§1493. Proceeds of sale

The surplus of the proceeds of sales under section 1491 of this title, after the payment of storage charges, expenses, duties, taxes, and fees, and the satisfaction of any lien for freight, charges, or contribution in general average, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, if claim therefor shall not be filed with the Customs Service within ten days from the date of sale, and the sale of such merchandise shall exonerate the master of any vessel in which the merchandise was imported from all claims of the owner thereof, who shall, nevertheless, on due proof of his interest, be entitled to receive from the Treasury the amount of any surplus of the proceeds of sale.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, §493, 46 Stat. 727 ; Pub. L. 91–271, title III, §301(e), June 2, 1970, 84 Stat. 288 ; Pub. L. 103–182, title VI, §661, Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2214 .)

Prior Provisions

Provisions substantially similar in most respects to those in this section, with further provisions concerning the documents to be forwarded by the collector to the Treasury Department, were contained in R.S. §2974, which was superseded and more nearly assimilated to the present section by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, §493, 42 Stat. 964 , and repealed by section 642 thereof. Section 493 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 493 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.

Amendments

1993-Pub. L. 103–182 inserted "taxes, and fees," after "duties,", struck out "by the appropriate customs officer" after "shall be deposited", and substituted "the Customs Service" for "such customs officer".

1970-Pub. L. 91–271 substituted references to appropriate customs officer or such customs officer for references to collector wherever appearing.

Effective Date of 1970 Amendment

For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 91–271, see section 203 of Pub. L. 91–271, set out as a note under section 1500 of this title.

Appropriations

Section 2 of act June 26, 1934, ch. 756, 48 Stat. 1225 , which was classified to section 725a of former Title 31, Money and Finance, repealed the permanent appropriation under the title "Refunding proceeds of unclaimed merchandise (Customs) (2x326)" effective July 1, 1935, and provided that such portions of any Acts as make permanent appropriations to be expended under such account are amended so as to authorize, in lieu thereof, annual appropriations from the general fund of the Treasury in identical terms and in such amounts as now provided by the laws providing such permanent appropriations.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1491, 1559, 1753 of this title.