Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-110

§80501 Definitions

Title 46 › Subtitle VIII — Miscellaneous › CHAPTER 805 — SAFE CONTAINERS FOR INTERNATIONAL CARGO › § 80501

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in the chapter. "Container" and "safety approval plate" are defined by the International Convention for Safe Containers and its annexes, done in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 2, 1972. "International transport" means moving a container between a foreign place and the United States, or between two foreign places when U.S. carriers are used. "Owner" includes someone who leases or holds a container if a written lease or bailment makes them responsible for maintaining and inspecting it.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §80501

Shipping, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In this chapter:
(1)Container.—
The term “container” has the meaning given that term in the Convention.
(2)Convention.—
The term “Convention” means the International Convention for Safe Containers, and its annexes, done at Geneva, Switzerland, December 2, 1972.
(3)International transport.—
The term “international transport” means the transportation of a container between—
(A)a place in a foreign country and a place in the jurisdiction of the United States; or
(B)two places outside the United States by United States carriers.
(4)Owner.—
The term “owner” includes the lessee or bailee of a container if a written lease or bailment provides for the lessee or bailee to exercise the owner’s responsibility for maintaining and examining the container.
(5)Safety approval plate.—
The term “safety approval plate” has the meaning given that term in annex I of the Convention.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 8050146 App.:1501.Pub. L. 95–208, § 2, Dec. 13, 1977, 91 Stat. 1475. In the definition of “international transport”, subparagraphs (A) and (B) are substituted for 46 App. U.S.C. 1501(d)(1)–(3) to eliminate unnecessary words. In the definition of “owner”, the words “includes the lessee or bailee of a container if a written lease or bailment provides for the lessee or bailee to exercise the owner’s responsibility for maintaining and examining the container” are substituted for “means a person who owns a container, or, if a written lease or bailment provides for the lessee or bailee to exercise the owner’s responsibility for maintaining and examining the container, the lessee or bailee of a container, to the extent such agreement so provides” to eliminate unnecessary words. The definition of “Secretary” is omitted because a complete reference to the appropriate Secretary is used the first time the Secretary is named in each section. Throughout this chapter, the phrase “Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating” is substituted for “Secretary of Transportation” because the Coast Guard has been transferred to the Department of Homeland Security (except when operating as a service in the Navy) by section 888 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–296, 116 Stat. 2249). The definition of “United States” is omitted because “United States” is defined in chapter 1 of the revised title. The definitions of “new container” and “existing container” are omitted as obsolete.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 80501

Title 46, Shipping

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110