10004 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 6, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Bureau of Customs and Border 

Protection 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

19 CFR Parts 12 and 163 

[CBP Dec. 07–05 and USCBP–2006–0020] 

RIN 1505–AB68 

Entry of Certain Cement Products 

From Mexico Requiring a Commerce 

Department Import License 

AGENCIES: Customs and Border 

Protection, Department of Homeland 

Security; Department of the Treasury. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document amends title 

19 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(19 CFR) to set forth special 

requirements for the entry of certain 

cement products from Mexico requiring 

a United States Department of 

Commerce import license. The cement 

products in question are those listed in 

the Agreement on Trade in Cement, 

entered into between the Office of the 

United States Trade Representative, the 

United States Department of Commerce, 

and Mexico’s Secretaria de Economia, 

on March 6, 2006. The changes 

implemented by this document require 

an importer to submit to Customs and 

Border Protection (CBP) an import 

license number on the entry summary 

(CBP Form 7501) or on the application 

for foreign trade zone (FTZ) admission 

and/or status designation (CBP Form 

214), for any cement product for which 

the United States Department of 

Commerce requires an import license 

under its cement licensing and import 

monitoring program. Additionally, an 

importer must submit a hard copy of the 

original valid Mexican export license 

with the entry documentation or 

provide such document to the FTZ 

operator, unless directed otherwise by 

CBP. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 5, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alice Buchanan, Office of International 

Trade, Tel: (202) 344–2697. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On March 6, 2006, the Office of the 

United States Trade Representative 

(USTR), the United States Department of 

Commerce (Commerce), and the 

Ministry of Economy of the United 

Mexican States (Secretaria de Economia) 

signed a bilateral Trade in Cement 

Agreement (Agreement) concerning 

trade in cement between the United 

States and Mexico. The Agreement 

applies only to cement from Mexico as 

defined in Section I.L. of the Agreement. 

A copy of the Agreement is available on 

the Commerce Web site: http:// 

www.ia.ita.doc.gov/download/mexicocement/cement-final-agreement.pdf. 

The Agreement requires the creation of 

an Export Licensing Program by Mexico 

and an Import Licensing Program by 

Commerce to enforce certain 

quantitative restrictions contained in 

the Agreement. 

On May 31, 2006, the International 

Trade Administration of the Department 

of Commerce published a document in 

the Federal Register (71 FR 30836) 

proposing a rule, set forth at §§ 360.201 

through 360.205 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (19 CFR 360.201 through 

306.205) (changed to §§ 361.101 through 

361.105 in ITA’s final rule), that would 

establish a cement licensing and import 

monitoring program as directed under 

the terms of the Agreement. Although 

Commerce was vested with primary 

responsibility for the Mexican Cement 

import licensing and monitoring 

procedures, the Secretary of the 

Treasury, through the Bureau of 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is 

primarily responsible for the 

promulgation and administration of 

regulations regarding the importation 

and entry of merchandise into the 

United States. Accordingly, in 

conjunction with the Department of 

Commerce, on June 1, 2006, CBP 

published in the Federal Register (71 

FR 31125) a proposal to add a new 

§ 12.155 to title 19 of the CFR (19 CFR 

12.155) which requires the inclusion of 

a cement import license number on the 

entry summary (CBP Form 7501) or the 

application for admission to a FTZ (CBP 

Form 214), and the submission of a 

valid Mexican export license with the 

entry summary documentation, in any 

case in which a cement import license 

is required to be obtained under the 

Commerce regulations. It was proposed 

that the entry (unless otherwise directed 

by CBP) must be a paper filing, and the 

license number must be included: on 

the entry summary (CBP Form 7501), at 

the time of filing, in the case of 

merchandise entered or withdrawn from 

warehouse for consumption in the 

customs territory of the United States; 

or, on CBP Form 214, at the time of 

filing under part 146 of this chapter, in 

the case of merchandise admitted into a 

foreign trade zone. 

Comments were solicited on the 

proposal. 

Discussion of Comments 

Two comments were received in 

response to the solicitation of public 

comment in 71 FR 31125. A description 

of the comments received, together with 

CBP’s analyses, is set forth below. 

Comment 

Two commenters inquired as to where 

on the CBP Form 7501 the import 

license number should be identified. 

CBP Response 

The import license number must be 

reported in column 33 of the newly 

reformatted CBP Form 7501 (or column 

34 of the previous version of the CBP 

Form 7501, which remains valid). If the 

entry summary requires more than one 

cement import license, each license 

number must be reported within the 

column on the line item covering the 

subject cement. On the CBP Form 214, 

the import license number must be 

reported in box 16. If the CBP Form 214 

is submitted in an electronic format 

(CBP Form e-214), the import license 

number must be reported as per 

instructions provided to the trade and 

made available for public viewing at 

http://www.cbp.gov/. 

Comment 

One commenter inquired as to how 

long an importer must maintain copies 

of the import license, and in what 

format the records must be maintained 

(i.e., hard copy or electronic), in order 

to comply with CBP regulations. 

CBP Response 

Copies of Mexican Cement Import 

Licenses must be retained pursuant to 

the provisions set forth in part 163 of 

title 19 of the CFR. Section 163.4 (19 

CFR 163.4) prescribes a record retention 

period of 5 years from the date of entry. 

Section 163.5 (19 CFR 163.5) prescribes 

methods for the storage of records. 

Specifically, § 163.5(a) states that 

persons required to maintain records (as 

per § 163.2) must retain the original, 

whether paper or electronic, for the 

prescribed retention period. The term 

‘‘original,’’ when used in the context of 

the maintenance of records, is defined 

in § 163.1(h) (19 CFR 163.1(h)) as 

pertaining to records that are ‘‘in the 

condition in which they were made or 

received.’’ The import license numbers 

at issue are to be generated via an 

automated Mexican Cement Import 

Licensing System (for a complete 

description, see 71 FR 30837, dated May 

31, 2006), which provides a single 

opportunity to print the electronically 

generated import license number. For 

security reasons, the system does not 

allow users to retrieve previously issued 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 6, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 10005 

licenses from the license system. 

Accordingly, the original hard copy 

print-out of the Mexican Cement Import 

License must be retained for the 5 year 

retention period. 

Department of Commerce Final 

Regulations 

In another document published in 

today’s edition of the Federal Register, 

the Department of Commerce has 

finalized its proposal of May 31, 2006. 

Conclusion 

In conjunction with the final 

regulations adopted by the Department 

of Commerce, CBP, after analysis of the 

comments received in response to CBP’s 

proposed rule and upon further 

consideration, has determined to adopt 

as a final rule the amendments proposed 

in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

published in the Federal Register (71 

FR 31125) on June 1, 2006 with 

modifications as set forth below. 

In the final rule, CBP will permit 

importers to report the import license 

number on either a paper or electronic 

version of the application for admission 

to a FTZ (CBP Form 214/e-214). This 

change from the proposal is being made 

to reflect that certain CBP ports are 

currently accepting electronic versions 

of the application for FTZ admission 

and/or status designation (CBP Form e214) in lieu of paper copies. Paper 

copies of the CBP Form 214 will still be 

accepted; however, CBP is urging all 

members of the trade community to file 

electronic versions of the CBP Form e214 where possible. Existing operational 

ports are listed at the CBP Web site 

located at http://www.cbp.gov/. The site 

will be updated to reflect new CBP 

Form e-214 operational ports. Any 

questions regarding the CBP Form e-214 

admission should be directed to the 

local CBP Port Director. 

Section 12.55 is restructured in this 

final rule to present a more logical 

organization. The recordkeeping 

provision in paragraph (c) is retitled as 

‘‘Import license information’’ in the 

final rule. Paragraph (d), entitled, 

‘‘Export license information,’’ now 

includes a reference to recordkeeping 

requirements relevant to export licenses. 

The language of § 12.155(d) in the 

proposed rule is changed in the final 

rule to clarify that importers of Mexican 

cement must submit an original, 

physical copy of a valid Mexican export 

license to CBP with the entry summary 

documentation, unless otherwise 

directed by CBP. This language is added 

in the event CBP is able to process these 

types of entries electronically in the 

future. This provision is also changed in 

the final rule to clarify that the original 

physical copy of a valid Mexican export 

license must be provided to the FTZ 

operator with the CBP Form 214 in the 

case of a FTZ admission (unless 

otherwise directed by CBP) and, in such 

case, upon withdrawal from the FTZ no 

paper export license will be required to 

be submitted to CBP with the 

merchandise’s subsequent entry 

summary documentation. Similarly, the 

language in proposed § 12.155(b)(1) is 

changed in the final rule to clarify that 

no import license will be required on 

the CBP Form 7501 for Mexican cement 

that was previously admitted to a FTZ 

and for which an import license number 

was already provided to CBP on the CBP 

Form 214. 

The ‘‘List of Records Required for the 

Entry of Merchandise’’ set forth in the 

Appendix to part 163 of title 19 of the 

CFR (19 CFR part 163) is also amended 

by this document to reflect the entry 

document requirements mandated by 

the Agreement. This document amends 

section IV of the Appendix by adding a 

new § 12.155 that lists the Mexican 

Cement export license and import 

license as new entry records. 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Pursuant to provisions of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.), it is certified that the 

amendment will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The 

amendment, which involves the 

addition of one data element, at the time 

of entry, to either one of two existing 

required CBP forms and a submission of 

a Mexican export license, as required by 

the Agreement and the Department of 

Commerce regulations, will have a 

negligible impact on importer 

operations. Accordingly, the 

amendment is not subject to the 

regulatory analysis or other 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. 

Executive Order 12866 

This amendment does not meet the 

criteria for a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ as specified in Executive Order 

12866. 

Signing Authority 

This document is being issued in 

accordance with 19 CFR 0.1(a)(1). 

List of Subjects 

19 CFR Part 12 

Bonds, Customs duties and 

inspection, Entry of merchandise, 

Imports, prohibited merchandise, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Restricted merchandise. 

19 CFR Part 163 

Customs duties and inspection, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Amendment to CBP Regulations 

■ For the reasons stated above, parts 12 

and 163 of title 19 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 12) are 

amended as follows: 

PART 12—SPECIAL CLASSES OF 

MERCHANDISE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 12 

continues to read in part as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 

(General Note 3(i), Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)), 

1624; 

* * * * * 

■ 2. A new center heading and new 

§ 12.155 are added to read as follows: 

Mexican Cement Products 

§ 12.155 Entry or admission of Mexican 

cement products. 

(a) In general. On March 6, 2006, the 

United States Trade Representative, 

United States Department of Commerce 

and Mexico’s Secretaria de Economia 

entered into an ‘‘Agreement on Trade in 

Cement’’ (Agreement). Pursuant to the 

Agreement, the United States 

Department of Commerce will 

administer an import licensing system 

that covers imports of Mexican cement 

as defined in section I.L. of the 

Agreement. The Secretary of the 

Treasury, through the Bureau of 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is 

responsible for the promulgation and 

administration of regulations regarding 

the entry of the subject merchandise 

into the United States. The Agreement 

will terminate on March 31, 2009, 

unless it has been terminated prior to 

that date. 

(b) Reporting the import license 

number. For every entry of merchandise 

for which a Mexican cement import 

license is required to be obtained under 

regulations promulgated by the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, set forth at 19 

CFR 361.101 through 361.205, the entry 

(unless otherwise directed by CBP) must 

be a paper filing and the license number 

must be included: 

(1) On the entry summary, at the time 

of filing, in the case of merchandise 

entered or withdrawn from warehouse 

for consumption in the customs territory 

of the United States, except for Mexican 

cement that was previously admitted to 

a FTZ and for which an import license 

number was already provided to CBP on 

the CBP Form 214. If the entry summary 

requires more than one cement import 


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10006 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 6, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

license, each license number must be 

reported within the column on the line 

item covering the subject cement; or 

(2) On CBP Form 214 or on an 

electronic version of CBP Form 214 

(CBP Form e-214), as required by CBP, 

at the time of filing under part 146 of 

this chapter, in the case of an 

application for foreign trade zone (FTZ) 

admission and/or status designation. 

(c) Import license information. There 

is no requirement to present physical 

copies of the import license to CBP at 

the time of filing either the CBP Form 

7501 or CBP Form 214; however, 

importers must maintain copies in 

accordance with the applicable 

recordkeeping provisions set forth in the 

chapter. 

(d) Export license information. Under 

regulations promulgated by the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, set forth at 19 

CFR 361.101(d), importers of Mexican 

cement must submit an original, 

physical copy of a valid Mexican export 

license to CBP with the entry summary 

documentation (unless otherwise 

directed by CBP). In the case of an 

application for FTZ admission and/or 

status designation, the original physical 

copy of a valid Mexican export license 

must be provided to the FTZ operator 

with the CBP Form 214 (unless 

otherwise directed by CBP) and, in such 

case, upon withdrawal from the FTZ no 

paper export license will be required to 

be submitted to CBP with the 

merchandise’s subsequent entry 

summary documentation. For multiple 

shipments at multiple ports, or multiple 

entries at one port, the original physical 

copy of the Mexican export license must 

be submitted to CBP (unless otherwise 

directed by CBP) with the first entry 

summary or to the FTZ operator with 

the CBP Form 214 or CBP Form e–214, 

as required by CBP, and a copy of the 

export license must be presented with 

each subsequent entry summary or CBP 

Form 214/e-214. Importers must also 

retain copies of the export license 

issued by the Mexican Government 

pursuant to the recordkeeping 

requirements set forth in part 163 of this 

title. 

(e) Duration of requirements. The 

provisions set forth in this section are 

applicable for as long as the Agreement 

remains in effect. 

PART 163—RECORDKEEPING 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 163 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 

1484, 1508, 1509, 1510, 1624. 

■ 4. The Appendix to part 163 is 

amended by adding a new listing, in 

numerical order, for § 12.155 under 

section IV to read as follows: 

Appendix to Part 163—Interim (a)(1)(A) 

List 

* * * * * 

IV. * * * 

§ 12.155 Export license and import license 

for Mexican Cement. 

* * * * * 

Deborah J. Spero, 

Acting Commissioner, Bureau of Customs and 

Border Protection. 

Approved: February 28, 2007. 

Timothy E. Skud, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. 

[FR Doc. 07–997 Filed 3–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–14–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

19 CFR Part 361 

[Docket Number: 060316072–5251–02] 

RIN 0625–AA70 

Mexican Cement Import Licensing 

System 

AGENCY: Import Administration, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Import Administration (IA) 

issues this final rule to add new 

regulations implementing the Mexican 

Cement Import Licensing System in 

accordance with the Agreement between 

the Office of the United States Trade 

Representative and the Department of 

Commerce of the United States of 

America and the Ministry of Economy 

of the United Mexican States (Secretarı ́a 

de Economı ́a) on Trade in Cement 

(Agreement), signed March 6, 2006. This 

final rule requires all importers of 

cement from Mexico covered by the 

scope of the Agreement to obtain an 

import license from the Department of 

Commerce (Commerce) prior to 

completing their U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection (CBP) entry summary 

documentation. To obtain the import 

license, the importer, or the importer’s 

broker or agent, must complete a form 

supplying certain information to 

Commerce about the Mexican Cement 

importation. The import license number 

will be generated immediately upon 

submitting the information and will be 

needed to complete the CBP entry 

documentation. IA will use the 

information recorded on the import 

license form as the basis for monitoring 

compliance with the Agreement. 

In addition, IA informs the public of 

the approval by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) of the 

collection-of-information requirements 

contained in this final rule and 

publishes the OMB control numbers for 

those collections. 

DATES: This final rule is effective April 

5, 2007. Filers will be able to obtain 

their user identification numbers on or 

after March 16, 2007 and apply for 

import licenses on or after April 5, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sally C. Gannon (202) 482–0162; Judith 

Wey Rudman (202) 482–0192; or 

Jonathan Herzog (202) 482–4271. 

Additional information is available on 

Commerce’s import licensing Web site 

http://ia.ita.doc.gov/cement-agreement/ 

index.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: IA issues 

this final rule to add new regulations 

implementing the Mexican Cement 

Import Licensing System (MCILS) in 

accordance with the Agreement, signed 

March 6, 2006. This final rule requires 

all importers of cement from Mexico 

covered by the scope of the Agreement 

to obtain an import license from 

Commerce prior to completing their 

CBP entry summary documentation. To 

obtain an import license, the importer, 

or the importer’s broker or agent, must 

complete a form providing certain 

information to Commerce about the 

Mexican Cement importation. The 

import license number will be generated 

immediately upon submitting the 

information and will be needed to 

complete the CBP entry summary 

documentation. IA will use the 

information recorded in the import 

license form as the basis for monitoring 

compliance with the Agreement. 

The proposed rule was published on 

May 31, 2006 (71 FR 30836) (‘‘proposed 

rule’’), inviting parties to submit 

comments through June 30, 2006. The 

rationale and authority for the program 

were provided in the preamble to the 

proposed rule and are not repeated here. 

Comments on the Proposed Rule: 

Comments received during the public 

comment period set forth in the 

proposed rule are addressed in this final 

rule. Four parties submitted comments 

on the proposed rule. Most of the 

comments supported the licensing 

program and focused on a particular 

aspect of the licensing program 

concerning which the party wanted 

clarification or an adjustment. The 

comments are summarized below, with 

comments raised by more than one 

party addressed first. Please note that 

the numbering used in the proposed 


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