26 June 2002

[Federal Register: June 25, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 122)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 42710-42713]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25jn02-3]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 122

[T.D. 02--33]
RIN 1515-AD06


Passenger Name Record Information Required for Passengers on
Flights in Foreign Air Transportation to or From the United States

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Interim rule; solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Customs Regulations, on an interim
basis, in order to implement a provision of the Aviation and
Transportation Security Act which requires that air carriers make
Passenger Name Record (PNR) information available to Customs upon
request. The availability of PNR information to Customs is necessary
for purposes of ensuring aviation safety and protecting national
security.
    Under the interim rule, each air carrier must provide Customs with
electronic access to requested PNR information contained in the
carrier's automated reservation system and/or departure control system
that sets forth the identity and travel plans of any passenger(s) on
flights in foreign air transportation either to or from the United
States. In order to readily provide Customs with such access to
requested PNR data, each air carrier must ensure that its electronic
reservation/departure control systems correctly interface with the U.S.
Customs Data Center, Customs Headquarters. Any air carrier which has
not yet taken steps to properly interface its automated PNR database
with the Customs Data Center must do so within 30 days from the date
that Customs contacts the carrier and requests that the carrier effect
such an interface. However, the Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field
Operations (OFO), may allow an air carrier an additional extension of
this period for good cause shown.

[[Page 42711]]

DATES: Interim rule is effective June 25, 2002. Comments must be
received on or before August 26, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments are to be addressed to the U.S. Customs
Service, Office of Regulations & Rulings, Attention: Regulations
Branch, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20229. Submitted
comments may be inspected at U.S. Customs Service, 799 9th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC during regular business hours. Arrangements to inspect
submitted comments should be made in advance by calling Mr. Joseph
Clark at (202) 572-8768.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liliana Quintero, Office of Field
Operations, 202-927-2531.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On November 19, 2001, the President signed into law the Aviation
and Transportation Security Act (Act), Public Law 107-71. Section 115
of that law amended 49 U.S.C. 44909, to add a new paragraph (c) in
order to provide, in part, that, not later than 60 days after the date
of enactment of the Act, each air carrier, foreign and domestic,
operating a passenger flight in foreign air transportation to the
United States must electronically transmit to Customs, in advance of
the arrival of the flight, a related passenger manifest and a crew
manifest containing certain required information pertaining to the
passengers and crew on the flight (49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(1), (c)(2) and
(c)(4)). Furthermore, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(3), these carriers
are also required to make Passenger Name Record information available
to Customs upon request. The availability of PNR information to Customs
is necessary for purposes of ensuring aviation safety and protecting
national security.
    By a document published in the Federal Register (66 FR 67482) on
December 31, 2001, as T.D. 02-01, Customs issued an interim rule that
added a new Sec. 122.49a to the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 122.49a) in
order to implement the requirement in 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(1), (c)(2) and
(c)(4) for the electronic presentation to Customs of a passenger
manifest and a crew manifest in advance of the arrival of each
passenger flight in foreign air transportation to the United States. In
particular, Sec. 122.49a requires air carriers, for each flight subject
to the statute, to transmit to Customs, by means of an electronic data
interchange system approved by Customs, a passenger manifest and, by
way of a separate transmission using the same system, a crew manifest.
    In T.D. 02-01, (66 FR at 67483), Customs stated that the
requirement in 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(3) that air carriers make Passenger
Name Record information available to Customs upon request would be the
subject of a separate document published in the Federal Register.
    Accordingly, Customs is now issuing an interim rule that adds a new
Sec. 122.49b to the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 122.49b) in order to
implement 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(3).
    Unlike 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(1), (c)(2) and (c)(4), where the
requirement that air carriers transmit passenger and crew manifests to
Customs is expressly limited to those passenger flights in foreign air
transportation that are destined for the United States, section
44909(c)(3) has no such limitation in requiring air carriers to make
Passenger Name Record (PNR) information available to Customs upon
request. Rather, if an air carrier, foreign or domestic, is engaged in
foreign air transportation to the United States, section 44909(c)(3)
authorizes Customs to request access to PNR information. Accordingly,
this section applies to PNR information for inbound or outbound flights
in foreign air transportation.
    Thus, under Sec. 122.49b, each air carrier must, upon request,
provide Customs with electronic access to Passenger Name Record
information that is contained in the carrier's automated reservation/
departure control systems in connection with passenger flights in
foreign air transportation either to or from the United States,
including flights to the United States where the passengers have
already been pre-inspected or pre-cleared at the foreign location for
admission to the U.S. In order to readily provide Customs with such
access to requested PNR data, each air carrier must ensure that its
electronic reservation/departure control systems correctly interface
with the U.S. Customs Data Center, Customs Headquarters.

Passenger Name Record (PNR) Information Defined

    Passenger Name Record information that air carriers would need to
make available to Customs upon request under section 44909(c)(3) and
Sec. 122.49b refers to reservation information contained in an air
carrier's electronic reservation system and/or departure control system
that sets forth the identity and travel plans of each passenger or
group of passengers included under the same reservation record number
with respect to any passenger flight in foreign air transportation to
or from the United States.

PNR Data Elements That Customs May Request

    The air carrier, upon request, must electronically provide Customs
with access to any and all PNR data elements concerning the identity
and travel plans of a passenger for any flight in foreign air
transportation to or from the United States, to the extent that the
carrier in fact possesses the requested data elements in its
reservation system and/or departure control system. The following list
of PNR data elements is intended merely to be illustrative of those
data elements to which Customs may request access in relation to a
passenger:
    (1) Last name; first name; date of birth; address(es); and phone
number(s);
    (2) Passenger name record locator (reservation) number;
    (3) Reservation date (or dates, if multiple reservations made), or
if no advance reservation made (``go show'');
    (4) Travel agency/agent, if applicable;
    (5) Ticket information;
    (6) Form of payment for ticket;
    (7) Itinerary information;
    (8) Carrier information for the flight, including but not limited
to: carrier information for each segment of the flight if not
continuous; the flight number(s); and date(s) of intended travel;
    (9) Seating; and
    (10) PNR history.
    It is emphasized that there is no requirement that an air carrier
collect any other Passenger Name Record information than the particular
PNR data that the carrier already collects on its own and maintains in
its electronic reservation/departure control systems. Generally
speaking, the PNR information contained in an air carrier's automated
PNR database may consist of as few as 5 data elements or in excess of
50 data elements, depending upon the particular record and carrier.

Carriers' Electronic Systems Must Correctly Interface With the Customs
Data Center To Provide Customs With Access to Requested PNR Data

    As previously indicated, in furnishing Customs with electronic
access to requested Passenger Name Record data, the air carrier's
electronic reservation/departure control systems must correctly
interface with the U.S. Customs Data Center, Customs Headquarters. To
fully and effectively accomplish this interface between the air
carrier's electronic reservation/departure control systems and the

[[Page 42712]]

Customs Data Center, the carrier must do the following:
    (1) Provide Customs with an electronic connection to its
reservation system and/or departure control system. (This connection
can be provided directly to the Customs Data Center, Customs
Headquarters, or through a third party vendor that has such a
connection to Customs.);
    (2) Provide the Customs Data Center with the necessary airline
reservation/departure control systems' commands that will enable
Customs to:
    (a) Connect to the carrier's reservation/departure control systems;
    (b) Obtain the carrier's schedules of flights;
    (c) Obtain the carrier's passenger flight lists; and
    (d) Obtain data for all passengers listed for a specific flight;
and
    (3) Provide technical assistance to Customs as required for the
continued full and effective interface of the carrier's electronic
reservation/departure control systems with the Customs Data Center, in
order to ensure the proper response from the carrier's systems to
requests for data that are made by Customs.
    Customs is aware that a number of air carriers have not yet taken
steps to properly connect their automated reservation/departure control
systems with the Customs Data Center. Consequently, any air carrier
that has not yet done so must fully and effectively interface its
automated PNR database with the Customs Data Center, as described,
within 30 days from the date that Customs contacts the carrier and
requests that the carrier effect such an interface. However, an air
carrier may apply in writing to the Assistant Commissioner, Office of
Field Operations (OFO), for an additional extension of the period in
which to properly interface its electronic reservation/departure
control systems with the Customs Data Center. Following receipt of the
application, the Assistant Commissioner, OFO, may, in writing, allow
the carrier an extension of this period for good cause shown. The
Assistant Commissioner's decision as to whether and/or to what extent
to grant such an extension is final.

Sharing of PNR Information With Other Federal Agencies

    Passenger Name Record information under 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(3) that
is made available to Customs electronically may, upon request, be
shared with other Federal agencies for the purpose of protecting
national security (49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(5)) or as otherwise authorized by
law.

Technical Amendment of Sec. 122.49a(c)(2)

    Under Sec. 122.49a(c)(2), Customs Regulations (19 CFR
122.49a(c)(2)), in pertinent part, each air carrier must electronically
transmit to Customs the United States visa number for each applicable
passenger and crew member on a passenger flight covered by
Sec. 122.49a(a). Under Sec. 122.49a(c)(3), this information is to be
obtained by electronically transmitting to Customs the U.S. non-
immigrant visa travel document. This transmission is in fact
accomplished through the use of an electronic machine reader that scans
the travel document and transmits the information on it to Customs.
    However, it has been determined that the visa number is not located
in the machine-readable zone of the U.S.-issued non-immigrant visa
travel document, and thus the visa number on this document cannot be
transmitted to Customs with the use of a machine reader. By contrast,
the travel document number for the U.S.-issued visa is located in the
machine-readable zone of that document, and, as such, this number can
be transmitted to Customs under the existing system.
    Hence, Sec. 122.49a(c)(2) is changed by deleting the requirement
for the U.S. visa number, and instead requiring that the carrier
electronically transmit to Customs the travel document number for the
U.S.-issued visa, that is located in the machine-readable zone of that
document.

Comments

    Before adopting this interim regulation as a final rule,
consideration will be given to any written comments that are timely
submitted to Customs. Customs specifically requests comments on the
clarity of this interim rule and how it may be made easier to
understand. Comments submitted will be available for inspection in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552),
Sec. 1.4, Treasury Department Regulations (31 CFR 1.4), and
Sec. 103.11(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 103.11(b)), at the U.S.
Customs Service, 799 9th Street, NW., Washington, DC during regular
business hours. Arrangements to inspect submitted comments should be
made in advance by calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768.

Administrative Procedure Act, Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory
Flexibility Act

    This interim regulation has been determined to be urgently needed
for purposes of ensuring aviation safety and protecting national
security. For these reasons, Customs finds that good cause exists for
dispensing with the notice and public comment procedures of the
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) as being contrary to the
public interest pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). For the same reasons,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), a delayed effective date is not
required. Because this document is not subject to the requirements of 5
U.S.C. 553, as noted, it is not subject to the provisions of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Nor does this
interim regulation result in a ``significant regulatory action'' under
E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 122

    Air carriers, Aircraft, Airports, Air transportation, Customs
duties and inspection, Entry procedure, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Security measures.

Amendments to the Regulations

    Part 122, Customs Regulations (19 CFR part 122), is amended as set
forth below.

PART 122--AIR COMMERCE REGULATIONS

    1. The general authority citation for part 122 and the specific
sectional authority citation for Sec. 122.49a continue to read, and a
new specific sectional authority citation is added to read, as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 58b, 66, 1433, 1436, 1448,
1459, 1590, 1594, 1623, 1624, 1644, 1644a.
    Sec. 122.49a also issued under 19 U.S.C. 1431 and 49 U.S.C.
44909(c).
    Sec. 122.49b also issued under 49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(3).

Sec. 122.49a  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 122.49a(c)(2), remove the words ``and the United States
visa number'' and add, in their place, the words ``and the United
States visa travel document number (located in the machine-readable
zone of the visa document)''. r

    3. Subpart E of part 122 is amended by adding a new Sec. 122.49b to
read as follows:

Sec. 122.49b  Passenger Name Record (PNR) information.

    (a) General requirement. Each air carrier, foreign and domestic,
operating a passenger flight in foreign air transportation to or from
the United States, including flights to the United States where the
passengers have already been pre-inspected or pre-cleared at the
foreign location for admission to the U.S., must, upon

[[Page 42713]]

request, provide Customs with electronic access to certain Passenger
Name Record (PNR) information, as defined and described in paragraph
(b) of this section. In order to readily provide Customs with such
access to requested PNR information, each air carrier must ensure that
its electronic reservation/departure control systems correctly
interface with the U.S. Customs Data Center, Customs Headquarters, as
prescribed in paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
    (b) PNR information defined; PNR information that Customs may
request.
    (1) PNR information defined. Passenger Name Record (PNR)
information refers to reservation information contained in an air
carrier's electronic reservation system and/or departure control system
that sets forth the identity and travel plans of each passenger or
group of passengers included under the same reservation record with
respect to any flight covered by paragraph (a) of this section.
    (2) PNR data that Customs may request. The air carrier, upon
request, must provide Customs with electronic access to any and all PNR
data elements relating to the identity and travel plans of a passenger
concerning any flight under paragraph (a) of this section, to the
extent that the carrier in fact possesses the requested data elements
in its reservation system and/or departure control system. There is no
requirement that the carrier collect any PNR information under this
paragraph, that the carrier does not otherwise collect on its own and
maintain in its electronic reservation/departure control systems.
    (c) Required carrier system interface with Customs Data Center to
facilitate Customs retrieval of requested PNR data. (1) Carrier
requirements for interface with Customs. Within the time specified in
paragraph (c)(2) of this section, each air carrier must fully and
effectively interface its electronic reservation/departure control
systems with the U.S. Customs Data Center, Customs Headquarters, in
order to facilitate Customs ability to retrieve needed Passenger Name
Record data from these electronic systems. To effect this interface
between the air carrier's electronic reservation/departure control
systems and the Customs Data Center, the carrier must:
    (i) Provide Customs with an electronic connection to its
reservation system and/or departure control system. (This connection
can be provided directly to the Customs Data Center, Customs
Headquarters, or through a third party vendor that has such a
connection to Customs.);
    (ii) Provide Customs with the necessary airline reservation/
departure control systems' commands that will enable Customs to:
    (A) Connect to the carrier's reservation/departure control systems;
    (B) Obtain the carrier's schedules of flights;
    (C) Obtain the carrier's passenger flight lists; and
    (D) Obtain data for all passengers listed for a specific flight;
and
    (iii) Provide technical assistance to Customs as required for the
continued full and effective interface of the carrier's electronic
reservation/departure control systems with the Customs Data Center, in
order to ensure the proper response from the carrier's systems to
requests for data that are made by Customs.
    (2) Time within which carrier must interface with Customs Data
Center to facilitate Customs access to requested PNR data. Any air
carrier which has not taken steps to fully and effectively interface
its electronic reservation/departure control systems with the Customs
Data Center must do so, as prescribed in paragraphs (c)(1)(i)-
(c)(1)(iii) of this section, within 30 days from the date that Customs
contacts the carrier and requests that the carrier effect such an
interface. After being contacted by Customs, if an air carrier
determines it needs more than 30 days to properly interface its
automated database with the Customs Data Center, it may apply in
writing to the Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations (OFO)
for an extension. Following receipt of the application, the Assistant
Commissioner, OFO, may, in writing, allow the carrier an extension of
this period for good cause shown. The Assistant Commissioner's decision
as to whether and/or to what extent to grant such an extension is
within the sole discretion of the Assistant Commissioner and is final.
    (d) Sharing of PNR information with other Federal agencies.
Passenger Name Record information as described in paragraph (b)(2) of
this section that is made available to Customs electronically may, upon
request, be shared with other Federal agencies for the purpose of
protecting national security (49 U.S.C. 44909(c)(5)). Customs may also
share such data as otherwise authorized by law.

Robert C. Bonner,
Commissioner of Customs.
    Approved: June 19, 2002.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 02-15935 Filed 6-24-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P