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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73not60

§80504 Approval and Examination

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle VIII— Miscellaneous › Chapter 805— SAFE CONTAINERS FOR INTERNATIONAL CARGO › § 80504

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners of cargo containers must have them approved at the start and checked regularly. If the owner is based in the United States and has its main office in the United States, the initial approval and the regular inspections must follow the procedures set by the Secretary who oversees the Coast Guard or by another country that is part of the Convention. If the owner is either based in the United States or has its main office in the United States, the container must get initial approval under the Secretary’s rules or a Convention country’s rules, and periodic inspections must follow the rules of the country where the owner is based or has its main office, if that country is a Convention party. An owner not based in the United States or in any Convention country may ask the Secretary to approve and inspect the container under the Secretary’s procedures.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §80504

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A container owner domiciled and having its principal office in the United States shall have the container—
(1)approved initially under procedures prescribed by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating or by the government of another country that is a party to the Convention; and
(2)examined periodically as provided in the Convention under procedures prescribed by the Secretary.
(b)A container owner domiciled or having its principal office in the United States shall have the container—
(1)approved initially under procedures prescribed by the Secretary or by the government of another country that is a party to the Convention; and
(2)examined periodically as provided in the Convention, under procedures prescribed by the government of the country in which the owner is domiciled or has its principal office, as long as that country is a party to the Convention.
(c)A container owner neither domiciled nor having its principal office in the United States or another country that is a party to the Convention may submit a container for initial approval and periodic examination under procedures prescribed by the Secretary.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 8050446 App.:1502(a) (related to approval and examination).Pub. L. 95–208, § 3(a) (related to approval and examination), Dec. 13, 1977, 91 Stat. 1476. In this section, the words “Beginning on the date the instrument of ratification is deposited by the United States in accordance with the provisions of article VII of the Convention, for new containers, and beginning on September 6, 1982, for existing containers” are omitted as obsolete. In subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1), the words “government of another country that is a party to the Convention” are substituted for “administration of another contracting party to the Convention” for clarity. In subsection (c), the word “initial” is added for consistency in the section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 80504

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60