisions set forth in this section are applicable for as 
long as the Agreement remains in effect.

Deborah J. Spero,
Acting Commissioner, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
    Approved: May 25, 2006.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
 [FR Doc. E6-8500 Filed 5-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P