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US CODE COLLECTION
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TITLE 19 > CHAPTER 4 > SUBTITLE III > Part
IV > § 1555 |
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§ 1555.
Bonded warehouses |
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Release date:
2004-08-06 |
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(a) Designation;
preconditions; bonding requirements; supervision Subject
to subsection (b) of this section, buildings or parts of buildings and other
enclosures may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as bonded
warehouses for the storage of imported merchandise entered for warehousing,
or taken possession of by the appropriate customs officer, or under seizure,
or for the manufacture of merchandise in bond, or for the repacking, sorting,
or cleaning of imported merchandise. Such warehouses may be bonded for the
storing of such merchandise only as shall belong or be consigned to the
owners or proprietors thereof and be known as private bonded warehouses, or
for the storage of imported merchandise generally and be known as public
bonded warehouses. Before any imported merchandise not finally released from
customs custody shall be stored in any such premises, the owner or lessee
thereof shall give a bond in such sum and with such sureties as may be
approved by the Secretary of the Treasury to secure the Government against
any loss or expense connected with or arising from the deposit, storage, or
manipulation of merchandise in such warehouse. Except as otherwise provided
in this chapter, bonded warehouses shall be used solely for the storage of
imported merchandise and shall be placed in charge of a proper officer of the
customs, who, together with the proprietor thereof, shall have joint custody
of all merchandise stored in the warehouse; and all labor on the merchandise
so stored shall be performed by the owner or proprietor of the warehouse,
under supervision of the officer of the customs in charge of the same, at the
expense of the owner or proprietor. The compensation of such officer of the
customs and other customs employees appointed to supervise the receipt of
merchandise into any such warehouse and deliveries therefrom shall be
reimbursed to the Government by the proprietor of such warehouse. (b) Duty-free
sales enterprises (1)
Duty-free sales enterprises may sell and deliver for
export from the customs territory duty-free merchandise in accordance with
this subsection and such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe to carry
out this subsection. (2)
A duty-free sales enterprise may be located anywhere
within— (A) the same port of entry, as established
under section 1 of the Act of August 24, 1912 (37
Stat. 434), from which a purchaser of duty-free merchandise departs the
customs territory; or (B) 25 statute miles from the exit point
through which the purchaser of duty-free merchandise will depart the customs
territory; or (C) a port of entry, as established under
section 1 of the Act of August 24, 1912 (37
Stat. 434), or within 25 statute miles of a staffed port of entry if
reasonable assurance can be provided that duty-free merchandise sold by the
enterprise will be exported by individuals departing from the customs
territory through an international airport located within the customs
territory. (3)
Each duty-free sales enterprise— (A) shall establish procedures to provide
reasonable assurance that duty-free merchandise sold by the enterprise will
be exported from the customs territory; (B) if the duty-free sales enterprise is an
airport store, shall establish and enforce, in accordance with such
regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, restrictions on the sale of
duty-free merchandise to any one individual to personal use quantities; (C) shall display in prominent places within
its place of business notices which state clearly that any duty-free
merchandise purchased from the enterprise— (i) has not been subject to any Federal duty or
tax, (ii) if brought back into the customs territory,
must be declared and is subject to Federal duty and tax, and (iii) is subject to the customs laws and
regulation of any foreign country to which it is taken; (D) shall not be required to mark or otherwise
place a distinguishing identifier on individual items of merchandise to
indicate that the items were sold by a duty-free sales enterprise, unless the
Secretary finds a pattern in which such items are being brought back into the
customs territory without declaration; (E) may unpack merchandise into saleable units
after it has been entered for warehouse and placed in a duty-free sales
enterprise, without requirement of further permits; and (F) shall deliver duty-free merchandise— (i) in the case of a duty-free sales enterprise
that is an airport store— (I) to the purchaser (or a family member or
companion traveling with the purchaser) in an area that is within the airport
and to which access to passengers is restricted to those departing from the
customs territory; (II) to the purchaser (or a family member or
companion traveling with the purchaser) at the exit point of a specific
departing flight; (III) by placing the merchandise within the
aircraft on which the purchaser will depart for carriage as passenger
baggage; or (IV) if the duty-free sales enterprise has made
a good faith effort to effect delivery for exportation through one of the
methods described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) but is unable to do so, by
any other reasonable method to effect delivery; or (ii) in the case of a duty-free sales enterprise
that is a border store— (I) at a merchandise storage location at or
beyond the exit point; or (II) at any location approved by the Secretary
before the date of enactment of the Omnibus Trade Act of 1987. (4)
If a State or local or other governmental authority,
incident to its jurisdiction over any airport, seaport, or other exit point
facility, requires that a concession or other form of approval be obtained
from that authority with respect to the operation of a duty-free sales
enterprise under which merchandise is delivered to or through such facility
for exportation, merchandise incident to such operation may not be withdrawn
from a bonded warehouse and transferred to or through such facility unless
the operator of the duty-free sales enterprise demonstrates to the Secretary
that the concession or approval required for the enterprise has been
obtained. (5)
This subsection does not prohibit a duty-free sales
enterprise from offering for sale and delivering to, or on behalf of,
individuals departing from the customs territory merchandise other than
duty-free merchandise, except that such other merchandise may not be stored
in a bonded warehouse facility other than a bonded facility used for retail
sales. (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
merchandise that is purchased in a duty-free sales enterprise is not eligible
for exemption from duty under subchapter IV of chapter 98 of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States if such merchandise is brought back to
the customs territory. (B) Except in the case of travel involving
transit to, from, or through an insular possession of the United States,
merchandise described in subparagraph (A) that is purchased by a United
States resident shall be eligible for exemption from duty under subheadings
9804.00.65, 9804.00.70, and 9804.00.72 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States upon the United States resident’s return to the customs
territory of the United States, if the resident meets the eligibility
requirements for the exemption claimed. Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, such merchandise shall be considered to be an article acquired abroad
as an incident of the journey from which the resident is returning, for
purposes of determining eligibility for any such exemption. (7)
The Secretary shall by regulation establish a separate
class of bonded warehouses for duty-free sales enterprises. Regulations
issued to carry out this paragraph shall take into account the unique
characteristics of the different types of duty-free sales enterprises. (8)
For purposes of this subsection— (A) The term “airport store” means a duty-free
sales enterprise which delivers merchandise to, or on behalf of, individuals
departing from the customs territory from an international airport located
within the customs territory. (B) The term “border store” means a duty-free
sales enterprise which delivers merchandise to, or on behalf of, individuals
departing from the customs territory through a land or water border by a
means of conveyance other than an aircraft. (C) The term “customs territory” means the
customs territory of the United States and foreign trade zones. (D) The term “duty-free sales enterprise” means
a person that sells, for use outside the customs territory, duty-free
merchandise that is delivered from a bonded warehouse to an airport or other
exit point for exportation by, or on behalf of, individuals departing from
the customs territory. (E) The term “duty-free merchandise” means
merchandise sold by a duty-free sales enterprise on which neither Federal
duty nor Federal tax has been assessed pending exportation from the customs
territory. (F) The term “exit point” means the area in
close proximity to an actual exit for departing from the customs territory,
including the gate holding area in the case of an airport, but only if there
is reasonable assurance that duty-free merchandise delivered in the gate
holding area will be exported from the customs territory. (G) The term “personal use quantities” means
quantities that are only suitable for uses other than resale, and includes
reasonable quantities for household or family consumption as well as for
gifts to others. (c) International
travel merchandise For purposes of this section— (A) the term “international travel merchandise”
means duty-free or domestic merchandise which is placed on board aircraft on
international flights for sale to passengers, but which is not merchandise
incidental to the operation of a duty-free sales enterprise; (B) the term “staging area” is an area
controlled by the proprietor of a bonded warehouse outside of the physical
parameters of the bonded warehouse in which manipulation of international
travel merchandise in carts occurs; (C) the term “duty-free merchandise” means
merchandise on which the liability for payment of duty or tax imposed by
reason of importation has been deferred pending exportation from the customs
territory; (D) the term “manipulation” means the
repackaging, cleaning, sorting, or removal from or placement on carts of
international travel merchandise; and (E) the term “cart” means a portable container
holding international travel merchandise on an aircraft for exportation. (2)
Bonded warehouse for international travel merchandise The Secretary shall by regulation establish a separate class of
bonded warehouse for the storage and manipulation of international travel
merchandise pending its placement on board aircraft departing for foreign
destinations. (3)
Rules for treatment of international travel merchandise and bonded
warehouses and staging areas (A) The proprietor of a bonded warehouse
established for the storage and manipulation of international travel
merchandise shall give a bond in such sum and with such sureties as may be
approved by the Secretary of the Treasury to secure the Government against
any loss or expense connected with or arising from the deposit, storage, or
manipulation of merchandise in such warehouse. The warehouse proprietor’s
bond shall also secure the manipulation of international travel merchandise
in a staging area. (B) A transfer of liability from the
international carrier to the warehouse proprietor occurs when the carrier
assigns custody of international travel merchandise to the warehouse
proprietor for purposes of entry into warehouse or for manipulation in the
staging area. (C) A transfer of liability from the warehouse
proprietor to the international carrier occurs when the bonded warehouse
proprietor assigns custody of international travel merchandise to the
carrier. (D) The Secretary is authorized to promulgate
regulations to require the proprietor and the international carrier to keep
records of the disposition of any cart brought into the United States and all
merchandise on such cart. |
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