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Title 6, Domestic SecurityRelease 119-102

§215 Definition

Title 6 › CHAPTER 1 — HOMELAND SECURITY ORGANIZATION › SUBCHAPTER IV — BORDER, MARITIME, AND TRANSPORTATION SECURITY › Part B — U.S. Customs and Border Protection › § 215

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines what kinds of work count as the "customs revenue function." It covers collecting import taxes, fines, and fees and deciding how goods are classified and valued for those charges; handling or turning away people, baggage, cargo, and mail when duties are involved; finding and catching people who try to cheat customs rules; enforcing import limits, marking rules, and section 1337 of title 19; keeping records for copyrights, patents, and trademarks; gathering import data; and enforcing trade agreements. It also includes work done by certain Customs specialists and their support staff (like import, entry, drawback, fines and penalties specialists, auditors, attorneys, and other listed trade and financial specialists) and by certain offices (for example, Information and Technology, Laboratory Services, Chief Counsel, Congressional Affairs, International Affairs, and Training and Development) as those roles existed the day before this chapter and the day before the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act took effect.

Full Legal Text

Title 6, §215

Domestic Security, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In this part, the term “customs revenue function” means the following:
(1)Assessing and collecting customs duties (including antidumping and countervailing duties and duties imposed under safeguard provisions), excise taxes, fees, and penalties due on imported merchandise, including classifying and valuing merchandise for purposes of such assessment.
(2)Processing and denial of entry of persons, baggage, cargo, and mail, with respect to the assessment and collection of import duties.
(3)Detecting and apprehending persons engaged in fraudulent practices designed to circumvent the customs laws of the United States.
(4)Enforcing section 1337 of title 19 and provisions relating to import quotas and the marking of imported merchandise, and providing Customs Recordations for copyrights, patents, and trademarks.
(5)Collecting accurate import data for compilation of international trade statistics.
(6)Enforcing reciprocal trade agreements.
(7)Functions performed by the following personnel, and associated support staff, of the United States Customs Service on the day before the effective date of this chapter, and of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the day before the effective date of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act: Import Specialists, Entry Specialists, Drawback Specialists, National Import Specialist, Fines and Penalties Specialists, attorneys of the Office of Regulations and Rulings, Customs Auditors, International Trade Specialists, Financial Systems Specialists.
(8)Functions performed by the following offices, with respect to any function described in any of paragraphs (1) through (7), and associated support staff, of the United States Customs Service on the day before the effective date of this chapter, and of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the day before the effective date of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act: the Office of Information and Technology, the Office of Laboratory Services, the Office of the Chief Counsel, the Office of Congressional Affairs, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Training and Development.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This part, referred to in text, was in the original “this subtitle”, meaning subtitle B (§§ 411–419) of title IV of Pub. L. 107–296, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2178, which enacted this part, amended section 5314 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, section 58c of Title 19, Customs Duties, and provisions set out as a note under section 2075 of Title 19. For complete classification of subtitle B to the Code, see Tables. The

Effective Date

of this chapter, referred to in pars. (7) and (8), is 60 days after Nov. 25, 2002, see section 4 of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 101 of this title. The

Effective Date

of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act, referred to in pars. (7) and (8), is the

Effective Date

of title VIII of Pub. L. 114–125, which is Feb. 24, 2016.

Amendments

2016—Pars. (7), (8). Pub. L. 114–125 inserted “, and of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the day before the

Effective Date

of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Authorization Act” before the colon.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

6 U.S.C. § 215

Title 6, Domestic Security

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102