U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule adjusts for inflation the amounts that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can assess as civil monetary penalties for the following two violationstransporting passengers coastwise for hire by certain vessels (known as Bowaters vessels) that do not meet specified conditions; and employing a vessel in a trade without a required Certificate of Documentation. These adjustments are being made in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Act) which was enacted on November 2, 2015. Other CBP civil penalty amounts were adjusted pursuant to this 2015 Act in rule documents published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2016; January 27, 2017; December 8, 2017; and April 2, 2018, but the adjustments for these two civil penalties were inadvertently left out of those documents.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is cognizant of the need to stay modern in order to meet the challenges of an evolving trade landscape. New actors, industries, and modes of conducting business have emerged, disrupting the traditional global supply chain. To continue to effectively fulfill CBP's mission, CBP is pursuing an initiative titled ``The 21st Century Customs Framework.'' ``The 21st Century Customs Framework'' will seek to address and enhance numerous aspects of CBP's trade mission to better position CBP to operate in the 21st century trade environment. Through preliminary efforts, CBP has identified key themes for which CBP seeks public input: Emerging Roles in the Global Supply Chain, Intelligent Enforcement, Cutting-Edge Technology, Data Access and Sharing, 21st Century Processes, and Self- Funded Customs Infrastructure. To that end, CBP is announcing a public meeting to discuss these themes. CBP will use the public comments received in response to this notice to initiate discussion at the public meeting for CBP to consider possible policy, regulatory, and statutory improvements to further the trade mission. CBP is already pursuing related efforts through the Border Interagency Executive Council and the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and is ensuring coordination among these initiatives.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that AmSpec LLC (Yorktown, VA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of August 14, 2018.

This document adopts as final, with changes, proposed amendments to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations implementing changes to the drawback regulations, as directed by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA). These regulations establish new processes for drawback pursuant to TFTEA, which liberalize the merchandise substitution standard, simplify recordkeeping requirements, extend and standardize timelines for filing drawback claims, and require the electronic filing of drawback claims. This document also provides details with respect to the process required to perfect TFTEA-based claims filed under CBP's Interim Guidance procedures. Further, this document also finalizes regulations clarifying the prohibition on the filing of a substitution drawback claim for internal revenue excise tax in situations where no excise tax was paid upon the substituted merchandise or where the substituted merchandise is the subject of a different claim for refund or drawback of tax.

This document provides notice that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of certain jet fuel. Based upon the facts presented, CBP has concluded that the country of origin of this jet fuel is India for purposes of U.S. Government procurement.

This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to update provisions relating to the declaration, entry and dutiable status of repair expenditures made abroad for certain vessels to reflect the port of New Orleans, Louisiana as the only Vessel Repair Unit (VRU) location. The amendment will improve the efficiency of vessel repair entry processing, ensure the proper assessment and collection of duties, and make the regulations more transparent.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Marine Technical Surveyors, Inc. (Donaldsonville, LA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of May 8, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Coastal Gulf and International (Baton Rouge, LA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of July 26, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that WFR Metering, Inc. (Houston, TX), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of July 12, 2017.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that SGS North America, Inc., has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of July 20, 2018.

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, in Herndon, Virginia. The meeting will be open to the public.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted (no later than December 14, 2018 to be assured of consideration.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted (no later than December 10, 2018) to be assured of consideration.

This notice advises the public that the quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties will remain the same from the previous quarter. For the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2018, the interest rates for overpayments will be 4 percent for corporations and 5 percent for non-corporations, and the interest rate for underpayments will be 5 percent for both corporations and non-corporations. This notice is published for the convenience of the importing public and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that The Strawn Group (Houston, TX) has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of October 3, 2017.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted no later than November 1, 2018 to be assured of consideration.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies.

On April 17, 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a test allowing customs brokers to pre-certify importers for participation in the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) program. The Customs Broker Importer Self-Assessment Pre-Certification (Broker ISA PC) test was intended to leverage customs brokers' relationships with importers to facilitate and promote importer participation in the ISA program. Unfortunately, there was minimal importer participation in the test; thus, CBP has determined that it is not effective to continue with the Broker ISA PC test. This notice announces CBP's intention to discontinue the test and not to move forward with a permanent Broker ISA PC program.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted no later than October 19, 2018 to be assured of consideration.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Inspectorate America Corporation (Savannah, GA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of October 11, 2017.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Intertek USA, Inc. (Gonzalez, LA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of May 25, 2017.

This document provides notice that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of three Visionary Advanced 2 vitamin and mineral dietary supplement tablets. Based upon the facts presented, for purposes of U.S. Government procurement, CBP has concluded that the United States is the country of origin of the Advanced 2 vitamin and mineral dietary supplement tablets.

Each year, the tariff-rate quota for tuna described in subheading 1604.14.22, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), is calculated as a percentage of the tuna in airtight containers entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption during the preceding Calendar Year. This document sets forth the tariff-rate quota for Calendar Year 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Saybolt LP (Linden, NJ), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of February 6, 2018.

This document corrects a proposed regulation in a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register of August 2, 2018, regarding Modernized Drawback. Specifically, CBP inadvertently proposed in 19 CFR 190.32(d)(2) an exemption for drawback claims for wine which included an imprecise reference to the entirety of paragraph (b). The reference should have been only to paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2), the specific paragraphs regarding the ``lesser of'' rule. As is evident from the entirety of the proposed rule, paragraph (b)(3), which implements the statutory prohibition on double drawback, applies to all drawback claims for wine. This technical correction remedies a clerical error that occurred when the language of paragraph (b)(3) was moved from a different part of the proposed regulations.