Title 19 — Customs DutiesRelease 119-73
§1493 Proceeds of sale
Title 19 › Chapter CHAPTER 4— - TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › Subtitle SUBTITLE III— - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part Part III— - Ascertainment, Collection, and Recovery of Duties › § 1493
Summary
If imported goods are sold, any money left after paying storage, costs, duties, taxes, fees, and any claim for freight or shared-loss charges must be deposited in the U.S. Treasury unless Customs gets a claim within ten days of the sale. The sale frees the ship’s master from the owner’s claims, but an owner who proves an interest can still get the surplus from the Treasury.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1493
Customs Duties — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
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the documents to be forwarded by the collector to the Treasury Department, were contained in R.S. § 2974, which was superseded and more nearly assimilated to the present section by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 493, 42 Stat. 964, and repealed by section 642 thereof. section 493 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 493 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.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.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1970 AmendmentFor
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.
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury, including functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 203(1), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of
November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. For establishment of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Department of Homeland Security, treated as if included in Pub. L. 107–296 as of Nov. 25, 2002, see section 211 of Title 6, as amended generally by Pub. L. 114–125, and section 802(b) of Pub. L. 114–125, set out as a note under section 211 of Title 6. AppropriationsAct
June 26, 1934, ch. 756, § 2, 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.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1493
Title 19 — Customs Duties
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73