Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-110
§17303 Fund for the Payment of Government Losses in Shipment
Title 40 › SUBTITLE VI — MISCELLANEOUS › CHAPTER 173 — GOVERNMENT LOSSES IN SHIPMENT › § 17303
Summary
Creates a revolving Treasury fund to replace valuables that are lost, destroyed, or damaged while being shipped under the government's shipping rules. It does not pay for Postal Service losses charged to Postal employees or for shipments sent at the risk of anyone other than the Federal Government, its agencies, government corporations, or their officers and employees. Recoveries go back into the fund.
Full Legal Text
Title 40, §17303
Public Buildings, Property, and Works, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Establishment.—
There is a revolving fund in the Treasury known as “the fund for the payment of Government losses in shipment”.
(b)Use.—
The fund shall be used for the replacement of valuables, or the value of valuables, lost, destroyed, or damaged while being shipped in accordance with regulations prescribed under section 17302 of this title.
(c)Unavailability.—
The fund is not available with respect to any loss, destruction, or damage affecting valuables—
(1)that relates to property of the United States Postal Service that is chargeable to its officers or employees; or
(2)of which shipment shall have been made at the risk of persons other than the Federal Government and the executive departments, independent establishments, agencies, wholly owned Government corporations, officers and employees of the Government.
(d)Crediting of Recoveries and Repayments.—
All recoveries and repayments on account of loss, destruction, or damage to valuables for which replacement is made out of the fund shall be credited to it and are available for the purposes of the fund.
(e)Appropriations.—
Necessary amounts are appropriated for the fund.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 17303(a)40:722 (3d sentence words before 2d comma).July 8, 1937, ch. 444, § 2, 50 Stat. 479. 17303(b)40:722 (1st sentence words after 5th comma). 40:723 (2d sentence 2d proviso).July 8, 1937, ch. 444, § 3 (2d sentence 2d, last provisos, last sentence), 50 Stat. 480; Aug. 10, 1939, ch. 665, § 1, 53 Stat. 1358; Pub. L. 91–375, § 6(m)(4), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 782. 17303(c)40:723 (2d sentence last proviso). 17303(d)40:723 (last sentence). 17303(e)40:722 (1st sentence words before 5th comma, 2d sentence, 3d sentence words after 2d comma, last sentence). 40:722a.Pub. L. 103–329, title I (par. under heading “Payment of Government Losses in Shipment”), Sept. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 2387. In subsection (a), the words “(hereinafter referred to as ‘the fund’)” are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (b), the text of 40:723 (2d sentence 2d proviso) is omitted as obsolete. In subsection (e), the text of 40:722 (1st sentence words before 5th comma, 2d sentence, 3d sentence words after 2d comma, and last sentence) and the words “Beginning in fiscal year 1995 and thereafter” in 40:722a are omitted as obsolete. The words “for the fund” are substituted for “to make payments for the replacement of valuables, or the value thereof, lost, destroyed, or damaged in the course of shipments effected pursuant to section 721 of this title” for clarity and to eliminate unnecessary words.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
40 U.S.C. § 17303
Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110