Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Proposed Rules 40067

that also constitute credit cards, whether

Regulation E or Regulation Z (12 CFR part

226) applies, depends on the nature of the

transaction. For example, if the transaction

[is purely] fl solely involves fi an extension

of credit, and does not include a debit to a

checking account (or other consumer asset

account), the liability limitations and error

resolution requirements of Regulation Z [(12

CFR part 226)] apply. If the transaction only

debits a checking account (with no credit

extended), the provisions of Regulation E

apply. [Finally, if] fl If fi the transaction

debits a checking account but also draws on

an overdraft line of credit fl attached to

the account fi, [the Regulation E provisions

apply, as well as] §§ 226.13(d) and (g) of

Regulation

Z[.] flapply, as well as the Regulation E

provisions, because there was an extension of

credit associated with the overdraft feature

on the checking account.

In such a transaction, the liability provisions

under Regulation E apply. Finally, if a

consumer’s access device is also a credit card

and the device is used to make unauthorized

withdrawals from a checking account, but

also is used to obtain unauthorized cash

advances directly from a separate line of

credit unattached to the checking account,

the liability limitations under both

Regulation E and Regulation Z apply. In such

a transaction, the consumer is potentially

liable under Regulation Z for the

unauthorized use of the credit card and, in

addition, up to $50, $500, or an unlimited

amount (not to exceed the amount of the

unauthorized transfer) under Regulation E for

the unauthorized use of the debit cardfi [In

such a transaction, the consumer might be

liable for up to $50 under Regulation Z (12

CFR 226) and, in addition, for $50, $500, or

an unlimited amount under Regulation E].

fl ii. The following examples

illustrate these principles:

A. A consumer has a card that can be used

either as a credit card or a debit card. When

used as a debit card, the card draws on the

consumer’s checking account. When used as

a credit card, the card draws only on a

separate line of credit. If the card is stolen

and used as a credit card to make purchases

or to get cash advances from ATMs, the

liability limits and error resolution

provisions of Regulation Z apply; Regulation

E does not apply.

B. In the same situation, if the card is

stolen and is instead used as a debit card to

make purchases or to get cash withdrawals

from ATMs, the liability limits and error

resolution provisions of Regulation E apply;

Regulation Z does not apply.

C. In the same situation, the card is stolen

and used both as a debit card and as a credit

card; for example, the thief makes some

purchases using the card as a debit card, and

other purchases using the card as a credit

card. Here, the liability limits and error

resolution provisions of Regulation E apply

to the unauthorized transactions in which the

card was used as a debit card, and the

corresponding provisions of Regulation Z

apply to the unauthorized transactions in

which the card was used as a credit card.

D. Assume a somewhat different type of

card, one that draws on the consumer’s

checking account and can also draw on an

overdraft line of credit attached to the

checking account. There is no separate line

of credit, other than the overdraft line,

associated with the card. In this situation, if

the card is stolen and used, the liability

limits and the error resolution provisions of

Regulation E apply. In addition, if the use of

the card has resulted in accessing the

overdraft line of credit, the error resolution

provisions of § 226.13(d) and (g) of

Regulation Z also apply; however, the other

error resolution provisions of Regulation Z

do not apply. fi

* * * * *

By order of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, acting through the

Director of the Division of Consumer and

Community Affairs under delegated

authority, June 22, 2000.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–16303 Filed 6–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 10

RIN 1515–AC59

Civil Aircraft

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department

of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

amend the Customs Regulations

concerning the duty-free entry of civil

aircraft merchandise to reflect

amendments to General Note 6 of the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States made by the

Miscellaneous Trade and Technical

Corrections Act of 1996. This document

invites the public to comment on the

proposed changes.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before August 28, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments

(preferably in triplicate), regarding both

the substantive aspects of the proposed

rule and how it may be made easier to

understand, may be submitted to and

inspected at the Regulations Branch,

Office of Regulations and Rulings, U.S.

Customs Service, 1300 Pennsylvania

Avenue, NW., 3rd Floor, Washington,

DC 20229.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Dixie Staple, Office of Field Operations,

at (202) 927–1131.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

This document proposes to amend

§ 10.183 of the Customs Regulations (19

CFR 10.183), which concerns Customs

duty-free treatment of civil aircraft

merchandise. Section 10.183

implements General Note 6 of the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202),

which implements the Agreement on

Trade in Civil Aircraft (Title VI of the

Trade Agreements Act of 1979, Pub. L.

96–39, 93 Stat. 144, July 26, 1979), to

provide duty-free treatment for

qualifying civil aircraft merchandise

upon compliance with certain

requirements.

General Note 6 of the HTSUS was

amended by section 12 of the

Miscellaneous Trade and Technical

Corrections Act of 1996 (the Act), Pub.

L. 104–295, 110 Stat. 3514 (October 11,

1996). Prior to the amendment, General

Note 6, HTSUS, required that an

importer entering merchandise duty-free

thereunder must file with Customs a

written statement certifying that the

merchandise (i) Is civil aircraft or has

been imported for use in civil aircraft,

(ii) will be so used, and (iii) has been

approved for civil aircraft use by, or an

application for approval has been

submitted to, the Administrator of the

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

(or has been approved by an

airworthiness authority in the country

of exportation if such approval is

recognized by the FAA). General Note 6

defined the term ‘‘civil aircraft’’ as all

aircraft other than aircraft purchased for

use by the Department of Defense or the

United States Coast Guard.

Prior to the amendment of General

Note 6, HTSUS, § 10.183 of the Customs

Regulations (19 CFR 10.183) provided

that the written statement required

under General Note 6, HTSUS (referred

to in the regulation as a certificate or

certification), must be filed with each

entry summary or be on file with

Customs at the time of entry as a blanket

statement at the port where the entry is

filed (19 CFR 10.183(c)). The regulation

also provided that the statement could

not be treated as a missing document for

which a bond could be posted pending

its later production (under 19 CFR

141.66), and that failure to timely file

the statement or to have a valid blanket

statement on file at the port would

result in a dutiable entry (19 CFR

10.183(c)(2)).

The Act amended General Note 6,

HTSUS, to eliminate the statement

(certification) filing requirement and to

provide that an importer makes a claim

for duty-free treatment under the

General Note by entering the

merchandise under a tariff provision for

which the program indicator ‘‘Free (C)’’

appears in the ‘‘Special’’ subcolumn of

the tariff. This is accomplished by

40068 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Proposed Rules

placing the program indicator C’’ on the

entry summary. This claim, in

accordance with General Note 6 as

amended by the Act, is deemed the

importer’s certification that the

merchandise being entered is civil

aircraft or has been imported for use in

civil aircraft and will be so used.

Although the amendment eliminated

the statement filing requirement, it

requires that an importer maintain

documentation to support the claim. It

also provides that an importer may

amend an entry or file a written

statement to claim duty-free treatment

under General Note 6, HTSUS, any time

before the liquidation of the entry

becomes final.

These statutory amendments to

General Note 6, HTSUS, establish the

basis for the amendments to § 10.183

proposed in this document. The

proposed amendments to the regulation

expand its coverage, eliminate the

requirement that supporting

documentation be filed with each entry

summary, require that supporting

documentation be maintained in the

importer’s records, eliminate the

statement (certification) filing

requirement, allow an importer to make

a claim under General Note 6, HTSUS,

after the filing of an entry but before its

liquidation becomes final, and provide

that no interest attaches to refunds of

duty resulting from post-entry claims.

Comments

Before adopting this proposal as a

final rule, consideration will be given to

any written comments timely submitted

to Customs. Comments submitted will

be available for public inspection in

accordance with the Freedom of

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), § 1.4 of

the Treasury Department Regulations

(31 CFR 1.4), and § 103.11(b) of the

Customs Regulations (19 CFR 103.11(b))

on regular business days between the

hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the

Regulations Branch, Office of

Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs

Service, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC

Eexcutive Order 12866

This document does not meet the

criteria for a ‘‘significant regulatory

action’’ as specified in E.O. 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

Adoption of the proposed

amendments regarding civil aircraft will

make importations of such merchandise

less burdensome for importers than is

the case under current regulations.

Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.), it is certified that the

proposed amendments to the Customs

Regulations, if adopted, will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

The proposed amendments are not

subject to the regulatory analysis or

other requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and

604.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The collection of information

contained in this notice has previously

been reviewed and approved by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) under OMB control number

1515–0065 (Entry Summary), 1515–

0069 (Immediate Delivery Application),

and 1515–0144 (Customs Bond

Structure). This rule does not propose

any substantive changes to the existing

approved information collection.

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless the collection of information

displays a valid control number.

Drafting Information

The principal author of this document

was Bill Conrad, Office of Regulations

and Rulings, U.S. Customs Service.

However, personnel from other offices

contributed in its development.

List of Subjects IN 19 CFR Part 10

Aircraft, Customs duties and

inspection, Entry, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Proposed Amendments to the

Regulations

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, part 10 of the Customs

Regulations (19 CFR Part 10) is

proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 10—ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY

FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED

RATE, ETC.

1. The general authority citation for

part 10 continues to read, and the

specific authority citation for § 10.183 is

added, as follows:

Authority: 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 (General

Note 20, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTSUS)),

1321,1481,1484,1498,1508,1623, 1624, 3314;

* * * * *

Section 10.183 also issued under 19

U.S.C. 1202 (General Note 6, HTSUS);

* * * * *

2. Section 10.183 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 10.183 Duty-free entry of civil aircraft,

aircraft engines, ground flight simulators,

parts, components, and subassemblies.

(a) Applicability. Except as provided

in paragraph (b) of this section, this

section applies to aircraft, aircraft

engines, and ground flight simulators,

including parts, components, and

subassemblies thereof, that qualify as

civil aircraft under General Note 6 of the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTSUS) by meeting the

following requirements:

(1) The aircraft, aircraft engines,

ground flight simulators, or parts,

components, and subassemblies thereof,

are used as original or replacement

equipment in the design, development,

testing, evaluation, manufacture, repair,

maintenance, rebuilding, modification,

or conversion of aircraft; and

(2) They are either:

(i) Manufactured or operated pursuant

to a certificate issued by the

Administrator of the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) under 49 U.S.C.

44704, or pursuant to the approval of

the airworthiness authority in the

country of exportation, if such approval

is recognized by the FAA as an

acceptable substitute for the FAA

certificate;

(ii) Covered by an application for such

certificate, submitted to and accepted by

the FAA, filed by an existing type and

production certificate holder pursuant

to 49 U.S.C. 44702 and implementing

regulations (Federal Aviation

Administration Regulations, title 14,

Code of Federal Regulations); or

(iii) Covered by an application for

such approval or certificate which will

be submitted in the future by an existing

type and production certificate holder,

pending the completion of design or

other technical requirements stipulated

by the FAA (applicable only to the

quantities of parts, components, and

subassemblies as are required to meet

the stipulation).

(b) Department of Defense or U.S.

Coast Guard use. If purchased for use by

the Department of Defense or the United

States Coast Guard, aircraft, aircraft

engines, and ground flight simulators,

including parts, components, and

subassemblies thereof, that qualify as

civil aircraft under General Note 6 of the

HTSUS are subject to this section only

if they are used as original or

replacement equipment in the design,

development, testing, evaluation,

manufacture, repair, maintenance,

rebuilding, modification, or conversion

of aircraft and meet the requirements of

either paragraph (a)(2)(i) or (a)(2)(ii) of

this section.

(c) Claim for admission free of duty.

Merchandise qualifying under

paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this

section is entitled to duty-free

admission in accordance with General

Note 6, HTSUS, upon meeting the

requirements of this section. An

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Proposed Rules 40069

importer makes a claim for duty-free

admission under this section and

General Note 6, HTSUS, by properly

entering qualifying merchandise under a

provision for which the rate of duty

‘‘Free (C)’’ appears in the ‘‘Special’’

subcolumn of the HTSUS and by

placing the special indicator ‘‘C’’ on the

entry summary. The fact that qualifying

merchandise has previously been

exported with benefit of drawback does

not preclude free entry under this

section.

(d) Importer certification. In making a

claim for duty-free admission as

provided for under paragraph (c) of this

section, the importer is deemed to

certify, in accordance with General Note

6(a)(ii), HTSUS, that the imported

merchandise is civil aircraft as

described in paragraph (a) or paragraph

(b) of this section or has been imported

for use in civil aircraft and will be so

used.

(e) Documentation. Each entry

summary claiming duty-free admission

for imported merchandise in accordance

with paragraph (c) of this section must

be supported by the written order or

contract and any additional

documentation Customs may require to

verify the claim for duty-free admission,

including evidence of compliance with

the FAA certification requirement of

paragraph (a)(2)(i), (a)(2)(ii), or (a)(2)(iii)

of this section. This required

documentation need not be filed with

the entry summary, but must be

maintained in accordance with the

recordkeeping provisions of part 163 of

this chapter. An importer not in

possession of the required supporting

documentation at the time of entry may

not then claim duty-free admission

under this section but may later make a

duty-free claim after entry in accordance

with paragraph (f) of this section.

Customs may request production of

supporting documentation at any time

to verify the claim for duty-free

admission. Proof of end use of the

entered merchandise need not be

maintained.

(f) Post-entry claim. An importer may

file a claim for duty-free treatment

under General Note 6, HTSUS, after

filing an entry that made no such dutyfree claim, by filing a written statement

with Customs any time prior to

liquidation or prior to the liquidation

becoming final. When filed, the written

statement constitutes the importer’s

deemed certification. In accordance

with General Note 6, HTSUS, any

refund resulting from a claim made

under this paragraph will be without

interest, notwithstanding the provision

of 19 U.S.C. 1505(c).

(g) Verification. The port director will

monitor and periodically audit selected

entries made under this section.

Approved: June 7, 2000.

Raymond W. Kelly,

Commissioner of Customs.

John P. Simpson,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 00–16406 Filed 6–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 181

[CGD 92–065]

RIN 2115–AE37

Hull Identification Numbers for

Recreational Boats

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Supplemental notice of

proposed rulemaking; termination.

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is

terminating its rulemaking intended to

amend its regulations on the

identification number placed on the

hull of a vessel. There is no consensus

on the format for an expanded HIN and

the Coast Guard lacks sufficient data to

demonstrate that the benefits clearly

outweigh the costs and burdens,

particularly for small entities and the

builders of high-volume, low cost boats.

DATES: This proposed rulemaking is

terminated on June 29, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alston Colihan, Office of Boating Safety,

Recreational Boating Product Assurance

Division, 202–267–0981.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory History

The Coast Guard published a Notice

of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal

Register (59 FR 23651) on May 6, 1994,

proposing to expand the existing 12-

character hull identification number

(HIN) to include certain vessel-specific

information similar to the Vehicle

Identification Number (VIN) on an

automobile. A check digit in the

expanded HIN would make alteration of

an HIN more difficult, thereby helping

to prevent fraud in the sale of vessels.

Major objections to the proposed 19-

character HIN were received based on

the increased information collection

burdens, particularly on small entities

and the builders of high-volume, low

cost boats, such as canoes, kayaks, and

inflatables. In addition, the International

Standards Organization (ISO) had

finalized an HIN standard consisting of

the existing Coast Guard 12-character

HIN format preceded by a 2-character

country code and a hyphen.

Manufacturers in the U.S. who export to

Europe would be using the ISO HIN

standard beginning with the 1996 model

year. Builders would have to affix HINs

in two different formats or know in

advance whether a boat would be sold

in the U.S. or in Europe.

In consideration of the objections

received about information-collection

burdens, we published a Supplemental

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(SNPRM) in the Federal Register on

February 21, 1997 (62 FR 7971)

announcing a proposal to align the HIN

with the recently adopted ISO 14-

character HIN standard. We received 31

comments nearly all of which were

opposed to the 14-character ISO HIN

format. Some of the comments indicated

that, if the Coast Guard were to adopt

the ISO format instead of an HIN format

consisting of vessel-specific characters

and a check digit, some States might

refuse to participate in the development

of the Vessel Identification System

(VIS).

Therefore, in an attempt to gather

information to resolve conflicting

issues, we published a Request for

Comments in the Federal Register on

November 16, 1998 (63 FR 63638),

soliciting comments on: (1) The

expected benefits of an expanded HIN

with vessel-specific characters and a

check digit; (2) the manner in which the

Coast Guard should exempt small

entities and the builders of highvolume, low cost boats, such as canoes,

kayaks, and inflatables; and (3) the

estimated burdens and costs to boat

manufacturers if the HIN regulations

were revised to require vessel-specific

characters and a check digit.

We received 31 comments, only one

of which contained any economic data

which could be used to determine the

benefits of a requirement for an

expanded HIN containing vesselspecific characters and a check digit.

Only four comments were in favor of

allowing exceptions for small entities

and the builders of high-volume, low

cost boats, such as canoes, kayaks, and

inflatable boats. None of the comments

contained information about the

estimated burdens and costs to boat

manufacturers.

Withdrawal

This proposed rulemaking is

terminated because of (1) the lack of

substantive information about the

benefits to society with a requirement

for an expanded HIN containing vesselspecific characters and a check digit,