II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1058

To provide for the collection of fees for certain customs services, to authorize

the continuation of certain preclearance services, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 17 (legislative day, MAY 14), 1999

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. MACK, Mr. MOYNIHAN, and Mr. KERREY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To provide for the collection of fees for certain customs

services, to authorize the continuation of certain

preclearance services, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CUSTOMS USER FEES.

4 (a) ADDITIONAL PRECLEARANCE ACTIVITIES.—Sec5 tion 13031(f)(3)(A)(iii) of the Consolidated Omnibus

6 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C.

7 58c(f)(3)(A)(iii)) is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘(iii) to the extent funds remain available after

9 making reimbursements under clause (ii), in pro-
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1 viding salaries for up to 50 full-time equivalent

2 inspectional positions to provide preclearance serv3 ices.’’.

4 (b) COLLECTION OF FEES FOR PASSENGERS ABOARD

5 COMMERCIAL VESSELS.—Section 13031 of the Consoli6 dated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19

7 U.S.C. 58c) is amended—

8 (1) in subsection (a), by amending paragraph

9 (5) to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(5)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), for the

11 arrival of each passenger aboard a commercial vessel

12 or commercial aircraft from a place outside the

13 United States (other than a place referred to in sub14 section (b)(1)(A)(i) of this section), $5.

15 ‘‘(B) For the arrival of each passenger aboard

16 a commercial vessel from a place referred to in sub17 section (b)(1)(A)(i) of this section, $1.75.’’; and

18 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘(A) No

19 fee’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) Except as provided in sub20 section (a)(5)(B) of this section, no fee’’.

21 (c) USE OF MERCHANDISE PROCESSING FEES FOR

22 AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS.—Section 13031(f)

23 of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

24 of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(f)) is amended by adding at the

25 end the following:
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1 ‘‘(6) Of the amounts collected in fiscal year 1999

2 under paragraphs (9) and (10) of subsection (a),

3 $50,000,000 shall be available to the Customs Service,

4 subject to appropriations Acts, for automated commercial

5 systems. Amounts made available under this paragraph

6 shall remain available until expended.’’.

7 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 13031 of the

8 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985

9 (19 U.S.C. 58c) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(k) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Commissioner of

12 Customs shall establish an advisory committee whose

13 membership shall consist of representatives from the air14 line, cruise ship, and other transportation industries who

15 may be subject to fees under subsection (a). The advisory

16 committee shall not be subject to termination under sec17 tion 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The advi18 sory committee shall meet on a periodic basis and shall

19 advise the Commissioner on issues related to the perform20 ance of the inspectional services of the United States Cus21 toms Service. Such advice shall include, but not be limited

22 to, such issues as the time periods during which such serv23 ices should be performed, the proper number and deploy24 ment of inspection officers, the level of fees, and the ap25 propriateness of any proposed fee. The Commissioner shall
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1 give consideration to the views of the advisory committee

2 in the exercise of his or her duties.’’.

3 (e) NATIONAL CUSTOMS AUTOMATION TEST RE4 GARDING RECONCILIATION.—Section 505(c) of the Tariff

5 Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1505(c)) is amended by adding

6 at the end the following: ‘‘For the period beginning on

7 October 1, 1998, and ending on the date on which the

8 ‘Revised National Customs Automation Test Regarding

9 Reconciliation’ of the Customs Service is terminated, or

10 October 1, 2000, whichever occurs earlier, the Secretary

11 may prescribe an alternative mid-point interest accounting

12 methodology, which may be employed by the importer,

13 based upon aggregate data in lieu of accounting for such

14 interest from each deposit data provided in this sub15 section.’’.

16 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), the amendments made by this section and

19 the provisions of this section shall take effect 30

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

21 (2) CERTAIN CUSTOMS FEES.—The amend22 ments made by subsection (b) shall apply with re23 spect to Customs services rendered after May 31,

24 1999.

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