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HQ H019085

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January 22, 2008

VES-5-RR:BSTC:CCI H019085 CK

CATEGORY: VESSELS

Stephanie G. Duncan
Transportation Compliance Manger
Tropical Shipping
P.O. Box 10683
Rivera Beach, FL 33419-0683

RE: Commercial Documents; 19 CFR 4.63

Dear Ms. Duncan:

This is in response to your correspondence dated October 19, 2007, with attachments, in which you seek a ruling request that one of the attached documents satisfies the “commercial document” alternative to a bill of lading as per 19 CFR 4.63. Our response follows.

FACTS:

Tropical Shipping (“Tropical”) is an ocean carrier that ships to most islands in the Caribbean. Tropical ships out of the Ports of West Palm Beach, Tampa, Port Everglades, and San Juan. The majority of its business involves US exports.

Tropical submitted with its ruling request five (5) examples of Tropical’s bills of lading, and a spreadsheet that Tropical created as a new “commercial document” that it seeks to submit in lieu of its bills of lading.

The submitted bills of lading contain the following data fields: 1. Shipper/exporter; 2. export references; 3. Consignee; 4. Forwarding agent/FMC No.; 5. Notify party; 6. Also notify- Routing/Instructions; 7. Exporting carrier and no.; 8. EDA; 9. Port of loading; 10. Port of discharge; 11. Marks and numbers/container numbers with seal numbers; 12. Number of packages; 13. Description of packages/goods- Hazardous materials; 14. Gross weight; 15. Measurement; 16. Clauses; 17. Insured value; 18. Ad Valorem declared value USD; 19. Freight payable at/by; 20. Charge description; 21. Prepaid (USD); 22. Collect (USD); 23. Date of Issuance; 24. No. of original b/l(s) signed; 25. Voyage date; and 26. Point and country of origin of goods. For multi-model movements there are additional fields: 27. Pre-carriage by; 28. Place of receipt; and 29. Place of delivery by oncarrier.

The spreadsheet contains the following data fields: 1. Name of ship; 2. Nationality of ship; 3. US Port of exit; 4. Port of discharge; 5. Voyage number; 6. Date of departure; 7. Time of departure; 8. Page number; 9. Shipper Name and address; 10. Bill of lading number; 11. Marks and numbers/container numbers/seal numbers; 12. number and kind of packages- Description of cargo- Hazardous materials; 13. Weight; 14. SED clauses; 15. Bond type-number-date opened; 16. Consignee name and address; 17. Notify party name and address; 18. Forwarding agent name and address; and 19. Estimated date of arrival.

Tropical seeks to submit the above-described spreadsheet along with the CBPF 1302-A, Cargo Declaration Outward, in lieu of submitting copies of individual bills of lading with the 1302-A, as per section 4.63 of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations (19 CFR 4.63) as an “equivalent commercial document.”

ISSUE:

May the proposed spreadsheet be submitted in lieu of copies of individual bills of lading as an “equivalent commercial document” to accompany the Cargo Declaration Outward as per 19 CFR 4.63.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, §4.63 (19 CFR 4.63), states in pertinent part:

(a) No vessel shall be cleared directly for a foreign port, or for a foreign port by way of another domestic port or other domestic ports (see § 4.87(b)), unless there has been filed with the appropriate Customs officer at the port from which clearance is being sought:

(1) A Cargo Declaration Outward With Commercial Forms, Customs Form 1302–A. Copies of bills of lading or equivalent commercial documents relating to all cargo encompassed by the manifest must be attached in such manner as to constitute one document, together with a Vessel Entrance or Clearance Statement, Customs Form 1300, and export declarations as are required by pertinent regulations of the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce; (emphasis added)

(c) The following minimal information shall be included on the Cargo Declaration Outward With Commercial Forms, Customs Form 1302–A (other information required to be on a Customs Form 1302–A as shown on the form itself must also be included thereon) or on attached copies of bills of lading or equivalent commercial documents: (1) Name and address of shipper;
(2) Description of the cargo (see paragraph (d) of this section); (3) Number of packages and gross weight (see paragraph (d) of this section; (4) Name of vessel or carrier;
(5) Port of exit (this shall be the port where the merchandise is loaded on the vessel); and (6) Port of destination (this shall be the foreign port of discharge of the merchandise). (emphasis added)

(d) If the bills of lading or equivalent commercial documents attached to the Customs Form 1302–A show on their face the cargo information required by columns 6, 7, and either column 8 or 9, of the Customs Form 1302–A, that information need not be shown again on the Customs Form 1302–A. However, in that case, the cargo information must be incorporated by a suitable reference on the face of the Customs Form 1302–A such as ‘‘Cargo as per attached commercial documents.’’

Tropical’s proposed spreadsheet would contain 1. Name of ship; 2. Nationality of ship; 3. US Port of exit; 4. Port of discharge; 5. Voyage number; 6. Date of departure; 7. Time of departure; 8. Page number; 9. Shipper Name and address; 10. Bill of lading number; 11. Marks and numbers/container numbers with seal numbers; 12. Number and kind of packages- Description of cargo- Hazardous materials; 13. Weight; 14. SED clauses; 15. Bond type-number-date opened; 16. Consignee name and address; 17. Notify party; 18. Forwarding agent; and 19. Estimated date of arrival.

It is clear that the proposed spreadsheet from Tropical will not only include all required data fields and information, it will actually include all pertinent data fields from their current bills of lading. Consequently, the proposed spreadsheet is a complete equivalent to the bills of lading, and is sufficient to qualify as an “equivalent commercial document” for purposes of 19 CFR 4.63.

HOLDING:

Tropical’s proposed spreadsheet described-above qualifies as an “equivalent commercial document” for purposes of 19 CFR 4.63.

Sincerely,

Glen E. Vereb
Chief

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