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12 May 2017 / United States

Withdrawal of proposed rule relating to customs application of the Jones Act

Effective May 10, 2017, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security, has withdrawn its notice of proposed modification and revocation of headquarters’ ruling letters on the application of the coastwise laws to certain merchandise and vessel equipment transported between coastwise points.

On December 8, 1993, Title VI (Customs Modernization), of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057) (hereinafter “Title VI”), became effective. Title VI amended many sections of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and related laws. Two new concepts which emerged from the law are informed compliance and shared responsibility. These concepts are premised on the idea that in order to maximize voluntary compliance with customs laws and regulations, the trade community needs to be clearly and completely informed of its legal obligations.

The law imposes a greater obligation on CBP to provide the public with improved information concerning the trade community’s responsibilities and rights under the customs and related laws.

In addition, both the trade and CBP share responsibility in carrying out import requirements. For example, under section 484 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1484), the importer of record is responsible for using reasonable care to enter, classify and value imported merchandise, and provide any other information necessary to enable CBP to properly assess duties, collect accurate statistics and determine whether any other applicable legal requirement is met.

A notice was published on January 18, 2017, proposing to modify HQ 101925 to make it more consistent with federal statutes that were amended after HQ 101925 was issued, and to revise rulings which have determined that certain articles transported between coastwise points are “vessel equipment” pursuant to T.D. 49815(4). Over 3,000 comments were received in response to the notice.

Based on the many substantive comments CBP received, both supporting and opposing the proposed action, and its further research on the issue, it was concluded that the Agency’s notice of proposed modification and revocation of the various ruling letters relating to the Jones Act should be reconsidered and the CBP has withdrawn its proposed action relating to the modification of HQ 101925 and revision of rulings determining certain articles are vessel equipment under T.D. 49815(4), as set forth in the January 18, 2017 notice.

For information about operations in the United States contact GAC USA at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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