82 FR 45528 - Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR): Clarification on the Collection and Confidentiality of Kimberley Process Certificates

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 188 (September 29, 2017)

The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau of the Census) proposes to amend its regulations in order to clarify that the data collected from the Kimberley Process Certificates (KPCs) are collected in compliance with the Clean Diamond Trade Act and not under the Census Bureau's laws and regulations. In addition, this rule clarifies the submission requirements and permissible uses of the KPCs.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45528-45530]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20920]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of the Census

15 CFR Part 30

[Docket Number: 140905758-7736-01]
RIN 0607-AA54


Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR): Clarification on the Collection 
and Confidentiality of Kimberley Process Certificates

AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau of the Census) proposes to 
amend its regulations in order to clarify that the data collected from 
the Kimberley Process Certificates (KPCs) are collected in compliance 
with the Clean Diamond Trade Act and not under the Census Bureau's laws 
and regulations. In addition, this rule clarifies the submission 
requirements and permissible uses of the KPCs.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 28, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: Please direct all written comments on this proposed rule to 
the Chief, International Trade Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 
Room 5K158, Washington, DC 20233-6010. You may also submit comments, 
identified by RIN number 0607-AA54 or by the e-Rulemaking Docket ID 
USBC-2017-0003, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public 
record. No comments will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for 
public viewing until after the comment period has closed. Comments will 
generally be posted without change. All Personally Identifiable 
Information (for example,

[[Page 45529]]

name and address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be 
publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. The Census Bureau will 
accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you 
wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic 
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file 
formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale C. Kelly, Chief, International 
Trade Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau, Room 5K158, Washington, 
DC 20233-6010, by phone (301) 763-6937, by fax (301) 763-8835, or by 
email [[email protected]].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Census Bureau is amending the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) 
(15 CFR, part 30) to clarify that the Kimberley Process Certificates 
(KPCs) are not collected under Title 13 of the United States Code. 
Instead, the KPCs are collected under the Clean Diamond Trade Act 
(CDTA) (Pub. L. 108-19, 19 U.S.C. 3901, et seq.) and Executive Order 
13312, entitled ``Implementing the Clean Diamond Trade Act'' (68 FR 
45151, July 29, 2003). The CDTA and Executive Order 13312 require that 
the importation into, and exportation from, the United States of any 
rough diamonds be controlled through the Kimberley Process 
Certification Scheme (KPCS). The KPCS calls on Participants (i.e. 
governments participating in the KPCS), including the United States, to 
ensure that any shipment of rough diamonds exported to, or imported 
from, a Participant be accompanied by a valid KPC, and maintain and 
publish statistics on the importation and exportation of rough 
diamonds. The CDTA further provides that the United States should 
produce statistics on imports and exports of rough diamonds and to make 
these statistics available for analysis by interested parties, 
including other governments participating in the KPCS.
    Consistent with the CDTA, Executive Order 13312, and the KPCS, the 
Office of Foreign Assets Control's Rough Diamonds Control Regulations 
(Title 31 CFR, part 592) require that a shipment of rough diamonds 
imported into, or exported from, the United States be accompanied by an 
original KPC, and the Census Bureau's FTR requires that KPCs for all 
import and export shipments be provided to the Census Bureau. The data 
collected from the KPCs are separate and distinct from the statistical 
data collected under Title 13 of the United States Code, and are not 
governed by the confidentiality provisions of that title.
    Finally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. 
Department of State concur with the revisions to the FTR as required by 
13 U.S.C. 303, and Public Law 107-228, division B, title XIV, section 
1404.

Program Requirements

    Consistent with the CDTA and Executive Order 13312, the Census 
Bureau is revising the FTR in CFR Title 15, part 30, in sections 30.1, 
30.4, 30.7, 30.50, 30.60, and 30.70, as follows:
     Revise Sec.  30.1(c) to add the definition ``Kimberley 
Process Certificate'' as a technical amendment.
     Revise Sec.  30.1(c) to add the definition ``Voided 
Kimberley Process Certificate'' to clarify the term.
     Revise Sec.  30.4 to add paragraph (e) to clarify the 
filing procedures for voided KPCs and to address that the collection of 
KPCs are not pursuant to Title 13, of the United States Code .
     Revise Sec.  30.7(c) to clarify that KPCs must be provided 
to the Census Bureau immediately after export of the shipment from the 
United States.
     Revise Sec.  30.50(c) to clarify that KPCs must be 
provided to the Census Bureau immediately after entry of the shipment 
in the United States.
     Revise Sec.  30.60 to add a note clarifying that KPCs are 
not considered Electronic Export Information and are not confidential 
under Title 13 of the United States Code.
     Revise Sec.  30.70 to clarify how violations of the CDTA 
will be enforced.

Rulemaking Requirements

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration (SBA) that this proposed rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Currently, a KPC must be submitted for all imports or exports of rough 
diamonds. This rulemaking requires that KPCs be provided to the Census 
Bureau immediately after either entry in or export from the United 
States. It replaces the previous requirement to provide the KPC to the 
Census Bureau in advance.
    This action requires that U.S. Principal Parties in Interest 
(USPPIs) or authorized agents in the United States file export 
information to the Automated Export System (AES) for all shipments 
where an Electronic Export Information (EEI) record is required under 
the FTR. The SBA's table of size standards indicates that businesses 
that are the USPPI or authorized agent and file export information are 
considered small businesses if they employ less than 500 people. Based 
on Exhibit 7a of the 2015 Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies, the 
Census Bureau estimates that there are 295,000 USPPIs that are 
considered small business entities under the SBA definition. And more 
than 90 percent of these USPPIs use an authorized agent to file export 
information. An estimate of the number of authorized agents is not 
known and is unable to be determined.
    The Census Bureau anticipates that the clarification of 
requirements will not significantly affect the small businesses that 
file through the AES. The majority of agents require use of a computer 
to perform routine tasks, such as filing through the AES. These agents 
are unlikely to be significantly affected by these clarifications of 
requirements, as they already possess the necessary technology and 
equipment to submit the information through the AES. In addition, it is 
not necessary for small businesses to purchase software for this task 
because a free Internet-based system, AESDirect, is provided for the 
electronic submission of export information. The proposed new 
requirements will have minimal impact on response burden. For these 
reasons, this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

Executive Orders

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866. This proposed rule is not an Executive Order 
13771 regulatory action because this proposed rule is not significant 
under Executive Order 12866. This rulemaking does not contain policies 
with federalism implications as that term is defined under Executive 
Order 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure 
to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), unless that collection of 
information displays a current, valid Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) control number. This rule contains a collection-of-information 
subject to the requirements of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 
that has been approved under OMB control number 0607-0152.

[[Page 45530]]

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 30

    Economic statistics, Exports, Foreign trade, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Census Bureau is 
proposing to amend Title 15, CFR part 30, as follows:

PART 30--FOREIGN TRADE REGULATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for 15 CFR part 30 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301; 13 U.S.C. 301-307; Reorganization plan 
No. 5 of 1990 (3 CFR 1949-1953 Comp., p. 1004); Department of 
Commerce Organization Order No. 35-2A, July 22, 1987, as amended, 
and No. 35-2B, December 20, 1996, as amended; Pub. L. 107-228, 116 
Stat. 1350.

0
2. Amend Sec.  30.1(c) by adding definitions for ``Kimberley Process 
Certificate (KPC)'' and ``Voided Kimberley Process Certificate'' to 
read as follows:


Sec.  30.1   Purpose and definitions.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    Kimberley Process Certificate (KPC). A forgery resistant document 
used to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are 
free of conflict.
* * * * *
    Voided Kimberley Process Certificate. A Kimberley Process 
Certificate intended to be used for the exportation of rough diamonds 
from the United States that has been cancelled for reasons such as loss 
or error.
* * * * *
0
3. Amend Sec.  30.4 by adding paragraph (e) to read as follows:


Sec.  30.4   Electronic Export Information filing procedures, 
deadlines, and certification statements.

* * * * *
    (e) Collection of KPCs and voided KPCs. Any voided KPC must be 
faxed by the voiding party to the Census Bureau on (800) 457-7328, or 
provided by other methods as permitted by the Census Bureau immediately 
upon voiding. The collection of KPCs, including voided KPCs, is 
performed pursuant to the Clean Diamond Trade Act, Public Law 108-19, 
19 U.S.C. Section 3901 et seq. (CDTA) and Executive Order 13312, and 
not Title 13, U.S.C.
0
4. Amend Sec.  30.7 by revising paragraph (c) to read as follows:


Sec.  30.7  Annotating the bill of lading, air waybill, or other 
commercial loading documents with proof of filing citations, and 
exemption legends.

* * * * *
    (c) Exports of rough diamonds classified under HS subheadings 
7102.10, 7102.21, 7102.31 require the proof of filing citation, as 
stated in paragraph (b) of this section, to be indicated on the 
Kimberley Process Certificate (KPC). In addition, the KPC must be faxed 
to the Census Bureau on (800) 457-7328, or provided by other methods as 
permitted by the Census Bureau, immediately after export of the 
shipment from the United States.
0
5. Amend Sec.  30.50 by revising paragraph (c) to read as follows:


Sec.  30.50  General requirements for filing import entries.

* * * * *
    (c) The Kimberley Process Certificate (KPC) for all imports of 
rough diamonds classified under HS subheadings 7102.10, 7102.21, 
7102.31 must be faxed by the importer or customs broker to the Census 
Bureau on (800) 457-7328, or provided by other methods as permitted by 
the Census Bureau, immediately after entry of the shipment in the 
United States.
0
6. Amend Sec.  30.60 by adding a note to read as follows:


Sec.  30.60  Confidentiality of Electronic Export Information.

* * * * *

    Note to Sec.  30.60:  Kimberley Process Certificates (KPCs), 
including voided KPCs, provided to the Census Bureau pursuant to the 
Clean Diamond Trade Act, Executive Order 13312, and this Part are 
not considered EEI and are not confidential under Title 13.

0
7. Amend Sec.  30.70 by revising the introductory text to read as 
follows:


Sec.  30.70  Violation of the Clean Diamond Trade Act.

    Section 8(c) of the Clean Diamond Trade Act (CDTA) authorizes U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (ICE) to enforce the laws and regulations governing exports 
of rough diamonds. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets 
Control's (OFAC) also has enforcement authority pursuant to section 
5(a) of the CDTA, Executive Order 13312, and Rough Diamonds Control 
Regulations (31 CFR 592). CBP, ICE, and the OFAC are authorized to 
enforce provisions of the CDTA that provide for the following civil and 
criminal penalties:
* * * * *

    Dated: September 22, 2017.
Ron S. Jarmin,
Associate Director for Economic Programs, Performing the Non-Exclusive 
Functions and Duties of the Director, Bureau of the Census.
[FR Doc. 2017-20920 Filed 9-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P