19 Usc 1499

§ 1499

TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES

by the collector and naval officer, and for entry of articles not exempt from duty. All of these sections were
repealed by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 642, 42
Stat. 989.
AMENDMENTS
1993—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103–182, § 662(1), amended
par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as
follows: ‘‘Merchandise, imported in the mails or otherwise, when the aggregate value of the shipment does
not exceed such amount, not greater than $1,250 as the
Secretary of the Treasury shall specify in the regulations, and the specified amount may vary for different
classes or kinds of merchandise or different classes of
transactions, except that this paragraph does not apply
to articles valued in excess of $250 classified in—
‘‘(A) chapters 50 through 63;
‘‘(B) chapters 39 through 43, 61 through 65, 67 and 95;
and
‘‘(C) subchapters III and IV of chapter 99;
of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States,
or to any other article for which formal entry is required without regard to value.;’’.
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 103–182, § 662(2), substituted
‘‘such amounts as the Secretary may prescribe’’ for
‘‘$10,000’’ in introductory provisions.
1988—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 100–418, substituted ‘‘the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States’’ for
‘‘the Tariff Schedules of the United States’’ in closing
provisions, added subpars. (A) to (C), and struck out
former subpars. (A) to (C) which read as follows:
‘‘(A) schedule 3,
‘‘(B) parts 1, 4A, 7B, 12A, 12D, and 13B of schedule 7,
and
‘‘(C) parts 2 and 3 of the Appendix,’’.
1984—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–573 substituted
‘‘$1,250’’ for ‘‘$250’’ and inserted provision that this
paragraph does not apply to articles valued in excess of
$250 classified in schedule 3, parts 1, 4A, 7B, 12A, 12D,
and 13B of schedule 7, and parts 2 and 3 of the Appendix,
of the Tariff Schedules, or to any other article for
which formal entry is required without regard to value.
1980—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 96–609 added par. (2) and redesignated former pars. (2) to (11) as (3) to (12), respectively.
1953—Subsec. (a)(1). Act Aug. 8, 1953, § 16(d), increased
valuation figure with respect to informal entries from
$100 to $250, and inserted provisions with respect to possible variation for different classes or kinds of merchandise and different classes of transactions.
Subsec. (a)(11). Act Aug. 8, 1953, § 16(e), substituted
‘‘paragraph 1631 of section 1201 of this title’’ for ‘‘sections 472 to 574 of this title’’.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1988 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–418 effective Jan. 1, 1989,
and applicable with respect to articles entered on or
after such date, see section 1217(b)(1) of Pub. L. 100–418,
set out as an Effective Date note under section 3001 of
this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–573 effective on 15th day
after Oct. 30, 1984, see section 214(a), (b) of Pub. L.
98–573, set out as a note under section 1304 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1953 AMENDMENT; SAVINGS
PROVISION
Amendment by act Aug. 8, 1953, effective on and after
thirtieth day following Aug. 8, 1953, and savings provision, see notes set out under section 1304 of this title.
CROSS REFERENCES
Baggage in transit to foreign country, see section
1553 of this title.
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This section is referred to in section 1484 of this title.

Page 156

§ 1499. Examination of merchandise
(a) Entry examination
(1) In general
Imported merchandise that is required by
law or regulation to be inspected, examined,
or appraised shall not be delivered from customs custody (except under such bond or other
security as may be prescribed by the Secretary to assure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and instructions which
the Secretary or the Customs Service is authorized to enforce) until the merchandise has
been inspected, appraised, or examined and is
reported by the Customs Service to have been
truly and correctly invoiced and found to comply with the requirements of the laws of the
United States.
(2) Examination
The Customs Service—
(A) shall designate the packages or quantities of merchandise covered by any invoice
or entry which are to be opened and examined for the purpose of appraisement or
otherwise;
(B) shall order such packages or quantities
to be sent to such place as is designated by
the Secretary by regulation for such purpose;
(C) may require such additional packages
or quantities as the Secretary considers necessary for such purpose; and
(D) shall inspect a sufficient number of
shipments, and shall examine a sufficient
number of entries, to ensure compliance
with the laws enforced by the Customs Service.
(3) Unspecified articles
If any package contains any article not specified in the invoice or entry and, in the opinion of the Customs Service, the article was
omitted from the invoice or entry—
(A) with fraudulent intent on the part of
the seller, shipper, owner, agent, importer of
record, or entry filer, the contents of the entire package in which such article is found
shall be subject to seizure; or
(B) without fraudulent intent, the value of
the article shall be added to the entry and
the duties, fees, and taxes thereon paid accordingly.
(4) Deficiency
If a deficiency is found in quantity, weight,
or measure in the examination of any package, the person finding the deficiency shall
make a report thereof to the Customs Service.
The Customs Service shall make allowance for
the deficiency in the liquidation of duties.
(5) Information required for release
If an examination is conducted, any information required for release shall be provided,
either electronically or in paper form, to the
Customs Service at the port of examination.
The absence of such information does not
limit the authority of the Customs Service to
conduct an examination.
(b) Testing laboratories
(1) Accreditation of private testing laboratories
The Customs Service shall establish and implement a procedure, under regulations pro-

Page 157

TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES

mulgated by the Secretary, for accrediting
private laboratories within the United States
which may be used to perform tests (that
would otherwise be performed by Customs
Service laboratories) to establish the characteristics, quantities, or composition of imported merchandise. Such regulations—
(A) shall establish the conditions required
for the laboratories to receive and maintain
accreditation for purposes of this subsection;
(B) shall establish the conditions regarding the suspension and revocation of accreditation, which may include the imposition of
a monetary penalty not to exceed $100,000
and such penalty is in addition to the recovery, from a gauger or laboratory accredited
under paragraph (1), of any loss of revenue
that may have occurred, but the Customs
Service—
(i) may seek to recover lost revenue only
in cases where the gauger or laboratory intentionally falsified the analysis or gauging report in collusion with the importer;
and
(ii) shall neither assess penalties nor
seek to recover lost revenue because of a
good faith difference of professional opinion; and
(C) may provide for the imposition of a
reasonable charge for accreditation and periodic reaccreditation.
The collection of any charge for accreditation
and reaccreditation under this section is not
prohibited by section 58c(e)(6) of this title.
(2) Appeal of adverse accreditation decisions
A laboratory applying for accreditation, or
that is accredited, under this section may contest any decision or order of the Customs
Service denying, suspending, or revoking accreditation, or imposing a monetary penalty,
by commencing an action in accordance with
chapter 169 of title 28 in the Court of International Trade within 60 days after issuance of
the decision or order.
(3) Testing by accredited laboratories
When requested by an importer of record of
merchandise, the Customs Service shall authorize the release to the importer of a representative sample of the merchandise for
testing, at the expense of the importer, by a
laboratory accredited under paragraph (1). The
testing results from a laboratory accredited
under paragraph (1) that are submitted by an
importer of record with respect to merchandise in an entry shall, in the absence of testing
results obtained from a Customs Service laboratory, be accepted by the Customs Service if
the importer of record certifies that the sample tested was taken from the merchandise in
the entry. Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to limit in any way or preclude the
authority of the Customs Service to test or
analyze any sample or merchandise independently.
(4) Availability of testing procedure, methodologies, and information
Testing procedures and methodologies used
by the Customs Service, and information re-

§ 1499

sulting from any testing conducted by the
Customs Service, shall be made available as
follows:
(A) Testing procedures and methodologies
shall be made available upon request to any
person unless the procedures or methodologies are—
(i) proprietary to the holder of a copyright or patent related to such procedures
or methodologies, or
(ii) developed by the Customs Service for
enforcement purposes.
(B) Information resulting from testing
shall be made available upon request to the
importer of record and any agent thereof unless the information reveals information
which is—
(i) proprietary to the holder of a copyright or patent; or
(ii) developed by the Customs Service for
enforcement purposes.
(5) Miscellaneous provisions
For purposes of this subsection—
(A) any reference to a private laboratory
includes a reference to a private gauger; and
(B) accreditation of private laboratories
extends only to the performance of functions
by such laboratories that are within the
scope of those responsibilities for determinations of the elements relating to admissibility, quantity, composition, or characteristics of imported merchandise that are vested
in, or delegated to, the Customs Service.
(c) Detentions
Except in the case of merchandise with respect
to which the determination of admissibility is
vested in an agency other than the Customs
Service, the following apply:
(1) In general
Within the 5-day period (excluding weekends
and holidays) following the date on which
merchandise is presented for customs examination, the Customs Service shall decide
whether to release or detain the merchandise.
Merchandise which is not released within such
5-day period shall be considered to be detained
merchandise.
(2) Notice of detention
The Customs Service shall issue a notice to
the importer or other party having an interest
in detained merchandise no later than 5 days,
excluding weekends and holidays, after the decision to detain the merchandise is made. The
notice shall advise the importer or other interested party of—
(A) the initiation of the detention;
(B) the specific reason for the detention;
(C) the anticipated length of the detention;
(D) the nature of the tests or inquiries to
be conducted; and
(E) the nature of any information which, if
supplied to the Customs Service, may accelerate the disposition of the detention.
(3) Testing results
Upon request by the importer or other party
having an interest in detained merchandise,
the Customs Service shall provide the party

§ 1500

TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES

with copies of the results of any testing conducted by the Customs Service on the merchandise and a description of the testing procedures and methodologies (unless such procedures or methodologies are proprietary to the
holder of a copyright or patent or were developed by the Customs Service for enforcement
purposes). The results and test description
shall be in sufficient detail to permit the duplication and analysis of the testing and the
results.
(4) Seizure and forfeiture
If otherwise provided by law, detained merchandise may be seized and forfeited.
(5) Effect of failure to make determination
(A) The failure by the Customs Service to
make a final determination with respect to
the admissibility of detained merchandise
within 30 days after the merchandise has been
presented for customs examination, or such
longer period if specifically authorized by law,
shall be treated as a decision of the Customs
Service to exclude the merchandise for purposes of section 1514(a)(4) of this title.
(B) For purposes of section 1581 of title 28, a
protest against the decision to exclude the
merchandise which has not been allowed or denied in whole or in part before the 30th day
after the day on which the protest was filed
shall be treated as having been denied on such
30th day.
(C) Notwithstanding section 2639 of title 28,
once an action respecting a detention is commenced, unless the Customs Service establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that
an admissibility decision has not been reached
for good cause, the court shall grant the appropriate relief which may include, but is not
limited to, an order to cancel the detention
and release the merchandise.
(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, § 499, 46 Stat. 728;
June 25, 1938, ch. 679, §§ 15, 16(a), 52 Stat. 1084;
June 2, 1970, Pub. L. 91–271, title III, § 301(k), 84
Stat. 289; Dec. 8, 1993, Pub. L. 103–182, title VI,
§ 613(a), 107 Stat. 2171.)
PRIOR PROVISIONS
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 499, 42
Stat. 965. That section was superseded by section 499 of
act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed
by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
A prior provision prohibiting delivery of merchandise
liable to be inspected or appraised, until it had been inspected or appraised, or until the packages sent to be
inspected or appraised, should be found correctly invoiced, and be so reported, with a further provision as
to the taking of bonds conditioned for delivery of the
merchandise, and the forfeiture of such bonds, was contained in R.S. § 2899.
Provisions substantially similar to those in this section concerning the number of packages to be examined
(not including the provision for designation of a less
number by the Secretary of the Treasury) and concerning packages found to contain articles not specified in
the invoice, with a further provision for remission of
the forfeiture, were contained in R.S. § 2901.
A prior provision, concerning deficiencies somewhat
similar to that in this section, was contained in R.S.
§ 2921.
A special provision concerning the number of packages to be examined and appraised at the port of New
York was contained in R.S. § 2939.

Page 158

A provision concerning returns by weighers, gaugers,
and measurers, was contained in R.S. § 2890.
All of the foregoing sections of the Revised Statutes
were repealed by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV,
§ 642, 42 Stat. 989.
AMENDMENTS
1993—Pub. L. 103–182 amended section generally, substituting present provisions for provisions which required imported merchandise to be inspected, examined, appraised, and reported by appropriate customs
officer to have been truly and correctly invoiced and
found to comply with requirements of laws of the
United States prior to release of such merchandise
from customs custody.
1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted references to appropriate customs officer or such officer for references to
collector or appraiser wherever appearing, and struck
out references to duties of appraiser.
1938—Act June 25, 1938, amended section generally
and among other changes inserted provision relating to
invalidity of appraisements made after effective date of
Customs Administrative Act of 1938.
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.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1938 AMENDMENT
Amendment by act June 25, 1938, effective on thirtieth day following June 25, 1938, except as otherwise specifically provided, see section 37 of act June 25, 1938, set
out as a note under section 1401 of this title.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
Functions of all other officers of Department of the
Treasury and functions of all agencies and employees of
such Department transferred, with certain exceptions,
to Secretary of the Treasury, with power vested in him
to authorize their performance or performance of any
of his functions, by any of such officers, agencies, and
employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 26 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. July
31, 1950, 15 F.R. 4935, 64 Stat. 1280, 1281, set out in the
Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
EXISTING LABORATORIES
Section § 613(b) of Pub. L. 103–182 provided that: ‘‘Accreditation under section 499(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930
[19 U.S.C. 1499(b)] (as added by subsection (a)) is not required for any private laboratory (including any gauger) that was accredited or approved by the Customs
Service as of the day before the date of the enactment
of this Act [Dec. 8, 1993]; but any such laboratory is
subject to reaccreditation under the provisions of such
section and the regulations promulgated thereunder.’’
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This section is referred to in section 1595a of this
title; title 15 section 1198; title 28 sections 1581, 2631,
2636, 2640, 2642.

§ 1500. Appraisement, classification, and liquidation procedure
The Customs Service shall, under rules and
regulations prescribed by the Secretary—
(a) fix the final appraisement of merchandise
by ascertaining or estimating the value thereof, under section 1401a of this title, by all reasonable ways and means in his power, any
statement of cost or costs of production in any
invoice, affidavit, declaration, other document
to the contrary notwithstanding;
(b) fix the final classification and rate of
duty applicable to such merchandise;