§ 30.24 - Clearance or departure of carriers under bond on incomplete manifest or Shipper's Export Declarations.

(a) For purposes of the regulations in this part, except when carriers are transporting merchandise from the United States to Puerto Rico, clearance (where clearance is required) or permission to depart (where clearance is not required) may be granted to any carrier by the Customs Director prior to the filing of a complete manifest as required under the regulations in this part, or prior to the filing by the carrier of all required Shipper's Export Declarations, provided that a bond as specified in paragraph (b) of this section is filed with the Customs Director. The condition of the bond shall be that a complete manifest, where a manifest is required by the regulations in this part and all required Shipper's Export Declarations, shall be filed by the carrier not later than the fourth business day after clearance (where clearance is required) or departure (where clearance is not required) of the carrier except as otherwise specifically provided in paragraphs (a) (1) and (2) of this section. For carriers transporting merchandise from the United States to Puerto Rico, if the complete manifest, as required, and all required Shipper's Export Declarations are not available for filing with the Customs Director in Puerto Rico within one business day after arrival, a bond, as specified in paragraph (b) of this section shall be filed with the Customs Director in Puerto Rico.

(1) For shipments aboard a U.S. flag carrier between the United States and Puerto Rico, or from the United States or Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands of the United States, the condition of the bond shall be that a complete manifest (where a manifest is required) and all required Shipper's Export Declarations shall be filed by the carrier not later than the seventh business day after departure or in the case of shipments from the United States to Puerto Rico, the seventh business day after arrival.

(2) For rail carriers to Canada, the condition of the bond shall be that the manifest and all required Shipper's Export Declarations shall be filed not later than the 15th business day after departure.

In the event that any required manifest and all required Shipper's Export Declarations are not filed by the carrier within the period provided by the bond, then a penalty of $50 shall be exacted for each day's delinquency beyond the allowed period of 4 days, 7 days, or 15 days, as appropriate; and if the completed manifest, where required, and all required Shipper's Export Declarations are not filed within 3 days following the period of 4 days, 7 days, or 15 days, allowed under the bond, then for each succeeding day of delinquency a penalty of $100 shall be exacted, but no penalty shall exceed $1,000 in total. Remission or mitigation of the penalties provided herein may be granted in those cases where, in the judgment of the administering authority provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the penalties were incurred without willful negligence or fraud, or other circumstances justify a remission or mitigation.

(b) Bonds filed in accordance with the provisions of this § 30.24 may take the form of a single entry bond on Customs Form 7567 in the amount of $1,000 or of a term or blanket bond on Customs Form 7569 in the amount of $10,000 or such larger amount as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, or in other approved form. Except as provided below in this paragraph, there shall be shown on the bond, or on a separate listing which refers to and is made a part of the bond, a pro forma list of shipments on board the departing carrier for which Shipper's Export Declarations have not been filed with the Customs Director. The list shall show for each such shipment the name of the shipper, the country to which exported, marks and numbers of the packages, the number and kind of packages, a description of the goods and the value (or estimated value). However, where such waiver will not interfere with the ability of the Customs Director to check on performance under the bond, or with the identification of the shipment for purposes of obtaining statistical information in the event of failure of performance under the bond, the Customs Director may waive the requirement for the pro forma list of shipments for which declarations are missing, or may accept a list containing less than the items of information enumerated above. Approval of bonds and administration of the provisions of the regulations in this part relating to performance by carriers under such bonds, including remission and mitigation of penalties incurred by the carriers, are hereby delegated to the Commissioner of Customs or his delegate to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of section 623 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and the regulations of the U.S. Customs Service issued pursuant thereto.