W. R. Grace & Co. v. United States

15 Cust. Ct. 105, 1945 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 492
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedOctober 11, 1945
DocketC. D. 953
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Cust. Ct. 105 (W. R. Grace & Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
W. R. Grace & Co. v. United States, 15 Cust. Ct. 105, 1945 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 492 (cusc 1945).

Opinion

Oliver, Presiding Judge:

In' this case plaintiff seeks refund, as drawback under section 313 of the Tariff Act of 1930, of 99 per centum of the duties paid on the importation of raw perilla oil used in the manufacture in the United States of 20 drums of refined perilla oil which were exported. The collector of customs refused to allow drawback, according to the notation on the drawback entry, for the reason that the merchandise was not exported under customs supervision, as required by the applicable Customs Regulations of 1937, prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury under authority of said section 313, and in force at the time involved.

[106]*106There is no question concerning the facts of importation of the raw material and its manufacture in the United States by the Harbor Tank Storage Co., Inc., nor as to cómpliance with the customs regulations relating to such importation and manufacture. The refined perilla oil was intended to be exported with benefit of drawback, and to that end, at 10:29 a. m. on March 29, 1940, a notice on customs Form 7511-A of intent to export the same was filed in the office of the collector of customs at the port of New York. The said notice of intent, and the duplicate copies thereof, specified that the merchandise was to be exported via the New York Central Railroad from the port of Niagara Falls, N. Y., to a consignee in West Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

By virtue of the provisions of article 1045 (6), article 1044 of the Customs Regulations of 1937, relating to notices of intent to export, applies to the situation at bar, and paragraph (a) thereof reads as follows:

At least 6 hours, but not more than 90 days, before the lading of the merchandise to be exported, the claimant for drawback, or his duly authorized agent, shall file with the collector of customs at the port of exportation a notice of intent to export on customs Form 7511. A duplicate copy of the notice of intent shall be delivered to the customs officer in charge at the place of lading at the time the goods are delivered to the exporting vessel or conveyance. Spch notices of intent shall give the name of the exporting vessel, or in the case of a vehicle the name of the carrier, and place of lading, describe the merchandise by marks and numbers and state in detail the kind and contents of the packages, the quantity, weight (gross and net), gauge, or measure.

As has been noted, the form used for the original and the duplicate notices of intent in the case at bar is No. 7511-A. On its face it has printed the words “Where deposited” with a space to be filled in by the claimant, and in that space there are typewritten the name and address “Harbor Tank Stge. Co., Guttenberg, N. J.” Presumably, this was intended to be the place of inspection and lading.

It appears that there was no regularly assigned customs officer in charge of that place, and the superintendent of the plant, one Albert Mogerley, testified at the trial that he asked one of his assistants to call the Edgewater customs station to have an inspector weigh the drums before they were shipped out. What the response to that call was, or whether it was made, does not appear, but Mr. Mogerley said that he subsequently discovered that there was a customs inspector in the plant supervising another weighing operation, and he thereupon caused a request to be made of that inspector, one Gordon A. Green, to weigh the drums in question.

Although Inspector Green had no instructions from his superiors with respect to the shipment in question, and although it appears that he had no business at the plant other than the separate weighing operation in which he was engaged, he acceded to the request and supervised the weighing of the drums in question.

[107]*107It is Mr. Mogerley’s testimony that he gave Inspector Green a duplicate copy of the notice of intent. The inspector was unable to recall having received it, but whatever the fact was, it is clear that he did not make any notations thereon, but put his notations as to the weights of the drums in his dock book. The record shows that the duplicate copies of the notices of intent were mailed by Mr. Mogerley to the freight station of the New York Central Railroad in Jersey City where the drums were to be laden on-a railroad car and shipped to Canada.

It seems clear from his testimony that Inspector Green did not understand that he was being requested to assume the duties of lading inspector, and that he had no intention of assuming such duties, his sole connection with the matter being compliance with the request that he weigh the drums.

According to the facts shown by the record, the 20 drums in question were loaded without sealing with customs seals, and without customs inspection and supervision, at the premises of the Harbor Tank Storage Co. some time between 2:00 and 3:00 p. m. on March 29, 1940, on a truck operated by the M. & M. Hauling & Distributing Co., which, it appears, was hired by the New York Central Railroad Co. to perform a pick-up and delivery service, and which operated under a customhouse permit. The driver of the truck signed the bill of lading on behalf of the carrier.

If it be considered, as stated in the notice of intent, and as seems to be primarily claimed by the plaintiff, that the Harbor Tank Storage Co.’s plant was the place of deposit for inspection and lading, the original of the notice of intent was filed in the collector’s office less than 6 hours before lading of the merchandise, and hence was untimely aiid not in compliance with article 1044, supra.

Plaintiff relies, however,, upon the saving clauses found in articles 1054 to 1056 of the Custonfs Regulations of 1937, the gist of which, as applied to the case at bar, is that failure to file a timely notice of intent with the collector will not bar the payment of drawback provided a notice was delivered to the inspecting officer as required by article 1044, and that no other act or omission on the part of the shipper, the carrier, or the agent of either caused the failure to secure inspection.

Plaintiff’s view of the situation is expressed in the brief filed in its behalf as follows:

Since the notice of intent was in Customs Inspector Green’s possession before he weighed the merchandise, and he knew that the merchandise was being weighed with benefit of drawback, it is no longer material that the merchandise might have been laden at the Guttenberg, N. J. plant before the expiration of the six hours after the notice of intent was filed in the office of the collector. Id other words, the actual notice to Customs Inspector Green dispensed with the six hours requirement. Prior to the time he weighed the merchandise he was in possession of all the information necessary to the weighing, inspecting and lading of the mer[108]*108chandise in accordance with the regulations governing such cases. His failure to comply with the necessary regulations is a matter for which he and the Government must accept full responsibility, not plaintiff.

It is well settled that the drawback provisions of the tariff act are a grant of privilege (Swan & Finch Co. v. United States, 190. U. S. 143, 47 L. Ed. 984); that article 1044, here involved, with respect to notice of intent to export, is a reasonable regulation of the Secretary of the Treasury made under the specific authority granted in the drawback law, and is mandatory in character, and that compliance therewith is a.

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Related

Swan & Finch Co. v. United States
190 U.S. 143 (Supreme Court, 1903)
Paper Service Co. v. United States
10 Cust. Ct. 173 (U.S. Customs Court, 1943)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 Cust. Ct. 105, 1945 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/w-r-grace-co-v-united-states-cusc-1945.