[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 19, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 19CFR4.0]

[Page 7]
 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
 
PART 4--VESSELS IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC TRADES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 4.0  General definitions.

    For the purposes of this part:
    (a) Vessel. The word vessel includes every description of water 
craft or other contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of 
transportation on water, but does not include aircraft. (19 U.S.C. 
1401.)
    (b) Vessel of the United States. The term vessel of the United 
States means any vessel documented under the laws of the United States.
    (c) Documented. The term documented vessel means a vessel for which 
a valid Certificate of Documentation, form CG 1270, issued by the U.S. 
Coast Guard is outstanding. Upon qualification and proper application to 
the appropriate Coast Guard office, the Certificate of Documentation may 
be endorsed with a: (1) Registry endorsement (generally, available to a 
vessel to be employed in foreign trade, trade with Guam, American Samoa, 
Wake, Midway, or Kingman Reef, and other employments for which another 
endorsement is not required), (2) coastwise endorsement (generally, 
entitles a vessel to employment in the coastwise trade, and other 
employments for which another endorsement is not required), (3) Great 
Lakes endorsement (generally, entitles a vessel to engage in the 
coastwise trade on the Great Lakes and their tributary and connecting 
waters, in trade with Canada, and in other employments for which another 
endorsement is not required), (4) fishery endorsement (generally, 
subject to federal and state laws regulating the fisheries, entitles a 
vessel to fish within the Exclusive Economic Zone (16 U.S.C. 1811) and 
landward of that zone and to land its catch) or (5) recreational 
endorsement (entitles a vessel to recreational use only). Any other 
terminology used elsewhere in this part to describe the particular 
documentation of a vessel shall be read as synonymous with the 
applicable terminology contained in this paragraph. Generally, any 
vessel of at least 5 net tons and wholly owned by a United States 
citizen or citizens is eligible for documentation except that for a 
coastwise, Great Lakes, or fisheries endorsement a vessel must also be 
built in the United States. Detailed Coast Guard regulations on 
documentation are set forth in Title 46, Code of Federal Regulations, 
Sec. 67.01-67.45.
    (d) Noncontiguous territory of the United States. The term 
noncontiguous territory of the United States includes all the island 
territories and possessions of the United States, but does not include 
the Canal Zone.
    (e) Citizen. The word citizen is as defined by the U.S. Coast Guard 
for purposes of vessel documentation (see subpart 67.03 of title 46, 
Code of Federal Regulations.)
    (f) Arrival of a vessel. The phrase ``arrival of a vessel'' means 
that time when the vessel first comes to rest, whether at anchor or at a 
dock, in any harbor within the Customs territory of the U.S.
    (g) Departure of a vessel. The phrase ``departure of a vessel'' 
means that time when the vessel gets under way on its outward voyage and 
proceeds on the voyage without thereafter coming to rest in the harbor 
from which it is going.

[T.D. 69-266, 34 FR 20422, Dec. 31, 1969, as amended by T.D. 83-214, 48 
FR 46511, Oct. 13, 1983; T.D. 93-78, 58 FR 50256, Sept. 27, 1993; T.D. 
93-96, 58 FR 67315, Dec. 21, 1993]