immediately make the same known to the collector of customs at the port of entry; and I further declare, if this declaration is executed by me as purchaser or ultimate consignee, that the said invoice or invoices are in all respects correct and true and truly state the price paid or to be paid for all of said merchandise as has been purchased or agreed to be purchased; and if this declaration is executed by me as agent that all of the statements contained therein are correct and true to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Signed and declared to before me on..

Capacity

(Name of person signing.)

19....

(Title of officer or corporation, member of firm, or agent.)

(Deputy Collector, Notary Public, etc.)

NOTE.-Agent's declaration is not required if owner or purchaser's declaration is executed at or prior to presentation of entry. When signed by an agent, bond must be given to produce owner's declaration. Customs Cat. 7551.)

Owner's Declaration

SEC. 6. If the merchandise is to be entered by an agent, broker or forwarder, it is provided by Section 2787 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the Act of March 2, 1905, that:

"Whenever any entry is made with the collector of any district of merchandise imported into the United States subject to duty by an agent, factor or person, other than the person to whom it belongs or to whom it is ultimately consigned, the collector shall take a bond with surety from such agent, factor, or person in the penal sum of an amount equal to double the estimated duties, with condition that the actual owner or consignee of such merchandise shall deliver to the collector a full and correct account of the merchandise imported by him, or for him on his account, or consigned to his care, in the same manner and form as required in respect to any entry previous to the landing of the merchandise; which account shall be verified by a like oath, as in the case of an entry, to be taken and subscribed before any judge of the United States, or before any collector of customs, or before any properly qualified notary whose seal shall be attested by the clerk of the county in which he is resident, or before any notary public designated by the Secretary of the Treasury. In

case of the payment of the duties at the time of entry by any factor or agent on the merchandise entered by him, the condition. of the bond shall be to produce the account of the proper owner, or consignee, verified in manner as before directed, within ninety days from the date of such bond.

"The bond in no case shall be for less than one hundred dollars, and may not be required when the entered value does not exceed one hundred dollars. In the event of failure to produce the declaration of the owner or ultimate consignee within the time herein prescribed the bond may be cancelled, at discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, upon due proof that the factor or agent who entered the merchandise exercised proper diligence in the effort to fulfill the requirements of this Act.

"Provided, That with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, any agent, factor, or common carrier engaged in the entry of merchandise at the port of first arrival may give a general penal bond at said port for the production of the oaths of owners or ultimate consignees. Said bond shall be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury at an amount sufficient in his opinion to cover all obligations to the United States that may accrue, and the record and cancellation of liabilities under said general bond shall be in accordance with such rules as he may prescribe."

Owner's declarations have been prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury (Treasury Decision 34283 and Article 229, Customs Regulations, 1915) in the following form:

is the Purchaser or Ultimate Consignee of the merchandise described in this entry, and in the invoice or invoices now presented to the Collector of Customs, and that the said merchandise was imported on the date and in the vessel or conveyance at the port named above; that the invoice or invoices are in the state in which I received them, except as to marginal notations; that I have not received and do not know of the existence of any other invoice, writing, paper, or agreement showing a different price, value, or description of the said merchandise, and that if at any time hereafter I discover any error or misstatement in the invoice or invoices now presented, or receive any information, or any invoice, paper, or writing showing a different price, cost, or value, I will immediately make the same known to the Collector

of Customs at the port of entry; and I further declare if this declaration is executed by me as purchaser or ultimate consignee, that the said invoice or invoices are in all respects correct and true and truly state the price paid or to be paid for all of said merchandise as has been purchased or agreed to be purchased; and if this declaration is executed by me as agent, that all of the statements contained therein are correct and true to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Signed and declared to before me

(Title of officer of corporation, member of firm, or agent.)

Estimated Duties

SEC. 7.

The merchandise having been duly entered, it is provided by Section 2869 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of June 5, 1894, that:

"The collector jointly with the naval officer, if any, or alone where there is none, shall, according to the best of his or their judgment or information, make a gross estimate of the amount of the duties on the merchandise to which the entry of any owner or consignee, his factor or agent, shall relate, which estimate shall be indorsed upon such entry and signed by the officer making the same. The amount of the estimated duties having first been paid, or secured to be paid, pursuant to the provisions of this title, the collector shall, together with the naval officer, where there is one, or alone where there is none, grant a permit to deliver the merchandise, whereof entry has been so made, and then, and not before, it shall be lawful to deliver the merchandise."

Redelivery Bond

SEC. 8. If the entry is one for consumption, the Collector will permit the delivery of such of the goods as are not ordered to the Appraiser's stores for examination upon the filing of a bond in the

penal sum of double the estimated value of the merchandise, conditioned for the return to the Collector of any packages so delivered which may be demanded by the Collector or Appraiser, within ten days after the merchandise has been appraised and reported to the Collector in conformity with Section 2899 of the Revised Statutes, which provides that:

"No merchandise liable to be inspected or appraised shall be delivered from the custody of the officers of the customs until the same has been inspected or appraised, or until the packages sent to be inspected or appraised shall be found correctly and fairly invoiced and put up, and so reported to the collector. The collector may, however, at the request of the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, take bonds, with approved security, in double the estimated value of such merchandise, conditioned that it shall be delivered to the order of the collector, at any time within ten days after the package sent to the public stores has been appraised and reported to the collector. If in the meantime any package shall be opened, without the consent of the collector or surveyor given in writing, and then in the presence of one of the inspectors of the customs, or if the package is not delivered to the order of the collector, according to the condition of the bond, the bond shall, in either case, be forfeited."

The conditions under which unexamined packages may be opened by the importer are qualified by Paragraph X of Section III of the Tariff Act of October 3, 1913, wherein it is: Provided further:

"That section twenty-eight hundred and ninety-nine of the Revised Statutes, relating to the return of packages unopened for appraisement, shall in no wise prohibit the right of importers to make all needful examinations to determine whether the right to abandon accrues, or whether by reason of total destruction there is a non-importation in whole or in part."

Delivery Permit

SEC. 9. The duties having been duly estimated and paid or secured to be paid, and a redelivery bond in due form having been filed in conformity

with the two preceding sections, the Collector of Customs will issue a permit to deliver the goods in accordance with Section 2870 of the Revised Statutes, which provides that:

"All permits shall specify, as particularly as may be, the merchandise to be delivered, namely, the number and description of the packages, whether trunk, bale, chest, box, case, pipe, hogshead, barrel, keg, or any other package, and, as far as circumstances will admit, the contents thereof, together with the names of the vessel and master, in which and the place from whence they were imported; and no merchandise shall be delivered by any inspector or other officer of the customs that does not fully agree with the description thereof in such permit."

Examination Packages

SEC. 10. In order that proper examination may be made of imported merchandise, it is provided by Section 2901 of the Revised Statutes that:

"The collector shall designate on the invoice at least one package of every invoice, and one package at least of every ten packages of merchandise, and a greater number should he or either of the appraisers deem it necessary, imported into such port, to be opened, examined, and appraised, and shall order the package so designated to the public stores for examination; and if any package be found by the appraisers to contain any article not specified in the invoice, and they or a majority of them shall be of opinion that such article was omitted in the invoice with fraudulent intent on the part of the shipper, owner, or agent, the contents of the entire package in which the article may be, shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture on conviction thereof before any court of competent jurisdiction; but if the appraisers shall be of opinion that no such fraudulent intent existed, then the value of such article shall be added to the entry, and the duties thereon paid accordingly, and the same shall be delivered to the importer, agent, or consignee. Such forfeiture may, however, be remitted by the Secretary of the Treasury on the production of evidence satisfactory to him that no fraud was intended."

An exception is made as to the port of New York, it being provided by Section 2939 of the Revised Statutes that: