Department of the Treasury July 28, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document proposes amendments to title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR) to reflect changes to the customs user fee statute made by section 337 of the Trade Act of 2002 and section 2004(f) of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. The statutory amendments made by section 337 concern the fees payable for customs services provided in connection with the informal entry or release of shipments at express consignment carrier facilities and centralized hub facilities, and primarily serve to replace the annual lump sum payment procedure with a quarterly payment procedure based on a specific fee for each individual air waybill or bill of lading. Section 2004(f) amended the user fee statute to authorize, for merchandise that is formally entered at these sites, the assessment of merchandise processing fees provided for in 19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(9), in addition to the fees that are currently assessed on individual air waybills or bills of lading. Lastly, pursuant to the authority established in 19 U.S.C. 58c(b)(9)(B)(i), this document proposes to raise the existing $0.66 fee assessed on individual air waybills or bills of lading to $1.00 to more equitably align it with the actual costs incurred by CBP in processing these items.