Extending Limits of United States Customs Waters Act of 2021
Bill: S.3055 | Sponsor: Sen. Scott, Rick (R-FL)
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Extending Limits of United States Customs Waters Act of 2021
This bill extends the customs waters territory of the United States.
Under current law, customs waters means waters within four leagues of the coast of the United States. This bill revises the definition to include (1) the territorial sea of the United States to the limits permitted by international law in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 5928, dated December 27, 1988, that extended such limits to 12 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States; and (2) the contiguous zone of the United States to the limits permitted by international law in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 7219, dated September 2, 1999, that extended such limits to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States.

To extend the customs waters of the United States from 12 nautical 
  miles to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States, 
            consistent with Presidential Proclamation 7219.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Extending Limits of United States 
Customs Waters Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On December 27, 1988, Presidential Proclamation 5928 
        extended the territorial sea of the United States from 3 
        nautical miles to 12 nautical miles from the baselines of the 
        United States, determined in accordance with international law.
            (2) On August 2, 1999, Presidential Proclamation 7219 
        extended the contiguous zone of the United States from 12 
        nautical miles to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the 
        United States, determined in accordance with international law, 
        but in no case within the territorial sea of another country.
            (3) Customary international law, in its current form, as 
        provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the 
        Sea and consistent with Presidential Proclamations 5928 and 
        7219, reflects that--
                    (A) every coastal State has the right to establish 
                the breadth of its territorial sea to a limit not 
                exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from its 
                baselines;
                    (B) a coastal State's contiguous zone may not 
                extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from 
                which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured;
                    (C) a coastal State has exclusive jurisdiction over 
                its flagged vessels within its territorial seas and 
                upon the high seas; and
                    (D) in the contiguous zone of a coastal State, the 
                State may--
                            (i) exercise the control necessary to 
                        prevent the infringement of its customs, 
                        fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws and 
                        regulations within its territory or the 
                        territorial sea; and
                            (ii) punish the infringement of those laws 
                        and regulations committed within its territory 
                        or the territorial sea.
            (4) Customary international law, in its current form, as 
        provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the 
        Sea, recognizes that outside the territorial waters of a 
        coastal State, the vessels and aircraft of all countries enjoy 
        the high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight. Pursuant 
        to those freedoms and the requirements of international law--
                    (A) before boarding a vessel outside of the 
                territorial waters of a coastal State, but within the 
                contiguous zone of that State, authorities of the State 
                are generally required to have reasonable grounds to 
                believe that the vessel is destined for the State or 
                has violated or is attempting to violate the customs, 
                fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws and regulations 
                of that State; and
                    (B) the hot pursuit of a foreign vessel--
                            (i) may be undertaken when competent 
                        authorities of the State have good reason to 
                        believe that the vessel or one of its boats has 
                        violated the laws and regulations of that 
                        State;
                            (ii) is required to be commenced when the 
                        foreign vessels or one of its boats is within 
                        the internal waters, the territorial sea, or 
                        the contiguous zone of the State, and may be 
                        continued outside the territorial sea or the 
                        contiguous zone only if the pursuit has not 
                        been interrupted; and
                            (iii) in a case in which the foreign 
                        vessels is within the contiguous zone of the 
                        State, may be undertaken only if there has been 
                        a violation of the rights for the protection of 
                        which the contiguous zone was established.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) it is necessary to extend the authority of U.S. Customs 
        and Border Protection to conduct law enforcement activities in 
        the customs waters of the United States from 12 nautical miles 
        to 24 nautical miles because as modern technology continues to 
        change and expand rapidly, the performance and speed of 
        maritime vessels, including those used to violate the laws of 
        the United States or evade United States law enforcement 
        agents, improve, and the limit of 12 nautical miles no longer 
        provides law enforcement agents with sufficient time to 
        interdict such vessels; and
            (2) the extension of the customs waters of the United 
        States to the limits permitted by international law will 
        advance the law enforcement and public health interests of the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF CUSTOMS WATERS.

    (a) Tariff Act of 1930.--Section 401(j) of the Tariff Act of 1930 
(19 U.S.C. 1401(j)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``means, in the case'' and inserting the 
        following: ``means--
            ``(1) in the case'';
            (2) by striking ``of the coast of the United States'' and 
        inserting ``from the baselines of the United States (determined 
        in accordance with international law)'';
            (3) by striking ``and, in the case'' and inserting the 
        following: ``; and
            ``(2) in the case'';
            (4) by striking ``the waters within four leagues of the 
        coast of the United States.'' and inserting the following: 
        ``the waters within--
                    ``(A) the territorial sea of the United States, to 
                the limits permitted by international law in accordance 
                with Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 
                1988; and
                    ``(B) the contiguous zone of the United States, to 
                the limits permitted by international law in accordance 
                with Presidential Proclamation 7219 of September 2, 
                1999.''.
    (b) Anti-Smuggling Act.--Section 401(c) of the Anti-Smuggling Act 
(19 U.S.C. 1709(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``means, in the case'' and inserting the 
        following: ``means--
            ``(1) in the case'';
            (2) by striking ``of the coast of the United States'' and 
        inserting ``from the baselines of the United States (determined 
        in accordance with international law)'';
            (3) by striking ``and, in the case'' and inserting the 
        following: ``; and
            ``(2) in the case'';
            (4) by striking ``the waters within four leagues of the 
        coast of the United States.'' and inserting the following: 
        ``the waters within--
                    ``(A) the territorial sea of the United States, to 
                the limits permitted by international law in accordance 
                with Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 
                1988; and
                    ``(B) the contiguous zone of the United States, to 
                the limits permitted by international law in accordance 
                with Presidential Proclamation 7219 of September 2, 
                1999.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the day after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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