HQ 110260: Entry and clearance requirements for a U.S. fishing vessel proceeding to Soviet ports and/or fishing grounds.

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 110260

                       September 22, 1989


VES-5-CO:R:P:C 110260 LLB

CATEGORY: Carriers

Ms. Beth E. Jacobson
Diomedes
192 Nickerson, Suite 307
Seattle, Washington 98109

Re:  Entry and clearance requirements for a U.S. fishing vessel
     proceeding to Soviet ports and/or fishing grounds.

Dear Ms. Jacobson:

     Reference is made to your letter of May 19, 1989, in which
you ask that we provide you with information regarding Customs
requirements for the entry of your U.S.-flag fishing vessel
DIOMEDES into the U.S. following operations in the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) and territorial waters of the Soviet Union.

FACTS:

     The owner of the Vessel, BTI II, Inc., is negotiating with a
U.S.-U.S.S.R. joint venture company, the Kamchatka Pacific
Company, to conduct fisheries operations in the Soviet EEZ, Sea
of Okhotsk, Kuril Islands, and the North Pacific Ocean off the
Kamchatka Peninsula.  It is stated that it is highly likely
during operations outside the U.S., a port call will be made at
the port of Oktyabrskiy, U.S.S.R.  It is anticipated that the
vessel's crew while abroad will consist of both U.S. and Soviet
citizens.

     It is also stated that arrangements have been made at the
U.S. port of Shimia, Alaska, to take aboard vessel supplies,
parts, etc., and that it is likely that the vessel will have to
enter and leave that port several times during the planned
operation.  All Soviet personnel would be disembarked in the
U.S.S.R. prior to any planned return to Shimia.

ISSUE:

     What entry, clearance, or other Customs requirements might
need to be met in connection with the operation of a U.S.- flag
fishing vessel documented for the coastwise and fisheries trades,
which will enter and leave Soviet territorial and EEZ waters.
                               -2-

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Section 4.60, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.60) provides,
with certain exceptions not here relevant, that a vessel
departing the U.S. for a foreign port or ports must obtain
clearance from Customs prior to departure.  Vessels departing
for the high seas (including waters outside of the territorial
waters of the U.S. and not within the territorial water of a
foreign nation) are not required to obtain clearance, except if
transporting export cargo to or receiving import cargo from
another vessel while at sea.  These clearance requirements
would be effective each time the vessel departed a U.S. port,
even during the pendency of a single on-going operation.

     Vessel arrival and entry requirements are found in sections
4.2 and 4.3, Customs Regulations, respectively (19 CFR 4.2, 4.3).
The underlying statutory requirement for report of arrival, found
in 19 U.S.C. 1433, requires that arrival be reported immediately
when arriving from a foreign port or place.  Here, again,
arrivals from the high seas in your circumstances are not within
the contemplation of the requirements unless you have visited a
hovering vessel while at sea.  For those occasions on which you
do enter U.S.S.R. ports or territorial waters you will, of
course, be required to report arrival as provided by law.

     Within 48 hours of arrival from foreign territorial waters
or ports, you will be required to make a vessel entry with
Customs.  Again, entry must also be made upon return from a
hovering vessel on the high seas following any transshipment of
export or import merchandise to or from such a vessel.

     A further requirement of which you should be aware is
contained in section 4.15, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.15).
That section requires that operators of U.S.- documented
fishing vessels obtain from Customs a permit to touch and trade
(Customs Form 1379) prior to proceeding to foreign territorial
waters or ports.  This requirement would be operative upon each
departure of your vessel from the U.S. when you contemplate
operations in foreign ports or territorial seas.  Additionally,
even though you presently contemplate taking any necessary
parts/equipment aboard in a U.S. port, should it be necessary
to obtain any parts, equipment, or repairs while abroad, section
4.15 requires that you report such purchases upon your first
arrival in the U.S. under the procedures described in section
4.14, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.14).
                               -3-

HOLDING:

     An American-flag fishing vessel departing for Soviet
ports or territorial waters must obtain clearance and a permit to
touch and trade from Customs prior to departure, and must report
arrival and make entry upon each return, even if the return is
temporary during the pendency of an on-going fishing operation.
These requirements are not operative for departures to and
arrivals from the high seas so long as no merchandise
is exchanged with a hovering vessel.  A vessel repair entry must
be filed under 19 CFR 4.14 for all parts, equipment, and repairs
obtained while away from the U.S., even those obtained on the
high seas.

                              Sincerely,




                              B. James Fritz
                              Chief
                              Carrier Rulings Branch