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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 973g. Licenses
(a) Issuance; establishment of procedures; designation of agent for
service of legal process in license application; reception and
response to process
Licenses to fish in the Licensing Area, to be issued by the
Administrator in accordance with the Treaty, may be requested from
the Secretary by operators of vessels, under procedures established
by the Secretary. The license application shall designate an agent
for the service of legal process to be located in Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea. The applicant shall ensure that the designated
agent for service of process, acting on behalf of the license
holder, will receive and respond to any legal process issued in
accordance with the Treaty and will, within 21 days after
notification, travel if necessary for this purpose to any Pacific
Island Party at no expense to that Party.
(b) Forwarding and transmittal of vessel license application
Except as provided in subsections (e), (f), and (g) of this
section, the Secretary shall forward a vessel license application
to the Secretary of State for transmittal to the Administrator
whenever such application is in accordance with application
procedures established by the Secretary, includes a complete
application form as required by Annex II of the Treaty, and is
accompanied by the required license fee.
(c) Fees and fee schedules
(1) In the initial year of implementation, fees for the first 40
vessel licenses shall be at least $50,000 each, for any 10 vessel
licenses in addition to the first 40 shall be $60,000 each, and for
vessel licenses in addition to the first 50 shall be in accordance
with Annex II of the Treaty.
(2) After such initial year, fees for vessel licenses shall be
paid in accordance with fee schedules established under Annex II of
the Treaty and published by the Secretary.
(d) Period of validity
Licenses shall be valid for the licensing period specified by the
Administrator.
(e) Allocation system
The Secretary may establish a system of allocating licenses in
the event more applications are received than there are licenses
available.
(f) Minimum fees required to be received in initial year of
implementation for forwarding and transmittal of license
applications
For the initial year of implementation, license fees totaling at
least $1,750,000 must be received by the Secretary before any
license applications will be forwarded to the Secretary of State
for transmittal to the Administrator.
(g) Grounds for denial of forwarding of license application
The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may
determine that a license application should not be forwarded to the
Administrator for one of the following reasons:
(1) where the application is not in accordance with the Treaty
or the procedures established by the Secretary;
(2) where the owner or charterer is the subject of proceedings
under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, unless reasonable
financial assurances have been provided to the Secretary;
(3) where the owner or charterer has not established to the
satisfaction of the Secretary that the fishing vessel is fully
insured against all risks and liabilities normally provided in
maritime liability insurance;
(4) where the owner or charterer has not paid any penalty which
has become final, assessed by the Secretary in accordance with
this chapter.
(h) Grandfathering of vessels documented before November 3, 1995
Notwithstanding the requirements of -
(1) section 12108 of title 46;
(2) the general permit issued on December 1, 1980, to the
American Tunaboat Association under section 1374(h)(1) of this
title; and
(3) sections 1374(h)(2) and 1416(a) of this title - (!1)
any vessel documented under the laws of the United States as of
November 3, 1995, for which a license has been issued under
subsection (a) of this section may fish for tuna in the Treaty
Area, including those waters subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States in accordance with international law, subject to the
provisions of the treaty (!2) and this chapter, provided that no
such vessel fishing in the Treaty Area intentionally deploys a
purse seine net to encircle any dolphin or other marine mammal in
the course of fishing under the provisions of the Treaty or this
chapter.
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