103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2243

AN ACT

To amend the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967

national law, and for other purposes.considers that fee to be inconsistent with interthat foreign country whenever the United Statesadvance in order to navigate in the waters ofrequired by a foreign government to be paid into permit reimbursement of fishermen for fees
103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2243

AN ACT

To amend the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 to permit

reimbursement of fishermen for fees required by a foreign government to be paid in advance in order to navigate in the waters of that foreign country whenever

the United States considers that fee to be inconsistent

with international law, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) customary international law and the United

4 Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea guaran5 tee the right of passage, including innocent passage,

6 to vessels through the waters commonly referred to

7 as the ‘‘Inside Passage’’ off the Pacific Coast of

8 Canada;

9 (2) Canada has recently announced that it will

10 require all commercial fishing vessels of the United

11 States to pay 1,500 Canadian dollars to obtain a ‘‘li12 cense which authorizes transit’’ through the Inside

13 Passage off the Pacific Coast of Canada;

14 (3) this action is inconsistent with international

15 law, including the United Nations Convention on the

16 Law of the Sea, and in particular Article 26 of that

17 Convention, which specifically prohibits such fees,

18 and threatens the safety of United States commer19 cial fishermen who may seek to avoid the fee by

20 traveling in less protected waters;

21 (4) the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 pro22 vides for the reimbursement of vessel owners who

23 are forced to pay a license fee to secure the release

24 of a vessel which has been seized, but does not per25 mit reimbursement of a fee paid by the owner in ad26 vance in order to prevent a seizure;
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1 (5) Canada has announced that the license fee

2 may only be paid in two ports on the Pacific Coast

3 of Canada, and must be paid in person or in ad4 vance by mail;

5 (6) significant expense and delay would be in6 curred by a commercial fishing vessel of the United

7 States that had to travel from the point of seizure

8 back to one of those ports in order to pay the license

9 fee required by Canada, and the costs of that travel

10 and delay cannot be reimbursed under the Fisher11 men’s Protective Act as presently enacted;

12 (7) the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967

13 should be amended to permit vessel owners to be re14 imbursed for fees required by a foreign government

15 to be paid in advance in order to navigate in the wa16 ters of that foreign country, provided the United

17 States considers that fee to be inconsistent with

18 international law;

19 (8) the Secretary of State should seek to re20 cover from Canada any amounts paid by the United

21 States to reimburse vessel owners who paid the tran22 sit license fee;

23 (9) the United States should review its current

24 policy with respect to anchorage by commercial fish25 ing vessels of Canada in waters of the United States
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1 off Alaska, including waters in and near the Dixon

2 Entrance, and should accord such vessels the same

3 treatment that commercial fishing vessels of the

4 United States are accorded for anchorage in the wa5 ters of Canada off British Columbia;

6 (10) the President should ensure that, consist7 ent with international law, the United States Coast

8 Guard has available adequate resources in the Pa9 cific Northwest and Alaska to provide for the safety

10 of United States citizens, the enforcement of United

11 States law, and to protect the rights of the United

12 States and keep the peace among vessels operating

13 in disputed waters;

14 (11) the President should continue to review all

15 agreements between the United States and Canada

16 to identify other actions that may be taken to con17 vince Canada that continuation of the transit license

18 fee would be against Canada’s long-term interests,

19 and should immediately implement any actions

20 which the President deems appropriate until Canada

21 rescinds the fee;

22 (12) the President should immediately convey

23 to Canada in the strongest terms that the United

24 States will not now, nor at any time in the future,

25 tolerate any action by Canada which would impede
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1 or otherwise restrict the right of passage of vessels

2 of the United States vessels in a manner inconsist3 ent with international law; and

4 (13) the United States should redouble its ef5 forts to seek expeditious agreement with Canada on

6 appropriate fishery conservation and management

7 measures that can be implemented through the Pa8 cific Salmon Treaty to address issues of mutual con9 cern.

10 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE FISHERMEN’S PROTECTIVE

11 ACT.

12 The Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 (P.L. 90–

13 482), as amended, is further amended by adding at the

14 end the following new section:

15 ‘‘SEC. 11. (a) In any case on or after June 15, 1994,

16 in which a vessel of the United States exercising its right

17 of passage is charged a fee by the government of a foreign

18 country to engage in transit passage between points in the

19 United States (including a point in the exclusive economic

20 zone or in an area over which jurisdiction is in dispute),

21 and such fee is regarded by the United States as being

22 inconsistent with international law, the Secretary of State

23 shall reimburse the vessel owner for the amount of any

24 such fee paid under protest.
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1 ‘‘(b) In seeking such reimbursement, the vessel owner

2 shall provide, together with such other information as the

3 Secretary of State may require—

4 ‘‘(1) a copy of the receipt for payment;

5 ‘‘(2) an affidavit attesting that the owner or the

6 owner’s agent paid the fee under protest; and

7 ‘‘(3) a copy of the vessel’s certificate of docu8 mentation.

9 ‘‘(c) Requests for reimbursement shall be made to the

10 Secretary of State within 120 days of the date of payment

11 of the fee, or within 90 days of the date of enactment

12 of this section, whichever is later.

13 ‘‘(d) Such funds as may be necessary to meet the re14 quirements of this section may be made available from the

15 unobligated balances of previously appropriated funds re16 maining in the Fishermen’s Guaranty Fund established

17 under section 7 and the Fishermen’s Protective Fund es18 tablished under section 9. To the extent that requests for

19 reimbursement under this section exceed such funds, there

20 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

21 needed for reimbursements authorized under subsection

22 (a).

23 ‘‘(e) The Secretary of State shall take such action

24 as the Secretary deems appropriate to make and collect
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1 claims against the foreign country imposing such fee for

2 any amounts reimbursed under this section.

3 ‘‘(f) For purposes of this section, the term ‘owner’

4 includes any charterer of a vessel of the United States.

5 ‘‘(g) The provisions of this section shall remain in

6 effect until October 1, 1995.’’.

7 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION.

8 (a) Section 7(c) of the Fishermen’s Protective Act of

9 1967 (22 U.S.C. 1977(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘The

10 amount fixed by the Secretary shall be predicated upon

at least 331 11 ⁄3 per centum of the contribution by the Gov12 ernment.’’.

13 (b) Section 7(e) of the Fishermen’s Protective Act of

14 1967 (22 U.S.C. 1977(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘Octo15 ber 1, 1993’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘October 1,

16 2000’’.

17 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

18 (a) Section 15(a) of Public Law 103–238 is amended

19 by striking ‘‘April 1, 1994,’’ and inserting ‘‘May 1,

20 1994.’’.
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1 (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall be

2 effective on and after April 30, 1994.

Passed the Senate July 1 (legislative day, June 7),

1994.

Attest:

Secretary.