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WAREHOUSES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
Where, however, the warehouses are managed for account of the Government,
the following rates for storage per month shall not be exceeded: fa) For dry
(solid) merchandise, 3 kreuzer (2f cents) per centner (1.10.23 pounds) ; (b) for
liquid merchandise, 41 kreuzer (31 cents) per centner.
Sec. 100. Liability of stored goods.—Merchandise stored in bond is unconditionally
liable for all duty charges on the same. When the delivery of goods
from the warehouse is demanded by the party storing them, or by a third party,
such delivery is to be granted only within the limitations prescribed by section
14 of this act. [Section 14 defines the conditions under which goods
stored in bond may be attached for debt.]
Sec. 101. Permission to unpack.—The owners or parties having the right of
disposal of merchandise stored in bond have the right, when suitable space is
available, to unpack the goods in the bonded warehouse under supervision of
the officials for the purposes of division, assorting, cleaning, preservation, or
for other purposes which do not contravene the motive for storing them. For
the purposes of supplementing, fitting up, etc., of the bonded merchandise, other
goods not under customs restrictions may be brought into the warehouse. By
such act the goods so introduced acquire the character of foreign merchandise
on which no duty has yet been paid.
Sec. 102. Duties of the administration of the warehouse in regard to the
merchandise stored therein.—The administration of the bonded warehouse
shall provide for the proper maintenance and management of the walls and
roofs of buildings, for the secure locking of the same, for the maintenance of
quiet and order among the employees, for the prevention of danger from fire
in the warehouse and the adjoining inclosed space belonging thereto, and is
liable for damages caused to stored merchandise through omission or neglect
of such precautions and care. Such liability does not begin until the goods
have been accepted in the warehouse and an official certificate to that effect
Issued. For other damage to the stored merchandise and for accidents which
may happen to the same the warehouse administration is not liable.
Sec. 103. Notice of removal of merchandise from the warehouse.—Duty on
goods declared for removal from bond' is paid according to the quantities and qualities
which were confirmed when the merchandise was received in bond. When
the weight of goods has become diminished during storage in bond through
repacking (sec. 101), or through accidental causes, or if it can be assumed
that a deficiency in weight on withdrawal from bond is due solely to evaporation,
dust, or ordinary leakage, the weight at the time of removal shall be the
basis for assessment of the duty, unless the party withdrawing the merchandise
shall demand the weight on entry as the basis of dutiable quantity. If there
is cause to suspect that part of the merchandise has been secretely removed,
then the weight on entry shall be the basis of assessment for duty. Duty shall
be paid separately on samples taken and withdrawn from merchandise stored
in bond.
No duty shall he levied on merchandise which has become entirely spoiled
while stored in bond and which shall be subsequently destroyed under official
supervision.
Sec. 104. Mode of procedure with goods (a) of unknown owners nr (b) not
taken out of bond in five years.— (a) If goods of which the owners or parties
with a right of disposal of same are unknown have been in the warehouse for one
year this is to be publicly advertised in the public press on two different occasions
at an interval of at least four weeks, giving the exact designations of
such goods, and if no one applies for same within six months after the last
publication the warehouse administration is entitled to sell the goods at public
auction. The net proceeds of such sale (after deducting the costs of publication
and sale, the duty, any costs which may have been incurred for preserving the
goods, and the warehouse charges thereon) are kept for six months, and if
after the expiration of the same no claim is made they revert to the Government
exchequer. If such goods are likely to spoil quickly, an earlier sale may
take place with permission of the chief custom house officers, when date of sale
shall be publicly advertised locally on two different occasions within eight days.
(b) If goods, the owners of which or the party who has a right of disposal
of the same are known, have been in bond longer than five years, the respective
parties are to be requested (unless a longer storage has been applied for and
specially granted) to take the goods out of bond within four weeks. If the
parties do not comply with this request, steps for a public sale are to be taken,
and the proceeds, after deducting costs and duties, are remitted to the owner
or party who has the right of disposal.
