Coastwise; Territories; Possessions; Guantanamo Naval Station; 46 U.S.C. App. 883.

HQ 112538 January 15, 1993 VES-3 CO:R:IT:C 112538 JBW CATEGORY: Carriers William E. Cassidy, Esquire Fontainebleu Executive Plaza Suite 252 8370 West Flagler Street Miami, Florida 33144 RE: Coastwise; Territories; Possessions; Guantanamo Naval Station; 46 U.S.C. App. 883. Dear Mr. Cassidy: This letter is in response to your request dated November 25, 1992, for a ruling on the application of the coastwise laws to the proposed transportation of merchandise between ports in the United States and the United States Guantanamo Naval Station. FACTS: Your client is a Florida corporation that intends to transport merchandise between ports of the continental United States and the United States Guantanamo Naval Station in Cuba. ISSUE: Whether Guantanamo Naval Station is a territory or possession of the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, 46 U.S.C. App. 883. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Section 883 of Title 46, United States Code Appendix, provides, in pertinent part: No merchandise shall be transported by water, or by land and water, on penalty of forfeiture of the merchandise (or a monetary amount up to the value thereof as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, or the actual cost of the transportation, whichever is greater...), between points in the United States, including Districts, Territories, and possessions thereof embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation, in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States.... 46 U.S.C.A. App. 883. The United States occupies the area comprising Guantanamo Naval Station under a lease from the Cuban government that was established by treaty. Agreement for the Lease to the United States of Lands in Cuba for Coaling and Naval Stations, T.S. No. 418, 6 Bevans 1113 (1971); Lease to the United States by Cuba of Land and Water for Naval or Coaling Stations in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda, T.S. No. 426, 6 Bevans 1120 (1971); Treaty on Relations with Cuba, T.S. No. 866, 48 Stat. 1682 (1934). Pursuant to these agreements, the United States exercises certain jurisdiction rights as established by the treaties, but Cuba does not cede sovereignty over the area occupied by the United States. T.S. No. 418, Art. III. Such jurisdictional exercise by the United States, however, does not establish Guantanamo Naval Station as a territory or possession of the United States for purposes of the coastwise laws. Cf. 2 Whiteman, Digest of International Law 1321-1330 (1963) (discussing generally United States territories and possessions). Consequently, we conclude that transportation of merchandise between ports embraced within the coastwise laws and Guantanamo Naval Station does not constitute an engagement in the coastwise trade. HOLDING: Guantanamo Naval Station is not a territory or possession of the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, 46 U.S.C. App. 883. Sincerely, Acting Chief