Coastwise Trade; Baggage; 46 U.S.C. App. § 883

HQ 114598 February 5, 1999 VES-3-07-RR:IT:EC 114598 GEV CATEGORY: Carriers Tom Jenkins Marine Ops Manager Paxton Shreve & Hays, Inc. Post Office Box 82237 2191 Main Street San Diego, California 92138 RE: Coastwise Trade; Baggage; 46 U.S.C. App. § 883 Dear Mr. Jenkins: This is in response to your letter dated January 26, 1999, on behalf of your customer, Royal Caribbean International, requesting a ruling on the following operation at the Port of San Diego. Our ruling on this matter is set forth below. FACTS: Royal Caribbean International’s vessel, the M/S LEGEND OF THE SEAS, is calling San Diego on February 6, 1999, arriving from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to disembark passengers. The vessel will subsequently proceed to Ensenada, Mexico, to embark passengers for their new voyage to the Hawaiian Islands. Royal Caribbean International wishes to load the luggage for those passengers embarking in Ensenada, Mexico, in San Diego while the vessel is in port on her previous voyage. The reason for this is to attempt to eliminate delays and other operational problems in the loading of passenger luggage during their port call in Ensenada, Mexico. ISSUE: Whether the transportation of baggage by a foreign-flag vessel from San Diego to the Hawaiian Islands, via Ensenada, Mexico, where passengers owning the baggage will embark the vessel, is violative of 46 U.S.C. App. § 883.  - 2 - LAW AND ANALYSIS: Title 46, United States Code Appendix, § 883 (46 U.S.C. App. § 883, the coastwise merchandise statute often called the "Jones Act"), provides in part, that no merchandise shall be transported between points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation, in any vessel other than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States (i.e., a coastwise-qualified vessel). Points embraced within the coastwise laws include all points within the territorial waters of the United States, including points within a harbor. The territorial waters of the United States consist of the territorial sea, defined as the belt, three nautical miles wide, seaward of the territorial sea baseline, and to points located in internal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline, in cases where the baseline and coastline differ. With respect to the transportation of baggage, Custom has long-held that it is not merchandise for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App. § 883, provided it is accompanying the transported passengers to which it belongs. (Customs ruling letter 103340, dated April 17, 1978) Further in this regard, we note that the court in Autolog Corporation, et al v. Regan, 731 F.2d 25 (1984), held that automobiles accompanying passengers coastwise aboard foreign-flag vessels were also not merchandise for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App. § 883 since they were akin to baggage and the vessels in question transported the automobiles only as a service to its passengers. In regard to the facts under consideration, we find that notwithstanding its lading in San Diego, the baggage in question would be accompanying the transported passengers to which it belongs on their Ensenada-Hawaiian Islands itinerary. Furthermore, as in Autolog, supra, the carrier would be providing a service to its passengers by loading their baggage in San Diego so as to avoid any undue delay in baggage handling such as that previously experienced by this cruise line during passenger boarding in Ensenada. HOLDING: The transportation of baggage by a foreign-flag vessel from San Diego to the Hawaiian Islands, via Ensenada, Mexico, where passengers owning the baggage will embark the vessel, is not violative of 46 U.S.C. App. § 883. Sincerely, Jerry Laderberg Chief Entry Procedures and Carriers Branch