Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-110
§1555 Bonded Warehouses
Title 19 › CHAPTER 4 — TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › SUBTITLE III — ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part IV — Transportation in Bond and Warehousing of Merchandise › § 1555
Summary
The Secretary of the Treasury can approve buildings or parts of buildings to be bonded warehouses. These places can hold imported goods that are waiting for customs, are seized, or are being made, repacked, sorted, or cleaned while still under customs control. Warehouses can be private (for goods owned by the warehouse owner) or public (for general storage). Before any imported goods still under customs go into a bonded warehouse, the owner or renter must give a bond approved by the Secretary to protect the Government. A customs officer must help watch the warehouse. The warehouse owner must do all work on the goods under the officer’s supervision and pay the costs. The warehouse owner must also repay the Government for the pay of customs staff who supervise receipts and deliveries. Duty-free stores can sell goods without Federal duty or tax that are meant to leave the customs territory, but they must follow rules the Secretary sets. A duty-free store may be located in the same port of entry a buyer leaves from, within 25 statute miles of the buyer’s exit, or at or within 25 miles of a staffed port of entry if there is reasonable assurance the goods will leave from an international airport. Stores must have procedures to make sure sold goods are exported. Airport stores must limit sales to personal-use amounts and must post notices saying the goods have not had Federal duty or tax, must be declared and may be taxed if brought back, and are subject to foreign customs. Items do not need special marks unless people are bringing them back without declaring them. Stores may unpack goods for sale once they are entered for warehouse. Airport stores must deliver goods in restricted airport areas, at the exit for the purchaser’s flight, put them on the purchaser’s plane as baggage, or use another reasonable method if those fail. Border stores must deliver at storage beyond the exit or at certain approved places before the Omnibus Trade Act of 1987. If a local authority requires a concession or approval to operate at an exit point, the store must show it has that approval before taking goods out of a bonded warehouse. Stores may also sell non-duty-free goods, but those cannot be kept in bonded warehouses except in bonded retail facilities. Generally, duty-free purchases brought back are not eligible for duty exemption under subchapter IV of chapter 98, except U.S. residents (not involving travel to or through an insular possession) may be eligible for exemptions under HTS subheadings 9804.00.65, 9804.00.70, and 9804.00.72 if they meet the rules. The Secretary must set up a special class of bonded warehouses for duty-free sales and account for different types of stores. There is also a special type of bonded warehouse for international travel merchandise (goods put on planes for sale to passengers). The Secretary must create rules for these warehouses and for staging areas where carts of merchandise are handled. The warehouse owner must give a bond that also covers staging areas. Liability for the goods shifts between the airline and the warehouse owner when custody is transferred. The Secretary can require records showing what happened to each cart and its merchandise.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1555
Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Designation; preconditions; bonding requirements; supervision
Subject to subsection (b), buildings or parts of buildings and other enclosures may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as bonded warehouses for the storage of imported merchandise entered for warehousing, or taken possession of by the appropriate customs officer, or under seizure, or for the manufacture of merchandise in bond, or for the repacking, sorting, or cleaning of imported merchandise. Such warehouses may be bonded for the storing of such merchandise only as shall belong or be consigned to the owners or proprietors thereof and be known as private bonded warehouses, or for the storage of imported merchandise generally and be known as public bonded warehouses. Before any imported merchandise not finally released from customs custody shall be stored in any such premises, the owner or lessee thereof shall give a bond in such sum and with such sureties as may be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury to secure the Government against any loss or expense connected with or arising from the deposit, storage, or manipulation of merchandise in such warehouse. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, bonded warehouses shall be used solely for the storage of imported merchandise and shall be placed in charge of a proper officer of the customs, who, together with the proprietor thereof, shall have joint custody of all merchandise stored in the warehouse; and all labor on the merchandise so stored shall be performed by the owner or proprietor of the warehouse, under supervision of the officer of the customs in charge of the same, at the expense of the owner or proprietor. The compensation of such officer of the customs and other customs employees appointed to supervise the receipt of merchandise into any such warehouse and deliveries therefrom shall be reimbursed to the Government by the proprietor of such warehouse.
(b)Duty-free sales enterprises
(1)Duty-free sales enterprises may sell and deliver for export from the customs territory duty-free merchandise in accordance with this subsection and such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe to carry out this subsection.
(2)A duty-free sales enterprise may be located anywhere within—
(A)the same port of entry, as established under section 1 of the Act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 434), from which a purchaser of duty-free merchandise departs the customs territory; or
(B)25 statute miles from the exit point through which the purchaser of duty-free merchandise will depart the customs territory; or
(C)a port of entry, as established under section 1 of the Act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 434), or within 25 statute miles of a staffed port of entry if reasonable assurance can be provided that duty-free merchandise sold by the enterprise will be exported by individuals departing from the customs territory through an international airport located within the customs territory.
(3)Each duty-free sales enterprise—
(A)shall establish procedures to provide reasonable assurance that duty-free merchandise sold by the enterprise will be exported from the customs territory;
(B)if the duty-free sales enterprise is an airport store, shall establish and enforce, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, restrictions on the sale of duty-free merchandise to any one individual to personal use quantities;
(C)shall display in prominent places within its place of business notices which state clearly that any duty-free merchandise purchased from the enterprise—
(i)has not been subject to any Federal duty or tax,
(ii)if brought back into the customs territory, must be declared and is subject to Federal duty and tax, and
(iii)is subject to the customs laws and regulation of any foreign country to which it is taken;
(D)shall not be required to mark or otherwise place a distinguishing identifier on individual items of merchandise to indicate that the items were sold by a duty-free sales enterprise, unless the Secretary finds a pattern in which such items are being brought back into the customs territory without declaration;
(E)may unpack merchandise into saleable units after it has been entered for warehouse and placed in a duty-free sales enterprise, without requirement of further permits; and
(F)shall deliver duty-free merchandise—
(i)in the case of a duty-free sales enterprise that is an airport store—
(I)to the purchaser (or a family member or companion traveling with the purchaser) in an area that is within the airport and to which access to passengers is restricted to those departing from the customs territory;
(II)to the purchaser (or a family member or companion traveling with the purchaser) at the exit point of a specific departing flight;
(III)by placing the merchandise within the aircraft on which the purchaser will depart for carriage as passenger baggage; or
(IV)if the duty-free sales enterprise has made a good faith effort to effect delivery for exportation through one of the methods described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) but is unable to do so, by any other reasonable method to effect delivery; or
(ii)in the case of a duty-free sales enterprise that is a border store—
(I)at a merchandise storage location at or beyond the exit point; or
(II)at any location approved by the Secretary before the date of enactment of the Omnibus Trade Act of 1987.
(4)If a State or local or other governmental authority, incident to its jurisdiction over any airport, seaport, or other exit point facility, requires that a concession or other form of approval be obtained from that authority with respect to the operation of a duty-free sales enterprise under which merchandise is delivered to or through such facility for exportation, merchandise incident to such operation may not be withdrawn from a bonded warehouse and transferred to or through such facility unless the operator of the duty-free sales enterprise demonstrates to the Secretary that the concession or approval required for the enterprise has been obtained.
(5)This subsection does not prohibit a duty-free sales enterprise from offering for sale and delivering to, or on behalf of, individuals departing from the customs territory merchandise other than duty-free merchandise, except that such other merchandise may not be stored in a bonded warehouse facility other than a bonded facility used for retail sales.
(6)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), merchandise that is purchased in a duty-free sales enterprise is not eligible for exemption from duty under subchapter IV of chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States if such merchandise is brought back to the customs territory.
(B)Except in the case of travel involving transit to, from, or through an insular possession of the United States, merchandise described in subparagraph (A) that is purchased by a United States resident shall be eligible for exemption from duty under subheadings 9804.00.65, 9804.00.70, and 9804.00.72 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States upon the United States resident’s return to the customs territory of the United States, if the resident meets the eligibility requirements for the exemption claimed. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such merchandise shall be considered to be an article acquired abroad as an incident of the journey from which the resident is returning, for purposes of determining eligibility for any such exemption.
(7)The Secretary shall by regulation establish a separate class of bonded warehouses for duty-free sales enterprises. Regulations issued to carry out this paragraph shall take into account the unique characteristics of the different types of duty-free sales enterprises.
(8)For purposes of this subsection—
(A)The term “airport store” means a duty-free sales enterprise which delivers merchandise to, or on behalf of, individuals departing from the customs territory from an international airport located within the customs territory.
(B)The term “border store” means a duty-free sales enterprise which delivers merchandise to, or on behalf of, individuals departing from the customs territory through a land or water border by a means of conveyance other than an aircraft.
(C)The term “customs territory” means the customs territory of the United States and foreign trade zones.
(D)The term “duty-free sales enterprise” means a person that sells, for use outside the customs territory, duty-free merchandise that is delivered from a bonded warehouse to an airport or other exit point for exportation by, or on behalf of, individuals departing from the customs territory.
(E)The term “duty-free merchandise” means merchandise sold by a duty-free sales enterprise on which neither Federal duty nor Federal tax has been assessed pending exportation from the customs territory.
(F)The term “exit point” means the area in close proximity to an actual exit for departing from the customs territory, including the gate holding area in the case of an airport, but only if there is reasonable assurance that duty-free merchandise delivered in the gate holding area will be exported from the customs territory.
(G)The term “personal use quantities” means quantities that are only suitable for uses other than resale, and includes reasonable quantities for household or family consumption as well as for gifts to others.
(c)International travel merchandise
(1)Definitions
For purposes of this section
(A)
(B)the term “staging area” is an area controlled by the proprietor of a bonded warehouse outside of the physical parameters of the bonded warehouse in which manipulation of international travel merchandise in carts occurs;
(C)the term “duty-free merchandise” means merchandise on which the liability for payment of duty or tax imposed by reason of importation has been deferred pending exportation from the customs territory;
(D)the term “manipulation” means the repackaging, cleaning, sorting, or removal from or placement on carts of international travel merchandise; and
(E)the term “cart” means a portable container holding international travel merchandise on an aircraft for exportation.
(2)Bonded warehouse for international travel merchandise
The Secretary shall by regulation establish a separate class of bonded warehouse for the storage and manipulation of international travel merchandise pending its placement on board aircraft departing for foreign destinations.
(3)Rules for treatment of international travel merchandise and bonded warehouses and staging areas
(A)The proprietor of a bonded warehouse established for the storage and manipulation of international travel merchandise shall give a bond in such sum and with such sureties as may be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury to secure the Government against any loss or expense connected with or arising from the deposit, storage, or manipulation of merchandise in such warehouse. The warehouse proprietor’s bond shall also secure the manipulation of international travel merchandise in a staging area.
(B)A transfer of liability from the international carrier to the warehouse proprietor occurs when the carrier assigns custody of international travel merchandise to the warehouse proprietor for purposes of entry into warehouse or for manipulation in the staging area.
(C)A transfer of liability from the warehouse proprietor to the international carrier occurs when the bonded warehouse proprietor assigns custody of international travel merchandise to the carrier.
(D)The Secretary is authorized to promulgate regulations to require the proprietor and the international carrier to keep records of the disposition of any cart brought into the United States and all merchandise on such cart.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
For provisions relating to ports of entry established under section 1 of the Act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 434), referred to in subsec. (b)(2)(A), (C), see
Prior Provisions
note under section 1 of this title. The date of enactment of the Omnibus Trade Act of 1987, referred to in subsec. (b)(3)(F)(ii)(II), probably means the date of enactment of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100–418, which was approved Aug. 23, 1988. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, referred to in subsec. (b)(6), is not set out in the Code. See Publication of Harmonized Tariff Schedule note set out under section 1202 of this title.
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 555, 42 Stat. 976. That section was superseded by section 555 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
Prior Provisions
dealing with the subject matter of this section were contained in R.S. § 2958, authorizing cellars and vaults of stores for storage of wines and distilled spirits, and yards for storage of coal, etc., to be constituted bonded warehouses; section 2959, authorizing parts of buildings to be bonded for the storage of grain; section 2960, requiring private warehouses to be used solely for the storage of warehoused merchandise, and be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, and be in charge of a proper officer of the customs, etc.; section 2961 requiring bonds to hold the United States harmless, and providing that imports deposited in warehouses should be at the risk and expense of the owner or importer; section 2968, authorizing the extension of warehouse privileges to the port of Albany; and section 2988, as amended by act Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, § 1, 19 Stat. 247, requiring collectors to make reports of merchandise in warehouses. All of these sections were repealed by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 642, 42 Stat. 989.
Amendments
2000—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106–476 added subsec. (c). 1999—Subsec. (b)(2)(B), (C). Pub. L. 106–36 substituted “; or” for period at end of subpar. (B) and added subpar. (C). 1996—Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 104–295 designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), substituted “Except as provided in subparagraph (B), merchandise” for “Merchandise”, and added subpar. (B). 1990—Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 101–382, which directed substitution of “subchapter IV of chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States” for “subpart A of part 2 of schedule 8 of the Tariff schedules of the United States”, was executed by making the substitution for “subpart A of part 2 of schedule 8 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States” to reflect the probable intent of Congress. 1988—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–418 amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: “If a State or local governmental authority, incident to its jurisdiction over any airport, seaport, or other exit point facility, requires that a concession or other form of approval be obtained from that authority with respect to the operation of a duty-free sales enterprise under which merchandise is delivered to such facility for exportation, merchandise incident to such operation may not be withdrawn from a bonded warehouse and transferred to such facility unless the operator of the duty-free sales enterprise demonstrates to the Secretary of the Treasury that the concession or approval required for the enterprise has been obtained. For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘duty-free sales enterprise’ means an entity that sells, in less than wholesale quantities, duty-free or tax-free merchandise that is delivered from a bonded warehouse to an airport, seaport, or point of exit from the United States for exportation by, or on behalf of, individuals departing from the United States.” 1984—Pub. L. 98–573 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “Subject to subsection (b), buildings” for “Buildings”, and added subsec. (b). 1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted reference to appropriate customs officer for reference to collector.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2000 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 106–476, except as otherwise provided, applicable with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the 15th day after Nov. 9, 2000, see section 1471 of Pub. L. 106–476, set out as a note under section 58c of this title.
Effective Date
of 1988 Amendment Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1908(c), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1317, provided that: “The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on the date that is 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 23, 1988].”
Effective Date
of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–573 effective on 15th day after Oct. 30, 1984, see section 214(a), (b) of Pub. L. 98–573, set out as a note under section 1304 of this title.
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. Duty-Free Sales Enterprises; Findings Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1908(a), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1315, provided that: “The Congress finds that— “(1) duty-free sales enterprises play a significant role in attracting international passengers to the United States and thereby their operations favorably affect our balance of payments; “(2) concession fees derived from the operations of authorized duty-free sales enterprises constitute an important source of revenue for the State, local and other governmental authorities that collect such fees; “(3) there is inadequate statutory and regulatory recognition of, and guidelines for the operation of, duty-free sales enterprises; and “(4) there is a need to encourage uniformity and consistency of regulation of duty-free sales enterprises.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1555
Title 19, Customs Duties
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110