19 U.S.C. § 1461
Section 1461 · Inspection of merchandise and baggage
This is the Tariff Act of 1930
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 24 court decisions — leading case United States v. Scott (1970)
Most recently applied in United States v. Williamson (February 1989)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
All merchandise and baggage imported or brought in from any contiguous country, except as otherwise provided by law or by regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be unladen in the presence of and be inspected by a customs officer at the first port of entry at which the same shall arrive; and such officer may require the owner, or his agent, or other person having charge or possession of any trunk, traveling bag, sack, valise, or other container, or of any closed vehicle, to open the same for inspection, or to furnish a key or other means for opening the same.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those of this section were contained in R.S. §3100, as amended by act Feb. 18, 1875, ch. 80, §1, 18 Stat. 319, and act Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, §1, 19 Stat. 248, which was superseded by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, §461, 42 Stat. 956, and was repealed by section 642 thereof. Section 461 of the 1922 act was superseded by section 461 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.