                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
                      CHAPTER 4--TARIFF ACT OF 1930
 
                 SUBTITLE III--ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
 
      Part II--Report, Entry, and Unlading of Vessels and Vehicles
 
Sec. 1434. Entry; vessels


(a) Formal entry

    Within 24 hours (or such other period of time as may be provided 
under subsection (c)(2) of this section) after the arrival at any port 
or place in the United States of--
        (1) any vessel from a foreign port or place;
        (2) any foreign vessel from a domestic port;
        (3) any vessel of the United States having on board foreign 
    merchandise for which entry has not been made; or
        (4) any vessel which has visited a hovering vessel or has 
    delivered or received merchandise while outside the territorial sea;

the master of the vessel shall, unless otherwise provided by law, make 
formal entry at the nearest customs facility or such other place as the 
Secretary may prescribe by regulation.

(b) Preliminary entry

    The Secretary may by regulation permit the master to make 
preliminary entry of the vessel with the Customs Service in lieu of 
formal entry or before formal entry is made. In permitting preliminary 
entry, the Customs Service shall board a sufficient number of vessels to 
ensure compliance with the laws it enforces.

(c) Regulations

    The Secretary may by regulation--
        (1) prescribe the manner and format in which entry under 
    subsection (a) of this section or subsection (b) of this section, or 
    both, must be made, and such regulations may provide that any such 
    entry may be made electronically pursuant to an electronic data 
    interchange system;
        (2) provide that--
            (A) formal entry must be made within a greater or lesser 
        time than 24 hours after arrival, but in no case more than 48 
        hours after arrival, and
            (B) formal entry may be made before arrival; and

        (3) authorize the Customs Service to permit entry or preliminary 
    entry of any vessel to be made at a place other than a designated 
    port of entry, under such conditions as may be prescribed.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, Sec. 434, 46 Stat. 711; Aug. 5, 1935, 
ch. 438, title III. Sec. 301, 49 Stat. 527; Pub. L. 91-271, title III, 
Sec. 301(b), June 2, 1970, 84 Stat. 287; Pub. L. 103-182, title VI, 
Sec. 653, Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2210; Pub. L. 106-476, title I, 
Sec. 1452(a)(2), Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2167.)


                            Prior Provisions

    Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in act 
Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, Sec. 434, 42 Stat. 951. That section 
was superseded by section 434 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this 
section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
    Provisions for deposit of the register and other papers previous to 
entry, and for their return to the master or owner of the vessel on 
clearance of the vessel, were contained in R.S. Sec. 2790, which was 
superseded by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, Sec. 434, 42 Stat. 
951, and repealed by section 642 of that act.
    R.S. Sec. 2836, relative to the entry of vessels arriving within the 
districts of Petersburg or Richmond (abolished by the Plan of 
Reorganization of the Customs Service set forth in a note to section 1 
of this title) was also repealed by section 642 of act Sept. 21, 1922, 
ch. 356.
    Special provisions for Astoria and Portland were contained in R.S. 
Secs. 2588-2590, which were also repealed by section 642 of the act of 
Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356.
    R.S. Sec. 2835, prescribing the duties of masters of vessels bound 
up James River, Virginia, in regard to deposit of manifests, etc., was 
repealed by act Mar. 3, 1897, ch. 389, Sec. 16, 29 Stat. 691.
    Special provisions to facilitate the entry of steamships running in 
an established line in foreign trade, made by act June 5, 1894, ch. 92, 
Sec. 1, 28 Stat. 85, and extended to steamships trading between Porto 
Rico and Hawaii and the United States by act May 31, 1900, ch. 600, 31 
Stat. 249, were repealed by section 6 of act Feb. 13, 1911, ch. 46, the 
preceding sections of which act made more comprehensive provisions for 
preliminary entry of any vessel from a foreign port, and for the lading 
or unlading of such vessels at night. Sections 1 to 4 of said act of 
1911, were repealed by section 643 of the act of Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 
356.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 106-476 struck out ``bonded 
merchandise or'' before ``foreign merchandise''.
    1993--Pub. L. 103-182 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, 
section read as follows: ``Except as otherwise provided by law, and 
under such regulations as the Commissioner of Customs may prescribe, the 
master of a vessel of the United States arriving in the United States 
from a foreign port or place shall, within forty-eight hours after its 
arrival within the limits of any customs collection district, make 
formal entry of the vessel at the customhouse by producing and 
depositing with the appropriate customs officer the vessel's crew list, 
its register, or document in lieu thereof, the clearance and bills of 
health issued to the vessel at the foreign port or ports from which it 
arrived, together with the original and one copy of the manifest, and 
shall make oath that the ownership of the vessel is as indicated in the 
register, or document in lieu thereof, and that the manifest was made 
out in accordance with section 1431 of this title.''
    1970--Pub. L. 91-271 substituted reference to appropriate customs 
officer for reference to collector.
    1935--Act Aug. 5, 1935, inserted ``or document in lieu thereof'' 
after ``indicated in the register''.


                    Effective Date of 2000 Amendment

    Amendment 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 1970 Amendment

    For 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.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1431, 1436, 1438, 1441, 1448 
of this title.
