[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 19, Volume 1]

[Revised as of April 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 19CFR10.41a]



[Page 113-116]

 

                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES

 

   CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF 

              HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

 

PART 10_ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, ETC.

--Table of Contents

 

                      Subpart A_General Provisions

 

Sec.  10.41a  Lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets, 

and similar instruments of international traffic; repair components.



    (a)(1) Lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets, caul 

boards, and cores for textile fabrics, arriving (whether loaded or 

empty) in use or to be used in the shipment of merchandise in 

international traffic are hereby designated as ``instruments of 

international traffic'' within the meaning of section 322(a), Tariff Act 

of 1930, as amended. The Commissioner of Customs is authorized to 

designate as instruments of international traffic, in decisions to be 

published in the weekly Customs Bulletin, such additional articles or 

classes of articles as he shall find should be so designated. Such 

instruments may be released without entry or the payment of duty, 

subject to the provisions of this section.

    (2) Repair components, accessories, and equipment for any container 

of foreign production which is an instrument of international traffic 

may be entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption without the 

deposit of duty if the person making the entry or withdrawal from 

warehouse files a declaration that the repair component was imported to 

be used in the repair of a container of foreign production which is an 

instrument of international traffic, or that the accessory or equipment 

is for a container of foreign production which is an instrument of 

international traffic. The port director must be satisfied that the 

importer of the repair component, accessory, or equipment had the 

declared intention at the time of importation.

    (3) As used in this section, ``instruments of international 

traffic'' includes the normal accessories and equipment imported with 

any such instrument which is a ``container'' as defined in Article 1 of 

the Customs Convention on Containers.

    (b) The reexportation of a container, as defined in Article 1 of the 

Customs Convention on Containers, which has become badly damaged, shall 

not be required in the case of a duly authenticated accident if the 

container (1) is subjected to applicable import duties and import taxes, 

or (2) is abandoned free of all expense to the Government



[[Page 114]]



or destroyed under Customs supervision at the expense of the parties 

concerned, following the procedure outlined in Sec.  158.43(c) of this 

chapter. Any salvaged parts and materials shall be subjected to 

applicable import duties and import taxes. Replaced parts which are not 

reexported shall be subjected to import duties and import taxes except 

where abandoned free of expense to the Government or destroyed under 

Customs supervision at the expense of the parties concerned.

    (c) The instruments of international traffic designated in paragraph 

(a) of this section may be released in accordance with the provisions of 

that paragraph only after the applicant for such release has filed a 

bond on Customs Form 301, containing the bond conditions set forth in 

Sec.  113.66 of this chapter. The required application may be filed at 

the port of arrival or at a subsequent port to which an instrument shall 

have been transported in bond or to which a container shall have been 

moved under cover of a TIR carnet (see part 114 of this chapter) showing 

the characteristics and value of the container on the Goods Manifest of 

the carnet. If the container is listed on the Goods Manifest of the 

carnet, the application may be filed at the port of arrival or at the 

subsequent port. If the container is not listed on the Goods Manifest, 

the application shall be filed at the port of arrival. When the 

application is filed at a port other than the port at which the bond is 

on file, the following procedure applies:

    (1) When the application is filed before the fact of approval of the 

applicant's bond has been established, the applicant must submit with 

the application, or the Customs officer to whom the application is made 

must obtain, evidence that a current bond is on file at another port. 

That evidence may consist of a certified copy of the bond, or any other 

evidence which will satisfy the Customs officer to whom the application 

is made that a current bond is on file at another port.

    (2) If the application is filed after the fact of approval of the 

applicant's bond has been established, a certified copy of that bond 

need not be filed at the port of release. Upon determination by the 

appropriate Customs officer that the fact of approval of the applicant's 

bond has been established, and the bond has not been subsequently 

discontinued, the instruments of international traffic will be released 

as provided for in paragraph (a) of this section.

    (3) Upon the request of the applicant, the appropriate Customs 

officer at the port at which the instruments of international traffic 

are to be released will determine whether or not the fact of approval of 

the applicant's bond has been established. If the approval has not been 

established, the Customs officer with whom the application has been 

filed will advise the applicant of the nature of the evidence required 

to establish the fact that a current bond is on file at another port.

    (d) If an instrument of foreign origin, or of United States origin 

which has been increased in value or improved in condition by a process 

of manufacture or other means while abroad, is released under this 

section and is subsequently diverted to point-to-point local traffic 

within the United States, or is otherwise withdrawn in the United States 

from its use as an instrument of international traffic, it becomes 

subject to entry and the payment of any applicable duties. An instrument 

of United States origin which has not been increased in value or 

improved in condition by a process of manufacture or other means while 

abroad and which is released under this section shall not be subject to 

entry or the payment of duty if it is so diverted or otherwise 

withdrawn.

    (e) The person who filed the application for release under paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section shall promptly notify a director of a port of 

entry in the United States as defined in Section 401(k), Tariff Act of 

1930, as amended, (1) that the container is to be abandoned or 

destroyed, as described in paragraph (b) of this section, or (2) that 

the instrument is the subject of a diversion or withdrawal as described 

in paragraph (d) of this section, in which event he shall file with the 

port director a consumption entry for the instrument and pay all import 

duties and import taxes due on the container or instrument at the rate 

or rates in effect



[[Page 115]]



and in its condition on the date of such diversion or withdrawal.

    (f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (j) of this section, an 

instrument of international traffic (other than a container as defined 

in Article 1 of the Customs Convention on Containers that is governed by 

paragraphs (g) (1)-(3) of this section) may be used as follows in point-

to-point traffic, provided such traffic is incidental to the efficient 

and economical utilization of the instrument in the course of its use in 

international traffic:

    (i) Picking up and delivering loads at intervening points in the 

United States while en route between the port of arrival and the point 

of destination of its imported cargo; or

    (ii) Picking up and delivering loads at intervening points in the 

United States while en route from the point of destination of imported 

cargo to a point where export cargo is to be loaded or to an exterior 

port of departure by a reasonably direct route to, or nearer to, the 

place of such loading or departure.

    (2) Neither use as enumerated in paragraph (f)(1)(i) or (ii) of this 

section constitutes a diversion to unpermitted point-to-point local 

traffic within the United States or a withdrawal of an instrument in the 

United States from its use as an instrument of international traffic 

under this section.

    (g)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (j) of this section, a 

container (as defined in Article 1 of the Customs Convention on 

Containers) that is designated as an instrument of international traffic 

is deemed to remain in international traffic provided that the container 

exits the U.S. within 365 days of the date on that it was admitted under 

this section. An exit from the U.S. in this context means a movement 

across the border of the United States into a foreign country where 

either:

    (i) All merchandise is unladen from the container; or

    (ii) Merchandise is laden aboard the container (if the container is 

empty).

    (2) The person who filed the application for release under paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section is responsible for keeping and maintaining such 

records, otherwise generated and retained in the ordinary course of 

business, as may be necessary to establish the international movements 

of the containers. Such records shall be made available for inspection 

by Customs officials upon reasonable notice.

    (3) If the container does not exit the U.S. within 365 days of the 

date on which it is admitted under this section, such container shall be 

considered to have been removed from international traffic, and entry 

for consumption must be made within 10 business days after the end of 

the month in which the container is deemed removed from international 

traffic. When entry is required under this section, any containers 

considered removed from international traffic in the same month may be 

listed on one entry. Such entry may be made at any port of entry. Under 

19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(1)(B), the importer of record is required, using 

reasonable care, to complete the entry by filing with Customs the 

declared value, classification and rate of duty applicable to the 

merchandise. The importer of record must use the value of the container 

as determined in accordance with section 402, Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

U.S.C. 1401a), as amended by the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA).

    (h) For failure promptly to report the diversion or withdrawal or 

promptly to make the required entry and pay the duties due, the 

applicant shall be liable for the payment of liquidated damages equal to 

the domestic value of the instrument established in accordance with 

Section 606, Tariff Act of 1930.

    (i) When an instrument of international traffic, as provided in 

paragraph (a) of this section, is returned to the United States and 

released in accordance with the provisions of that paragraph, any 

repairs which may have been made to the instrument while it was abroad 

are not subject to entry or the payment of duty whether the instrument 

is of foreign or domestic manufacture, whether it left the United States 

empty or loaded, and whether or not the repairs made abroad were in 

contemplation when the instrument left the United States.

    (j) Containers and other articles designated as instruments of 

international traffic in accordance with this section are nevertheless 

subject to the application of the coastwise laws of the United



[[Page 116]]



States, with particular reference to Section 883, Title 46, United 

States Code (see Sec.  4.93 of this chapter).



[28 FR 14663, Dec. 31, 1963]



    Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting Sec.  

10.41a, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the 

Finding Aids section of the printed volume and on GPO Access.