§ 1. — Organization of customs service.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 19USC1]
TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
CHAPTER 1--COLLECTION DISTRICTS, PORTS, AND OFFICERS
Sec. 1. Organization of customs service
Except as hereinafter provided the reorganization of the customs
service made by the President and communicated to Congress under date of
March 3, 1913, shall, until otherwise provided by Congress, constitute
the permanent organization of the customs service.
(Aug. 24, 1912, ch. 355, 37 Stat. 434.)
Codification
Section was superseded in part by section 2071 et seq. of this
title.
Prior Provisions
This was a provision of the sundry civil appropriation act for the
fiscal year 1913. Prior to its incorporation into the Code, it read as
follows: ``The President is authorized to reorganize the customs service
and cause estimates to be submitted therefor on account of the fiscal
year nineteen hundred and fourteen bringing the total cost of said
service for said fiscal year within a sum not exceeding $10,150,000
instead of $10,500,000, the amount authorized to be expended therefor on
account of the current fiscal year nineteen hundred and twelve; in
making such reorganization and reduction in expenses he is authorized to
abolish or consolidate collection districts, ports, and subports of
entry and delivery, to discontinue needless offices and employments, to
reduce excessive rates of compensation below amounts fixed by law or
Executive order, and to do all such other and further things that in his
judgment may be necessary to make such organization effective and within
the limit of cost herein fixed; such reorganization shall be
communicated to Congress at its next regular session and shall
constitute for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and fourteen and until
otherwise provided by Congress the permanent organization of the customs
service.'' Such of the foregoing provisions as were not carried into the
Code were omitted as temporary and executed.
The plan of reorganization, with an estimate of the expenses of the
same, was communicated by the President to Congress by Message dated
March 3, 1913, as follows:
``Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting Plan
of Reorganization of the Customs Service and Detailed Estimate of
Expenses of the Same.
``To the Senate and House of Representatives:
``Whereas, by virtue of the provision of chapter 355 of the acts of
1912, approved August 24, 1912, being `An act making appropriations for
sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June
thirtieth, nineteen hundred and thirteen, and for other purposes,' I was
authorized to reorganize the customs service and cause estimates to be
submitted therefor on account of the fiscal year 1914, reducing the
total cost of said service for said fiscal year by an amount not less
than $350,000, and I was further authorized in making such
reorganization and reduction in expenses to abolish or consolidate
collection districts, ports and subports of entry and delivery, to
discontinue needless offices and employments, to reduce excessive rates
of compensation below amounts fixed by law or Executive order, and to do
all such other and further things that in my judgment may be necessary
to make such reorganization effective and within the said limit of cost;
and
``Whereas, it was further provided that such reorganization should
be communicated to Congress at its next regular session and should
constitute for the fiscal year 1914, and until otherwise provided by
Congress, the permanent organization of the customs service: Now,
therefore,
``It is hereby ordered and communicated that the following plan
shall be the organization of the customs service for the said fiscal
year 1914, and unless otherwise provided by Congress the permanent
organization of the customs service:
``I. Customs Districts
``In lieu of all customs-collection districts, ports, and subports
of entry and ports of delivery now or heretofore existing there shall be
49 customs-collection districts with district headquarters and port of
entry as follows:'' [The customs-collection districts, ports, and
subports of entry and ports of delivery enumerated in the President's
message to Congress have been changed since the date of the message and
the districts and their boundaries and ports of entry are subject to
further changes under section 2 of this title.]
``II. The use of the terms `port of delivery' and `subport of entry'
is hereby discontinued, and all ports of entry, subports of entry, and
ports of delivery not above specifically mentioned as ports of entry,
are hereby abolished.
``III. The privileges of the first and seventh sections of the act
of June 10, 1880, commonly known as the `immediate transportation act'
shall remain as heretofore existing with respect to the ports of entry
above mentioned.
``IV. There shall be one collector of customs for each of the
customs collection districts above established, who shall receive the
compensation hereafter set forth, which shall constitute all the
compensation and emoluments to be received by him and which shall be in
lieu of all fees, commissions, salaries, or other emoluments of any name
or nature (including the right to charge for blank manifests and
clearances under the provisions of section 2648 of the Revised Statutes)
heretofore received by or allowed to him.
``All moneys collected or received by such collectors of customs in
their official capacities, whether as fees, storage, commissions, or
from the sale of blank forms or otherwise, shall be covered into the
Treasury.
``V. Such collectors shall maintain their principal offices at the
headquarters of their respective districts, with the exception of the
collectors for the districts of Virginia, Minnesota, and Duluth and
Superior, who shall maintain a principal office at both Newport News and
Norfolk, and at both St. Paul and Minneapolis, and at both Duluth and
Superior, respectively.
``VI. The collector of customs or the surveyor of customs (if there
be no collector) for any district heretofore existing in which the port
above mentioned as the headquarters of a district hereby created is
located shall continue to hold office as the collector of customs for
such new district under his existing commission, or if the port so
designated as the headquarters of any district hereby created by an
independent port of delivery the collector or surveyor (if there be no
collector) shall continue to hold office as the collector of customs for
such new district under his existing commission, and the terms of office
of all other collectors of customs, and the terms of office of all other
surveyors of customs, except the surveyors of customs at the ports of
Portland, Me., Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa.,
Baltimore, Md., New Orleans, La., and San Francisco, Cal., shall cease
and determine upon this reorganization going into effect.
``VII. The Secretary of the Treasury may appoint a deputy collector
to have charge of each port of entry, who shall perform such duties and
receive such compensation as the Secretary of the Treasury shall
determine.
``VIII. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to
prescribe uniform blank forms to be used in connection with the entry
and clearance of merchandise, and to cause such forms to be printed and
to be kept on sale at the various ports of entry as he may direct, the
net proceeds of such sales to be covered into the Treasury.
``IX. Merchandise shall not be entered or delivered from customs
custody elsewhere than at one of the ports of entry hereinbefore
designated, except at the expense of the parties in interest, upon
express authority from the Secretary of the Treasury and under
conditions to be prescribed by him. When it shall be made to appear to
the Secretary of the Treasury that the interests of commerce or the
protection of the revenue so require, he may cause to be stationed at
places in the various collection districts, though not named as ports of
entry, officers or employees of the customs with authority to enter and
clear vessels, to accept entries of merchandise, to collect duties, and
to enforce the various provisions of the customs and navigation laws.
``X. All persons now in the classified civil service whose
employment may be discontinued by reason of this reorganization shall be
retained upon the list of eligibles for appointment to fill any
vacancies hereafter occurring in the customs service.
``XI. The notice of dissatisfaction and protest provided for by
subsections 13 and 14 of section 28 of the act approved August 5, 1909,
shall be deemed to be finally abandoned and waived unless within 30 days
from the date of filing thereof the person who filed such notice or
protest shall deposit with the collector of customs a fee of $1 with
respect to each appraisement, entry, or payment objected to. Such fee
shall be deposited and accounted for as `Miscellaneous receipts,' and in
case the notice of dissatisfaction or protest in connection with which
such fee was deposited shall be finally sustained in whole or in part,
such fee shall be refunded to the importer, with the duties found to be
collected in excess, from the appropriation for the refund to importers
of excess of deposits.
``Attached hereto is a detailed estimate of the expenses of the
customs service under the reorganization above provided. [Omitted as not
permanent, and in any event superseded by section 6 of this title.]
``Done at Washington, D.C., this 3d day of March, 1913.
``Wm. H. Taft.''
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the
United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury,
including functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto,
to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related
references, see sections 203(1), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6,
Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security
Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note
under section 542 of Title 6.
REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 1 OF 1965
Eff. May 25, 1965, 30 F.R. 7035, 79 Stat. 1317
Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of
Representatives in Congress assembled, March 25, 1965, pursuant to
the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 203, as
amended [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.].
BUREAU OF CUSTOMS
Section 1. Abolition of Offices
All offices in the Bureau of Customs of the Department of the
Treasury of collector of customs, comptroller of customs, surveyor of
customs, and appraiser of merchandise to which appointments are required
to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, are abolished. The foregoing provisions shall become effective
with respect to each office abolished thereby at such time, not later
than December 31, 1966, as the Secretary of the Treasury shall specify,
but nothing herein shall empower the Secretary to increase the term of
any office beyond that provided by law for such office or affect his
authority under the first paragraph under the heading ``TREASURY
DEPARTMENT'' appearing in the Act of March 2, 1895 (ch. 187, 28 Stat.
844; 5 U.S.C. 252) [31 U.S.C. 309], to retain in office, prior to
December 31, 1966, those persons whose offices are to be terminated
under this reorganization plan.
Sec. 2. Transfer of Functions
There are transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury the
functions, if any, that have been vested by statute in officers,
agencies, or employees of the Bureau of Customs of the Department of the
Treasury since the effective date of Reorganization Plan No. 26 of 1950
(64 Stat. 1280).
Sec. 3. Preservation of Remedies
The abolition of offices herein shall not prejudice any right to
protest or to appeal to the United States Customs Court any action taken
in the administration of the customs laws.
Sec. 4. Incidental Provisions
Consonant with section 4 of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as
amended [see 5 U.S.C. 904] and this reorganization plan, the Secretary
of the Treasury shall make such provisions as he shall deem necessary
respecting (1) the transfer or other disposition of the records,
property, personnel, and unexpended balances of appropriations,
allocations, and other funds, available or to be made available, which
are affected by a reorganization contained in this reorganization plan;
and (2) the winding up of the affairs of any officer whose office is
abolished by the provisions of this reorganization plan.
Message of the President
To the Congress of the United States:
All that we do to serve the people of this land must be done, as has
been my insistent pledge, with the least cost and the most
effectiveness.
In my state of the Union message, I announced it was this
administration's intention to ``reshape and reorganize'' the executive
branch. This goal had one objective: ``to meet more effectively the
tasks of today.''
I report today now one step taken forward toward that goal as part
of our progress ``on new economies we were planning to make.''
I submit today a plan for reorganization in the Bureau of Customs of
the Department of the Treasury.
At present the Bureau maintains 113 independent field offices, each
reporting directly to Customs headquarters in Washington, D.C. Under a
modernization program of which this reorganization plan is an integral
part, the Secretary of the Treasury proposes to establish six regional
offices to supervise all Customs field activities. The tightened
management controls achieved from these improvements will make possible
a net annual saving of $9 million within a few years.
An essential feature will be the abolition of the offices of all
Presidential appointees in the Customs Service. The program cannot be
effectively carried out without this step.
The following offices, therefore, would be eliminated: Collectors of
customs, comptrollers of customs, surveyors of customs, and appraisers
of merchandise, to which appointments are now required to be made by the
President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Incumbents of abolished offices will be given consideration for
suitable employment under the civil service laws in any positions in
customs for which they may be qualified.
When this reorganization is completed, all officials and employees
of the Bureau of Customs will be appointed under the civil service laws.
All of the functions of the offices which will be abolished are
presently vested in the Secretary of the Treasury by Reorganization Plan
No. 26 of 1950 which gives the Secretary power to redelegate these
functions. He will exercise this power as the existing offices are
abolished.
The estimate of savings that will be achieved by the program of
customs modernization and improvement, of which this reorganization plan
is a part, is based on present enforcement levels, business volume, and
salary scales. Of the amounts saved, approximately $1 million a year
will be from salaries no longer paid because of the abolition of
offices.
The proposed new organizational framework looks to the establishment
of new offices at both headquarters and field levels and abolition of
present offices.
This results in a net reduction of more than 50 separate principal
field offices by concentration of supervisory responsibilities in fewer
officials in charge of regional and district activities. In addition to
the six offices of regional commissioner, about 25 offices of district
director will be established. The regional commissioners and district
directors will assume the overall principal supervisory responsibilities
and functions of collectors of customs, appraisers of merchandise,
comptrollers of customs, laboratories, and supervising customs agents.
At the headquarters level, four new offices will be established to
replace seven divisions. A new position of special assistant to the
Commissioner will be created and charged with responsibility for
insuring that all Customs employees conduct themselves in strict
compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Up to now this
function has been one of a number lodged with an existing division.
After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each
reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1965 is
necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section
2(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended.
It should be emphasized that abolition by Reorganization Plan No. 1
of 1965 of the offices of collector of customs, comptroller of customs,
surveyor of customs, and appraiser of merchandise will in no way
prejudice any right of any person affected by the laws administered by
the Bureau of Customs. The rights of importers and others, for example,
before the Customs Court, arising out of the administration of such
functions will remain unaffected. In addition it should be emphasized
that all essential services to the importing, exporting, and traveling
public will continue to be performed.
This reorganization plan will permit a needed modernization of the
organization and procedure of the Bureau of Customs. It will permit a
more effective administration of the customs laws.
I urge the Congress to permit Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1965 to
become effective.
Lyndon B. Johnson.
The White House, March 25, 1965.
