View all text of Part II [§ 1431 - § 1467]
§ 1466. Equipment and repairs of vessels
(a) Vessels subject to duty; penalties
(b) NoticeIf the appropriate customs officer has reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred and determines that further proceedings are warranted, he shall issue to the person concerned a written notice of his intention to issue a penalty claim. Such notice shall—
(1) describe the circumstances of the alleged violation;
(2) specify all laws and regulations allegedly violated;
(3) disclose all the material facts which establish the alleged violation;
(4) state the estimated loss of lawful duties, if any, and taking into account all of the circumstances, the amount of the proposed penalty; and
(5) inform such person that he shall have a reasonable opportunity to make representations, both oral and written, as to why such penalty claim should not be issued.
(c) Violation
(d) Remission for necessary repairsIf the owner or master of such vessel furnishes good and sufficient evidence that—
(1) such vessel, while in the regular course of her voyage, was compelled, by stress of weather or other casualty, to put into such foreign port and purchase such equipments, or make such repairs, to secure the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel to enable her to reach her port of destination;
(2) such equipments or parts thereof or repair parts or materials, were manufactured or produced in the United States, and the labor necessary to install such equipments or to make such repairs was performed by residents of the United States, or by members of the regular crew of such vessel; or
(3) such equipments, or parts thereof, or materials, or labor, were used as dunnage for cargo, or for the packing or shoring thereof, or in the erection of temporary bulkheads or other similar devices for the control of bulk cargo, or in the preparation (without permanent repair or alteration) of tanks for the carriage of liquid cargo;
then the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to remit or refund such duties, and such vessel shall not be liable to forfeiture, and no license or enrollment and license, or renewal of either, shall hereafter be issued to any such vessel until the collector to whom application is made for the same shall be satisfied, from the oath of the owner or master, that all such equipments or parts thereof or materials and repairs made within the year immediately preceding such application have been duly accounted for under the provisions of this section, and the duties accruing thereon duly paid; and if such owner or master shall refuse to take such oath, or take it falsely, the vessel shall be seized and forfeited.
(e) Exclusions for arrivals two or more years after last departure
(1) In the case of any vessel referred to in subsection (a) that arrives in a port of the United States two years or more after its last departure from a port in the United States, the duties imposed by this section shall apply only with respect to—
(A) fish nets and netting, and
(B) other equipments and parts thereof, repair parts and materials purchased, or repairs made, during the first six months after the last departure of such vessel from a port of the United States.
(2) If such vessel is designed and used primarily for transporting passengers or property, paragraph (1) shall not apply if the vessel departed from the United States for the sole purpose of obtaining such equipments, parts, materials, or repairs.
(f) Civil aircraft exception
(g) Fish net and netting purchases and repairsThe duty imposed by subsection (a) shall not apply to entries on and after October 1, 1979, and before January 1, 1982, of—
(1) tuna purse seine nets and netting which are equipments or parts thereof,
(2) repair parts for such nets and netting, or materials used in repairing such nets and netting, or
(3) the expenses of repairs of such nets and netting,
for any United States documented tuna purse seine vessel of greater than 500 tons carrying capacity or any United States tuna purse seine vessel required to carry a certificate of inclusion under the general permit issued to the American Tunaboat Association pursuant to section 1374 of title 16.
(h) Foreign repair of vesselsThe duty imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to—
(1) the cost of any equipment, or any part of equipment, purchased for, or the repair parts or materials to be used, or the expense of repairs made in a foreign country with respect to, LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) barges documented under the laws of the United States and utilized as cargo containers;
(2) the cost of spare repair parts or materials (other than nets or nettings) which the owner or master of the vessel certifies are intended for use aboard a cargo vessel, documented under the laws of the United States and engaged in the foreign or coasting trade, for installation or use on such vessel, as needed, in the United States, at sea, or in a foreign country, but only if duty is paid under appropriate commodity classifications of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States upon first entry into the United States of each such spare part purchased in, or imported from, a foreign country;
(3) the cost of spare parts necessarily installed before the first entry into the United States, but only if duty is paid under appropriate commodity classifications of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States upon first entry into the United States of each such spare part purchased in, or imported from, a foreign country; or
(4) the cost of equipment, repair parts, and materials that are installed on a vessel documented under the laws of the United States and engaged in the foreign or coasting trade, if the installation is done by members of the regular crew of such vessel while the vessel is on the high seas, in foreign waters, or in a foreign port, and does not involve foreign shipyard repairs by foreign labor.
Declaration and entry shall not be required with respect to the installation, equipment, parts, and materials described in paragraph (4).
(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, § 466, 46 Stat. 719; Pub. L. 91–654, § 1, Jan. 5, 1971, 84 Stat. 1944; Pub. L. 95–410, title II, § 206, Oct. 3, 1978, 92 Stat. 900; Pub. L. 96–39, title VI, § 601(a)(3), July 26, 1979, 93 Stat. 268; Pub. L. 96–467, § 14(a)(3)(B), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2225; Pub. L. 96–609, title I, § 115(a), Dec. 28, 1980, 94 Stat. 3558; Pub. L. 98–573, title II, § 208, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2976; Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1214(h)(4), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1157; Pub. L. 101–382, title III, § 484E(a), Aug. 20, 1990, 104 Stat. 709; Pub. L. 103–465, title I, § 112(b), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4825; Pub. L. 108–429, title I, § 1554(a), Dec. 3, 2004, 118 Stat. 2578; Pub. L. 109–280, title XIV, § 1631(a), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 1164.)