§19.4. CBP and proprietor responsibility and supervision over warehouses. — Inbound Citations

(b) When the transfer is to a bonded refining warehouse located at another port, the smelted and unrefined products or bullion obtained from the smelting of the imported material shall be weighed, sampled, and assayed before withdrawal, the sampling to be performed under Government supervision in accordance with § 19.4 and the commercial practice in effect at the plant. A report of sampling, weight, and assay of transferred material shall be maintained for 5 years after liquidation of the warehouse entry.

The outlets to all bins or other space bonded for the storage of imported wheat shall be sealed by affixing locks or in bond seals to the rope or chain which controls the gear mechanism for opening the outlets, or such other method which will effectively prevent the removal of, or access to, the wheat in the bonded space except under such supervision as required by §§ 19.4 and 101.2(c) of this chapter.

(a) Conditionally duty-free merchandise withdrawn under the sales ticket procedure for exportation shall be exported only under Customs supervision as provided in this section and § 19.39 of this part. General Customs supervision shall be exercised as provided in § 19.4 of this part and § 101.2(c) of this chapter, and may consist of spot checks of exportation transactions, examination of articles being exported, and audits of the proprietor's records.

The proprietor of a manufacturing warehouse shall comply with the recordkeeping requirements of §§ 19.4(b) and 19.12. In addition, the proprietor shall:

(g) Each bonded manufacturing warehouse shall have a secured area separated from the remainder of the premises to be used exclusively for the storage of imported merchandise, domestic spirits, and merchandise subject to internal-revenue tax transferred into the warehouse for manufacture. A like area shall be provided to be used exclusively for the storage of products manufactured in the warehouse. The area shall be secured to prevent any unauthorized person from having access thereto and the goods therein shall be arranged in a manner to assist a Customs officer in making the required examination or taking samples for analysis. The areas for storage of bonded material and manufactured products shall be secured in accordance with the standards prescribed in § 19.4(b)(6) of this part. The proprietor shall mark each package with the correct warehouse entry number and date until manufacturing takes place. After manufacture, the proprietor shall mark each package of the finished product with the warehouse entry number and date.

(f) The physical and procedural security requirements of § 19.4(b)(6) of this part shall be applied to the security of the sales rooms and cribs by the port director. The proprietor shall establish procedures to safeguard the merchandise so as to accommodate the movement of purchasers and prospective purchasers of conditionally duty-free merchandise contained in duty-free sales rooms and cribs.

(1) The customs entry number or unique identifier, as applicable under § 19.4(b)(8), will be used to identify and trace merchandise.

(ii) With respect to Class 9 warehouses, any theft or suspected theft or overage or any extraordinary shortage or damage (equal to one percent or more of the merchandise in an entry or covered by a unique identifier; or if the missing merchandise is subject to duties and taxes in excess of $100) must be immediately brought to the attention of the port director, and confirmed in writing within 20 calendar days after the shortage, overage, or damage has been brought to the attention of the port director. An entry for warehouse must be filed for all overages by the person with the right to make entry within 20 calendar days of the date of discovery. The responsible party must pay the applicable duties, taxes and interest on thefts and shortages reported to CBP within 20 calendar days following the end of the calendar month in which the shortage is discovered. The port director may allow the consolidation of duties and taxes applicable to multiple shortages into one payment; however, the amount applicable to each warehouse entry is to be listed on the submission and must specify the applicable duty, tax and interest. These same requirements apply when cumulative thefts, shortages or overages under a specific entry or unique identifier total one percent or more of the value of the merchandise or if the duties and taxes owed exceed $100. Upon identification, the proprietor must record all shortages and overages in its inventory control and recordkeeping system, whether or not they are required to be reported to the port director at the time. The proprietor must also record all shortages and overages as required in the CBP Form 300 or annual reconciliation report under paragraphs (g) or (h) of this section, as appropriate. Duties and taxes applicable to any non-extraordinary shortage or damage and not required to be paid earlier must be reported and submitted to the port director no later than the date the certification of preparation of CBP Form 300 is due or at the time the certification of preparation of the annual reconciliation report is due, as prescribed in paragraphs (g) or (h) of this section. Discrepancies found in a Class 9 warehouse with integrated locations as set forth in § 19.35(c) will be the net discrepancies for a unique identifier (see § 19.4(b)(8)(ii) of this part) such that overages within one sales location will be offset against shortages in another location that is within the integrated location. A Class 9 proprietor who transfers merchandise between facilities in different ports without being required to file a rewarehouse entry in accordance with § 144.34 of this chapter may offset overages and shortages within the same unique identifier for merchandise located in stores in different ports (see § 19.4(b)(8)(ii) of this part).