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HQ 113309




February 6, 1995

VES-11-11 CO:R:IT:C 113309 BEW

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Regional Commissioner of Customs
Southeast Region
Miami, Florida 31301

RE: Application for Refund of Special Tonnage Tax and Light Money for the Liberian Vessel M/T JO ALDER

Dear Sir:

This is in reference to your memorandum dated December 30, 1994, concerning an application for refund of special tonnage tax and light money filed by San Juan Mercantile Corporation

FACTS:

On November 23, 1994, the M/T JO ALDER , a Liberian-flag vessel, made formal entry at the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a foreign arrival from Rotterdam. At the time of entrance, the vessel's agent was not able to produce an original register or certificate of nationality for the vessel. Special tonnage tax and light money in the amount of $3,993 were demanded when representatives for the vessel were unable to present an original document.

The money was assessed pursuant to section 121 of title 46, United States Code (46 U.S.C. 121), and section 4.20, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.20), upon arrival of the vessel at the port of San Juan, on November 23, 1994.

ISSUE:

May special tonnage taxes and light money assessed because the vessel under consideration did not have a current original document of registry when it was entered or before it was cleared be refunded when timely application for refund is made and the applicant submits an original Provisional Certificate of Registry. LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Under 46 U.S.C. App. 121 and 128, a special tonnage tax in the amount of fifty cents per ton and light money in the amount of fifty cents per ton are to be assessed on vessels not built in the United States and not of the United States. However, pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 141 (see also final clause of penultimate sentence of 46 U.S.C. App. 121), upon satisfactory proof that no discriminating duties of tonnage or imposts are imposed in the ports of another nation upon United States vessels, "... foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are suspended and discontinued, so far as respects the vessels of such foreign nation ..." The nations for which such satisfactory proof has been supplied are listed in section 4.22, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.22). Liberia is one of those nations.

The Customs Regulations pertaining to tonnage taxes and light money are found in section 4.20-4.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.20-4.24). The procedures and requirements for obtaining a refund of tonnage taxes and light money are in section 4.24. Under that section, an application for refund must be made within 1 year from the date of payment. Paragraph (e) of section 4.24 provides that such an application must include:

... a certificate by the owner or ... agent that payment of tonnage tax at the applicable rate has been or will be made for each entry of the vessel on a voyage on which that rate is applicable before the end of the current tonnage year, exclusive of any payment which has been refunded or which may be refunded as a result of such application.

Only the original of a vessel registry, tonnage certificate, or official amendment or endorsement of either shall be accepted by Customs at the time of arrival of the vessel for the purpose of establishing the nationality and tonnage of the vessel, unless the vessel is a vessel of Lebanon (Customs Directive 3100-03, September 22, 1986). When the owner or agent of a vessel which has been assessed special tonnage taxes and light money timely submits the original vessel document to the District Director of Customs for the port where the special tonnage taxes and light money were assessed, the special tonnage taxes and light money may be refunded. If it is impractical, infeasible, or inconvenient for the vessel owner or agent to submit the original document to Customs the vessel owner or agent may submit to Customs a photostatic copy of the original document, signed and certified to be a true copy by an appropriate official of the government of registry of the vessel. In this case the vessel agent has timely applied for a refund of the special tonnage taxes and light money assessed against the M/T JO ALDER.

An original Provisional Certificate of Registry dated July 2, 1994, was submitted to Customs in San Juan. The district director has certified this document to be a true copy of the original to sustain the vessel's nationality. The original document which expires on July 2, 1996, was in effect at the time of entry in San Juan.

We conclude that this evidence satisfactorily establishes the tonnage of the M/T JO ALDER and the JO ALDER was a vessel of the Republic of Liberia when it entered San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 23, 1994. We concur with your recommendation that the special tonnage taxes and light money assessed against the M/T JO ALDER be refunded.

HOLDING:

Upon the filing of the certificate required in 19 CFR 4.24(e), special tonnage taxes and light money assessed because the vessel under consideration did not have a current original document of registry when it was entered or before it was cleared may be refunded on the basis of the applicant's submission of an original Provisional Certificate of Registry of the Republic of Liberia.

Sincerely,

Arthur P. Schifflin

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