§91. Clearance; vessels

(a) When required; vessels of United States

Except as otherwise provided by law, any vessel of the United States shall obtain clearance from the Customs Service before proceeding from a port or place in the United States-

(1) for a foreign port or place;

(2) for another port or place in the United States if the vessel has on board bonded merchandise or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or

(3) outside the territorial sea to visit a hovering vessel or to receive merchandise while outside the territorial sea.

(b) When required; other vessels

Except as otherwise provided by law, any vessel that is not a vessel of the United States shall obtain clearance from the Customs Service before proceeding from a port or place in the United States-

(1) for a foreign port or place;

(2) for another port or place in the United States; or

(3) outside the territorial sea to visit a hovering vessel or to receive or deliver merchandise while outside the territorial sea.

(c) Regulations

The Secretary of the Treasury may by regulation-

(1) prescribe the manner in which clearance under this section is to be obtained, including the documents, data or information which shall be submitted or transmitted, pursuant to an authorized data interchange system, to obtain the clearance;

(2) permit the Customs Service to grant clearance for a vessel under this section before all requirements for clearance are complied with, but only if the owner or operator of the vessel files a bond in an amount set by the Secretary of the Treasury conditioned upon the compliance by the owner or operator with all specified requirements for clearance within a time period (not exceeding 4 business days) established by the Secretary of the Treasury; and

(3) authorize the Customs Service to permit clearance of any vessel to be obtained at a place other than a designated port of entry, under such conditions as he may prescribe.

(R.S. §4197; Aug. 5, 1935, ch. 438, title II, §209, 49 Stat. 526 ; June 16, 1938, ch. 476, §1, 52 Stat. 758 ; Sept. 1, 1954, ch. 1213, title V, §501(a), 68 Stat. 1140 ; Pub. L. 103–182, title VI, §686(b), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2221 .)

Codification

R.S. §4197 derived from act Mar. 2, 1799, ch. 22, §93, 1 Stat. 698 .

Amendments

1993-Pub. L. 103–182 amended section generally, substituting present provisions for provisions which directed master of any vessel bound to a foreign port to deliver to district collector a manifest of all cargo on board, subject to financial penalties for delivery of false manifest and detainment of vessel until penalty is paid, but authorizing Secretary of Commerce, in interest of expediting commerce, to make regulations permitting master to file incomplete manifest and grant vessel clearance upon filing a bond and making assurance that a completed manifest will be filed not later than the fourth business day after clearance of the vessel, with financial penalties and possible suit resulting from failure to file completed manifest when due.

1954-Act Sept. 1, 1954, exempted undocumented pleasure vessels of the United States from clearance requirements.

1938-Act June 16, 1938, inserted proviso and all that follows.

1935-Act Aug. 5, 1935, substituted second sentence for "If any vessel bound to a foreign port departs on her voyage to such foreign port without delivering such manifest and obtaining a clearance, as required, the master or other person having the charge or command of such vessel shall be liable to a penalty of $500 for every such offense."

Construction With Other Laws

Section 3 of act June 16, 1938, provided that the amendments to this section by section 1 of the act, should not affect any other existing law.

Cross References

Bond to deliver cargo at destination named in clearance and to prohibit its use in aiding or comforting persons in insurrection against United States, see section 225 of Title 50, War and National Defense.

Refusing clearance to vessels with suspected cargoes intended for port in possession or under control of insurgents against United States, see section 224 of Title 50.

Vessels arriving at ports of United States, manifest, requirement, form, and contents, see section 1431 et seq., of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 817d, 817e, 876, 1710a, 1712 of this Appendix; title 16 sections 1826a, 4711; title 18 section 965; title 19 sections 1431, 1436, 1441; title 33 sections 1232, 1321, 1517, 1904, 1908, 2072, 2236, 2605, 2716; title 42 section 9608; title 46 sections 2110, 3205, 3318, 3718, 5113; title 49 section 5122; title 50 App. section 13.