PRIA Logo™
Take the PRIA Score
Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73

§80504 Approval and examination

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle VIII— - Miscellaneous › Chapter CHAPTER 805— - SAFE CONTAINERS FOR INTERNATIONAL CARGO › § 80504

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners must get each cargo container approved first and then checked regularly. If the owner both lives and has its main office in the United States, the department that runs the Coast Guard sets the approval and inspection rules, though an approval from another country that follows the same international agreement is also allowed. If the owner is not in the United States or is in a country that is not part of the agreement, they can ask the Coast Guard’s department to approve and inspect the container under its rules.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §80504

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A container owner domiciled and having its principal office in the United States shall have the container—
(1)approved initially under procedures prescribed by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating or by the government of another country that is a party to the Convention; and
(2)examined periodically as provided in the Convention under procedures prescribed by the Secretary.
(b)A container owner domiciled or having its principal office in the United States shall have the container—
(1)approved initially under procedures prescribed by the Secretary or by the government of another country that is a party to the Convention; and
(2)examined periodically as provided in the Convention, under procedures prescribed by the government of the country in which the owner is domiciled or has its principal office, as long as that country is a party to the Convention.
(c)A container owner neither domiciled nor having its principal office in the United States or another country that is a party to the Convention may submit a container for initial approval and periodic examination under procedures prescribed by the Secretary.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 8050446 App.:1502(a) (related to approval and examination).Pub. L. 95–208, § 3(a) (related to approval and examination), Dec. 13, 1977, 91 Stat. 1476. In this section, the words “Beginning on the date the instrument of ratification is deposited by the United States in accordance with the provisions of article VII of the Convention, for new containers, and beginning on September 6, 1982, for existing containers” are omitted as obsolete. In subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1), the words “government of another country that is a party to the Convention” are substituted for “administration of another contracting party to the Convention” for clarity. In subsection (c), the word “initial” is added for consistency in the section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 80504

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73