of this chapter), prescribe a 3-year period within which proof must be produced of the use or disposition of the merchandise in, or its exportation from, the United States, and such proof is not furnished within the prescribed period, the collector may, upon the written application of the importer, extend the 3-year period for further periods of 1 year each, but not to exceed 5 years from the date of entry.

(c) No application for the extension of the period of any bond or stipulation given to assure the production of a missing document shall be allowed by a collector if such application is received later than 6 months after the expiration of the period of the bond or stipulation, including any prior extension. However, when a bond or stipulation is given for the production of any free-entry or reducedduty document and a satisfactory document is not produced within the prescribed time but is produced prior to liquidation of the entry or within the period during which a valid reliquidation may be completed, it shall be accepted as satisfying the requirement that it be filed in connection with the entry, and the bond charge for its production shall be canceled.

(d) It is not necessary to secure the assent of the sureties to any extension of the period prescribed in a bond when such extension is authorized by law or these regulations. The assent of the sureties shall be obtained before any other extension of such a period is allowed.

§ 25.19 Cancellation of erroneous charges.

When it is definitely determined that liquidated damages assessed or paid under a bond did not in fact accrue, the charge against the bond shall be canceled by the collector without regard to the amount thereof, the liquidated damages, if paid, shall be refunded, and an appropriate notation shall be made on customs Forms 5211 and 5955, or 5955-A, if the transaction has already been recorded thereon. When the determination of whether or not the charge was erroneously made depends upon a construction of law, the charge shall not be canceled without Bureau approval, unless there is in force a Bureau ruling decisive of the issue. Bureau instructions shall be requested in all doubtful

cases.

(Sec. 3, 44 Stat. 1382, secs. 514, 643, 46 Stat. 734, 761; 5 U. S. C. 281b, 19 U. S. C. 1514, 1643)

26.7 Suspension of disclosure.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 26 issued under R.S. 161; 5 U.S.C. 22, except as otherwise noted.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 26 appear at 28 F.R. 14822, Dec. 31, 1963, unless otherwise noted.

§ 26.1 Inspection of final opinions, orders and rules.

(a) All final opinions or orders in the adjudication of cases issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Commissioner of Customs, or other officials of the Treasury Department or the Bureau of Customs in matters administered by the Bureau of Customs, except those held confidential for good cause and not cited as precedents, are made available to public inspection. For the most part, final opinions or orders in matters administered by the Bureau of Customs are in the form of letters, addressed to customs field officers or to parties in interest, ruling upon questions arising under the customs and navigation laws and other related laws. Requests for inspection of such opinions or orders should be addressed in writing to the Commissioner of Customs, Washington, D.C., 20226. Insofar as practicable copies of such opinions or orders will be furnished unless they are confidential under the standards set forth in §§ 26.2 to 26.7. In cases where an opinion or order contains confidential information but the actual ruling can be separated from the confidential matter, partial copies containing only such parts as can properly be disclosed will be furnished insofar as is practicable without undue interference with the work of the Bureau. Final opinions or orders of exceptional importance or wide public interest are published, either in full or in abstracted form, in the Treasury Decisions.

(b) All rules issued in matters administered by the Bureau of Customs, except to the extent that they involve a function requiring secrecy in the public interest or relate solely to internal management,

are made available to public inspection. Most of them are published in the Treasury Decisions and the FEDERAL REGISTER or in circular letters made available to the public. Any rule not so published, unless requiring secrecy in the public interest or relating solely to internal management, may be inspected at the Bureau of Customs, Washington, D. C.

(Sec. 3 (b), 60 Stat. 238; 5 U. S. C. 1002 (b)) § 26.2 Public records.

(a) In general, the types of official records at the headquarters or field offices of the Customs Service include the following:

(1) Entry records.

(2) Warehouse records.

(3) Appraisement records.

(4) Certificates of weight, measure, and gauge.

(5) Vessel manifests, crew lists, and passenger lists.

(6) Statistical information relative to the volume, source, and destination of commodities in foreign trade.

(7) Bulletin notice of liquidation, which is posted or lodged in the customhouse and is available for public inspection.

(8) Record of entry and clearance of vessels.

(9) Record of vessels of the United States belonging to the merchant marine. This information is published annually in a bound volume entitled "Merchant Vessels of the United States," for sale through the office of the Superintendent of Documents.

(10) Records of documents of vessels of the United States.

(11) Records of bills of sales, conveyances, mortgages, and hypothecations pertaining to vessels of the United States.

(12) Statistical information relative to the merchant marine.

(b) Some of the information contained in the documents mentioned in paragraph (a) of this section is held to be confidential for one or more of the following good causes and in accordance with the standards prescribed in §§ 26.2 to 26.7 and is not available to the public:

(1) It relates to the details of business transactions of private parties, the disclosure of which details would be detrimental to the interests of the parties involved, without furthering the public interest.

(2) It is submitted in reliance upon the long-established assurance that such

information will be kept in confidence and used only for official purposes.

(3) Its disclosure would be inimical to the public interest.

(c) Requests for information contained in the public records mentioned in paragraph (a) of this section may be made in accordance with established procedures (see 16 F. R. 6964).

(d) The rules set forth in §§ 26.2 to 26.7 regarding the disclosure of information are found to be in compliance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U. S. C. 1001–1011) and the standards prescribed in those sections for determining what information is for good cause to be regarded as confidential are applicable to all requests for information or for inspection of final opinions, orders, or official records. (Sec. 3 (c), 60 Stat. 238; 5 U. S. C. 1002 (c)) § 26.3

Confidential information.

(a) Except as authorized hereafter in this section, no collector, appraiser, customs agent, or other customs officer or employee shall disclose details of any customs activity for publication, except under special authority from the Bureau.

(b) Collectors and other customs officers shall refrain from disclosing facts concerning seizures, investigations, and other pending cases of public interest until the matter is completed. The collector may give the public information concerning any case involving an offense against the customs and navigation laws after he has completed his investigation and the case has been closed by final customs action, such as settlement of a civil liability or reference of a case to the United States attorney for handling. Field officers shall exercise proper restraint and judgment in disclosing local transactions. Unless specifically authorized so to do, they shall not disclose to any person not immediately concerned the text or substance of any communication from the Bureau or the Treasury involving any matter of policy.

(c) Insofar as administrative matters in Washington are concerned, statements will be issued only through the office of the Secretary or the Assistant Secretary in charge of the Customs Service.

(d) The disclosure of the confidential information contained in customs documents or the disclosure to one importer or exporter of information relative to the business of another importer or exporter acquired by the officer or employee by reason of his official employment shall

constitute grounds for dismissal from the Service; and if done for a valuable consideration will subject such person to criminal prosecution.

§ 26.4 Confidential treatment of customs records and documents.

(a) The information contained in invoices, entries, manifests, export declarations, official reports of investigating officers, and other papers or documents filed with customs officers for any official purpose shall be treated as confidential, except for the purpose for which such documents are required to be filed. All officers and employees of the Customs Service are prohibited, unless specially authorized to do so by the Bureau or by the regulations in this part from giving out information contained in such papers and documents except to the importer, exporter (in the case of export documents), or other person directly in interest, or to his authorized agent.

(b) Importers and exporters, or their duly authorized brokers, attorneys, or agents, may be permitted to examine manifests with respect to any consignment of goods in which they have a proper and legal interest as principal or agent, but shall not be permitted to make any general examination of manifests or to make any copies or notations from them except with reference to the particular importation or exportation in which they have a proper and legal interest.

(c) In answer to a legal process or demand from a court issued in behalf of the United States or an officer thereof, customs officers or employees shall produce in court in customs custody, and may testify with respect to, any official customs papers or documents demanded. When any such process or demand is issued in behalf of a party other than the United States, it shall be complied with only to the extent that the party in whose behalf the papers or documents are demanded is permitted under these regulations to inspect such papers or documents at the customhouse.

(d) Except as stated in paragraph (f) of this section, nothing in this part shall preclude customs officers or employees from producing in the United States Customs Court in customs custody any customs papers or documents or from testifying or otherwise rendering all proper assistance to the court in proceedings before it when request therefor is made by the court; nor from furnish

ing to counsel for the United States information in, and permitting him to inspect, customs papers or documents requested by him, nor from testifying on behalf of the United States or otherwise assisting him in the performance of his official duties.

(e) Except as stated in paragraph (c) of this section, copies of customs documents or records desired by or on behalf of parties to a suit, whether in a court of the United States or any other, shall be furnished without prior Departmental approval only to the court on a rule of the court upon the Secretary of the Treasury requesting them, or to a person entitled under paragraph (a) of this section to obtain the information they disclose. Exceptions to this rule shall be made only on the written order of the Secretary, the Under Secretary, an Assistant Secretary, or the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary. When requested, such copies may be authenticated pursuant to the provisions of 28 U. S. C. 1733.

(f) The authority granted in paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of this section is subject to the restriction that no matters of a confidential nature or the disclosure of which would be prejudicial to the public interest shall be disclosed to any person.

(g) Upon being served with a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum from a court or officer thereof calling for testimony or the production of papers or documents in cases not covered by paragraph (c) or (d) of this section, or in cases where the testimony or documents desired would disclose matters of a confidential nature or the disclosure of which would be prejudicial to the public interest, the matter shall be referred to the Bureau for instructions with a report which shall specifically describe the testimony or documents desired; shall set forth the views of the submitting officer as to whether the giving of the testimony or the furnishing of the documents would disclose confidential information or be inimical to the public interest; and shall state in what particulars, if any, the disclosure of the information and work incidental thereto would interfere with the orderly conduct of customs business. In the event instructions are not received prior to the date set for appearance or production of documents, or if the Bureau declines to permit their production or the disclosure of the information contained therein or otherwise

within the knowledge of the customs officers or employee whose testimony is requested, the customs officer or employee shall appear in court or before the officer concerned in answer to the subpoena and respectfully decline to produce the documents called for or to testify, except to the extent specifically authorized elsewhere in this section, citing this regulation as authority for his refusal. If the matter has not already been referred to the Bureau for instructions, the customs officer or employee shall advise the court or officer that it will be so referred.

§ 26.5 Information for the press and

associations.

Accredited representatives of the press, including newspapers, commercial magazines, trade journals, and similar publications may be permitted to examine vessels' manifests and summary statistical reports of imports and exports and to copy therefrom for publication information and data not of a confidential nature, subject to the following rules:

(a) of the information and data appearing on outward manifests, only the general character, destination, and quantity (or value) of the commodity, name of vessel, and country of destination may be copied and published. Where the manifests show both quantity and value, either may be copied and published, but not both in any instance.

(b) Confidential information, such as the names of the shippers and consignees, marks and numbers, and both quantities and values of commodities shall not be copied from outward manifests or any other papers. Disclosure of special category export shipments which might endanger the security of the United States is not now permitted. Such restriction upon disclosure shall be in effect during any period covered by a finding by the President under section 1, of the act of August 9, 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. 191). Such a finding is now in effect (Executive Order No. 10173, Oct. 18, 1950 (3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp. p. 356; 15 F.R. 7005))

(c) of the information shown on inward manifests, only the name of the consignee, the general character of the commodity, the quantity (or value), name of vessel, and the country of dispatch shall be copied and published. When an inward manifest shows both quantity and value of the commodity, either may be copied and published, but not both in any instance..

All copies and notations from inward or outward manifests shall be submitted for examination by a customs officer designated for that purpose.

§ 26.7 Suspension of disclosure.

(a) Upon written application of a consignee or importer, the collector of customs shall refuse to permit any person, except as provided in § 26.4, to copy the name of such consignee from manifests.

(b) If any individual shall abuse the privilege granted him of examining inward and outward manifests or shall make any improper use of any information or data obtained from such manifests or other papers filed in the customhouse, both he and the party or publication which he represents shall thereafter be denied access to such papers.

998, 999, as amended, 1000-1003, sec. 624, 46 Stat. 759, sec. 101, 76 Stat. 72; 5 U.S.C. 22, 19 U.S.C. 66, 81a-81u, 1624, Gen. Hdnote. 11, Tariff Schedules of the United States.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 30 appear at 28 FR. 14824, Dec. 31, 1963, unless otherwise noted.

§ 30.1 Merchandise permitted in a zone. Foreign and domestic merchandise of every description, except such as is prohibited by law, may be brought into a foreign-trade zone (hereinafter in this part referred to as a "zone") established pursuant to the act of June 18, 1934, as amended by section 1 of the act of June 17, 1950 (19 U. S. C. 81a-81u, sec. 1, 64 Stat. 246), hereinafter in this part referred to as "the act"). Merchandise which is specifically and absolutely prohibited by law shall not be admitted into a zone.1 Any merchandise so prohibited by law which is found within a zone shall be disposed of in the manner provided for in the laws and regulations applicable to such merchandise. A distinction is made between (a) merchandise which is specifically and absolutely prohibited by law on the grounds of policy or morals, such as immoral or subversive literature, obscene articles or lottery matter, and (b) merchandise which is subject to conditional prohibition only, for example, articles which are subject to permits or licenses for the protection of economic or national security or which may be reconditioned to bring them into compliance with the laws administered by various Federal Agencies. Collectors of customs are required to exclude the first class of articles and may not permit them to be transferred to a zone if they are aware of their prohibited status, except that the collector may permit the temporary deposit of any such merchandise in the zone pending final determination of its status. The transfer of articles of the second class to a zone is subject to any requirements of the Federal agency concerned. There is no prohibition against placing over-quota merchandise in a zone pending its right to transfer to customs territory pursuant to the applicable quota provisions. The application for the admission of merchandise into a zone shall be approved or disapproved by the collector, as the rep

1 "Foreign and domestic merchandise of every description, except such as is prohibIted by law, may, without being subject to the customs laws of the United States, except as otherwise provided in this Act, be brought into a zone • " 19 U. S. C. 81C)

resentative of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (hereinafter in this part referred to as "the Board"), where the merchandise is not excluded by any other Federal agency having jurisdiction over it. § 30.2 Use of zone by carriers.

(a) The water area, docking facilities, or any loading or unloading stations of a zone are intended primarily for the use of vessels, vehicles, or aircraft unlading merchandise into the zone or lading merchandise from the zone, and their use for other purposes may be terminated by the Secretary of the Treasury if found to endanger the revenue, or by the Board if found to impede the primary uses of the zone.

(b) Nothing in the act or the regulations in this part shall be construed as excepting any carrier entering, remaining in, or leaving a zone from the application of any other pertinent law or regulation.

§ 30.3 Transportation of merchandise

For transfer of merchandise from one zone to another zone, see § 30.17.

'As used in this part the term "customs territory" means territory of the United States in which the general tariff law of the United States applies but which is not included in any zone.

'As used in the act and in this part, the term "domestic merchandise" means merchandise of every description (not including prohibited articles) which has been (1) produced in the United States and not exported therefrom or (2) previously imported into customs territory and properly released from customs custody.

As used in the act and in this part the term "foreign merchandise" means imported merchandise of every description (not including prohibited articles) which has not been properly released from customs custody in customs territory.