Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 3.djvu/234

 107 STAT. 2172 PUBLIC LAW 103-182—DEC. 8, 1993 Regulations. infonnation does not limit the authority of the Customs Service to conduct an examination. " (b) TESTING LABORATORIES. — "(1) ACCREDITATION OF PRIVATE TESTING LABORATORIES.— The Customs Service shall establish and implement a procedure, under regulations promulgated by the Secretary, for accrediting private laboratories within the United States which may be used to perform tests (that would otherwise be performed by Customs Service laboratories) to establish the characteristics, quantities, or composition of imported merchandise. Such regulations— "(A) shall establish the conditions required for the laboratories to receive and maintain accreditation for purposes of this subsection; "(B) shall establish the conditions regarding the suspension and revocation of accreditation, which may include the imposition of a monetary penalty not to exceed $100,000 and such penalty is in addition to the recovery, from a ganger or laboratory accredited under paragraph (1), of any loss of revenue that may have occurred, but the Customs Service— "(i) may seek to recover lost revenue only in cases where the ganger or laboratory intentionally falsified the analysis or gauging report in collusion with the importer; and "(ii) shall neither assess penalties nor seek to recover lost revenue because of a good faith difference of professional opinion; and "(C) may provide for the imposition of a reasonable charge for accreditation and periodic reaccreditation. The collection of any charge for accreditation and reaccreditation under this section is not prohibited by section 13031(e)(6) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(e)(6)). "(2) APPEAL OF ADVERSE ACCREDITATION DECISIONS.— A laboratory applying for accreditation, or that is accredited, under this section may contest any decision or order of the Customs Service denying, suspending, or revoking accreditation, or imposing a monetary penalty, by commencing an action in accordance with chapter 169 of title 28, United States Code, in the Court of International Trade within 60 days after issuance of the decision or order. "(3) TESTING BY ACCREDITED LABORATORIES. — W hen requested by an importer of record of merchandise, the Customs Service shall authorize the release to the importer of a representative sample of the merchandise for testing, at the expense of the importer, by a laboratory accredited under paragraph (1). The testing results from a laboratory accredited under paragraph (1) that are submitted by an importer of record with respect to merchandise in an entry shall, in the absence of testing results obtained from a Customs Service laboratory, be accepted by the Customs Service if the importer of record certifies that the sample tested was taken from the merchandise in the entry. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit in any way or preclude the authority of the Customs Service to test or analyze any sample or merchandise independently.

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