US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 19USC1331]

 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
                      CHAPTER 4--TARIFF ACT OF 1930
 
                     SUBTITLE II--SPECIAL PROVISIONS
 
          Part II--United States International Trade Commission
 
Sec. 1331. General powers


(a) Administration

    (1)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the chairman of the 
Commission shall--
        (i) appoint and fix the compensation of such employees of the 
    Commission as he deems necessary (other than the personal staff of 
    each commissioner), including the secretary,
        (ii) procure the services of experts and consultants in 
    accordance with the provisions of section 3109 of title 5, and
        (iii) exercise and be responsible for all other administrative 
    functions of the Commission.

    (B) The chairman of the Commission may accept, hold, administer, and 
utilize gifts, devises, and bequests of property, both real and 
personal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the 
Commission.
    (C) Any decision by the chairman under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall 
be subject to disapproval by a majority vote of all the commissioners in 
office.
    (2) Subject to approval by a majority vote of all the commissioners 
in office, the chairman may--
        (A) terminate the employment of any supervisory employee of the 
    Commission whose duties involve substantial personal responsibility 
    for Commission matters and who is compensated at a rate equal to, or 
    in excess of, the rate for grade GS-15 of the General Schedule in 
    section 5332 of title 5, and
        (B) formulate the annual budget of the Commission.

    (3) No member of the Commission, in making public statements with 
respect to any policy matter for which the Commission has 
responsibility, shall represent himself as speaking for the Commission, 
or his views as being the views of the Commission, with respect to such 
matter except to the extent that the Commission has adopted the policy 
being expressed.

(b) Application of civil service law

    Except for employees excepted under civil service rules, all 
employees of the commission shall be appointed from lists of eligibles 
to be supplied by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and 
in accordance with the civil service law.

(c) Expenses

    All of the expenses of the commission, including all necessary 
expenses for transportation incurred by the commissioners or by their 
employees under their orders in making any investigation or upon 
official business in any other places than at their respective 
headquarters, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized 
vouchers therefor approved by the chairman (except that in the case of a 
commissioner, or the personal staff of any commissioner, such vouchers 
may be approved by that commissioner).

(d) Principal office at Washington

    The principal office of the commission shall be in the city of 
Washington, but it may meet and exercise all its powers at any other 
place. The commission may, by one or more of its members, or by such 
agents as it may designate, prosecute any inquiry necessary to its 
duties in any part of the United States or in any foreign country.

(e) Office at New York

    The commission is authorized to establish and maintain an office at 
the port of New York for the purpose of directing or carrying on any 
investigation, receiving and compiling statistics, selecting, 
describing, and filing samples of articles, and performing any of the 
duties or exercising any of the powers imposed upon it by law.

(f) Official seal

    The commission is authorized to adopt an official seal, which shall 
be judicially noticed.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title III, Sec. 331, 46 Stat. 697; Pub. L. 95-
106, Sec. 3(a), (b), Aug. 17, 1977, 91 Stat. 868; 1978 Reorg. Plan No. 
2, Sec. 102, eff. Jan. 1, 1979, 43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783; Pub. L. 
97-456, Sec. 1(b), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2503.)

                       References in Text

    The civil service law, referred to in subsec. (b), is set forth in 
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. See, particularly, 
section 3301 et seq. of Title 5.

                          Codification

    In subsec. (a), provisions which specified a salary of $7,500 per 
year for the secretary to the commission have been omitted as obsolete 
and superseded. Sections 1202 and 1204 of the Classification Act of 
1949, 63 Stat. 972, 973, repealed the Classification Act of 1923 and all 
other laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 1949 Act. The 
Classification Act of 1949 was repealed by Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 
1966, Sec. 8(a), 80 Stat. 632, and reenacted as chapter 51 and 
subchapter III of chapter 53 of Title 5, Government Organization and 
Employees. Section 5102 of Title 5 contains the applicability provisions 
of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 authorizes the Office of 
Personnel Management to determine the applicability to specific 
positions and employees.
    In subsec. (b), the words ``Except for employees excepted under the 
civil service rules'' substituted for ``With the exception of the 
secretary, a clerk to each commissioner, and such special experts as the 
commission may from time to time find necessary for the conduct of its 
work''. Appointments are now subject to the civil service laws unless 
specifically excepted by such laws or by laws enacted subsequent to 
Executive Order 8743, Apr. 23, 1941, issued by the President pursuant to 
the act of Nov. 26, 1940, ch. 919, title I, Sec. 1, 54 Stat. 1211, which 
covered most excepted positions into the classified (competitive) civil 
service. The Order is set out as a note under section 3301 of Title 5.


                            Prior Provisions

    Provisions similar to subsecs. (a) to (e) of this section were 
contained in act Sept. 8, 1916, ch. 463, Sec. 701, 39 Stat. 975. That 
section was superseded by section 331 of act June 17, 1930, comprising 
this section.
    Provisions similar to those in subsecs. (f) and (g) of this section 
were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title III, Sec. 318, 42 
Stat. 947. That section was superseded by section 331 of act June 17, 
1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 
1930 act.


                               Amendments

    1983--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 97-456 designated existing provisions 
relating to the chairman's exercise of and responsibility for all 
administrative functions as subpar. (A), redesignated former subpars. 
(A) through (C) as cls. (i) through (iii), added subpar. (B), designated 
provisions relating to disapproval by a majority of the commissioners of 
any decision by the chairman as subpar. (C), and in (C) as so 
designated, substituted ``subparagraph (A) or (B)'' for ``this 
paragraph'' after ``chairman under''.
    1977--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95-106, Sec. 3(a), designated existing 
provisions as par. (1), substituted provisions authorizing the chairman 
to perform certain required functions subject to approval by the 
Commission for provisions authorizing the Commission to perform certain 
required functions and inserted provisions requiring the chairman to 
exercise and be responsible for all other administrative functions of 
the Commission, and added pars. (2) and (3).
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95-106, Sec. 3(b)(1), substituted ``approved by 
the chairman (except that in the case of a commissioner, or the personal 
staff of any commissioner, such vouchers may be approved by that 
commissioner)'' for ``approved by the Commission''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95-106, Sec. 3(b)(2), redesignated subsecs. (e) 
to (g) as (d) to (f), respectively. Former subsec. (d), relating to 
offices and supplies, was struck out.


                    Effective Date of 1977 Amendment

    Section 3(c) of Pub. L. 95-106 provided that: ``The amendments made 
by this section [amending this section] take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act [Aug. 17, 1977].''

                          Transfer of Functions

    ``Director of the Office of Personnel Management'' substituted for 
``Civil Service Commission'' in subsec. (b) pursuant to Reorg. Plan No. 
2 of 1978, Sec. 102, 43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783, set out under section 
1101 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, which 
transferred functions vested by statute in Civil Service Commission to 
Director of Office of Personnel Management (except as otherwise 
specified), effective Jan. 1, 1979, as provided by section 1-102 of Ex. 
Ord. No. 12107, Dec. 28, 1978, 44 F.R. 1055, set out under section 1101 
of Title 5.