Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 142 / Friday, July 24, 1998 / Notices 39931

(3) Arriving carriers must use the

Automated Manifest System (AMS);

(4) The quota category must be less

than 85% full;

(5) The entry must contain at least one

line classifiable in Chapter 61 or 62 of

the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States (HTSUS); and

(6) The entry must be submitted at the

port of Los Angeles (2704/2720) or New

York/Newark (1001/4601/4701).

If an importer submits a quota entry

for Quota Preprocessing and it does not

meet all of the above criteria the entry

summary will be rejected back to the

filer and may not be resubmitted to

Customs until after the carrier has

arrived. Upon arrival of the carrier,

merchandise covered by a preprocessed

entry will be released unless Customs

decides to perform an examination. If an

examination of the merchandise is

necessary, the examination will occur

during the port’s regular inspectional

hours.

Regulatory Provisions Affected

During the six-month test period of

this operational procedure, the

requirements regarding scheduling of

ACH payment, quota status, submission

of quota documents, and time of entry,

found in §§ 24.25(c)(3), 132.11, 132.11a,

141.63 and 141.68 of the Customs

Regulations, will be suspended at the

affected ports.

Regarding the submission of an entry

under this prototype, when the

documents are filed prior to arrival of

the merchandise the term ‘‘time of

entry’’ shall be the time the merchandise

arrives within the port limits. For

purposes of this prototype, the term

‘‘time of presentation’’ shall be the time

of delivery in proper form of the entry/

entry summary for consumption for

which a valid scheduled statement date

for the estimated duties payable has

been successfully received by Customs

via the ABI. A valid scheduled

statement date must be within 10 days

of the estimated date of arrival of the

merchandise.

III. Application

Importers that wish to participate in

the Quota Preprocessing prototype must

submit a written application that

includes the following information:

1. The specific ports located at either

New York/Newark or Los Angeles at

which they intend to enter quota

merchandise;

2. The importer of record number(s),

including suffix(es), and a statement of

the importer’s/filer’s electronic filing

capabilities;

3. Names and addresses of any entry

filers, including Customs brokers, who

will be electronically filing entries at

each port on behalf of the importer/

participant; and

4. The total number of consumption

quota entries (type 02 and 07) filed at

each of the prototype ports during the

preceding 12-month period and the

estimated number of eligible entries

expected to be filed at each designated

port during the Quota Preprocessing

prototype. If it is expected that a

significantly higher number of eligible

entries will be filed during the

prototype than were filed during the

preceding 12 months, an explanation for

the increase is necessary.

Customs will notify applicants in

writing of their selection or

nonselection in this prototype. If an

applicant is denied participation, he/she

may appeal in writing to the port

director at the port which denied the

application.

IV. Misconduct

A participant may be suspended from

the Quota Preprocessing prototype and

disqualified from any future phases of

this prototype if involved in any of the

following acts of misconduct:

1. Shifting the volume of imports

clearing through the prototype port(s);

2. Continually overestimating the date

of arrival;

3. Continually submitting ineligible

entries, i.e., the entry summary is nonABI, the carrier is non-AMS, payment is

not via ACH, and/or none of the

merchandise is from HTSUS Chapter 61

or 62;

4. Submitting multiple requests for

canceled entries;

5. Participating in any activity to

circumvent quota or erroneously gain

quota status; or

6. Failing to abide by the terms and

conditions of this notice or applicable

laws and regulations.

Participants subject to suspension

will be notified in writing. Such notice

will apprise the participant of the facts

or conduct warranting suspension and

the date on which the suspension will

take effect.

Any decision proposing suspension of

a participant may be appealed in writing

to the local port director within 15 days

of the decision date. Should the

participant appeal the notice of

proposed suspension, the participant

should address the facts or conduct

charges contained in the notice and

state how he/she does or will achieve

compliance. However, in the case of

willfulness or where public health

interests or safety are concerned, the

suspension may be effective

immediately. Further, Customs has the

discretion to immediately suspend a

prototype participant based on the

determination that an unacceptable

compliance risk exists. This suspension

may be invoked at any time after

acceptance in the prototype. In addition

to being suspended, a participant may

be subject to penalties, liquidated

damages, and/or other administrative

sanctions for such action.

V. Test Evaluation Criteria

Although by no means exclusive, the

following evaluation criteria may be

used by Customs to assess the merits of

the test procedure:

1. Workload impact (workload shifts/

volume, cycle times, etc.);

2. Policy and procedure

accommodations;

3. System efficiency;

4. Operational efficiency; or

5. Other issues identified by public

comment or by the participants.

Also, Customs may survey

participants to validate the benefits of

this prototype. Results of the test

evaluations will be available at the

conclusion of the prototype and will be

made available to the public upon

request.

Dated: July 20, 1998.

Audrey Adams,

Acting Assistant Commissioner, Office of

Field Operations.

[FR Doc. 98–19773 Filed 7–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

Country of Origin Marking Rules for

Textiles and Textile Products

Advanced in Value, Improved in

Condition, or Assembled Abroad

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service;

Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Proposed interpretation;

extension of comment period.

SUMMARY: On June 15, 1998, a document

was published in the Federal Register

advising the public that Customs is

proposing a new interpretation

concerning the country of origin rules

for certain imported textile and textile

products. Customs proposed that 19

CFR 12.130(c) should not control for

purposes of country of origin marking of

textile and textile products, and that

Chapter 98, Subchapter II, U.S. Note

2(a), Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the

United States does not apply for country

of origin marking purposes. The

document solicited comments,

requesting that comments be received

on or before August 14, 1998. This
39932 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 142 / Friday, July 24, 1998 / Notices

notice extends the period of time within

which interested members of the public

may submit comments concerning the

June 15 proposal. The comment period

is being extended another 45 days.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before September 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be

addressed to, and inspected at, the

Regulations Branch, Office of

Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs

Service, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20229.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Monika Brenner, Special Classification

and Marking Branch, Office of

Regulations and Rulings, (202) 927–

1675.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

A document was published in the

Federal Register (63 FR 32697) on June

15, 1998, advising the public that

Customs is proposing a new

interpretation concerning the country of

origin rules for certain imported textile

and textile products. Customs proposed

that 19 CFR 12.130(c) should not control

for purposes of country of origin

marking of textile and textile products,

and that Chapter 98, Subchapter II, U.S.

Note 2(a), Harmonized Tariff Schedule

of the United States does not apply for

country of origin marking purposes. The

document solicited comments,

requesting that comments be received

on or before August 14, 1998.

Customs has received a request to

extend the comment period to allow

interested parties to have more time to

consider the proposal and to explore

how the proposed changes may impact

the FTC rules on ‘‘Made in USA’’.

Customs believes the request for more

time has merit. Accordingly, the period

of time for submission of comments is

being extended 45 days.

All comments submitted will be

available for public inspection in

accordance with the Freedom of

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

Treasury Department Regulations (31

CFR 1.4) and § 103.11(b), Customs

Regulations (19 CFR 103.11(b)), between

9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on normal

business days at the address stated

above.

Dated: July 20, 1998.

Stuart P. Seidel,

Assistant Commissioner, Office of

Regulations and Rulings.

[FR Doc. 98–19771 Filed 7–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

Quarterly IRS Interest Rates Used in

Calculating Interest on Overdue

Accounts and Refunds on Customs

Duties

AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.

ACTION: General notice.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

of the quarterly Internal Revenue

Service interest rates used to calculate

interest on overdue accounts and

refunds of Customs duties. For the

quarter beginning July 1, 1998, the rates

will be 7 percent for overpayments and

8 percent for underpayments. This

notice is published for the convenience

of the importing public and Customs

personnel.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ronald Wyman, Accounting Services

Division, Accounts Receivable Group,

6026 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis,

Indiana 46278, (317) 298–1200,

extension 1349.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1505 and

Treasury Decision 85–93, published in

the Federal Register on May 29, 1985

(50 FR 21832), the interest rate paid on

applicable overpayments or

underpayments of Customs duties shall

be in accordance with the Internal

Revenue Code rate established under 26

U.S.C. 6621 and 6622. Interest rates are

determined based on the short-term

Federal rate. The interest rate that

Treasury pays on overpayments will be

the short-term Federal rate plus two

percentage points. The interest rate paid

to the Treasury for underpayments will

be the short-term Federal rate plus three

percentage points. The rates will be

rounded to the nearest full percentage.

The interest rates are determined by

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on

behalf of the Secretary of the Treasury

based on the average market yield on

outstanding marketable obligations of

the U.S. with remaining periods to

maturity of 3 years or less, and fluctuate

quarterly. The rates effective for a

quarter are determined during the firstmonth period of the previous quarter.

In Revenue Ruling 98–32 (1998–25

IRB 4, dated June 22, 1998), the IRS

determined that the rates of interest for

the fourth quarter of fiscal year (FY)

1998 (the period of July 1—September

30, 1998) will be 7 percent for

overpayments and 8 percent for

underpayments. These interest rates are

subject to change for the first quarter of

FY–1999 (the period of October 1—

December 31, 1998).

For the convenience of the importing

public and Customs personnel the

following list of Internal Revenue

Service interest rates used, covering the

period from before July of 1974 to date,

to calculate interest on overdue

accounts and refunds of Customs duties,

is published in summary format.

Beginning

date

Ending

date

Underpayments

(percent)

Overpayments

(percent)

Before July ..................................................................................................................................................... 063075 6 6

070175 ............................................................................................................................................................ 013176 9 9

020176 ............................................................................................................................................................ 013178 7 7

020178 ............................................................................................................................................................ 013180 6 6

020180 ............................................................................................................................................................ 013182 12 12

020182 ............................................................................................................................................................ 123182 20 20

010183 ............................................................................................................................................................ 063083 16 16

070183 ............................................................................................................................................................ 123184 11 11

010185 ............................................................................................................................................................ 063085 13 13

070185 ............................................................................................................................................................ 123185 11 11

010186 ............................................................................................................................................................ 063086 10 10

070186 ............................................................................................................................................................ 123186 9 9

010187 ............................................................................................................................................................ 093087 9 8

100187 ............................................................................................................................................................ 123187 10 9

010188 ............................................................................................................................................................ 033188 11 10

040188 ............................................................................................................................................................ 093088 10 9

100188 ............................................................................................................................................................ 033189 11 10