a dud
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
