Details of the Senate-Passed Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Senate "Hold" is Preventing House-Senate Conference
As the House and Senate have passed different versions of H.R. 1047, the next step would normally be a House-Senate conference to resolve differences between the two versions of the bill.
However, Congressional sources state that a Senator has placed a "hold" on the Senate's version of H.R. 1047 which prevents a House-Senate conference from being convened. (One source noted that this "hold" is currently anonymous.)
Congressional sources further add that if this "hold" can be lifted, the Senate is expected to request a conference with the House in order to resolve the differences in the two versions of H.R. 1047. If the House and Senate can resolve their differences and pass a conference version of H.R. 1047, the bill would then be sent to the President for enactment.
This is Part VII of a multi-part series of summaries on the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1047 (H.R. 1047) and covers part of the amendments to the drawback statute (19 USC 1313). See future issues for additional summaries on the remaining amendments to the drawback statute and other provisions of H.R. 1047.
Amendments to the Drawback Statute (19 USC 1313)
Drawback for Merchandise Not Conforming to Sample or Specifications
H.R. 1047 would amend the drawback provisions for merchandise not conforming to sample or specifications by revising 19 USC 1313(c)(1) and adding two new subparagraphs (19 USC 1313(c)(2) and (3)) so that 19 USC 1313(c) would read as follows:
| When drawback certificates not required - For purposes of this subsection, drawback certificates are not required if the drawback claimant and the importer are the same party, or if the drawback claimant is a drawback successor to the importer as defined in subsection (s)(3). |
Drawback Time Limitation on Exportation or Destruction
H.R. 1047 would amend 19 USC 1313(i) to read as follows:
Unless otherwise provided for in 19 USC 1313, no drawback shall be allowed under the provisions of 19 USC 1313 unless the completed article is exported, or destroyed under the supervision of Customs, within five years after the importation of the imported merchandise.
Use of Domestic Merchandise Acquired in Exchange for Imported Merchandise of Same Kind and Quality
H.R. 1047 would amend 19 USC 1313(k) by designating the existing subsection (k) as (k)(1) and adding a new (k)(2) subsection which states that for purposes of 19 USC 1313(a) and (b), the use of any domestic merchandise acquired in exchange for a drawback product of the same kind and quality shall be treated as the use of such drawback product if no certificate of delivery or certificate of manufacture and delivery pertaining to such drawback product is issued, other than that which documents the product's manufacture and delivery.
As used in the above sentence, the term "drawback product" means any domestically produced product, manufactured with imported merchandise or any other merchandise (whether imported or domestic) of the same kind and quality, that is subject to drawback.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/11/04, 03/12/04, 03/18/04, 03/19/04, 03/24/03, and 04/01/04 news, 04031105, 04031215, 04031820, 04031910, 04032415, and 04040115, Parts I-VI of this series of summaries on the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1047.)
Senate-passed version of H.R. 1047 available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:h1047eas.txt.pdf.