Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/02/06/2012-2472/importation-of-arms-ammunition-and-implements-of-war-and-machine-guns-destructive-devices-and
Timestamp: 2019-01-23 17:36:16
Document Index: 256629259

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 447', '§\u2009447', 'art 479', '§\u2009478', 'arts 447', 'art 478', 'art 478', 'art 478', 'arts 447']

A Proposed Rule by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau on 02/06/2012
5735-5739 (5 pages)
III. Proposed Rule—Extending the Term of Import Permits From 1 Year to 2 Years
IV. How This Document Complies With the Federal Administrative Requirements for Rulemaking
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-2472 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-2472
Deborah G. Szczenski, Industry Operations Specialist, Mailstop 6N-602, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 99 New York Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20226; ATTN: ATF 43P. Written comments must appear in minimum 12-point size of type (.17 inches), include the commenter's mailing address, be signed, and may be of any length.
The Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the provisions of section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (AECA), 22 U.S.C. 2778, that relate to the importation of defense articles and defense services, and also for enforcing the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA), 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53. The Attorney General is also responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, relating to commerce in firearms and ammunition. He has delegated all of those responsibilities to the Director of ATF (“Director”), subject to the direction of the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General. 28 CFR 0.130.
Regulations that implement the provisions of the AECA that are concerned with the importation of arms, ammunition, and implements of war are set forth in 27 CFR part 447. The regulation at 27 CFR 447.41(a) generally provides that articles on the U.S. Munitions Import List may not be imported into the United States except pursuant to a permit. Section 447.42(a) states that persons required to obtain a permit must file with ATF an ATF Form 6—Part I (5330.3A), Application and Permit for Importation of Firearms, Ammunition, and Implements of War (“ATF Form 6”). The application must be signed and dated and must contain the information requested on the form, including:
1. The name, address, telephone number, license and registration number, if any (including expiration date), of the importer;
2. The country from which the defense article is to be imported;
3. The name and address of the foreign seller and foreign shipper;
4. A description of the defense article to be imported, including—
a. The name and address of the manufacturer;
b. The type (e.g., rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver, aircraft, vessel, and in the case of ammunition only, ball, wadcutter, shot, etc.);
c. The caliber, gauge, or size;
d. The model;
e. The length of barrel, if any (in inches);
f. The overall length, if a firearm (in inches);
g. The serial number, if known;
h. Whether the defense article is new or used;
i. The quantity;
j. The unit cost of the firearm, firearm barrel, ammunition, or other defense article to be imported;
k. The category of U.S. Munitions Import List under which the article is regulated;
5. The specific purpose of importation, including final recipient information if different from the importer; and
6. Certification of origin.
Section 447.43(a) provides that import permits are valid for 1 year from their issuance date unless a different period of validity is stated thereon. Furthermore, under § 447.43(b), if shipment cannot be completed during the period of validity of the permit, another application must be submitted for a permit to cover the unshipped balance.
Regulations that implement the provisions of the NFA are set forth in 27 CFR part 479, which contains the procedural and substantive requirements relative to the importation, manufacture, making, exportation, transfer, taxing, identification and registration of, and the dealing in, machine guns, destructive devices, and certain other firearms. With respect to NFA firearms, the regulation at 27 CFR 479.111(a) provides that no firearm may be imported or brought into the United States or any territory under its control or jurisdiction unless the person importing or bringing in the firearm establishes to the satisfaction of the Director that the firearm to be imported or brought in is being imported or brought in for certain specified purposes, e.g., scientific or research purposes. This paragraph further provides that any person desiring to import or bring a firearm into the United States must file with the Director an application on ATF Form 6. As specified, the approval of an application to import a firearm shall be automatically terminated at the expiration of 1 year from the date of approval unless, upon request, it is further extended by the Director.
Section 479.113 provides that the Director shall permit the conditional importation of any NFA firearm for the purpose of examining and testing to determine whether the importation of such firearm will be authorized. As specified, an application on ATF Form 6 shall be filed with the Director. The Director may impose conditions upon any importation, and the person importing the firearm must agree to either export or destroy the weapon if a final determination is made that it may not be imported.
Requirements for the conditional importation of firearms, firearm barrels, and ammunition for the purpose of examination and testing to determine whether the Director will authorize their importation are set forth in § 478.116. This section provides that an application on ATF Form 6 for such conditional importation must be filed with the Director. If approved, the Director may impose conditions on the importation, and the person importing the firearm, firearm barrel, or ammunition must agree to either export or destroy the imported item if it is determined that the item may not be imported.
[E]xtending the period a license [permit] is valid could reduce the workload for [ATF] examiners by lowering the number of renewals submitted to ATF and reduce the uncertainty importers face when dealing with long-lead time deals. [Many licensed and/or registered importers import the same defense articles year after year. ATF processes these “renewal” permits.]
The petitioner contends that extending the term of an import permit from 1 year to 2 years will not significantly impact compliance with the law and that “ATF would clearly retain all authorities to revoke permits should such action be necessary based on changes to the law, interpretations of the law, or changes to the regulations governing imports.”
Of the approximately 11,000 ATF Form 6 import applications ATF processes each year, 9,000 are submitted by an ATF licensed or registered importer. Subsequent information provided by the petitioner indicates that the renewal rate on import permits for industry members is approximately 50 percent. If the term of an import permit is changed from 1 year to 2 years, ATF estimates the number of import permit applications submitted by licensed or registered importers would be reduced to 4,500 each year. This would result in significant economic savings for both the industry and ATF. As indicated, there is a substantial amount of information requested on the import permit application. ATF estimates that it takes a compliance officer employed by a federally licensed or registered importer approximately 30 minutes to complete an ATF Form 6 permit application. According to the Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2009), published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, the average hourly wage of a compliance officer is $26.50. Reducing the number of permits submitted by the industry by half (4,500) would result in an annual savings of approximately $59,625.
Increasing the term of an import permit to 2 years would also result in an economic benefit for ATF. ATF employs data entry contractors who spend an average of 2 hours completing quality review and data entry functions for each import application. The average salary of a contractor is $14 per hour. ATF examiners typically spend 4 hours processing an ATF Form 6 application. The average hourly rate for an examiner is $24.74. If the number of applications was reduced to 4,500 each year, the annual savings to ATF would be approximately $571,320.
The Department has determined that an amendment of the regulations to extend the term of import permits for firearms, ammunition, and defense articles from 1 year to 2 years is warranted. The additional time will allow importers sufficient time to complete the importation of the authorized commodity, and will eliminate the need for the importers to submit a new import application when the importation is not completed within the 1-year period. Accordingly, in order to reduce the paperwork burden on the industry and to increase the efficiency of ATF in processing requests for importation, the Department is proposing to amend the regulations in parts 447 and 479 to increase the term of import permits from 1 year to 2 years.
The regulations in part 478 do not specify the period of validity for import permits as 1 year, and therefore, the Department is not proposing to amend the regulations in part 478. The regulations in part 478 provide that importation may continue to be made by the applicant during the period specified on the approved application (permit). As stated on the ATF Form 6, the permit is valid for 12 months from the Director's approval date on the permit. If this proposed rule is adopted, the ATF Form 6 will be revised to reflect the amended period of validity for importation as 2 years from the Director's approval date on the permit.
The term of validity for import permits filed by members of the United States military returning to the United States from abroad with firearms and for non-immigrant aliens temporarily importing firearms into the United States for lawful hunting and sporting purposes is unaffected by this proposed rule and will remain at 1 year.
This proposed rule has been drafted and reviewed in accordance with Executive Order 12866, “Regulatory Planning and Review,” section 1(b), Principles of Regulation and in accordance with Executive Order 13563, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,” section 1(b) General Principles of Regulation and section 6 Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules. The Department of Justice has determined that this proposed rule is a “significant regulatory action” under Executive Order 12866, section 3(f), Regulatory Planning and Review, and accordingly this proposed rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
This proposed rule will not have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million, nor will it adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities. Accordingly, this proposed rule is not an “economically significant” rulemaking as defined by Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13563 section 6, Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules, directs agencies to develop a plan to review existing significant rules that may be “outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome,” and to make appropriate changes where warranted. The Department selected and reviewed this rule under the criteria set forth in its Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules. During this review, ATF calculated that it processes approximately 11,000 import applications each year. Approximately 82 percent of those applications (9,000) are submitted by federally licensed or registered importers. ATF estimates that it takes a compliance officer employed by a federally licensed or registered importer approximately 30 minutes to complete an ATF Form 6 permit application. According to the Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2009), published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, the average hourly wage of a compliance officer is $26.50. If the term of an import permit was extended to 2 years, ATF estimates that the number of ATF Form 6 permit applications submitted by licensed or registered importers would be reduced to 4,500 each year. Reducing the number of permits submitted by the industry by half (4,500) would result in an annual savings of approximately $59,625.
Increasing the term of an import permit to 2 years would also result in an economic benefit for ATF. ATF employs data entry contractors who spend an average of 2 hours completing quality review and data entry functions for each import application. The average salary of a contractor is $14 per hour. ATF examiners typically spend 4 hours processing an ATF Form 6 application. The average hourly rate for an examiner is $24.74. If the number of applications was reduced to 4,500 each year, the annual savings to ATF would be approximately $571,320. The Department invites comments on whether this proposed revision will reduce the administrative burdens on the industry and ATF as anticipated, thereby making this rule less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives, consistent with Executive Order 13563.
This proposed regulation meets the applicable standards set forth in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)) requires an agency to conduct a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking requirements unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises, and small governmental jurisdictions. The Attorney General has reviewed this proposed rule and, by approving it, certifies that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The Department believes that this proposed rule will have a positive economic impact on both the industry and ATF. The number of permits and the time required for industry to file those permits and for ATF to process them will be significantly reduced.
An industry compliance officer spends approximately 30 minutes completing an ATF Form 6. According to the Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2009), published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, the average hourly wage of a compliance officer is $26.50. Reducing the number of permits submitted by the industry by half (4,500) would result in an annual savings of approximately $59,625.
This proposed rule does not impose any new reporting or recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act. ATF Form 6 currently states that a permit is valid for 12 months from the Director's date of approval, which is specified on the permit. If this proposed rule is adopted, the ATF Form 6 will be revised under currently approved OMB control number 1140-0005 to reflect the 2 year (24 months) amended period of validity for import permits.
ATF is requesting comments on the proposed rule from all interested persons. All comments must reference this document docket number (ATF 43P), be legible, and include your name and mailing address. ATF will treat all comments as originals and will not acknowledge receipt of comments.
Mail: Send written comments to the address listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document. Written comments must appear in minimum 12-point size of type (.17 inches), include the commenter's mailing address, be signed, and may be of any length.
(1) Be legible and appear in minimum 12-point size of type (.17 inches);
Accordingly, for the reasons discussed in the preamble, 27 CFR parts 447 and 479 are proposed to be amended as follows:
2. Section 447.43 is amended by removing the phrase “one year” in paragraph (a) and adding in its place the phrase “two years”.
4. Section 479.111 is amended by removing the phrase “one year” in the eighth sentence in paragraph (a)(3) and adding in its place the phrase “two years”.
[FR Doc. 2012-2472 Filed 2-3-12; 8:45 am]