HQ 116226 - Japanese Prefectual Government Training Vessels; Advance Electronic Presentation of Cargo Information; 19 CFR 4.5, 4.7 - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 116226

May 19, 2004

VES-5-11-RR:IT:EC 116226 CK

CATEGORY: CARRIER

David S. Germroth
Senior Vice President
R.J. Hudson Associates
300 N. Lee Street
Suite 500
Alexandria, VA 22314

RE: Japanese Prefectual Government Training Vessels; Advance Electronic Presentation of Cargo Information; 19 CFR 4.5, 4.7

Dear Mr. Germroth:

This is in response to your ruling request dated April 29, 2004, in which you ask whether the Required Advance Electronic Presentation of Cargo Information applies to Japanese Prefectual Government Training Vessels (“JPGTV”).

FACTS:

You are seeking a ruling request for thirteen Japanese Prefectual Government Training Vessels (“JPGTV”). The vessels are owned and operated as training vessels by the government of Japan. The vessels at issue are: TOSAKAIEN MARU; SHIROCHIDORI; SATSUMA SEIUN MARU; RAISU MARU; OMI MARU; KANOU MARU; KAGAWA MARU; FUNAKAWA MARU; FUKUSHIMA MARU; EHIME MARU; CHOKAI MARU; AOMORI MARU; and AICHI MARU.

The JPGTV are used by Japanese prefectual governments to provide vocational maritime training to Japanese nationals enrolled in the Sea Cadet program. The training performed by these vessels is a mandatory part of the overall certification of seamen who are on a vocational educational tract to become officers in Japan’s maritime fishing fleets. Participating Sea Cadet recruits learn the various skills and trades necessary to operate a long-line fishing vessel as well as the long-line fishing process itself. A small amount of fish is harvested in the process and is used by the cadets in support of the vessel.

The training mission of the JPGTV tend to follow the same route, the first leg of the training mission is Japan to Honolulu. In Honolulu they take on provisions and ship stores. From Honolulu the vessels head to the fishing grounds where they spend several weeks training. From the fishing ground the vessels head either directly back to Japan or make a stop in Honolulu en route to Japan.

It is your position that the JPGTV are owned and operated by the prefectual governments of Japan, utilized for the sole purpose of training, and they are not involved in any form of for-profit commerce.

ISSUE:

Whether the Japanese Prefectual Government Training Vessels are required to present advance electronic cargo declaration information to CBP pursuant to 19 CFR § 4.7.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210, 116 Stat. 933, enacted on August 8, 2002), as amended by section 108 of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-295, 116 Stat. 2064, enacted on November 25, 2002), required that the Secretary endeavor to promulgate final regulations providing for the mandatory collection of electronic cargo information by CBP, either prior to the arrival of the cargo in the United States or its departure from the United States by any mode of commercial transportation (sea, air, rail or truck). Under section 343(a), as amended (codified at 19 U.S.C. 2071 note), the information required must consist of that information about the cargo which is determined to be reasonably necessary to enable CBP to identify high-risk shipments so as to ensure cargo safety and security and prevent smuggling pursuant to the laws that are enforced and administered by CBP.

Consequently, in accordance with the parameters set forth in section 343(a), as amended, a document was published in the Federal Register (68 FR 43574) on July 23, 2003, proposing to amend the Customs Regulations in order to require the advance electronic transmission of information pertaining to cargo prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the United States by sea, air, rail, or truck. The Final Rule amending Customs Regulations in parts 4, 103, 122, 123, 178, and 192 was published as CBP Dec. 03-32 in the Federal Register (68 FR 68140) on December 5, 2003.

The applicable Customs Regulation, 19 CFR 4.7, provides in pertinent part as follows:

§ 4.7 Inward foreign manifest; production on demand; contents and form; advance filing of cargo declaration.

The master of every vessel arriving in the United States and required to make entry shall have on board his vessel a manifest as required by section 431, Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1431), and by this section. . . . . . .
(b)(2) Subject to the effective date provided in paragraph (b)(5) of this section, and with the exception of any bulk or authorized break bulk cargo as prescribed in paragraph (b)(4) of this section, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must receive from the incoming carrier, for any vessel covered under paragraph (a) of this section, the CBP approved electronic equivalent of the vessel’s Cargo Declaration (Customs Form 1302), 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard the vessel at the foreign port (see § 4.30(n)(1)). The current approved system for presenting electronic cargo declaration information to CBP is the Vessel Automated Manifest System (AMS). [Emphasis supplied.]

Notwithstanding the alternate time frames for filing advance cargo information for other than containerized cargo referenced in 19 CFR 4.7a, any vessel exempt from entry would, or course, be exempt from the provision of advance cargo information. In this regard we note that the vessels in question are vessels of the Japanese prefectual governments. Consequently, we find relevant 19 CFR 4.5, which provides in pertinent part as follows:

§ 4.5 Government vessels.

(a) No report of arrival or entry shall be required of any vessel owned by, or under the complete control and management of the United States or any of its agencies, if such vessel is manned wholly by members of the uniformed services of the United States, by personnel in the civil service of the United States, or by both, and is transporting only property of the United States or passengers traveling on official business of the United States, or it is ballast. . . .
(c) Every vessel owned by, or under the complete control and management of, any foreign nation shall be exempt from or subject to the laws relating to report of arrival and entry under the same conditions as a vessel owned or controlled by the United States. [Emphasis supplied.]

In this case, the subject vessels are under the control of the Japanese prefectual governments. The vessels are managed by the Japanese prefectual governments, and are manned wholly by Japanese civilian nationals under the direction of the Japanese government. The facts of your request therefore indicate that the above-cited “provisos” are satisfied, i.e., the JPGTV are crewed by Japanese civilian nationals, operate at the pleasure and discretion of the Japanese government, and all cargo, if any, is for purposes supporting the civilians on board at the direction of the Japanese government. Consequently, pursuant to 19 CFR 4.5, we find that the subject JPGTV are not required to report arrival or make entry.

Because the subject vessels are not required to make entry, they are not covered by 19 CFR 4.7(a). Therefore, the subject vessels are not subject to the advance reporting requirements (AMS) described in 19 CFR 4.7(b)(2). See 19 CFR 4.7(b)(2), above.

Accordingly, the JPGTV are not subject to the advance reporting requirements of 19 CFR 4.7, and are therefore not required to have an international carrier bond.

HOLDING:

The subject Japanese Prefectual Government Training Vessels are not required to make entry. Therefore, they are not subject to the advance reporting requirements (AMS) of 19 CFR 4.7 and are not required to have an international carrier bond.

Sincerely,

Glen E. Vereb
Chief

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