TEA IMPORTATION ACT

§ 41. Importation of tea inferior to standard; bond of importers; regulation of use of inferior im

portation.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons or corporation to import or bring into the United States any merchandise as tea which is inferior in purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to the standards provided in section 43 of this title, and the importation of all such merchandise is prohibited, except as provided in the Tariff Schedules of the United States. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, § 1, 29 Stat. 604; May 16, 1908, ch. 170, 35 Stat. 163; May 31, 1920, ch. 217, 41 Stat. 712; 1940 Reorg. Plan No. IV, § 12, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2421, 54 Stat. 1237; 1953 Reorg. plan No. 1, § 5 eff. Apr. 11, 1953, 18 F.R. 2053, 67 Stat. 631, May 24, 1962, P.L. 87-456, title III, § 303 (a), 76 Stat. 77.)

§ 42. Board of experts; appointment; term; vacancies; compensation.

On or before February 15 of each year, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall appoint a board, to consist of seven members, each of whom shall be an expert in teas, and who shall prepare and submit to him standard samples of tea. The persons so appointed shall be at all times subject to removal by the said Secretary and shall serve for the term of one year. Vacancies in the said board occurring by removal, death, resignation, or any other cause shall be forthwith filled by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by appointment, such appointee to hold for the unexpired term. Said board shall appoint a presiding officer, who shall be the medium of all communications to or from such board. Each member of said board shall receive as compensation the sum of $50 per annum, which, together with all necessary expenses while engaged upon the duty herein provided, shall be paid by the Secretary. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, § 2, 29 Stat. 605; May 31, 1920, ch. 217, 41 Stat. 712; 1940 Reorg. Plan No. IV, § 12, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2421, 54 Stat. 1237; July 12, 1943, ch. 221, title II, § 201, 57 Stat. 500.)

§ 43. Standards of purity; duplicate samples at customhouses and for importers and dealers.

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, upon the recommendation of the board of experts pro

vided in section 42 of this title, shall fix and establish uniform standards of purity, quality, and fitness for consumption of all kinds of teas imported into the United States, and shall procure and deposit in the customhouses of the ports of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and such other ports as he may determine, duplicate samples of such standards. Said Administrator shall procure a sufficient number of other duplicate samples of such standards to supply the importers and dealers in tea at all ports desiring the same at cost. All teas, or merchandise described as tea, of inferior purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to such standards shall be deemed within the prohibition of section 41 of this title. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, § 3, 29 Stat. 605; May 31, 1920, ch. 217, 41 Stat. 712; 1940 Reorg. Plan No. IV, § 12, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2421, 54 Stat. 1237.)

§ 44. Bonds of importers; examination; importations at ports having no examiner.

On making entry at the customhouse of all teas, or merchandise described as tea, imported into the United States, the importer or consignee shall give a bond to the collector of the port that such merchandise shall not be removed from the warehouse until released by the collector, after it shall have been duly examined with reference to its purity, quality, and fitness for consumption. For the purpose of such examination samples of each line in every invoice of tea shall be submitted by the importer or consignee to the examiner, together with the sworn statement of such importer or consignee that such samples represent the true quality of each and every part of the invoice and accord with the specifications therein contained; or in the discretion of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, such samples shall be obtained by the examiner and compared by him with the standards established by sections 41-46 and 47-50 of this title. In cases where said tea, or merchandise described as tea, is entered at ports where there is no qualified examiner as provided in section 46 of this title. the consignee or importer shall in the manner aforesaid furnish under oath a sample of each line of tea to the collector or other revenue officer to whom is committed the collection of duties, and said officer shall also draw or cause to be drawn samples of each line in every invoice and shall forward the same to a duly qualified examiner as provided in said section. The bond required by this section shall also be conditioned for the payment of all customhouse charges which may attach to such merchandise prior to its being released or destroyed (as the case may be) under the provisions of sections 41-46 and 47-50 of this title. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, § 4, 29 Stat. 605: May 31, 1920, ch. 217, 41 Stat. 712; 1940 Reorg. Plan

No. IV, § 12, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F. R. 2421, 54 Stat. 1237.)

§ 45. Permit for delivery; retention of inferior grades; reexamination; partial delivery.

If, after an examination as provided in section 44 of this title, the tea is found by the examiner to be equal in purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to the standards provided in sections 41-44 of this title, and no reexamination shall be demanded by the collector as provided in section 47 of this title, a permit shall at once be granted to importer or consignee declaring the tea free from the control of the customs authorities; but if on examination such tea, or merchandise described as tea, is found, in the opinion of the examiner, to be inferior in purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to the said standards the importer or consignee shall be immediately notified, and the tea, or merchandise described as tea, shall not be released by the customhouse, unless on a reexamination called for by the importer or consignee the finding of the examiner shall be found to be erroneous. Should a portion of the invoice be passed by the examiner, a permit shall be granted for that portion and the remainder held for further examination, as provided in said section 47. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, 5, 29 Stat. 605).

§ 46. Examiners; examination according to usages of trade.

The examination provided for by sections 41-46 and 47-50 of this title shall be made by a duly qualified examiner at a port where standard samples are established, and where the merchandise is entered at ports where there is no qualified examiner, the examination shall be made at that one of said ports which is nearest the port of entry, and that for this purpose samples of the merchandise, obtained in the manner prescribed by section 44 of this title, shall be forwarded to the proper port by the collector or chief officer at the port of entry. In all cases of examination or reexamination of teas, or merchandise described as tea, by examiners or the United States Board of Tea Appeals under the provisions of this chapter, the purity, quality, and fitness for consumption of the same shall be tested according to the usage and customs of the tea trade, including the testing of an infusion of the same in boiling water, and, if necessary, chemical analysis. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, § 7, 29 Stat. 606; May 31, 1920, ch. 217, 41 Stat. 712, 713.)

§ 46a. Deposit of fee before examination of tea.

On and after July 1, 1940, no tea, or merchandise described as tea, shall be examined for importation into the United States, or released by the Collector, under sec

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›ns 41-46 and 47-50 of this title unless the importer or consignee of such tea or merchandise, prior to such examination, has paid for deposit into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts, a fee of 3.5 cents for each hundredweight or fraction thereof of such tea and merchandise. (June 27, 1940, ch. 437, title I, 54 Stat. 632; July 1, 1941, ch. 269, title II, 55 Stat. 478.) § 47. United States Board of Tea Appeals; permit for delivery; exportation or destruction of inferior grades.

In case the collector, importer, or consignee shall protest against the finding of the examiner, the matter in dispute shall be referred for decision to the United States Board of Tea Appeals, to consist of three employees of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to be designated by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. If such board shall, after due examination, find the tea in question to be equal in purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to the proper standards, a permit shall be issued by the collector for its release and delivery to the importer; but if upon such final reexamination by such board the tea shall be found to be inferior in purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to the said standards, the importer or consignee shall give a bond, with security satisfactory to the collector, to export said tea, or merchandise described as tea, out of the limits of the United States within a period of six months after such final reexamination; and if the same shall not have been exported within the time specified, the collector, at the expiration of that time, shall cause the same to be destroyed. (Mar. 2, 1897, ch. 358, § 6, 29 Stat. 606; May 31, 1920, ch. 217, 41 Stat. 712, 713; 1940 Reorg. Plan No. IV, § 12, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F. R. 2421, 54 Stat. 1237.) § 48. Reexamination; findings by examiner; assistance of experts.

In cases of reexamination of teas, or merchandise. described as teas, by the United States Board of Tea Appeals in pursuance of the provisions of sections 4146 and 47-50 of this title, samples of the tea, or merchandise described as tea, in dispute, for transmission to such board for its decision, shall be put up and sealed by the examiner in the presence of the importer or consignee if he so desires, and transmitted to such board, together with a copy of the finding of the examiner, setting forth the cause of condemnation and the claim or ground of the protest of the importer relating to the same, such samples, and the papers therewith, to be distinguished by such mark that the same may be identified. The decision of such board shall be in writing, signed by them, and transmitted, together with the record and samples, within three days after the rendition thereof, to