Department of the Treasury September 17, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning an existing final regulation, REG-104072-97 (TD 8853), Recharacterizing Financing Arrangements Involving Fast-Pay Stock (Sec. 1.7701(l)-3).

This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to clarify that, in order to claim the exemption from the merchandise processing fee (MPF) for merchandise that is considered ``originating'' and qualifies to be marked as products of Canada or Mexico under the provisions of the NAFTA, an importer is subject to the same declaration requirement that is established for obtaining NAFTA duty preference, even if the merchandise is unconditionally free. In addition, this document amends the regulations to clarify that a Certificate of Origin is not required for a commercial importation for which the total value of originating goods does not exceed $2,500. Lastly, this document remedies two incorrect addresses and an incorrect Code of Federal Regulations citation, and incorporates non-substantive amendments to certain sections in the regulations to reflect the nomenclature changes effected by the transfer of CBP to the Department of Homeland Security and the reorganization of certain offices in CBP pursuant to the ``Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006'' (or the ``Safe Port Act''), as well as certain other minor editorial changes.