Title 19 — Customs DutiesRelease 119-73
§1513 Customs officer’s immunity
Title 19 › Chapter CHAPTER 4— - TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › Subtitle SUBTITLE III— - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part Part III— - Ascertainment, Collection, and Recovery of Duties › § 1513
Summary
Customs officers cannot be sued or held responsible by anyone for decisions about how imported goods are valued or classified, for collecting duties, fees, or taxes, or for other actions people may protest or appeal.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1513
Customs Duties — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
No customs officer shall be liable in any way to any person for or on account of— (1)
(2)the collection of any dues, charges, duties, fees, and taxes on or on account of any imported merchandise, or
(3)any other matter or thing as to which any person might under this chapter be entitled to protest or appeal from the decision of such officer.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
Provisions substantially the same as those in this section, except that they did not specifically refer to rulings or decisions as to appraisement, were contained in act Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, § III, Z, 38 Stat. 191, which reenacted without change the provisions of the Customs Administrative Act of
June 10, 1890, ch. 407, § 25, 26 Stat. 141, as reenacted by the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of Aug. 5, 1909, ch. 6, § 28, 36 Stat. 103. Section III, Z, of the 1913 act was superseded and more closely assimilated to this section by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 513, 42 Stat. 969, and repealed by section 643 thereof. section 513 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 513 of act
June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.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 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “No customs officer shall be in any way liable to any owner, importer, consignee, or agent or any other person for or on account of any rulings or decisions as to the appraisement or the classification of any imported merchandise or the duties charged thereon, or the collection of any dues, charges, or duties on or on account of said merchandise, or any other matter or thing as to which said owner, importer, consignee, or agent might under this chapter be entitled to protest or appeal from the decision of such officer.” 1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted “customs officer” for “collector or other customs officer” and “such officer” for “such collector or other officer”.
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.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1513
Title 19 — Customs Duties
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73