19 U.S.C. § 1466 : US Code - Section 1466: Equipment and repairs of vessels

Search 19 U.S.C. § 1466 : US Code - Section 1466: Equipment and repairs of vessels

(a) Vessels subject to duty; penalties
The equipments, or any part thereof, including boats, purchased
for, or the repair parts or materials to be used, or the expenses
of repairs made in a foreign country upon a vessel documented under
the laws of the United States to engage in the foreign or coasting
trade, or a vessel intended to be employed in such trade, shall, on
the first arrival of such vessel in any port of the United States,
be liable to entry and the payment of an ad valorem duty of 50 per
centum on the cost thereof in such foreign country. If the owner or
master willfully or knowingly neglects or fails to report, make
entry, and pay duties as herein required, or if he makes any false
statement in respect of such purchases or repairs without
reasonable cause to believe the truth of such statements, or aids
or procures the making of any false statement as to any matter
material thereto without reasonable cause to believe the truth of
such statement, such vessel, or a monetary amount up to the value
thereof as determined by the Secretary, to be recovered from the
owner, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture. For the purposes
of this section, compensation paid to members of the regular crew
of such vessel in connection with the installation of any such
equipments or any part thereof, or the making of repairs, in a
foreign country, shall not be included in the cost of such
equipment or part thereof, or of such repairs.
(b) Notice
If the appropriate customs officer has reasonable cause to
believe a violation has occurred and determines that further
proceedings are warranted, he shall issue to the person concerned a
written notice of his intention to issue a penalty claim. Such
notice shall -
(1) describe the circumstances of the alleged violation;
(2) specify all laws and regulations allegedly violated;
(3) disclose all the material facts which establish the alleged
violation;
(4) state the estimated loss of lawful duties, if any, and
taking into account all of the circumstances, the amount of the
proposed penalty; and
(5) inform such person that he shall have a reasonable
opportunity to make representations, both oral and written, as to
why such penalty claim should not be issued.
(c) Violation
After considering representations, if any, made by the person
concerned pursuant to the notice issued under subsection (b) of
this section, the appropriate customs officer shall determine
whether any violation of subsection (a) of this section, as alleged
in the notice, has occurred. If such officer determines that there
was no violation, he shall promptly notify, in writing, the person
to whom the notice was sent. If such officer determines that there
was a violation, he shall issue a written penalty claim to such
person. The written penalty claim shall specify all changes in the
information provided under paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection
(b) of this section.
(d) Remission for necessary repairs
If the owner or master of such vessel furnishes good and
sufficient evidence that -
(1) such vessel, while in the regular course of her voyage, was
compelled, by stress of weather or other casualty, to put into
such foreign port and purchase such equipments, or make such
repairs, to secure the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel to
enable her to reach her port of destination;
(2) such equipments or parts thereof or repair parts or
materials, were manufactured or produced in the United States,
and the labor necessary to install such equipments or to make
such repairs was performed by residents of the United States, or
by members of the regular crew of such vessel; or
(3) such equipments, or parts thereof, or materials, or labor,
were used as dunnage for cargo, or for the packing or shoring
thereof, or in the erection of temporary bulkheads or other
similar devices for the control of bulk cargo, or in the
preparation (without permanent repair or alteration) of tanks for
the carriage of liquid cargo;
then the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to remit or refund
such duties, and such vessel shall not be liable to forfeiture, and
no license or enrollment and license, or renewal of either, shall
hereafter be issued to any such vessel until the collector to whom
application is made for the same shall be satisfied, from the oath
of the owner or master, that all such equipments or parts thereof
or materials and repairs made within the year immediately preceding
such application have been duly accounted for under the provisions
of this section, and the duties accruing thereon duly paid; and if
such owner or master shall refuse to take such oath, or take it
falsely, the vessel shall be seized and forfeited.
(e) Exclusions for arrivals two or more years after last departure
(1) In the case of any vessel referred to in subsection (a) of
this section that arrives in a port of the United States two years
or more after its last departure from a port in the United States,
the duties imposed by this section shall apply only with respect to
-
(A) fish nets and netting, and
(B) other equipments and parts thereof, repair parts and
materials purchased, or repairs made, during the first six months
after the last departure of such vessel from a port of the United
States.
(2) If such vessel is designed and used primarily for
transporting passengers or property, paragraph (1) shall not apply
if the vessel departed from the United States for the sole purpose
of obtaining such equipments, parts, materials, or repairs.
(f) Civil aircraft exception
The duty imposed under subsection (a) of this section shall not
apply to the cost of equipments, or any part thereof, purchased, of
repair parts or materials used, or of repairs made in a foreign
country with respect to a United States civil aircraft, within the
meaning of general note 3(c)(iv) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States.
(g) Fish net and netting purchases and repairs
The duty imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall not
apply to entries on and after October 1, 1979, and before January
1, 1982, of -
(1) tuna purse seine nets and netting which are equipments or
parts thereof,
(2) repair parts for such nets and netting, or materials used
in repairing such nets and netting, or
(3) the expenses of repairs of such nets and netting,
for any United States documented tuna purse seine vessel of greater
than 500 tons carrying capacity or any United States tuna purse
seine vessel required to carry a certificate of inclusion under the
general permit issued to the American Tunaboat Association pursuant
to section 1374 of title 16.
(h) Foreign repair of vessels
The duty imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall not
apply to -
(1) the cost of any equipment, or any part of equipment,
purchased for, or the repair parts or materials to be used, or
the expense of repairs made in a foreign country with respect to,
LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) barges documented under the laws of
the United States and utilized as cargo containers;
(2) the cost of spare repair parts or materials (other than
nets or nettings) which the owner or master of the vessel
certifies are intended for use aboard a cargo vessel, documented
under the laws of the United States and engaged in the foreign or
coasting trade, for installation or use on such vessel, as
needed, in the United States, at sea, or in a foreign country,
but only if duty is paid under appropriate commodity
classifications of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States upon first entry into the United States of each such spare
part purchased in, or imported from, a foreign country;
(3) the cost of spare parts necessarily installed before the
first entry into the United States, but only if duty is paid
under appropriate commodity classifications of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States upon first entry into the
United States of each such spare part purchased in, or imported
from, a foreign country; or
(4) the cost of equipment, repair parts, and materials that are
installed on a vessel documented under the laws of the United
States and engaged in the foreign or coasting trade, if the
installation is done by members of the regular crew of such
vessel while the vessel is on the high seas.
Declaration and entry shall not be required with respect to the
installation, equipment, parts, and materials described in
paragraph (4).