CUSTOMS USER FEES.

SEC. 111. CUSTOMS USER FEES. (a) Merchandise Processing Fees.— Paragraphs (9) and (10) of section 13031(a) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(a) (9) and (10)) are amended to read as follows: “(9) For the processing of merchandise that is formally entered or released during any fiscal year, a fee, subject to the limitations in subsection (b)(8)(A), in an amount equal to 0.17 percent ad valorem. “(10) For the processing of merchandise that is informally entered or released, other than at— “(A) a centralized hub facility, “(B) an express consignment carrier facility, or “(C) a small airport or other facility to which section 236 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 applies, a fee of— “(i) $2 if the entry or release is automated and not prepared by customs personnel; “(ii) $5 if the entry or release is manual and not prepared by customs personnel; or “(iii) $8 if the entry or release, whether automated or manual, is prepared by customs personnel. For provisions relating to the informal entry or release of merchandise at facilities referred to in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), see subsection (b)(9).”. (b) Limitations on Fees.— Subsection (b) of section 13031 of such Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(b)) is amended as follows: (1) Subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) is amended to read as follows: “(B) the arrival of any railroad car the journey of which originates and terminates in the same country, but only if no passengers board or disembark from the train and no cargo is loaded or unloaded from such car while the car is within any country other than the country in which such car originates and terminates; or”. (2) Paragraph (8) is amended— 104 STAT. 636 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (A) as subparagraph (D), (B) by striking out subparagraph (B), (C) by inserting before subparagraph (D) (as redesignated by this paragraph) the following: “(A) (i) Subject to clause (ii), the fee charged under subsection (a)(9) for the formal entry or release of merchandise may not exceed $400 or be less than $21. “(ii) A surcharge of $3 shall be added to the fee determined after application of clause (i) for any manual entry or release of merchandise. “(B) No fee may be charged under subsection (a) (9) or (10) for the processing of any article that is— “(i) provided for under any item in chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, except sub-heading 9802.00.60 or 9802.00.80, “(ii) a product of an insular possession of the United States, or “(iii) a product of any country listed in subdivision (c)(ii)(B) or (c)(v) of general note 3 to such Schedule. “(C) For purposes of applying subsection (a) (9) or (10)— “(i) expenses incurred by the Secretary of the Treasury in the processing of merchandise do not include costs incurred in— “(I) air passenger processing, “(II) export control, or “(III) international affairs, and “(ii) any reference to a manual entry or release includes— “(I) any entry or release filed by a broker or importer that requires the recording of cargo selectivity data by customs personnel, except when the recording of such data is required because of a temporary administrative or technical failure in the Customs Service automated commercial system that prevents the filing of entries or release in that system by brokers and importers that are certified by the Customs Service to do so; and “(II) any entry or release filed by a broker or importer that is not certified by the Customs Service to file entries and releases in the Customs Service automated commercial system.”, (D) by amending subparagraph (D) (as redesignated by this paragraph)— (i) by striking out “be based” in clause (ii) and inserting “except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, be based”, (ii) by striking out “and” at the end of clause (iii), (iii) by striking out the period at the end of clause (iv) and inserting “; and”, and (iv) by inserting after clause (iv) the following new clause: “(v) in the case of agricultural products of the United States that are processed and packed in a foreign trade zone, be applied only to the value of material used to make the container for such merchandise, if such merchandise is subject to entry and the container is of a kind normally used for packing such merchandise.”, and (E) by adding at the end thereof the following new subparagraph: 104 STAT. 637 “(E) For purposes of subsection (a) (9) and (10), merchandise is entered or released, as the case may be, if the merchandise is— “(i) permitted or released under section 448(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, “(ii) entered or released from customs custody under section 484(a)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, or “(iii) withdrawn from warehouse for consumption.”. (3) Paragraph (9) is amended to read as follows: “(9) (A) With respect to the processing of merchandise that is informally entered or released at a centralized hub facility, an express consignment carrier facility, or a small airport or other facility, the following reimbursements and payments are required: “(i) In the case of a centralized hub facility or small airport or other facility— “(I) the reimbursement which such facility is required to make during the fiscal year under section 9701 of title 31, United States Code or section 236 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984; and “(II) an annual payment by the facility to the Secretary of the Treasury, which is in lieu of the payment of fees under subsection (a)(10) for such fiscal year, in an amount equal to the reimbursement under subclause (I). “(ii) In the case of an express consignment carrier facility— “(I) an amount, for which the Customs Service shall be reimbursed under section 524 of the Tariff Act of 1930, equal to the cost of the customs inspectional services provided by the Customs Service at the facility during the fiscal year; and “(II) an annual payment by the facility to the Secretary of the Treasury, which is in lieu of the payment of fees under subsection (a)(10) for such fiscal year, in an amount equal to the reimbursement made under subclause (I). “(B) For purposes of this paragraph: “(i) The terms ‘centralized hub facility’ and ‘express consignment carrier facility’ have the respective meanings that are applied to such terms in part 128 of chapter I of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on July 30, 1990. “(ii) The term ‘small airport or other facility’ means any airport or facility to which section 236 of the Tariff and Trade Act of 1984 applies.”. (4) Paragraph (10) is amended by striking out “under subsection (a)(10)” and inserting “under subsection (a) (9) or (10)”. (5) The following new paragraph is added at the end: “(11) No fee may be charged under subsection (a) (9) or (10) with respect to products of Israel if an exemption with respect to the fee is implemented under section 112 of the Customs and Trade Act of 1990.”. (c) Disposition of Fees.— Subsection (f) of section 13031 of such Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(f)) is amended— (1) by striking out “All funds” in paragraph (2) and inserting in lieu thereof “Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, all funds”; and (2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows: “(3) (A) The Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with section 524 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and subject to subparagraph (B), shall directly reimburse, from the fees collected under subsection (a) (other than subsection (a) (9) or (10)), each appropriation for the 104 STAT. 638amount paid out of that appropriation for the costs incurred by the Secretary— “(i) in providing— “(I) inspectional overtime services, and “(II) all preclearance services for which the recipients of such services are not required to reimburse the Secretary of the Treasury, and “(ii) to the extent funds remain available to make reimbursements under clause (i), in providing salaries for full-time and part-time inspectional personnel and equipment that enhance customs services for those persons or entities that are required to pay fees under paragraphs (1) through (8) of subsection (a) (distributed on a basis proportionate to the fees collected under subsection (a)(1) through (a)(8)). Funds described in clause (ii) shall only be available to reimburse costs in excess of the highest amount appropriated for such costs during the period beginning with fiscal year 1990 and ending with the current fiscal year. “(B) Reimbursement of appropriations under this paragraph— “(i) except for costs described in subparagraph (A)(i) (I) and (II) , shall be subject to apportionment or similar administrative practices; “(ii) shall be made at least quarterly; and “(iii) to the extent necessary, may be made on the basis of estimates made by the Secretary of the Treasury and adjustments shall be made in subsequent reimbursements to the extent that the estimates were in excess of, or less than, the amounts required to be reimbursed. “(C) (i) For fiscal year 1991 and subsequent fiscal years, the amount required to fully reimburse inspectional overtime and preclearance costs shall be projected from actual requirements, and only the excess of collections over such projected costs for such fiscal year shall be used as provided in subparagraph (A)(ii). “(ii) The excess of collections over inspectional overtime and preclearance costs (under subparagraph (A)(i)) reimbursed for fiscal years 1989 and 1990 shall be available in fiscal year 1991 and subsequent fiscal years for the purposes described in subparagraph (A)(ii), except that $30,000,000 of such excess shall remain without fiscal year limitation in a contingency fund and, in any fiscal year in which receipts are insufficient to cover the costs described in subparagraph (A) (i) and (ii), shall be used for— “(I) the costs of providing the services described in paragraph (A)(i), and “(II) after the costs described in subclause (I) are paid, the costs of providing the personnel and equipment described in subparagraph (A)(ii) at the preceding fiscal year level. “(D) At the close of each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives summarizing the expenditures, on a port-by-port basis, for which reimbursement has been provided under subparagraph (A)(ii).”. (d) Enforcement Authority.— Subsection (g) of section 13031 of such Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(g)) is amended— (1) by amending the heading to read as follows: “Regulations and Enforcement.—”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 104 STAT. 639 “(3) Except to the extent otherwise provided in regulations, all administrative and enforcement provisions of customs laws and regulations, other than those laws and regulations relating to draw-back, shall apply with respect to any fee prescribed under subsection (a) of this section, and with respect to persons liable therefor, as if such fee is a customs duty. For purposes of the preceding sentence, any penalty expressed in terms of a relationship to the amount of the duty shall be treated as not less than the amount which bears a similar relationship to the amount of the fee assessed. For purposes of determining the jurisdiction of any court of the United States or any agency of the United States, any fee prescribed under subsection (a) of this section shall be treated as if such fee is a customs duty.”. (e) Extension of Fees.— Paragraph (3) of section 13031(j) of such Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)) is amended by striking out “1990” and inserting “1991”. (f) Aggregation of Merchandise Processing Fees.— (1) Notwithstanding any provision of section 13031 of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c), in the case of entries of merchandise made under the temporary monthly entry programs established by the Commissioner of Customs before July 1, 1989, for the purpose of testing entry processing improvements, the fee charged under section 13031(a)(9) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 for each day’s importations at each port by the same importer from the same exporter shall be the lesser of— (A) $400, or (B) the amount determined by applying the ad valorem rate determined in such section 13031(a)(9) to the total value of each day’s importations at each port by the same importer from the same exporter. (2) The fees described in paragraph (1) that are payable under the program described in paragraph (1) shall be paid with each monthly consumption entry. Interest shall accrue on the fees paid monthly in accordance with section 6621 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.