United States Customs Service

“ The Twenties was a time of violence and turmoil for all the nation. And no agency of the government was more actively involved than the Customs Service, which, with other agencies, had the impossible task of trying to throw up a dike against the flow of illegal whiskey into the United States. Many good men tried, honestly and diligently, to enforce the law. But the great majority of the people simply didn’t want prohibition.
In this period, Customs developed a tough and experienced corps of law enforcement agents and supervisors who were to serve the country well in future years. ”

“ With respect to shipments of international mail that are competitive products within the meaning of section 3631 that are exported or imported by the Postal Service, the Customs Service and other appropriate Federal agencies shall apply the customs laws of the United States and all other laws relating to the importation or exportation of such shipments in the same manner to both shipments by the Postal Service and similar shipments by private companies. ”

“ By the act of August 3, 1882, entitled 'An act to regulate immigration,' a duty of 50 cents is to be collected for every passenger not a citizen of the United States who shall come to any port within the United States by steam or sail vessel from a foreign country, from the master of said vessel, by the collector of customs. ”

“ The Court of Customs Appeals reached the conclusion that the decision of the board on the law and facts might affect the duty imposed on the imported articles so materially that Congress must have intended to give the importer the right to avail himself of the provision for appeal to the Court of Customs Appeals. ”

“ Under the law, any citizen may act as his own agent in clearing his own imports through Customs and no license is required.
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One of the ancient devices to aid the importer is known as the “drawback” privilege. “Drawback” is a word which is found in customs language through the centuries, and it is another word for “refund.”
In brief, the drawback works in this fashion: an importer brings262 merchandise into the United States to be used in the manufacture of certain articles. At the time of importation, he pays the normal duty. ”

“ The definition of imports as articles brought into the country finds support also in the circumstance that it has never been seriously doubted that merchandise brought into the United States from without is subject to the power of Congress to impose customs duties, even though the merchandise is not of foreign origin. ”

“ With due regard for the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502 (c) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2461 and 2462 (c) ) , I have determined that it is appropriate to modify the application of duty-free treatment under title V of the 1974 Act for certain articles, including certain goods previously eligible for such treatment that the Customs Service has reclassified. ”

“ Customs officers characteristically inspect luggage and their power to do so is not questioned in this case; it is an old practice and is intimately associated with excluding illegal articles from the country. Whatever the scope of the right to receive obscenity adumbrated in Stanley, that right, as we said in Reidel, does not extent to one who is seeking, as was Luros here to distribute obscene materials to the public, nor does it extend to one seeking to import obscene materials from abroad, whether for private use or public distribution. ”

“ Customs or tariff duties are taxes which have to be paid on a large class of goods imported into this country from foreign countries. These charges are collected by Government collectors, stationed in all our principal seaport cities, who inspect all incoming vessels and determine the amount to be paid, according to the rate determined by Congress. ”

“ The section makes it unlawful for a transportation company to bring to the United States 'any immigrant who does not have an unexpired immigration visa.' The alien was a 'nonquota immigrant' within the definition of the statute. Id., section 4 (b) , 8 U.S.C. 204 (b) , 8 USCA § 204 (b) . If it appears to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Labor that 'any immigrant has been so brought,' the transportation company must pay to the collector of customs the sum of $1,000, and in addition, for the benefit of the immigrant, an amount equal to that paid for his transportation. ”

“ March 3, 1883, § 7, (22 St. p. 523,) declaring that, in determining the amount of customs duties for which goods are liable, the usual and necessary boxes or coverings of any kind in which they are imported shall not be taken into consideration: provided, that if any coverings be designed for use otherwise than in the bona fide transportation of goods to the United States the same shall be subject to an ad valorem duty of 100 per cent. ”

“ American citizens are not permitted either to transport foreign imports to the interior for sale or to proceed thither to purchase native produce. Nor are they permitted to transport native produce from one open port to another open port. Violations of this rule will subject such merchandise to confiscation, and the merchant effending will be handed over to the Consular authorities to be dealt with. ”

“ No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.'
The petitioner contends that to permit a statute to have such application to articles intended for foreign export is to place a burden on the exercise of this right, because, before the shipper can lawfully send his goods abroad, and before the carrier can lawfully accept them, there must be a compliance with the established rate on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission. ”

“ A SLIGHT CASE OF CONSCIENCE One of the most serious problems confronting the Customs Service in this century is the control of the illegal importation of narcotics. Some of the difficulties involved in handling dope smuggling can be seen when it is realized that these drugs are being sent from all over the world, by every means of international transportation. The comparatively small number of Customs agents rely on patience, diligence and intelligence, and they are doing a remarkable job. ”

“ Under the investment scam, Cook told investors that he would guarantee a return of at least 2 percent a month, with a minimum investment of $100,000. Cook told investors that their money would be placed in high-yield prime bank instruments held by foreign banks. The investigation revealed that no such investment avenues existed. The investigation also revealed that none of the money collected by Cook could be linked to a legitimate investment. ”

“ If a cargo be innocently put on board in an enemy country, if at that time it be lawful to import it into the United States, the importation cannot be rendered unlawful by a detention occasioned, in the course of the voyage, either by the perils of the sea, or the act of the enemy, unless this effect be produced by some positive act of the legislature. ”

“ Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commissioner of Customs, when necessary to respond to a specific threat to human life or national interests, is authorized to close temporarily any Customs office or port of entry or take any other lesser action that may be necessary to respond to the specific threat. ”

“ Merchants have resolved to send for no more British manufactures, shopkeepers will buy none, gentlemen will wear none; our own are encouraged, all pride in dress seems to be laid aside, and he that does not appear in homespun, or at least a turned coat, is looked upon with an evil eye.”
The U.S. Customs Service came into being on July 31, 1789, in a time of crisis. It was an organization put together by Congress and President George Washington to save the struggling young central government from financial collapse through the collection of duties on imports. ”

“ To constitute an importation so as to attach the right to duties, it is necessary not only that there should be an arrival within the limits of the United States, and of a collection district but also within the limits of some port of entry. ”

“ This definition is substantially adopted from the opening sentence of the title 'Smuggling and Customs' of Bacon's Abridgment, and in which, under letter F, it is further said:
'As the offense of smuggling is not complete unless some goods, wares, or merchandise are actually brought on shore or carried from the shore contrary to law, a person may be guilty of divers practices which have a direct tendency thereto, without being guilty of any offense. ”

“ These various acts of Congress all contain a similar provision, by which an additional duty of ten per cent. is imposed upon goods imported in foreign vessels beyond that imposed on the same goods imported in American vessels, unless the said goods are entitled, by treaty or act of Congress, to be imported in such foreign vessels on payment of the same duties as they would be if imported in the vessels of the United States. In all these cases the exemption from the additional duty refers in express terms to the goods themselves. ”

“ Where there is an obvious indication of transferring, concealing the duty-payable goods and other property by the obligatory duty payer of the import or export goods before the due date of duty payment, the Customs may ask the obligatory duty payer to provide a security ”

“ The officials are present at the offices to examine parcels coming into the United Kingdom from abroad. All parcels from the Colonies or foreign countries are liable to Customs examination, and every parcel coming into the country has therefore to be accompanied by papers declaring the contents of the parcel. Many tales could be told of the discrepancies between declared and actual contents: the smuggling habit seems to be ingrained in the human race. ”

“ It is hence contended by the prosecution that the crime of smuggling or clandestine introduction was complete if the acts of concealment were in existence when the vessel entered the waters of the United States, even although at such time the period for making entry and paying or securing the duties had not arisen, and even although subsequently and before or at the time when the obligation to make entry and pay duties arose the goods were delivered to the customs authorities. ”

“ Authority to grant a permit does not exist until the duties are paid or secured to be paid, and the duties are never paid or secured to be paid before the goods are imported, nor before they are entered for consumption. Before the permit is received by the inspector on board the ship or vessel, no one has authority to remove the hatches or to break bulk, but the cargo is under the charge of the officer of the customs. ”

“ Art. 93. Such merchandise as is not subject to an export duty, shipped in a Moorish port to be transported by sea to some other port in the Empire, shall be accompanied by a certificate issued by the customs, under penalty of being subjected to the payment of import duties, and even of being confiscated, if not entered in the manifest. ”

“ K. Llewellyn, The Common Law Tradition 527 (1960) .↑ The Government urges that 'transports' includes the act of 'causing a firearm to be transported,' and therefore would connote an offense separate in some cases from 'receives' or 'possesses.' From this, the Government argues that 'Congress might have felt that the broader scope of the term 'transports,' as compared to the terms 'receives' or 'possesses,' justified its qualification by the interstate commerce requirement.' Brief for the United States 14-15. ”

“ Even assuming that a person can 'transport' a firearm under the statute without possessing or receiving it, there is no reason consistent with any discernible purpose of the statute to apply an interstate commerce requirement to the 'transports' offense alone. ”

“ All official regulations which affect the entrance and clearance of vessels and the importation and exportation of merchandise in the ports of the represented countries; also all circulars of instruction to customs officials which relate to customs procedure or to the classification of merchandise for duty. ”

“ Where a people's court delivers a verdict, ruling or an administrative authority concerned makes a decision to dispose of the goods under Customs control, the person concerned is required to accomplish all the necessary Customs formalities. ”

“ Almost every sort of foreign merchandise is subject to the imposition of duties by the government of the country in which it is received. These duties are paid at the Custom-House, to persons appointed by the constituted authorities to collect them. As soon as a vessel from abroad has entered the harbor, it is visited by a custom-house officer, called a Tide-Waiter, whose business it is to see that no part of the cargo is removed, until measures have been taken to secure the customs. ”