No merchandise, baggage, or passengers arriving in the United States from any foreign port or place, and no bonded merchandise or baggage being transported from one port to another, shall be unladen from the carrying aircraft, vessel or vehicle on Sunday, a holiday, or during overtime hours, except under special license granted by the appropriate customs officer under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.
(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, § 450, 46 Stat. 715; Pub. L. 91–271, title III, § 301(b), June 2, 1970, 84 Stat. 287; Pub. L. 103–66, title XIII, § 13811(b)(2), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 670.)
Editorial Notes
Prior ProvisionsProvisions similar to those in this section were contained in R.S. § 2872, as amended by the act of June 26, 1884, ch. 121, § 25, 23 Stat. 59, which was superseded by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 450, 42 Stat. 954, and was repealed by section 642 thereof. Section 450 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 450 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
R.S. § 2871 providing for the granting of a special license to unlade at night, and the amendment thereof by act June 30, 1906, ch. 3909, 34 Stat. 633, were repealed by section 6 of act Feb. 13, 1911, ch. 46, and provision for the grant of a special license to lade or unlade at night, and the grant of permits for immediate lading and unlading of vessels admitted to preliminary entry, etc., was made, in sections 1 and 4 of that act, which were repealed by section 643 of the act of Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356.
A special provision on the subject matter of this section for the northern, northeastern and northwestern frontiers was contained in R.S. § 3120, as amended by act Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, § 1, 19 Stat. 248, prior to repeal by section 642 of the act of Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356.
Amendments1993—Pub. L. 103–66 in section catchline substituted “during overtime hours” for “at night”, and in text substituted “during overtime hours” for “at night” and inserted “aircraft,” before “vessel”.
1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted reference to appropriate customs officer for reference to collector.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1993 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 103–66 applicable to customs inspectional services provided on or after Jan. 1, 1994, see section 13811(c) of Pub. L. 103–66, set out as a note under section 267 of this title.
Effective Date of 1970 AmendmentFor 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.