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Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-110

§1322 International Traffic and Rescue Work; United States-mexico Boundary Treaty of 1970

Title 19 › CHAPTER 4 — TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › SUBTITLE II — SPECIAL PROVISIONS › Part I — Miscellaneous › § 1322

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Treasury can let vehicles and other means of international travel be treated differently under U.S. customs rules, as long as the Secretary writes the rules. That power does not cover communications satellites or their parts. The Secretary can also allow certain rescue and relief items to enter the country without formal entry or import taxes. That covers aircraft, equipment, supplies, and spare parts for air searches, rescues, repairs, and salvage; firefighting and emergency rescue gear; flood and disaster relief supplies; and personal property for using the separated tract of land under the United States‑Mexico Boundary Treaty signed November 23, 1970. Items used for other purposes or not sent back as the rules require will be forfeited to the United States.

Full Legal Text

Title 19, §1322

Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Vehicles and other instruments of international traffic except communications satellites
Vehicles and other instruments of international traffic, of any class specified by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be excepted from the application of the customs laws to such extent and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in regulations or instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury. The authority delegated to the Secretary by this subsection shall not extend to communications satellites and components and parts thereof.
(b)Rescue and relief equipment; personal property related to use of land under United States-Mexico Boundary Treaty of 1970; forfeit of articles to United States
The Secretary of the Treasury may provide by regulation or instruction for the admission, without entry and without the payment of any duty or tax imposed upon or by reason of importation, of— (1)
(2)fire-fighting and rescue and relief equipment and supplies for emergent temporary use in connection with conflagrations;
(3)rescue and relief equipment and supplies for emergent temporary use in connection with floods and other disasters; and
(4)personal property related to the use and enjoyment of a separated tract of land as described in article III of the Treaty To Resolve Pending Boundary Differences and Maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers as the International Boundary between the United States of America and the United Mexican States signed on November 23, 1970.
Any articles admitted under the authority of this subsection and used otherwise than for a purpose herein expressed, or not exported in such time and manner as may be prescribed in the regulations or instructions herein authorized, shall be forfeited to the United States.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–573, § 127(b), substituted “excepted” for “granted the customary exceptions”. Pub. L. 98–573, § 124(c), inserted “The authority delegated to the Secretary by this subsection shall not extend to communications satellites and components and parts thereof.” 1972—Pub. L. 92–549, § 107(a), inserted “United States-Mexico Boundary Treaty of 1970” in section catchline. Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 92–549, § 107(b), added cl. (4).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1984 Amendment Pub. L. 98–573, title I, § 195(a), (b), (d), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2972, provided that: “(a) Except as provided in section 126 and in subsections (b) and (c), the

Amendments

made by subtitles B, C, and D [amending this section and section 1202 and 1504 of this title] shall apply with respect to articles entered on or after the 15th day after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 1984]. “(b)(1) The amendment made by section 117 and 124 [amending this section] shall apply with respect to articles entered on or after January 1, 1985. “(2) The

Amendments

made by section 127 [amending this section] shall apply with respect to articles entered on or after a date to be proclaimed by the President which shall be consonant with the entering into force for the United States of the Customs Convention on Containers, 1972. “(d) For purposes of this section—“(1) The term ‘entered’ means entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption in the customs territory of the United States. “(2) The term ‘entry’ includes any withdrawal from warehouse.”

Effective Date

Section effective on and after thirtieth day following Aug. 8, 1953, see note set out under section 1304 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

19 U.S.C. § 1322

Title 19, Customs Duties

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110