§ 955. — Secretary of State to act for United States.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC955]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 16--TUNA CONVENTIONS
Sec. 955. Secretary of State to act for United States
(a) Approval of commission bylaws and rules; action on reports,
requests, and recommendations
The Secretary of State is authorized to approve or disapprove, on
behalf of the United States Government, bylaws and rules, or amendments
thereof, adopted by each commission and submitted for approval of the
United States Government in accordance with the provisions of the
conventions, and, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Commerce, to
approve or disapprove the general annual programs of the commissions.
The Secretary of State is further authorized to receive, on behalf of
the United States Government, reports, requests, recommendations, and
other communications of the commissions, and to take appropriate action
thereon either directly or by reference to the appropriate authority.
(b) Regulations
Regulations recommended by each commission pursuant to the
convention requiring the submission to the commission of records of
operations by boat captains or other persons who participate in the
fisheries covered by the convention, upon the concurrent approval of the
Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, shall be promulgated
by the latter and upon publication in the Federal Register, shall be
applicable to all vessels and persons subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(c) Rulemaking procedures; prohibitions
Regulations required to carry out recommendations of the commission
made pursuant to paragraph 5 of article II of the Convention for the
Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission shall be
promulgated as hereinafter provided by the Secretary of Commerce upon
approval of such recommendations by the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce shall cause to be
published in the Federal Register a general notice of proposed
rulemaking and shall afford interested persons an opportunity to
participate in the rulemaking through (1) submission of written data,
views, or arguments, and (2) oral presentation at a public hearing. Such
regulations shall be published in the Federal Register and shall be
accompanied by a statement of the considerations involved in the
issuance of the regulations. After publication in the Federal Register
such regulations shall be applicable to all vessels and persons subject
to the jurisdiction of the United States on such date as the Secretary
of Commerce shall prescribe, but in no event prior to an agreed date for
the application by all countries whose vessels engage in fishing for
species covered by the convention in the regulatory area on a meaningful
scale, in terms of effect upon the success of the conservation program,
of effective measures for the implementation of the commission's
recommendations applicable to all vessels and persons subject to their
respective jurisdictions. The Secretary of Commerce shall suspend at any
time the application of any such regulations when, after consultation
with the Secretary of State and the United States Commissioners, he
determines that foreign fishing operations in the regulatory area are
such as to constitute a serious threat to the achievement of the
objectives of the commission's recommendations. The regulations thus
promulgated may include the selection for regulation of one or more of
the species covered by the convention; the division of the convention
waters into areas; the establishment of one or more open or closed
seasons as to each area; the limitation of the size of the fish and
quantity of the catch which may be taken from each area within any
season during which fishing is allowed; the limitation or prohibition of
the incidental catch of a regulated species which may be retained,
taken, possessed, or landed by vessels or persons fishing for other
species of fish; the requiring of such clearance certificates for
vessels as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the convention
and this chapter; and such other measures incidental thereto as the
Secretary of Commerce may deem necessary to implement the
recommendations of the commission: Provided, That upon the promulgation
of any such regulations the Secretary of Commerce shall promulgate
additional regulations, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State,
which shall become effective simultaneously with the application of the
regulations hereinbefore referred to (1) to prohibit the entry into the
United States, from any country when the vessels of such country are
being used in the conduct of fishing operations in the regulatory area
in such manner or in such circumstances as would tend to diminish the
effectiveness of the conservation recommendations of the commission, of
fish in any form of those species which are subject to regulation
pursuant to a recommendation of the commission and which were taken from
the regulatory area; and (2) to prohibit entry into the United States,
from any country, of fish in any form of those species which are subject
to regulation pursuant to a recommendation of the commission and which
were taken from the regulatory area by vessels other than those of such
country in such manner or in such circumstances as would tend to
diminish the effectiveness of the conservation recommendations of the
commission. In the case of repeated and flagrant fishing operations in
the regulatory area by the vessels of any country which seriously
threaten the achievement of the objectives of the commission's
recommendations, the Secretary of Commerce, with the concurrence of the
Secretary of State, may, in his discretion, also prohibit the entry from
such country of such other species of tuna, in any form, as may be under
investigation by the commission and which were taken in the regulatory
area. The aforesaid prohibitions shall continue until the Secretary of
Commerce is satisfied that the condition warranting the prohibition no
longer exists, except that all fish in any form of the species under
regulation which were previously prohibited from entry shall continue to
be prohibited from entry.
(Sept. 7, 1950, ch. 907, Sec. 6, 64 Stat. 778; Pub. L. 87-814, Sec. 2,
Oct. 15, 1962, 76 Stat. 923; 1970 Reorg. Plan No. 4, eff. Oct. 3, 1970,
35 F.R. 15627, 84 Stat. 2090.)
Amendments
1962--Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 87-814 substituted ``Secretary of
the Interior'' for ``head of the enforcement agency''.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 87-814 added subsec. (c).
Transfer of Functions
``Secretary of Commerce'' substituted in text for ``Secretary of the
Interior'' in view of: creation of National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration in Department of Commerce and Office of Administrator of
such Administration; abolition of Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in
Department of the Interior and Office of Director of such Bureau;
transfers of functions, including functions formerly vested by law in
Secretary of the Interior or Department of the Interior which were
administered through Bureau of Commercial Fisheries or were primarily
related to such Bureau, exclusive of certain enumerated functions with
respect to Great Lakes fishery research, Missouri River Reservoir
research, Gulf Breeze Biological Laboratory, and Trans-Alaska pipeline
investigations; and transfer of marine sport fish program of Bureau of
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife by Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1970, eff. Oct. 3,
1970, 35 F.R. 15627, 84 Stat. 2090, set out in the Appendix to Title 5,
Government Organization and Employees.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 957 of this title.
