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FOREIGN TRADE ZONES 
3. PROCEDURE AT AMERICAN PORTS OF ENTRY 
FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS AT PORTS OF ENTRY 
As a background for the study of the possible economies which could 
result from the establishment of free ports or foreign trade zones in 
the United States, the following information regarding the present 
practice at the American ports of entry should be of value. 
The responsibilities of the Federal Government in respect to pro- 
cedure in connection with the entry of vessels and cargo into the ports 
of the United States rest mainly upon the Treasury Department and 
are administered by the Public Health Service and the Customs 
Service. The Department of Labor, through the Immigration Serv- 
ice, carries out the immicration laws. 
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
When about to enter a port of the United States, a vessel in foreign 
trade must first come to anchor at the designated quarantine anchor- 
age for inspection by the proper officials of the Public Health Service. 
If, after such inspection, no passengers or members of the crew are 
found to be suffering from contagious or infectious diseases, the 
vessel is granted pratique to enable her to proceed to her berth. 
Passengers or members of the crew found to have communicable 
diseases are placed under detention in quarantine hospitals, 
The procedure in entering a free port would not differ in any 
essential respect from that required in connection with the entry of 
vessels into established ports. The necessity for these inspections, 
however, and of suitable anchorage facilities should be borne in mind 
in selecting sites for free zones. 
CUSTOMS SERVICE 
The convenience of the free port, both with respect to vessels and 
cargo, is principally related to the elimination or curtailment of cus- 
toms control. In order to make apparent the numerous require- 
ments which would be wholly or largely obviated by the free port, 
the following brief statement of the more important features of cus- 
toms control over vessels and cargo is given. 
Arrival and entry of vessels.—Vessels carrying freight or passengers, 
or in ballast, inward bound from foreign ports come within the 
jurisdiction of American customs laws when within 4 leagues of the 
coast, and enter customs control when boarded by customs officers 
upon their arrival within any collection district. Masters of such 
vessels must deliver to boarding officers for inspection the original 
cargo manifest and one copy thereof for each port at which freight is 
to be unloaded; if an American vessel, the certificates issued by 
American consular officers abroad covering the carriage thereon of