[Federal Register: June 1, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 105)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 31125-31128]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01jn06-23]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
19 CFR Part 12
[USCBP-2006-0020]
RIN 1505-AB68
Entry of Certain Cement Products From Mexico Requiring a Commerce
Department Import License
AGENCY: Customs and Border Protection (DHS); Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend title 19 of the Code of
Federal Regulations to set forth special requirements for the entry of
certain cement products from Mexico requiring a United States
Department of Commerce import license. The cement products in question
are those listed in the Agreement on Trade in Cement, entered into
between the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the
United States Department of Commerce, and Mexico's Secretaria de
Economia,
[[Page 31126]]
on March 6, 2006. The changes proposed in this document require an
importer to submit to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) an import
license number on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501), as well as a valid
Mexican export license with the entry documentation, for any cement
product for which the United States Department of Commerce requires an
import license under its cement licensing and import monitoring
program.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 21, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number, by one
of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments via docket number
USCBP-2006-0020.
Mail: Trade and Commercial Regulations Branch, Office of
Regulations and Rulings, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, 1300
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (Mint Annex), Washington, DC 20229.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. For detailed instructions on submitting
comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the
``Public Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Submitted comments
may also be inspected during regular business days between the hours of
9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Office of Regulations and Rulings, Bureau
of Customs and Border Protection, 799 9th Street, NW., 5th Floor,
Washington, DC. Arrangements to inspect submitted comments should be
made in advance by calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alice Buchanan, Office of Field
Operations, Tel: (202) 344-2697.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation
Interested persons are invited to participate in this rulemaking by
submitting written data, views, or arguments on all aspects of the
proposed rule. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also invites
comments that relate to the economic, environmental, or federalism
effects that might result from this proposed rule. Comments that will
provide the most assistance to CBP in developing these procedures will
reference a specific portion of the proposed rule, explain the reason
for any recommended change, and include data, information, or authority
that supports such recommended change.
Background
I. Agreement on Trade in Cement
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 trade in cement between the United States and
Mexico. The Agreement applies only to cement from Mexico as defined in
Section I.L. of the Agreement. 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
.
The Agreement calls for the settlement or suspension of litigation
in multiple disputes before the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) panels, and for a compromise
to claims on antidumping duties currently subject to administrative
review. To assist in rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast, the
Agreement also sets forth geographical quantitative restrictions
whereby an annual 3 million metric ton export limit is apportioned to
eight defined sub-regions of the United States. Lastly, the Agreement
requires the creation of an Export Licensing Program by Mexico and an
Import Licensing Program by Commerce to further enforce these
quantitative restrictions. The Agreement is scheduled to expire on
March 31, 2009, provided that it has not been terminated before that
date. See Section XI.A. of the Agreement.
II. Proposed Department of Commerce Regulations
The International Trade Administration of the Department of
Commerce has just published in the Federal Register a proposed rule
that would establish a cement licensing and import monitoring program
as directed under the terms of the Agreement.
Commerce's proposed rule would prescribe a web-based registration
system for cement importers by which cement import licenses will be
issued to registered importers, customs brokers or their agents through
an automatic cement import licensing system. Once registered, an
importer or broker will submit the required license application
information electronically to Commerce, and the system will then
automatically issue a cement import license number for inclusion on the
entry summary documentation filed with CBP.
Under the Commerce proposal, all importers of Mexican cement
covered by the Agreement will be required to obtain a cement import
license and to provide the license information (i.e., the import
license number) to CBP on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501). Similarly,
importers will be required to include the import license number on the
application for admission and/or status designation into a Foreign
Trade Zone (FTZ) on CBP Form 214 at the time of filing. Both the entry
summary and FTZ filings must be paper filings. The proposed Commerce
regulations also would require importers of the subject commodity to
submit a valid Mexican export license to CBP together with the entry
summary documentation.
A cement import license will be required for every entry summary of
covered cement products. It is noted, however, that a single import
license may cover multiple products so long as the importer, exporter,
manufacturer, first unaffiliated customer, final destination of the
product, and country of origin and exportation are the same for all the
merchandise. If any of the above information differs with respect to a
given set of covered imported cement products, a separate import
license will be required for that merchandise. As a result, a single
CBP entry summary may require more than one cement import license.
III. Proposed Amendments to Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations
Primary responsibility for the cement product import licensing and
monitoring rests with the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of the
Treasury, through CBP, is responsible for the promulgation and
administration of regulations regarding making entry of the subject
merchandise into the United States. Accordingly, this document proposes
to amend title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR) to
provide an appropriate regulatory basis for the collection of the
required cement trade data in accordance with the proposed regulatory
standards promulgated by the Department of Commerce.
The proposed changes to 19 CFR set forth in this document consist
of the addition of a new Sec. 12.155 (19 CFR 12.155) which requires
the inclusion of a cement import license number on the entry summary
(CBP Form 7501), and
[[Page 31127]]
the submission of a valid Mexican export license with the entry summary
documentation, in any case in which a cement import license is required
pursuant to the terms set forth in 19 CFR 360.201(d). Additionally, all
shipments of covered Mexican cement into a FTZ will require an import
license prior to the filing of the FTZ admission documents. The license
must be reported on the application for FTZ admission and/or status
designation (CBP Form 214) at the time of filing. There is no
requirement to present physical copies of the import license forms at
the time of submitting the CBP Forms 7501 or 214; however, parties must
maintain copies in accordance with CBP's applicable recordkeeping
requirements. In the case of the export license, the original must be
submitted to CBP with the entry summary documentation. For multiple
shipments at multiple ports, or multiple entries at a single port, the
original Mexican export license must be presented to CBP with the first
entry summary and a copy of the export license must be presented with
each subsequent entry summary.
The requirement to submit the import license number to CBP on the
CBP Form 7501 will go into effect when the final rule adopting this
proposal becomes effective.
Failure to timely provide the required cement import license number
to CBP will constitute a breach of the terms of the importer's bond
under Sec. 113.62 of title 19 of the CFR (19 CFR 113.62) and could
give rise to a claim for liquidated damages under the bond equal to the
value of the merchandise involved in the default.
Comments
Submitted comments will be available for public inspection in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and Sec.
103.11(b) of title 19 of the CFR (19 CFR 103.11(b)), on regular
business days between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Trade
and Commercial Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings,
Customs and Border Protection, 799 9th St., NW., Washington, DC.
Arrangements to inspect submitted documents should be made in advance
by calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866
Pursuant to the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.), it is certified that, if adopted, the proposed
amendment will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. CBP believes that the proposed amendment,
which involves the addition of only one data element to an existing
required CBP form, will have a negligible impact on importer
operations. Accordingly, the proposed amendment is not subject to the
regulatory analysis or other requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Further, these proposed amendments do not meet the criteria for a
``significant regulatory action'' as specified in E.O. 12866.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collections of information in the current regulations have
already been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507)
and assigned OMB control number 1515-0065 (entry summary and
continuation sheet) and OMB control number 1515-0086 (Application for
foreign trade zone admission and/or status designation). This rule does
not involve any material change to the existing approved information
collection. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the
collection of information displays a valid control number assigned by
OMB.
Signing Authority
This document is being issued in accordance with 19 CFR 0.1(a)(1).
List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 12
Bonds, Customs duties and inspection, Entry of merchandise,
Imports, Prohibited merchandise, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Restricted merchandise.
Proposed Amendment to the Regulations
For the reasons stated above, it is proposed to amend part 12 of
title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 12) as set
forth below.
PART 12--SPECIAL CLASSES OF MERCHANDISE
1. The authority citation for part 12 continues to read in part 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;
* * * * *
2. A new center heading and new Sec. 12.155 are added to read as
follows:
Mexican Cement Products
Sec. 12.155 Entry or admission of Mexican cement products.
(a) In general. On March 6, 2006, the United States Trade
Representative, United States Department of Commerce and Mexico's
Secretaria de Economia entered into an ``Agreement on Trade in Cement''
(Agreement). Pursuant to the Agreement, the United States Department of
Commerce will administer an import licensing system that covers imports
of Mexican cement as defined in section I.L. of the Agreement. The
Secretary of the Treasury, through the Bureau of Customs and Border
Protection (CBP), is responsible for the promulgation and
administration of regulations regarding making entry of the subject
merchandise into the United States. The Agreement will terminate on
March 31, 2009, unless it has been terminated prior to that date.
(b) Reporting the import license number. For every entry of
merchandise for which a Mexican cement import license is required to be
obtained under regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of
Commerce, set forth at 19 CFR 360.201-205, the entry (unless otherwise
directed by CBP), must be a paper filing, and the license number must
be included:
(1) On the entry summary (CBP Form 7501), at the time of filing, in
the case of merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for
consumption, in the custom territory of the United States; or
(2) On CBP Form 214, at the time of filing under part 146 of this
chapter, in the case of merchandise admitted into a foreign trade zone.
(c) Recordkeeping. There is no requirement to present physical
copies of the import license to CBP at the time of filing the CBP Form
7501 or CBP Form 214; however copies must be maintained in accordance
with the applicable recordkeeping provisions set forth in the chapter.
(d) Export license information. Under regulations promulgated by
the U.S. Department of Commerce, set forth at 19 CFR 360.201(d),
importers of Mexican cement must submit a valid Mexican export license
to CBP with the entry summary documentation. For multiple shipments at
multiple ports, or multiple entries at one port, the original physical
copy of the Mexican export license must be submitted to CBP with the
first entry summary and a copy of the export license must be presented
with each subsequent entry summary.
[[Page 31128]]
(e) The provisions set forth in this section are applicable for as
long as the Agreement remains in effect.
Deborah J. Spero,
Acting Commissioner, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
Approved: May 25, 2006.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. E6-8500 Filed 5-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P