HQ 110908: Vessel Repair; Late Entry; Late Documentation; Defective Application for Relief; Vessel SEALAND ATLANTIC, V-001; Entry Number 559-1236277-3

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 110908
                         August 1, 1990

VES-13-18-CO:R:P:C 110908 LLB

CATEGORY:  Carriers

Deputy Assistant Regional Commissioner
Classification and Value Division
ATTN:  Regional Vessel Repair Liquidation Unit
New York, New York 10048-0945

RE:  Vessel Repair; Late Entry; Late Documentation; Defective
     Application for Relief; Vessel SEALAND ATLANTIC, V-001;
     Entry Number 559-1236277-3


Dear Sir:

     Reference is made to your memorandum of March 5, 1990,
forwarding for our consideration the vessel repair entry and
associated documentation submitted by Sea-Land Service, Inc., in
connection with the arrival of the vessel SEALAND ATLANTIC.

FACTS:

     The vessel SEALAND ATLANTIC arrived in the port of Boston,
Massachusetts, on April 12, 1988.  Nearly two months following
that date, on June 10, 1988, a vessel repair entry was filed in
that port, indicating that extensive foreign shipyard operations
had been performed in Singapore and Germany.  By letter dated
August 1, 1988, the company supplied most of the invoices
relevant to the foreign work to Customs.  The invoices were
marked by the company to indicate charges for which remission was
sought, with a brief justification supplied for each such
indication.

ISSUE:

     Whether the claim for relief submitted in this case may be
considered in light of the fact that both the entry and the
prayer for relief were tardy.


LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Section 466, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1466)
provides, in pertinent part, for payment of duty in the amount of
50 percent ad valorem on the cost of foreign repairs to vessels
documented under the laws of the United States to engage in
foreign or coastwise trade, or vessels intended to engage in
such trade.

     The Customs Regulations provide at section 4.14(b)(2) (19
CFR 4.14(b)(2)), that entry of all foreign repairs, equipment,
parts, and materials purchases, shall be made to Customs at the
first port of arrival within five (5) working days of such
arrival.  In recognition of the fact that it is often the case
that not all information is at hand in such short order, the
regulations provide that the entry may be marked to indicate that
it is incomplete.  Sixty (60) days are provided to submit cost
evidence to render the entry complete, and provision for further
extensions is made.  Not extendable, however, is the regulatory
time period for submitting the vessel repair entry.  This time
limit is mandatory and carries the force of law since it is
promulgated pursuant to the specific authority conferred by
statute.  (See 19 U.S.C. 1498(a)(10)).

     In this case, the presentation of entry was made nearly two
months after arrival.  Further, no request for a extension of
time to submit documentation was received by the Vessel Repair
Liquidation Unit, such documentation having been submitted nearly
four months following arrival (two months after the long-tardy
entry).  The time limit for submitting an Application for Relief
runs concurrently with that provided for the submission of
documentation to support the entry.  As in the case of cost
evidence, the regulations provide for requests for extension of
time to submit Applications for Relief (19 CFR 4.14(d)(1)(i)).

     None of the time limits prescribed by law were met by the
vessel operator in this case, and neither did the operator avail
itself of the opportunity to seek liberally granted extensions of
time in order to comply.  As such, we consider the entry and all
of its attendant documentation, including the Application for
Relief, to be fatally flawed and unreviewable.  We might note
that the recommendations of the Vessel Repair Liquidation Unit as
to the recommended duty disposition regarding each item have been
reviewed, and we concur in those findings.  We find that this
entry should be referred for immediate liquidation in line with
the dispositions recorded on the worksheets which accompanied
this case to Headquarters.  The vessel operator should be
notified that the only remaining appeal mechanism available
following liquidation of the entry is provided for under section
514, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1514), the filing
of a protest.

HOLDING:

     The Application for Relief submitted in this case will not
be reviewed since it supports a delinquent entry and is itself a
tardy submission.  This entry should be liquidated and the vessel
operator should be informed of the right to file a protest of
that liquidation under 19 U.S.C. 1514 and 19 CFR Part 174.

                                Sincerely,




                                B. James Fritz
                                Chief
                                Carrier Rulings Branch