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HQ 113902

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July 24, 1997

VES-11-10-RR:IT:EC 113902 GG

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
P.O. Box 2748
Mobile, AL 36652

RE: Application for Refund of Special Tonnage Tax & Light Money for the Panamanian Vessel M/V OJI UNIVERSE; Certificate of Registry; 46 App. U.S.C. 121 & 128; 19 CFR 4.20-4.24

Dear Sir:

This is in reference to your memorandum VES-11-M:CKE, dated April 4, 1997, in which you forward to us a letter from Riomar Agencies, Inc., requesting a refund of special tonnage tax and light money paid for failure to produce an original registry at the time of entry.

FACTS:

The Panamanian vessel M/V OJI UNIVERSE arrived at Mobile, Alabama from Japan on June 7, 1996, and made formal entry the next day. The vessel did not have a valid original Certificate of Registry on board. Its prior certificate had expired and a new one had been issued on May 24, 1996. Although there was a faxed copy of the new certificate on board, the original copy had been delayed in mailing from the Consul in Panama. Customs assessed a Special Tonnage Tax and Light Money in the amount of $19,368.00 for failure to present a valid original document. The ship's agent provided Customs with an original registry on February 10, 1997. This registry was issued, as claimed, on May 24, 1996.

ISSUE:

May the Customs Service refund special tonnage tax and light money assessed for failure to produce an original vessel registry at the time of entry, when timely application for refund is made and the applicant submits an original vessel registry valid for the date of the entry of the vessel?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

United States law assesses a special tonnage tax and light money in the amount of fifty cents per ton on vessels not of the United States. 46 App. U.S.C. ?? 121 & 128. Pursuant to 46 App. U.S.C. ? 141, upon satisfactory proof that no discriminatory 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 proof has been supplied are listed in section 4.22 of the Customs Regulations. Panama is one of those nations.

The regulations pertaining to tonnage tax, special tonnage tax, and light money are found in section 4.20 to 4.24 of the Customs Regulations. 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 one 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 that has been assessed special tonnage tax and light money timely submits the original vessel document to the port director of the port where the assessment was made, the special tonnage tax 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 tax and light money levied on the M/V OJI UNIVERSE by the port director in Mobile. In support of its request the agent provided Customs with an original registry, which was issued prior to the date of entry. We conclude that this evidence satisfactorily establishes that the M/V OJI UNIVERSE was a vessel of Panama when it entered at Mobile on June 8, 1996. In addition, the applicant has included a statement in its letter expressing an intent to follow all applicable Customs regulations, thus fulfilling its requirement under section 4.24(e) of the Customs Regulations. We concur with your recommendation that the special tonnage tax and light money assessed against this ship be refunded.

HOLDING:

Special tonnage tax and light money assessed because the vessel under consideration did not have an original document of registry when it was entered may be refunded on the basis of the applicant's submission of an original registry to the Port Director of Customs in Mobile.

Sincerely,

Jerry Laderberg
Chief
Entry Procedures and Carriers
Branch

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