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Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-110

§1464 Penalties in Connection with Sealed Vessels and Vehicles

Title 19 › CHAPTER 4 — TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › SUBTITLE III — ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part II — Report, Entry, and Unlading of Vessels and Vehicles › § 1464

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

The ship’s captain or the person in charge of a vehicle must quickly take the vessel or vehicle to its destination port, hand it and the cargo over to customs officers, follow rules from the Secretary of the Treasury, and not unload or sell the goods anywhere else. If they fail to do any of these things, it is a felony and, on conviction, they can be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to five years, or both, and the vessel or vehicle with its contents can be seized.

Full Legal Text

Title 19, §1464

Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

If the master of such 1 vessel or the person in charge of any such vehicle fails to proceed with reasonable promptness to the port of destination and to deliver such vessel or vehicle to the proper officers of the customs, or fails to proceed in accordance with such regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury, or unlades such merchandise or any part thereof at other than such port of destination, or disposes of any such merchandise by sale or otherwise, he shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both; and any such vessel or vehicle, with its contents, shall be subject to forfeiture.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification As enacted by act June 17, 1930, the catchline for this section was “Same—penalties in connection with sealed vessels and vehicles”, as this section was intended to be read as a continuation of the provisions introduced in section 1459 of this title. When first enacted, section 1459 of this title related to arrival in the United States from a contiguous country but has since been amended by Pub. L. 99–570 to relate to arrival more generally. The uses of “such” throughout the text are meant to refer back to section 1463 of this title.

Prior Provisions

Provisions somewhat similar to those in this section, with a further provision for seizure of the vessel, car, or vehicle with its contents, and a provision that nothing therein should prevent sales of cargo prior to arrival, to be delivered per manifest and after due inspection, were contained in R.S. § 3104, which was superseded in part by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 464, 42 Stat. 957, and was repealed by section 642 thereof. section 464 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 464 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

19 U.S.C. § 1464

Title 19, Customs Duties

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110