--- kind: "section" citation: "42 U.S.C. § 269" title: "42" title_heading: "The Public Health and Welfare" number: "269" heading: "Bills of health" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/42/269" units: - "Chapter 6A — Public Health Service" - "Subchapter II — General Powers and Duties" - "Part G — Quarantine and Inspection" --- # §269. Bills of health - (a) **Detail of medical officer; conditions precedent to issuance; consular officer to receive fees—** Except as otherwise prescribed in [regulations](/usc/42/201.md?p=d), any [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) at any foreign port or place clearing or departing for any port or place in a [State](/usc/42/201.md?p=f) or [possession](/usc/42/201.md?p=g) shall be required to obtain from the consular officer of the United States or from the Public Health [Service](/usc/42/201.md?p=a) officer, or other medical officer of the United States designated by the [Surgeon General](/usc/42/201.md?p=b), at the port or place of departure, a bill of health in duplicate, in the form prescribed by the [Surgeon General](/usc/42/201.md?p=b). The President, from time to time, shall specify the ports at which a medical officer shall be stationed for this purpose. Such bill of health shall set forth the sanitary history and condition of said [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i), and shall [state](/usc/42/201.md?p=f) that it has in all respects complied with the [regulations](/usc/42/201.md?p=d) prescribed pursuant to [subsection (c)](#c). Before granting such duplicate bill of health, such consular or medical officer shall be satisfied that the matters and things therein stated are true. The consular officer shall be entitled to demand and receive the fees for bills of health and such fees shall be established by regulation. - (b) **Collectors of customs to receive originals; duplicate copies as part of ship’s papers—** Original bills of health shall be delivered to the collectors of customs at the port of entry. Duplicate copies of such bills of health shall be delivered at the time of inspection to quarantine officers at such port. The bills of health herein prescribed shall be considered as part of the ship’s papers, and when duly certified to by the proper consular or other officer of the United States, over his official signature and seal, shall be accepted as evidence of the statements therein contained in any court of the United States. - (c) **Regulations to secure sanitary conditions of vessels—** The [Surgeon General](/usc/42/201.md?p=b) shall from time to time prescribe [regulations](/usc/42/201.md?p=d), applicable to [vessels](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) referred to in [subsection (a)](#a) of this section for the purpose of preventing the introduction into the [States](/usc/42/201.md?p=f) or [possessions](/usc/42/201.md?p=g) of the United States of any communicable disease by securing the best sanitary condition of such [vessels](/usc/42/201.md?p=i), their cargoes, passengers, and crews. Such [regulations](/usc/42/201.md?p=d) shall be observed by such [vessels](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) prior to departure, during the course of the voyage, and also during inspection, disinfection, or other quarantine procedure upon arrival at any United States quarantine station. - (d) **Vessels from ports near frontier—** The provisions of subsections [(a)](#a) and [(b)](#b) of this section shall not apply to [vessels](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) plying between such foreign ports on or near the frontiers of the United States and ports of the United States as are designated by treaty. - (e) **Compliance with regulations—** It shall be unlawful for any [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) to enter any port in any [State](/usc/42/201.md?p=f) or [possession](/usc/42/201.md?p=g) of the United States to discharge its cargo, or land its passengers, except upon a certificate of the quarantine officer that [regulations](/usc/42/201.md?p=d) prescribed under [subsection (c)](#c) have in all respects been complied with by such officer, the [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i), and its master. The master of every such [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) shall deliver such certificate to the collector of customs at the port of entry, together with the original bill of health and other papers of the [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i). The certificate required by this subsection shall be procurable from the quarantine officer, upon arrival of the [vessel](/usc/42/201.md?p=i) at the quarantine station and satisfactory inspection thereof, at any time within which quarantine [services](/usc/42/201.md?p=a) are performed at such station. ## Source credit (July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, § 366, 58 Stat. 705.) ## Notes ### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ### Change of Name “Secretary of Health and Human Services” substituted for “Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare” pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88, which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education. ### Executive Documents ### Transfer of Functions Functions of Public Health Service, Surgeon General of Public Health Service, and all other officers and employees of Public Health Service, and functions of all agencies of or in Public Health Service transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1966, eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610, set out as a note under section 202 of this title. All offices of collector of customs, comptroller of customs, surveyor of customs, and appraiser of merchandise of Bureau of Customs of Department of the Treasury to which appointments were required to be made by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate ordered abolished, with such offices to be terminated not later than December 31, 1966, by Reorg. Plan No. 1, of 1965, eff. May 25, 1965, 30 F.R. 7035, 79 Stat. 1317, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. All functions of offices eliminated were already vested in Secretary of the Treasury by Reorg. Plan No. 26 of 1950, eff. July 31, 1950, 15 F.R. 4935, 64 Stat. 1280, set out in the Appendix to Title 5.