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It is the policy of the Government, upon the termination of any war contract, to assure the expeditious removal from the plant of the war contractor of the termination inventory not to be retained or sold by the war contractor.

Any war contractor may submit to the contracting agency concerned or to any other Government agency designated by the Administrator of General Services, one or more statements showing the materials which such war contractor claims to be termination inventory under one or more war contracts and desires to have removed by the Government. Such statements shall be prepared in such form and detail, shall be submitted in such manner, through the prime contractor or otherwise, and shall be supported by such certificates or other data, as may be prescribed under this chapter.

Within sixty days after the submission of any such statement by a war contractor, or such shorter period as may be prescribed under this chapter, or within such longer period as the war contractor may agree, the Government agency concerned

Upon the failure of the Government so to arrange for storage by the war contractor or to remove any termination inventory within the period specified under subsection (c) of this section, the war contractor, subject to regulations prescribed under this chapter, may remove some or all of such termination inventory from his plant or plants and may store it on his own premises or elsewhere for the account and at the risk and expense of the Government, using reasonable care for its transportation and preservation. If any war contractor intends so to remove any claimed termination inventory, he shall deliver to the Government agency concerned written notice of the date fixed for removal and a statement showing the quantities and condition of the materials so to be removed, certified on behalf of the war contractor to have been prepared in accordance with a concurrent physical inventory of such materials. Such notice and statement shall be delivered at least twenty days in advance of the date fixed for removal and may be delivered before or after the expiration of the period specified under subsection (c) of this section. If the Government agency fails to check such materials, at or before the time of their removal by the war contractor, a certificate of the war contractor specifying the materials shown on such statement which were so removed, and filed with the Government agency concerned within thirty days after the date fixed for removal, shall constitute prima facie evidence against the United States as to the quantities and condition of the materials so removed, and the fact of their removal.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, but subject to subsection (h) of this section, the contracting agency concerned or the Administrator of General Services, or any Government agency designated by him, on behalf of the United States, may, by the exercise of any contract rights or otherwise, acquire and take possession of any termination inventory of any war contractor, and any materials removed by the Government or stored for its account under subsections (c) and (d) of this section, whether or not such materials are finally determined not to constitute termination inventory. With respect to any such materials, the Government shall be liable to any war contractor concerned only for their return to such war contractor or for their disposal value at the time of their removal or for the proceeds realized by the Government from their disposal, at the election of the Government agency concerned, unless the Government agency and the war contractor agree or have agreed on a different basis. Any amount so paid or payable to a war contractor for materials allocable to a terminated war contract shall be credited against the termination claim under such contract but shall not otherwise affect the amount due on the claim, unless the Government agency concerned and the war contractor agree or have agreed otherwise. Any materials to which the Administrator of General Services takes title under this section shall be delivered for disposal to any appropriate Government agency authorized to make such disposal.

No contracting agency shall postpone or delay any termination settlement beyond the period specified in subsection (c) of this section for the purpose of awaiting disposal by the war contractor or the Government of any termination inventory reported in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.

Whenever any war contractor no longer requires, for the performance of any war contract, any Government-owned machinery, tools, or equipment installed in his plant for the performance of one or more war contracts, the Government agency concerned, upon written demand by the war contractor, and within sixty days after such demand or such other period as may be prescribed under this chapter, and upon such conditions as may be so prescribed, shall remove or provide for the removal of such machinery, tools, or equipment from such plant, unless the Government agency concerned and the war contractor, by facilities contract or otherwise, have made or make other provisions for the retention, storage, maintenance, or disposition of such machinery, tools or equipment. The Government agency concerned may waive or release on behalf of the United States any obligation of the war contractor with respect to such machinery, tools, or equipment upon such terms and conditions as the agency deems appropriate. Upon the failure of the Government so to remove or provide for removal of any such machinery, tools, or equipment, the war contractor, subject to regulations prescribed under this chapter, may remove all or part of such machinery, tools, or equipment from his plant and may store it on his own premises or elsewhere, for the account and at the risk and expense of the Government, using reasonable care for its transportation and preservation.

Nothing in this chapter shall limit or affect the authority of the Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force, Navy Department, or the Department of Transportation, respectively, to take over any termination inventories and to retain them for their use for any purpose or to dispose of such termination inventories for the purpose of war production, or to authorize any war contractor to retain or dispose of such termination inventories for the purpose of war production.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the removal and storage of any termination inventory by any war contractor, at his own risk, at any time after termination of any war contract to which it is allocable.