(a) Involuntarily abandoned merchandise. The following shall be considered to be involuntarily abandoned merchandise:

(1) Articles entered for a trade fair under the provisions of section 3 of the Trade Fair Act of 1959 (19 U.S.C. 1752), which are still in Customs custody at the expiration of 3 months after the closing date of the fair for which they were entered. (See §147.47 of this chapter.)

(2) Any imported merchandise upon which any duties or charges are unpaid, remaining in a bonded warehouse beyond the 5-year warehouse period.

(b) Voluntarily abandoned merchandise. The following merchandise shall be considered to be voluntarily abandoned merchandise and the property of the United States Government:

(1) Merchandise which is taken possession of by the port director at the request of the consignee, or owner or master of the vessel or person in charge of the vehicle in which the merchandise was imported.

(2) Merchandise abandoned by the importer to the United States within 30 days after entry in the case of merchandise not sent to the public stores for examination, or within 30 days after the release of the examination packages or merchandise in the case of merchandise sent to the public stores for examination.

(3) Articles entered for a trade fair under the provisions of section 3 of the Trade Fair Act of 1959 (19 U.S.C. 1752), which have been abandoned to the United States within 3 months of the closing of the fair.

(4) Merchandise in a bonded warehouse abandoned by the consignee within 3 years from the date of original importation. (See subpart D of part 158 of this chapter.)

[T.D. 74-114, 39 FR 12092, Apr. 3, 1974, as amended by T.D. 79-221, 44 FR 46814, Aug. 9, 1979]