[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR303.16]

[Page 31-33]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
 CHAPTER III--INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 303_WATCHES, WATCH MOVEMENTS AND JEWELRY PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
                            Subpart B_Jewelry
 
Sec.  303.16  Definitions and forms.

    (a) Definitions. For purposes of the subpart, unless the context 
indicates otherwise:
    (1) Act means Pub. L. 97-446, enacted 12 January 1983 (19 U.S.C. 
1202), 96 Stat. 2329, as amended by Pub. L. 103-465, enacted on 8 
December 1994, 108 Stat. 4991 and, as amended by Pub. L. 106-36, enacted 
on 25 June 1999.
    (2) Secretaries means the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of 
the Interior or their delegates, acting jointly.
    (3) Director means the Director of the Statutory Import Programs 
Staff, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
    (4) Sale or transfer of a business means the sale or transfer of 
control, whether temporary or permanent, over a firm which is eligible 
for a jewelry program duty-refund to any other firm, corporation, 
partnership, person or other legal entity by any means whatsoever, 
including, but not limited to, merger and transfer of stock, assets or 
voting trusts.
    (5) New firm means a jewelry company which has requested in writing 
to the Secretaries permission to participate in the program. In addition 
to any other information required by the Secretaries, new firm requests 
shall include a representation that the company agrees to abide by the 
laws and regulations of the program, an outline of the company's 
anticipated economic contribution to the territory (including the number 
of employees) and a statement as to whether the company is affiliated by 
ownership or control with any other watch or jewelry company in the 
insular possessions. The Secretaries will then review the request and 
make a decision based on the information provided and the economic 
contribution to the territory. A new jewelry firm may not be affiliated 
through ownership or control with any other jewelry duty-refund 
recipient. In assessing whether persons or parties are affiliated, the 
Secretaries will consider the following factors, among others: stock 
ownership; corporate or family groupings; franchise or joint venture

[[Page 32]]

agreements; debt financing; and close supplier relationships. The 
Secretaries may not find that control exists on the basis of these 
factors unless the relationship has the potential to affect decisions 
concerning production, pricing, or cost. Also, no jewelry duty-refund 
recipient may own or control more than one watch duty-refund recipient.
    (6) Jewelry producer means a company, located in one of the insular 
territories (see paragraph (a)(8) of this section), that produces 
jewelry provided for in heading 7113, HTSUS, which meets all the Bureau 
of Customs and Border Protection requirements for duty-free entry set 
forth in General Note 3(a)(iv), HTSUS, and 19 CFR 7.3, and has 
maintained its eligibility for duty refund benefits by complying with 
these regulations.
    (7) Unit of jewelry means a single article, pair (example: earrings, 
cufflinks), subassembly or component which is contained in HTSUS heading 
7113.
    (8) Territories, territorial and insular possessions refers to the 
insular possessions of the United States (i.e., the U.S. Virgin Islands, 
Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands).
    (9) Creditable wages means all wages, up to an amount equal to 65% 
of the contribution and benefit base for Social Security as defined in 
the Social Security Act for the year in which the wages were earned, 
paid to permanent residents of the territories employed in the firm's 
manufacture of HTSUS heading 7113 articles of jewelry which are a 
product of the insular possessions and have met the Bureau of Customs 
and Border Protection's criteria for duty-free entry into the United 
States, plus any wages paid for the repair of non-insular HTSUS heading 
7113 jewelry up to an amount equal to 50 percent of the firm's total 
creditable wages. Excluded, however, are wages paid for outside 
consultants or other professional personnel, such as lawyers and 
accountants, or those persons not involved in the day-to-day assembly 
operations or servicing and maintenance of equipment and fixtures 
necessary for the assembly or manufacturing operations or the 
administrative work and security activities directly related to the 
operations of the company, such as gardeners or construction workers, 
plus any wages paid for the assembly of dutiable jewelry or for the 
repair of dutiable jewelry to the extent that such wages exceed the 
percentage set forth above. No more than two insular producers may have 
their wages credited for their portion of the wages paid for work on a 
single piece of jewelry which entered the U.S. free of duty under the 
program. Wages paid by the two producers will be credited proportionally 
provided both producers demonstrate to the satisfaction of the 
Secretaries that they worked on the same piece of jewelry, the jewelry 
received duty-free treatment into the U.S., and the producers maintained 
production and payroll records sufficient for the Departments' 
verification of the creditable wage portion (see Sec.  303.17(b)). Wages 
paid to persons engaged in production of jewelry that has entered the 
U.S. both duty-free and duty-paid may be credited proportionately 
provided the firm maintains production and payroll records adequate for 
the Departments' verification of the creditable wages portion (see Sec. 
303.17(b)).
    (10) Dutiable jewelry includes jewelry which does not meet the 
requirements for duty-free entry under General Note 3(a)(iv), HTSUS, and 
19 CFR 7.3, contains any material which is the product of any country 
with respect to which Column 2 rates of duty apply or is ineligible for 
duty-free treatment pursuant to other laws or regulations.
    (11) Permanent resident means a person with one residence which is 
in the insular possessions or a person with one or more residences 
outside the insular possessions who meets criteria that include 
maintaining his or her domicile in the insular possessions, residing 
(i.e., be physically present for at least 183 days per year) and working 
in the territory at a program company, and maintaining his or her 
primary office for day-to-day work in the insular possessions.
    (b) Forms. (1) ITA--334P ``Annual Application for License to Enter 
Watches and Watch Movements into the Customs Territory of the United 
States.'' The Director shall issue instructions for jewelry 
manufacturers on the completion of the relevant portions of the

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form. The form must be completed annually by all jewelry producers 
desiring to receive a duty refund and, with special instructions for its 
completion, by producers who wish to receive the total annual amount of 
the duty refund in installments on a biannual basis.
    (2) ITA--360P ``Certificate of Entitlement to Secure the Refund of 
Duties on Watches and Watch Movements.'' This document authorizes a 
territorial jewelry producer to request the refund of duties on imports 
of watches, watch movements and parts therefor, with certain exceptions, 
up to a specified value. Certificates may be used to obtain duty refunds 
only when presented with a properly executed Form ITA-361P.
    (3) ITA--361P ``Request for Refund of Duties on Watches and Watch 
Movements.'' This form must be completed to obtain the refund of duties 
authorized by the Director through Form ITA-360P. After authentication 
by the Department of Commerce, it may be used for the refund of duties 
on items which were entered into the customs territory of the United 
States during a specified time period. Copies of the appropriate Customs 
entries must be provided with this form to establish a basis for issuing 
the claimed amounts. The forms may also be used to transfer all or part 
of the producer's entitlement to another party (see Sec. 303.19(c)).

(The information collection requirements in paragraph (b)(1) were 
approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
0625-0040. The information collection requirements in paragraphs (b) (2) 
and (3) were approved under control number 0625-0134)

[64 FR 67150, Dec. 1, 1999, as amended at 65 FR 8049, Feb. 17, 2000; 66 
FR 34812, July 2, 2001; 67 FR 77409, Dec. 18, 2202]