HQ 112917: Coastwise Trade; Guam; 46 U.S.C. App. 289, 883; 46 U.S.C. 12105

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 112917
                                
                        October 19, 1993

VES-3-06-CO:R:IT:C 112917 GEV

CATEGORY:  Carriers

William M. Dozier, Esq.
Vandeventer, Black, Meredith & Martin
500 World Trade Center
Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1699

RE:  Coastwise Trade; Guam; 46 U.S.C. App. 289, 883; 
     46 U.S.C. 12105

Dear Mr. Dozier:

     This is in response to your letter dated October 4, 1993 (your
file no. 31320001) requesting a ruling regarding the use of a
vessel in trade with Guam.  Our ruling is set forth below.

FACTS:

     The vessel under consideration is a foreign-built, U.S.-flag
vessel issued a certificate of documentation with a registry
endorsement.  A proposed use of the vessel includes the carriage
of passengers and/or cargo between points or places in the United
States and Guam.

ISSUE:

     Whether a foreign-built, U.S.-flag vessel issued a certificate
of documentation with a registry endorsement may transport
passengers and/or cargo between the United States and Guam pursuant
to 46 U.S.C.  12105.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Title 46, United States Code Appendix,  883 (46 U.S.C. App.
 883), the merchandise coastwise law often called the "Jones Act",
provides in part, that no merchandise shall be transported between
points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws,
either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the
transportation, in any vessel other than a vessel built in and
documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons
who are citizens of the United States (i.e., a coastwise-qualified
vessel).  Section 289 of title 46 (46 U.S.C. App.  289, the
passenger coastwise law) as interpreted by the Customs Service,
prohibits the transportation of passengers between 

                              - 2 -

points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws,
either directly or by way of a foreign port, in a non-coastwise-
qualified vessel (see above).  

     The coastwise laws generally apply to points in the
territorial sea, defined as the belt, three nautical miles wide,
seaward of the territorial sea baseline, and to points located in
internal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline, in cases
where the baseline and the coastline differ.

     Pursuant to title 46, United States Code Appendix,  877 (46
U.S.C. App.  877) the coastwise laws are applicable to Guam. 
Accordingly, foreign-flag vessels are prohibited from transporting
merchandise and/or passengers between United States coastwise
points, including transportation between Guam and other points in
the United States and between points within Guam.

     It should be noted, however, that pursuant to title 46, United
States Code Appendix,  12105(b) (46 U.S.C. App.  12105(b)), a
vessel for which a registry endorsement is issued may be employed
in trade with Guam.  Accordingly, Customs has long held that
foreign-built vessels issued a certificate of documentation
endorsed with a registry endorsement may engage in trade between
United States coastwise points and Guam.  Passengers and
merchandise may, therefore, be transported between United States
coastwise points and Guam and between points within Guam on a
foreign-built, U.S.-flag vessel.

     In regard to the carriage of passengers or merchandise between
the United States and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands (CNMI),   502(b) and 503(b) of the "Covenant to Establish
a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union
with the United States of America" (48 U.S.C.  1681) provide in
part that except for activities of the U.S. Government and its
contractors in the CNMI, the coastwise laws of the United States
do not apply to the CNMI.  Accordingly, a foreign-built, U.S.-flag
vessel issued a certificate of documentation with a registry
endorsement would not be prohibited from carrying passengers or
cargo between the United States and the CNMI unless it was engaging
in the aforementioned activities.

     Parenthetically, we note your statement that you would
appreciate any prior Carrier Rulings Branch decisions that we have
on the points discussed above.  You should know that under the
provisions of 5 U.S.C.  552(a)(2), Customs maintains and makes
available for public inspection and copying a current index 
providing information identifying the final ruling letters prepared
by the Customs Service.  These rulings are identified by a 6-digit
file number.  This keyword index is available in diskette format
for subscription at a nominal cost or for use  - 3 -

free of charge at Customs reading rooms.  Should you wish to
subscribe to this keyword index, we suggest that you contact Mr.
Thomas Budnik of the Legal Retrieval Branch here at Customs
Headquarters.

     Inasmuch as our system provides any requestor with an
opportunity to identify the particular rulings desired, we ask that
you provide us the 6-digit control number(s) for any ruling(s) you
may desire.  Upon receipt of your amended request, we shall be glad
to search for the documents you seek.

HOLDING:

     A foreign-built, U.S.-flag vessel issued a certificate of
documentation with a registry endorsement may transport passengers
and/or cargo between the United States and Guam pursuant to 46
U.S.C.  12105.

                              Sincerely,




                              Arthur P. Schifflin
                              Chief'
                              Carrier Rulings Branch