19 U.S.C. § 1496
Section 1496 · Examination of baggage
This is the Tariff Act of 1930
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 18 court decisions — leading case United States v. Franchi-Forlando (1988)
Most recently applied in United States v. Donald Wanjiku (March 2019)
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.
The appropriate customs officer may cause an examination to be made of the baggage of any person arriving in the United States in order to ascertain what articles are contained therein and whether subject to duty, free of duty, or prohibited notwithstanding a declaration and entry therefor has been made.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those of this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, §496, 42 Stat. 964. That section was superseded by section 496 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
Amendments
1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted reference to appropriate customs officer for reference to collector.
Effective Date of 1970 Amendment
For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 91–271, see section 203 of Pub. L. 91–271, set out as a note under section 1500 of this title.