---
kind: "section"
citation: "40 U.S.C. § 17306"
title: "40"
title_heading: "Public Buildings, Property, and Works"
number: "17306"
heading: "Agreements of indemnity"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/40/17306"
units:
  - "Subtitle VI — Miscellaneous"
  - "Chapter 173 — Government Losses in Shipment"
---

# §17306. Agreements of indemnity

- (a) **Definition.—** In this section, the term “[Federal Government](/usc/40/17101.md?p=1)” includes [wholly owned Government corporations](/usc/40/17301.md?p=4), and officers and employees of the Government or its executive departments, independent establishments, and agencies while acting in their official capacity.
- (b) **Authority To Make Agreement.—** The Secretary of the Treasury may make and deliver, on behalf of the [Federal Government](/usc/40/17101.md?p=1), a binding agreement of indemnity the Secretary considers necessary and proper to enable the Government to obtain the [replacement](/usc/40/17301.md?p=1) of any instrument or document—
  - (1) received by the Government or an agent of the Government in the agent’s official capacity; and
  - (2) which, after having been received, is lost, destroyed, or so mutilated as to impair its value.
- (c) **When Federal Government Not Obligated.—** The Government is not obligated under an agreement of indemnity if the obligee named in the agreement makes a payment or delivery not required by law on the original of the instrument or document covered by the agreement.
- (d) **Use of Fund for the Payment of Government Losses in Shipment.—** The fund described in [section 17303 of this title](/usc/40/17303.md) is available to pay any obligation arising out of an agreement the Secretary makes under this section.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 107–217, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1282.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 17306(a) | 40:729(a) (last sentence). | July 8, 1937, ch. 444, § 7(a) (last sentence), 50 Stat. 480; Aug. 10, 1939, ch. 665, § 3, 53 Stat. 1359. |
| 17306(b) | 40:725 (1st sentence words before proviso). | July 8, 1937, ch. 444, § 3b, as added Aug. 10, 1939, ch. 665, § 2, 53 Stat. 1359. |
| 17306(c) | 40:725 (1st sentence proviso). |  |
| 17306(d) | 40:725 (last sentence). |  |