HQ 0111950 - Payment of Harbor Maintenance Fee - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 111950

November 19, 1991

VES-5-08-CO:R:IT:C 111950 MLR

CATEGORY: CARRIER

David Okerson
NVOCC Manager
Sea Express International, Inc.
Indtrans International Division
P.O. Box 41437
Indianapolis, IN 46241

RE: Payment of Harbor Maintenance Fee

Dear Mr. Okerson:

This is in reference to your letter dated October 10, 1991, concerning who is responsible for the payment of the harbor maintenance fee.

FACTS:

Sea Express International, Inc. performs freight forwarding duties for General Electric Company. In your letter, you state that Sea Express received routing instructions from General Electric in which General Electric attached its Commercial Invoice consigning the cargo to Sea Express for shipment. You contend that Sea Express has no legal claim to the cargo in question. General Electric instructed Sea Express to prepare the export documentation so that General Electric does not appear as the shipper/exporter. General Electric contends that it is not responsible for paying the harbor maintenance fee.

ISSUE:

Who is responsible for paying the harbor maintenance fee.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 24.24 of the Customs Regulations provides for the payment of a harbor maintenance fee. 19 C.F.R. 24.24 (1991). Commercial cargo loaded on a commercial vessel is subject to a port use fee of 0.125 percent of its value. 56 Fed. Reg. 21446 (1991) (to be codified at 19 C.F.R. 24.24). According to the U.S. Customs Service, "when cargo is loaded on a commercial vessel for export at a port...the exporter of that cargo (the name that appears on the SED [Shipper's Export Declaration]...) is liable for the payment of the port use fee at the time of loading." 19 C.F.R. 24.24(e)(2) (1991).

For purposes of the collection of the harbor maintenance fee, the SED should be completed in accordance with 19 C.F.R. 4.63 and 15 C.F.R. Part 30. Section 30.7(d) of the Commerce Regulations states that the exporter named on the SED shall be the "principal or seller" in the export transaction. 15 C.F.R. 30.7(d) (1991). The SED
shall be prepared by the shipper, owner, or consignor, or his properly authorized agent. For shipments to foreign countries, if the Shipper's Export Declaration is prepared by an agent his authority to sign such declaration shall be in the form of a properly executed power of attorney, signed by the shipper, owner, or consignor, or in the less formal written authorization printed on the export declaration.

15 C.F.R. 30.4(a) (1991). Exporters who authorize the preparation of their export declarations by an agent shall provide the agent with information to meet the requirements of section 30.7 of the Commerce Regulations, which state what information is required on the SED. Id. Invoices furnished to the agent for other purposes may not necessarily contain all of the information needed for the preparation of the SED. Id.

HOLDING:

Absent any private contract between the parties, for the purposes of the U.S. Customs Service, the harbor maintenance fee is to be paid by the exporter of that cargo, i.e. the name that appears on the Shipper's Export Declaration. Based upon a plain reading of the Commerce Regulations, the name that is to appear on the SED generally shall be the principal or seller. Any further questions relating to the application and interpretation of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations should be directed to the Foreign Trade Division, Bureau of the Census.

Sincerely,

B. James Fritz

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