T.

33706.

Art 1132. Special agents.-Special agents are assigned, D. 33632, for duty in special agency districts prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, each of which is under the immediate direction of an agent in charge.

R. S., 2640, 2649.

Art. 1133. Duties generally. It is the duty of officers of the Special Agency Service to make examination of the books, papers, and accounts of collectors and other officers of the customs. Collectors and other customs officers will, whenever requested, submit their books, papers, and accounts for such examination. Officers of the Special Agency Service are employed, Act Jan. 17, generally by the Secretary of the Treasury under the direction of the supervising agent in the prevention and detection of frauds on the customs revenue, and in the prevention of violations of the laws relating to the illegal importation and exportation of opium and cocaine.

1914.

T. Ds. 33706, 34221.

R. S., 183, 3059.

1874, sec. 15.

In the performance of their duties they are authorized to administer oaths to witnesses, to make searches, arrests of persons, and seizures of merchandise. Art. 1134. Reports to collectors.-Officers of the Special, Act Junt 22, Agency Service will, upon the detection of any violation of the customs-revenue laws, forthwith report the same to the agent in charge, who shall immediately make report thereof to the collector of the district in which the violation occurred, and forward to the Department a copy of such report.

Art. 1135. Drawback investigations. It is the duty of officers of the Special Agency Service, under the direction of the supervising agent, to investigate and report upon all applications for the establishment of new rates of drawback, or modifications, amendments, or extensions of existing rates, reinvestigations of established rates, and of other matters pertaining to drawback.

When application is made for the establishment or extension of drawback rates, the factory must be visited, and a thorough investigation made of the use of imported materials on which drawback is desired. The quantities of imported materials consumed in producing a given quantity of product must be ascertained, together with the quantities and values of wastes. Where sufficient records to insure this are not already kept, the agent shall see that proper records are installed by the manufacturer.

The facts brought out by such investigations will be incorporated in a statement, which must be signed and

T. D. 33706.

sworn to by the manufacturer and transmitted with the agent's report thereon.

Supplementary sworn statements and sworn abstracts from manufacturing records and similar documents referred to special agents by collectors shall be verified by visiting the factories, examining records, and inspecting conditions of manufacture.

Such verifications and other special drawback investigations involving travel or investigation outside the agency district shall be submitted by the agent to the Department for instructions.

Art. 1136. Cooperation with other customs officers. Officers of the Special Agency Service will not interfere with the regular transactions of the customs business by the local officers, and are expected to cooperate with them. Irregularities discovered by such officers capable of being dealt with by the local customs officers should be immediately brought to their notice. The action taken should be stated in the reports of agents to the Department.

Art. 1137. Reports Accounts Restrictions.-The agent in charge of each special agency district will make a report to the Secretary of the Treasury at the close of each fiscal year covering the work performed in his district during such year.

They will also make special reports of all cases and investigations which require action by the Department.

The expense accounts of agents must conform to the regulations prescribed therefor by the Secretary of the Treasury and should be rendered monthly under oath, embracing such expenses as are actually and necessarily incurred in the discharge of official duties, stating places visited, dates, and items of expenditures, with vouchers when practicable.

Accounts for the compensation of officers and employees of the Special Agency Service may be rendered semimonthly.

Officers of the Special Agency Service will confine their labors within the limits of the districts to which they are assigned, and will not go beyond such limits without authority from the Department, unless in case of emergency, when it would be impracticable to obtain such authority. The facts in such cases will be at once reported to the Department.

The time of such officers and employees during business hours will be devoted to the public service, and private employment interfering with the performance of official duties will not be allowed.

Such officers and employees are not permitted to disclose information relating to official business, unless authorized by the Department.

CUSTOMHOUSE BROKERS.

Act June 10, 1910.

Art. 1138. License-Revocation.-No person may transact business as a customhouse broker without a license. T. Ds. 30897, 31517, 32974, The term "customhouse broker" shall be taken to in- 33152. clude all persons, copartnerships, corporations, and firms transacting customs business at a customhouse in behalf of other persons generally.

Any citizen of the United States may be licensed as a customs broker upon application to the collector of customs for the district in which the business is to be transacted, provided that officer shall be satisfied that such person is of good moral character.

Firms or copartnerships and corporations, associations, or joint-stock associations may be licensed in the firm, copartnership, corporate, or association name without requiring the licensing of any of its members, officers, agents, or attorneys.

T. D. 35118.

A license may not be issued to a partnership unless T. D. 35234. each member be a citizen of the United States. A license may be issued to a corporation incorporated under the laws of any State of the United States, if the charter or articles of incorporation authorizes the corporation to do a customhouse brokerage business, without regard to the citizenship of its officers or stockholders.

Individuals, firms, copartnerships, corporations, associations, or joint-stock associations, or their employees, officers, agents, or attorneys transacting business at a customhouse pertaining solely to their own importations or exportations are not required to be licensed.

Employees of licensed brokers will not be required to be licensed to act solely for their employers. All custems brokers shall file, however, with the chief officer of the customs at the port at which the business is to be transacted an authorization specifically naming each employee acting for him. Brokers will be required to promptly give notice of any changes in such employees,

to exercise such discipline as will insure proper conduct on the part of their employees in the transaction of customs business, and will be held strictly responsible for the acts of such employees.

The application for a license as a customhouse broker must be addressed to the collector of customs for the district in which it is proposed to transact business, must be sworn to by the applicant, and must show the date and place of birth of the applicant, and if a naturalized citizen the place and date of naturalization and the original or a certified copy of the certificate of naturalization must be exhibited to the collector. If the applicant be a partnership, the name and address and place of birth of each member of such partnership must be stated, and if they be foreign born the same statements and evidence of birth and naturalization are required as for individuals. If the applicant be a corporation, the State in which incorporated, the date of incorporation, and the names of the corporate officers must be stated and evidence of incorporation submitted if the collector considers the same necessary.

Each application must be accompanied by letters of indorsement and other evidence of the applicant's good moral character.

Blank forms of application are not supplied by the Government.

If the collector is satisfied of the good moral character of the applicant, he will issue a license on Customs Form 3075.

T. D. 32215. The collector of customs may at any time, for good and sufficient reasons, serve notice in writing upon any licensed customhouse broker to show cause why his license should not be revoked, which notice shall be in the form of a statement specifically setting forth the grounds of complaint, and such broker shall within 10 days thereafter be notified in writing of a hearing to be held before the collector within 5 days thereafter upon such charges. At such hearing the broker may be represented by counsel, and all proceedings, including the proof of the charges and answer thereto, shall be presented, with right of cross-examination to both parties. A stenographic record of the proceedings shall be made and a copy delivered to the broker. At the conclusion of the hearing the collector shall forthwith transmit the

record and all the papers in the case to the Secretary of the Treasury. Thereupon the Secretary may revoke the license of such broker, of which revocation formal notice shall be given to the broker by the collector within 10 days thereafter.

A broker whose license has been revoked may within 30 days thereafter apply to the United States district court for a review of the Secretary's decision, and such appeal shall act as a stay of the revocation of the license.

A customhouse broker whose license has been revoked will not be permitted to transact business at the customhouse as the agent or employee of another broker.

Collectors are authorized to cancel a customhouse broker's license upon application of the licensee and surrender of the license, and will notify the Department of such cancellation.

T. D. 34857.