[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 185 (Friday, September 25, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48852-48853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23157]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Bureau of Customs and Border Protection

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

19 CFR Parts 12 and 163

[CBP Dec. 09-36]
RIN 1505-AC14


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

AGENCIES: Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security; Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends title 19 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (19 CFR) by removing regulations originally promulgated to 
provide special entry requirements for certain cement products from 
Mexico requiring a United States Department of Commerce import license 
and to include certain required entry documentation in the ``List of 
Records Required for the Entry of Merchandise'' set forth in the 
Appendix to Part 163 of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 
Since the underlying trade agreement that necessitated these 
regulations expired on March 31, 2009, they are no longer necessary and 
are obsolete.

DATES: The amendment is effective September 25, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Furgason, Acting Director, 
AD/CVD and Revenue Policy & Programs, Customs and Border Protection, 
1400 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20229, Tel (202) 863-6081.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    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 the entry of certain cement products from Mexico 
into the United States. The Agreement required the creation of an 
Export Licensing Program by Mexico and an Import Licensing Program by 
Commerce to enforce certain quantitative restrictions contained in the 
Agreement. The Agreement included a provision for its termination on 
March 31, 2009. 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.
    To implement the Agreement, the International Trade Administration 
of the Department of Commerce (ITA) published a final rule in the 
Federal Register (72 FR 10006) on March 6, 2007, prescribing the cement 
licensing and import monitoring program regulations promulgated at 19 
CFR 361.101-361.105.
    On March 6, 2007, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a 
corollary final rule in the Federal Register (72 FR 10004) that 
promulgated special requirements for the entry into the U.S. of certain 
cement products from Mexico requiring a U.S. Department of Commerce 
import license, at new 19 CFR 12.155. The ``List of Records Required 
for the Entry of Merchandise'' set forth in the Appendix to Part 163 
was also amended by that document to reflect the entry document 
requirements mandated by the Agreement.
    As the Agreement expired on March 31, 2009, Sec.  12.155 and the 
references to Mexican Cement export and import licenses in the Appendix 
to Part 163 are now unnecessary and obsolete, and, accordingly they are 
removed from the regulations.

Inapplicability of Prior Public Notice and Comment Procedures and 
Delayed Effective Date

    Because this amendment merely removes obsolete regulations from 
title 19 of the CFR, CBP has determined, pursuant to the provisions of 
5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), that prior public notice and comment procedures on 
this regulation are unnecessary and contrary to public interest. For 
the same reason, pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), 
there is good cause for dispensing with a delayed effective date.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This document is not subject to the notice and public procedure 
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553, and thus is not subject to the provisions 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

Executive Order 12866

    These amendments do not meet the criteria for a ``significant 
regulatory action'' as specified in Executive Order 12866.

Signing Authority

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

List of Subjects

19 CFR Part 12

    Customs duties and inspection, Entry of merchandise, Imports, 
Licensing, Mexico, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Trade 
agreements.

19 CFR Part 163

    Administrative practice and procedure, Customs duties and 
inspection, Exports, Imports, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Amendment to the Regulations

0
For the reasons stated above, parts 12 and 163 of title 19 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (19 CFR parts 12 and 163) are amended as set 
forth below.

PART 12--SPECIAL CLASSES OF MERCHANDISE

0
1. The general authority citation for part 12 continues to read 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;
* * * * *


Sec.  12.155  [Removed]

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2. The undesignated center heading entitled ``Mexican Cement Products'' 
and Sec.  12.155 are removed.

[[Page 48853]]

PART 163--RECORDKEEPING

0
3. The authority citation for part 163 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1484, 1508, 1509, 1510, 
1624.

Appendix to Part 163 [Amended]

0
4. In the Appendix to Part 163, the listing for Sec.  12.155 under 
section IV is removed.

Jayson P. Ahern,
Acting Commissioner, Customs and Border Protection.
    Approved: September 21, 2009.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. E9-23157 Filed 9-24-09; 8:45 am]
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