(b) Upon the arrival of a vessel enrolled and licensed or licensed for the fisheries which has put into a foreign port or place, the master shall report its arrival, make entry, and conform in all respects to the regulations applicable in the case of a vessel arriving from a foreign port. (c) If a vessel which has been granted a permit to touch and trade arrives at a port in the United States, whether or not the vessel has touched at a foreign port or place, such permit shall forthwith be surrendered to the collector of customs. (d) No permit to touch and trade shall be issued to a vessel enrolled and licensed or licensed for the coasting trade and mackerel fishery which is departing on a foreign voyage to engage exclusively in a trade other than the fisheries. For such a voyage the vessel shall be registered and the master shall obtain clearance for the foreign port or place. (R. S. 4364, 4365; 46 U. S. C. 310, 311) [13 F. R. 7931, Dec. 18, 1948] 28 "Whenever any vessel, licensed for carrying on the fisheries, is intended to touch and trade at any foreign port, it shall be the duty of the master or owner to obtain permission for that purpose from the collector of the district where such vessel may be, previous to her departure, and the master of every such vessel shall deliver like manifests, and make like entries, both of the vessel and of the merchandise on board, within the same time, and under the same penalty, as are by law provided for vessels of the United States arriving from a foreign port." (46 U. S. C. 310) "Whenever a vessel, licensed for carrying on the fisheries, is found within three leagues of the coast, with merchandise of foreign growth or manufacture, exceeding the value of $500, without having such permission as is directed by section 310 of this title, such vessel together with the merchandise of foreign growth or manufacture imported therein, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture." (46 U. S. C. 311; see also 46 U. S. C. 325) If such a vessel puts into a foreign port or place and only obtains bunkers, stores, or supplies suitable for a fishing voyage, it is not considered to have touched and traded there. § 4.16 Entry and clearance on board vessels. (a) A master, owner, or agent of a vessel described in the act of June 16, 1937, who desires that arrival may be reported, entry made, and clearance obtained on board the vessel shall file with the collector an application on customs Form 3853 and a bond on customs Form 7567 in such penal sum as the collector deems sufficient but not less than $1,000, or the usual term bond on customs Form 7569. (b) If the application is approved, the collector of customs or such deputy collector of customs as may be designated by him shall receive the report of arrival and the entry of the vessel and grant it clearance on board the vessel. (c) For the purposes of the said act the term "at night" shall include the hours from 5 p. m. of one day to 8 a. m. of the following day, and the term "holiday" shall include only national holidays. (50 Stat. 303; 19 U. S. C. 1435b) [13 F. R. 7931, Dec. 18, 1948, as amended by T. D. 53336, 18 F. R. 5405, Sept. 9, 1953] § 4.17 Vessels from discriminating countries. The prohibition against imports in, and the penalty of forfeiture of, certain vessels from countries which discriminate against American vessels provided for in subsections 2 and 3 of 29 "In order to expedite the dispatch of vessels carrying passengers operating on regular schedules and arriving at night or on a Sunday or a holiday at a port in the United States at which such vessel is required by law to report arrival and make entry and from which it is required to obtain a clearance, the collector of customs, or any deputy collector of customs designated by him, if the vessel departs during the same night, Sunday, or holiday on which it arrives may, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, receive the report of arrival and entry of such vessel from and give clearance for such vessel to the master or other proper officer thereof on board such vessel: Provided, That bond, as prescribed in section 1451 of this title, is given to secure reimbursement to the Government for the compensation of, and expenses incurred by, such customs officers in performing such services, who shall be entitled to rates of compensation fixed on the same basis and payable in the same manner and upon the same terms and conditions as in the case of customs officers and employees assigned to lading or unlading at night or on Sunday or a holiday." (19 U. S. C. 1435b. Sec. 102, Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946; 3 CFR, 1946 Supp., Ch. IV) paragraph J, section IV, Tariff Act of 1913, as amended by the act of March 4, 1915 (19 U. S. C. 130, 131), shall be enforced only in pursuance of specific instructions issued and published from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury or such other officer as the Secretary may designate. (See also §§ 4.20 (c) and 16.19 of this chapter.) [13 F. R. 7931, Dec. 18, 1948, as amended by T. D. 53336, 18 F. R. 5405, Sept. 9, 1953] TONNAGE TAX AND LIGHT MONEY § 4.20 Tonnage taxes. (a) Except as specified in § 4.21, a regular tonnage tax or duty of 2 cents per net ton, not to 36 36 "Upon vessels which shall be entered in the United States from any foreign port or place there shall be paid duties as follows: On vessels built within the United States but belonging wholly or in part to subjects of foreign powers, at the rate of thirty cents per ton; on other vessels not of the United States, at the rate of fifty cents per ton, and any vessel any officer of which shall not be a citizen of the United States shall pay a tax of fifty cents per ton. "A tonnage duty of 2 cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate 10 cents per ton in any one year, is imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the West India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or the coast of South America bordering on the Caribbean Sea, or Newfoundland, and a duty of 6 cents per ton, not to exceed 30 cents per ton per annum, is imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any other foreign port, not, however, to include vessels in distress or not engaged in trade. "Upon every vessel not of the United States, which shall be entered in one district from another district, having on board goods, wares, or merchandise taken in one district to be delivered in another district, duties shall be paid at the rate of 50 cents per ton: Provided, That no such duty shall be required where a vessel owned by citizens of the United States, but not a vessel of the United States, after entering an American port, shall, before leaving the same, be registered as a vessel of the United States. On all foreign vessels which shall be entered in the United States from any foreign port or place, to and with which vessels of the United States are not ordinarily permitted to enter and trade, there shall be paid a duty at the rate of $2 per ton; and none of the duties on tonnage above-mentioned shall be levied on the vessels of any foreign nation if the President of the United States shall be satisfied that the discriminating or countervailing duties of such foreign nations, so far as they operate to the disadvantage of the United States, have been exceed in the aggregate 10 cents per net ton in any 1 year, shall be imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the West Indies, the Bahaina Islands, the Bermuda Islands, Newfoundland, or the coast of South America bordering on the Caribbean Sea (considered to include the mouth of the Orinoco River), and regular tonnage tax of 6 cents per net ton, not to exceed 30 cents per net ton per annum, shall be imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any other foreign port. (b) The tonnage year shall be computed from the date of the first entry of the vessel concerned, without regard to the rate of the payment made at that entry, and shall expire on the day preceding the corresponding date of the following year." (c) A vessel shall also be subject on every entry from a foreign port or place, whether or not regular tonnage tax is payable on the particular entry, to the payment of a special tonnage tax and to the payment of light money at the rates and under the circumstances specified in the following table: 39 38 abolished. Any rights or privileges acquired by any foreign nation under the laws and treaties of the United States relative to the duty of tonnage on vessels shall not be impaired; and any vessel any officer of which shall not be a citizen of the United States shall pay a tax of 50 cents per ton." (46 U. S. C. 121) 7 There may be five payments at the maximum (6-cent) and five at the minimum (2-cent) rate during a tonnage year, so that the maximum assessment of tonnage duty may amount to 40 cents per net ton for the tonnage year of a vessel engaged in alternating trade. as See footnote 36. 39 "A duty of 50 cents per ton, to be denominated 'light money', shall be levied and collected on all vessels not of the United States which may enter the ports of the United States. Such light money shall be levied and collected in the same manner and under the same regulations as the tonnage duties: Provided, That no such duty shall be required where a vessel owned by citizens of the United States, but not a vessel of the United States, after entering an American port, shall, before leaving the same, be registered as a vessel of the United States." (46 U. S. C. 128) Classes of vessels Vessels of the United States: 1. Under provisional register, without regard to citizenship of officers.. 2. All others: (i) If all the officers are citizens. Undocumented vessels which are owned by citizens 2. Vessels of Philippine registry, owned by citizens of the Philippine Islands. 1. Of nations whose vessels are exempted from special tax or light money. 3. All others: (i) Built in the United States. (ii) Not built in the United States.. This does not apply on the first arrival of a vessel in a port of the United States from a foreign or intercoastal voyage if all the officers who are not citizens are below the grade of master and are filling vacancies which occurred on the voyage. The special tax and light money do not apply if the vessel is documented as a vessel of the United States before leaving the port. This does not apply if the vessel is under a certificate of protection and the owner or master files with the collector the oath required by 46 U. S. C. 129. An unrecorded bill of sale is not such a document as will exempt a vessel from the payment of light money under 46 U. S. C. 128, and the recording of such bill of sale after the arrival of the vessel is not sufficient to relieve it from the payment of the tax. This is to be collected on each entry of a vessel from such a port or place. (d) Tonnage tax shall be imposed upon a vessel even though she enters a port of the United States only for orders. (e) The fact that a vessel passes through the Canal Zone does not affect the rate of tonnage tax otherwise applicable to the vessel. (f) For the purpose of computing tonnage tax, the net tonnage of a vessel stated in the vessel's marine document shall be accepted unless (1) such statement is manifestly wrong, in which case the net tonnage shall be estimated, pending admeasurement of the vessel, or the tonnage reported for her by any recognized classification society may be accepted, or (2) an appendix is attached to the marine document showing a net tonnage ascertained under the so-called "British rules" or the rules of any foreign country which have been accepted as substantially in accord with the rules of the United States, in which case the tonnage so shown may be accepted and the date the appendix was issued shall be noted on the tonnage tax certificate, customs Form 1002, and on the master's oath, customs Form 3251. (g) The decision of the Commissioner of Customs is final on any question of interpretation relating to the collection of tonnage tax or to the refund of such tax when collected erroneously or illegally, and any question of doubt shall be referred to him for instructions. (R. S. 4153, as amended, secs. 2, 4, 28 Stat. 743, as amended, R. S. 4154, as amended, 4219, as amended, 4225, as amended, 4131, as amended; 46 U. S. C. 77, 78, 79, 81, 121, 128, 221) [13 F. R. 7932, Dec. 18, 1948, as amended by T. D. 53336, 18 F. R. 5405, Sept. 9, 1953; T. D. 53399, 18 F. R. 8686, Dec. 24, 1953] § 4.21 Exemptions from tonnage taxes. (a) Tonnage taxes and light money shall be suspended in whole or in part whenever the President by proclamation shall so direct. (b) A vessel shall not be liable to the payment of tonnage tax or light money merely because (1) It comes into port for bunkers (including water), sea stores, or ship's stores; transacts no other business in the port; and departs within 24 hours after its arrival. (2) It arrives in distress, even though required to enter. (3) It is brought into port by orders of United States naval authorities and transacts no business while in port other than the taking on of bunkers, sea stores, or ship's stores. (4) It is a vessel of war or other vessel which is owned by, or under the complete control and management of the United States or the government of a foreign country, and which is not carrying passengers or merchandise in trade or, if in ballast, which is not arriving from a foreign port during the usual course of its employment as a vessel engaged in trade. (5) It is a yacht or other pleasure vessel not carrying passengers or merchandise in trade. (6) It is engaged exclusively in scientific activities. (7) It is engaged exclusively in laying or repairing cables. (8) It is engaged in whaling or other fisheries, even though it may have entered a foreign port for fuel or supplies, if it did not carry passengers or merchandise in trade. (9) It is a passenger vessel making three trips or more a week between a port of the United States and a foreign port. (10) It is used exclusively as a ferry boat, including a car ferry. (11) It is a tug under frontier enrollment and license, when towing vessels which are required to make entry. (12) It is a vessel under frontier enrollment and license which has touched at an intermediate foreign port or ports during a coastwise voyage. (13) It enters otherwise than by sea from a foreign port at which tonnage or lighthouse dues or equivalent taxes are not imposed on vessels of the United States." (14) It is owned by a citizen of the Philippine Islands and is documented by the Philippine Government. (15) It is a vessel entering directly from the Virgin Islands (U.S.), the Canal Zone, American Samoa, the islands of Guam, Wake, Midway, Canton, or Kingman Reef, or Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. (16) It is a vessel making regular daily trips between any port of the United States and any port in Canada wholly upon interior waters not navigable to the ocean, except that such a vessel shall pay tonnage taxes upon her first arrival in each calendar year. (Sec. 441, 46 Stat. 712, as amended, R. S. 4214, as amended, R. S. 4220, 2793, as amended, 2792, as amended, 4221, 4225, as 44 "Vessels entering otherwise than by sea from a foreign port at which tonnage or lighthouse dues or other equivalent tax or taxes are not imposed on vessels of the United States shall be exempt from the tonnage duty of 2 cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate 10 cents per ton in any one year." (46 U. S. C. 132) This statute applies to a vessel arriving in the United States on a voyage otherwise than by sea from a port in the province of Ontario, Canada, only. amended, 4226, sec. 1, 39 Stat. 286, 36 Stat. 234, R. S. 4227; 19 U. S. C. 1441, 46 U. S. C. 103, 122-125, 128-130, 132, 135) [13 F. R. 7932, Dec. 18, 1948, as amended by T. D. 53399, 18 F. R. 8686, Dec. 24, 1953] § 4.22 Exemptions from special tonnage taxes. Vessels of the following nations are exempted by treaties or Presidential proclamations from the payment of any higher tonnage duties than are applicable to vessels of the United States, and are exempted from the payment of light money: (R. S. 4219, as amended, 4225, as amended; 46 U. S. C. 121, 128) [13 F. R. 7933, Dec. 18, 1948, as amended by T. D. 52238, 14 F. R. 3200, June 14, 1949; T. D. 52340, 14 F. R. 6855, Nov. 15, 1949; T. D. 52545, 15 F. R. 5796, Aug. 29, 1950; T. D. 52591, 15 F. R. 7523, Nov. 9, 1950; T. D. 53129, 17 F. R. 9716, Oct. 29, 1952] § 4.23 Certificate of payment. Upon each payment of tonnage tax or light money, the collector of customs shall give to the master of the vessel a certificate on customs Form 1002, completely executed as to the payment then made and as to each payment previously made for the same vessel during the current tonnage year. This certificate shall constitute the official evidence of such payments. In the absence of such certificate, evidence of payment of tonnage tax shall be obtained from the Commissioner of Customs. [13 F. R. 7933, Dec. 18, 1948] 45 § 4.24 Application for refund of tonnage tax. (a) Each application for refund of tonnage tax or light money shall be in duplicate, each signed, addressed to the Commissioner of Customs, and submitted through the collector of customs to whom payment was made. (b) The application shall be a direct request for the refund of a definite sum, showing concisely the reasons therefor, the nationality, rig, and name of the vessel, and the date, place, and amount of each payment for which refund is asked. The application shall include a certificate by the owner or by the owner's 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. A protest against a payment shall not be accepted as an application for its refund. (c) The application shall be made within 1 year from date of the payment. (d) The collector of customs to whom payment was made shall make any refund authorized by the Commissioner of Customs. [13 F. R. 7933, Dec. 18, 1948, as amended by T. D. 53336, 18 F. R. 5405, Sept. 9, 1953; T. D. 53399, 18 F. R. 8686, Dec. 24, 1953] LANDING AND DELIVERY OF CARGO § 4.30 Permits and special licenses for unlading and lading. (a) Except as prescribed in paragraph (f) or (g) of this 45 "Whenever any fine, penalty, forfeiture, exaction, or charge arising under the laws relating to vessels or seamen has been paid to any collector of customs, or Coast Guard official, or consular officer, and application has been made within one year from such payment for the refunding or remission of the same, the Commandant of the Coast Guard or the Secretary of the Treasury, as the case may be, if on investigation he finds that such fine, penalty, forfeiture, exaction, or charge was illegally, improperly, or excessively imposed, shall have the power, either before or after the same has been covered into the Treasury, to refund so much of such fine, penalty, forfeiture, exaction, or charge as he may think proper, from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." (46 U. S. C. 8) 55 "Enrolled or licensed vessels engaged in the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United States, departing from or arriving at a port in one district to or from a port in another district, and also touching at intermediate foreign ports, shall not thereby become liable to the payment of entry and clearance fees, as if from or to foreign ports; but such vessels shall, notwithstanding, be (19 required to enter and clear; U. S. C. 288) 57 56 "If any passenger is unladen from any vessel or vehicle without a special license or permit therefor issued by the collector, the master of such vessel or the person in charge of such vehicle and every other person who knowingly is concerned, or who aids therein, shall each be liable to a penalty of $500 for each such passenger so unladen." (Tariff Act of 1930, sec. 454; 19 U. S. C. 1454) * After the entry, preliminary or otherwise, of any vessel or report of the arrival of any vehicle, the collector may issue a permit to the matter of the vessel, or to the person in charge of the vehicle, to unlade merchandise or baggage, but except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section merchandise or baggage so unladen shall be retained at the place of unlading until entry therefor is made and a permit for its delivery granted, and the owners of the vessel or vehicle from which any imported merchandise is unladen prior to entry of such merchandise shall be liable for the payment of the duties accruing on any part thereof that may be removed from the place of unlading without a permit therefor having been issued. Any merchandise or baggage so unladen from any vessel or vehicle for which entry is not made within forty-eight hours exclusive of Sunday and holidays from the time of the entry of the vessel or report of the vehicle, unless a longer time is granted by the collector as provided in section 484, shall be sent to a bonded warehouse or the public stores and held as unclaimed at the risk and expense of the consignee in the case of merchandise and of the owner in the case of baggage, until entry thereof is made." (Tariff Act of 1930, sec. 448 (a); 19 U. S. C. 1448 (a)) 68 "Vessels arriving in the United States from foreign ports may retain on board, without the payment of duty, all coal and other fuel, supplies, ships' stores, sea stores, and the legitimate equipment of such vessels. Any such supplies, ships' stores, sea stores, or equipment landed and delivered from such vessel shall be considered and treated as imported merchandise: Provided, That bunker coal, bunker oil, ships' stores, sea stores, or the legitimate equipment of vessels belonging to regular lines plying between foreign ports |