Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 115 /Tuesday, June 16, 1998 / Notices 32911

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each

pleading must be served on John J.

Paylor, Esq., Consolidated Rail

Corporation, 2001 Market Street, 16A,

Philadelphia, PA 19101–1416.

Decided: June 10, 1998.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–15974 Filed 6–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

[General Counsel Designation No. 237]

Appointment of Members to the Legal

Division Performance Review Board

Under the authority granted to me as

General Counsel of the Department of

the Treasury by 31 U.S.C. 301 and 26

U.S.C. 7801, Treasury Department Order

No. 101–5 (Revised), and pursuant to

the Civil Service Reform Act, I hereby

appoint the following persons to the

Legal Division Performance Review

Board:

(1) For the General Counsel Panel—

Neal S. Wolin, Deputy General Counsel,

who shall serve as Chairperson;

Roberta K. McInerney, Assistant General

Counsel (Banking & Finance);

Stephen J. McHale, Chief Counsel,

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco &

Firearms;

Kenneth R. Schmalzbach, Assistant

General Counsel (General Law and

Ethics);

Debra N. Diener, Acting Assistant

General Counsel (Enforcement); and

Elizabeth B. Anderson, Chief Counsel,

United States Customs Service.

(2) For the Internal Revenue Service

Panel—Chairperson, Deputy Chief

Counsel, IRS; Deputy General Counsel;

Two Associate Chief Counsel, IRS; and

Two Regional Counsel, IRS.

I hereby delegate to the Chief Counsel

of the Internal Revenue Service the

authority to make the appointments to

the IRS Panel specified in this

Designation and to make the publication

of the IRS Panel as required by 5 U.S.C.

4314(c)(4).

Dated: June 10, 1998.

Edward S. Knight,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98–15941 Filed 6–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–25–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

Procedures if the Generalized System

of Preferences Program Expires

AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.

ACTION: General notice.

SUMMARY: The Generalized System of

Preferences (GSP) is a renewable

preferential trade program that allows

the eligible products of designated

developing countries to directly enter

the United States free of duty. The GSP

is currently scheduled to expire at

midnight on June 30, 1998, unless its

provisions are extended by Congress.

This document provides notice to

importers that claims for duty-free

treatment under the GSP may not be

made for merchandise entered or

withdrawn from a warehouse on or after

July 1, 1998, if the program is not

extended before that date. This

document also sets forth mechanisms to

facilitate refunds, should the GSP be

renewed with retroactive effect.

DATES: The plan set forth in this

document will become effective as of

July 1, 1998, if Congress does not extend

the GSP program before that date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

specific questions relating to the

Automated Commercial System: Arthur

Versich, Office of Automated

Commercial System, 703–921–7117.

For general operational questions:

Formal entries—John Pierce, 202–927–

1249;

Informal entries—Thomas Wygant, 202–

927–1167;

Mail entries—Robert Woods, 202–927–

1236;

Passenger claims—Michael Perron, 202–

927–1325.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 501 of the Trade Act of 1974

(the Act), as amended (19 U.S.C. 2461),

authorizes the President to establish a

Generalized System of Preferences

(GSP) to provide duty-free treatment for

eligible articles imported directly from

designated beneficiary countries.

Beneficiary developing countries and

articles eligible for duty-free treatment

under the GSP are designated by the

President by Presidential Proclamation

in accordance with sections 502(a) and

503(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(a) and

2463(a)). Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2465(a),

as amended by section 981 of Public

Law 105–34, 111 Stat. 902, duty-free

treatment under the GSP is presently

scheduled to expire on June 30, 1998.

Congress is currently considering

whether to extend the GSP program. If

Congress does not pass legislation

renewing the GSP before midnight, June

30, 1998, no claims for duty-free

treatment under the program will be

allowed on entries made after that time.

If legislation is enacted but does not

become effective before the GSP expires,

language may beincluded that could

renew the GSP with retroactive effect

back to the date of its present

expiration.

Recognizing the effect that renewing

GSP duty treatment with retroactive

effect has on both importers, who must

request refunds of duties deposited, and

Customs, which must liquidate or

reliquidate eligible entries, Customs

developed a mechanism to facilitate

certain refunds. Set forth below is

Customs plan that will be implemented

on July 1, 1998, if the GSP has not been

extended by that date.

Formal Entries

Claims—Duties must be deposited

No claims for duty-free treatment

under the GSP may be made for

merchandise entered, or withdrawn

from warehouse for consumption on or

after July 1, 1998. Duties at the mostfavored-nation rate must be deposited,

or a claim may be made under another

preferential program for which the

merchandise may qualify (for example,

the Andean Trade Preference Act or the

Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery

Act).

When the GSP expires, Customs will

employ an electronic mechanism that

will allow the timely processing of

refunds of duties deposited on eligible

entries without requiring further action

by the electronic filer. Entry summaries

filed after June 30, 1998, with the

Special Program Indicator (SPI) for the

GSP (the letter ‘‘A’’) used as a prefix to

the tariff number for all merchandise

that would qualify for the GSP were the

GSP still in effect will be accepted with

deposited duties, and should the GSP be

renewed with retroactive effect, the

duties deposited with these entries will

be refunded without further action by

the filer. In effect, use of the SPI ‘‘A’’

will constitute an importer’s request for

a refund of duties paid for GSP line

items should the GSP be renewed with

retroactive effect.

Although the Customs Automated

Commercial System (ACS) will be

reprogrammed to accept the use of the

SPI ‘‘A’’ with the payment of duty, the

Automated Broker Interface (ABI) with

the ACS will not be so reprogrammed.

Accordingly, those filers that utilize the

ABI who wish to continue utilizing the
32912 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 115 /Tuesday, June 16, 1998 / Notices

SPI ‘‘A’’ for purposes of receiving an

automatic GSP refund should the GSP

be renewed with retroactive effect will

have to reprogram their software to

accept the submission of estimated

duties with the SPI ‘‘A’’ designation on

entries. (ABI filers who do not wish to

reprogram their software will be

required to request refunds in writing to

the appropriate port director identifying

the affected entry numbers if the GSP is

renewed with retroactive effect). While

reprogramming is strictly voluntary,

continued use of the SPI ‘‘A’’ has some

benefits: one already mentioned is that

the filer will not have to request a

refund of deposited duties in writing

should the GSP be renewed with

retroactive effect; another is that ACS

will perform its usual edits on the

information transmitted by the filer,

thereby ensuring that GSP claims are for

acceptable country/tariff combinations

and eliminating the need for numerous

statistical corrections.

Importers may not use the SPI ‘‘A’’ if

they intend to later claim drawback. To

claim both this refund and drawback

would be to request a refund in excess

of duties actually deposited. Importers

who are unsure as to whether they will

claim drawback are advised not to use

the SPI ‘‘A’’. If the GSP is renewed with

retroactive effect, and they have not yet

claimed drawback, they may request a

refund by writing to the port director at

the port of entry. If the GSP is not

renewed with retroactive effect, they

will still have the option of filing a

drawback entry.

Refunds

1. Automatic

Should the GSP be renewed with

retroactive effect, then Customs will

liquidate or reliquidate all affected ABI

entry summaries with a refund for the

GSP line items. If an ABI entry summary

was filed with the SPI ‘‘A’’, then no

further action need be taken by the filer

to request a refund.

2. Need for written request

If an ABI entry summary was filed

without the SPI ‘‘A’’, then the request

for a refund must be in writing. Further,

all non-ABI filers must request refunds

in writing. Instructions on how to

request a refund in writing will be

issued if the GSP is renewed with

retroactive effect.

Informal Entries

Refunds on informal entries filed

through the ABI with the SPI ‘‘A’’

designation will be processed in

accordance with the automatic refund

procedure outlined above.

Baggage declarations and non-ABI

informals

When merchandise is presented for

clearance, travelers and importers will

be advised verbally or by a written

notice that they may be eligible for a

refund of GSP duties. Travelers/

importers may write a statement directly

on their Customs declarations (CF

6059B) or informal entries (CF 363)

indicating their desire for a refund.

Then should the GSP be renewed with

retroactive effect, no further action need

be taken by the importer to request a

refund. Failure to request a refund at

this time and in this manner does not

operate to bar a written request in the

future.

Mail entries

Should the GSP be renewed with

retroactive effect, those addressees who

received GSP eligible merchandise

(identified on the CF 3419A, (Mail

Entry)) may be eligible for a refund of

GSP duties and should submit a

separate written claim for a refund. The

request for the refund and a copy of the

CF 3419A should be submitted to the

appropriate International Mail Branch

identified at the bottom right-hand

corner of the CF 3419A. (The copy of

the CF 3419A must be included with the

request, as the information contained on

the form will be the only record of the

GSP merchandise entered and whether

the duties and fees were paid).

Dated: June 10, 1998.

Louis E. Samenfink,

Acting Assistant Commissioner, Field

Operations.

[FR Doc. 98–15883 Filed 6–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

[FI–3–91]

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request for Regulation Project

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, invites the general public and

other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is

soliciting comments concerning an

existing final regulation, FI–3–91 (TD

8456), Capitalization of Certain Policy

Acquisition Expenses (§§ 1.848–2(g)(8),

1.848–2(h)(3), and 1.848–2(i)(4)).

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before August 17, 1998

to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Garrick R. Shear, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5571, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the information collection

should be directed to Carol Savage,

(202) 622–3945, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5569, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Capitalization of Certain Policy

Acquisition Expenses.

OMB Number: 1545–1287.

Regulation Project Number: FI–3–91.

Abstract: Internal Revenue Code

section 848 provides that insurance

companies must capitalize ‘‘specified

policy acquisition expenses.’’ In lieu of

identifying the categories of expenses

that must be capitalized, section 848

requires that a company capitalize an

amount of otherwise deductible

expenses equal to specified percentages

of net premiums with respect to certain

types of insurance contracts. Insurance

companies that enter into reinsurance

agreements must determine the amounts

to be capitalized under those

agreements consistently. This regulation

provides elections to permit the parties

to a reinsurance agreement to shift the

burden of capitalization for their mutual

benefit.

Current Actions: There is no change to

this existing regulation.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

2,070.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 1

hour.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 2,070.

The following paragraph applies to all

of the collections of information covered

by this notice:

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 OMB control number.

Books or records relating to a collection

of information must be retained as long

as their contents may become material

in the administration of any internal