---
kind: "section"
citation: "6 U.S.C. § 901"
title: "6"
title_heading: "Domestic Security"
number: "901"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/6/901"
units:
  - "Chapter 3 — Security and Accountability for Every Port"
---

# §901. Definitions


In this Act:

- (1) **Appropriate congressional committees—** Except as otherwise provided, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
  - (A) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
  - (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;
  - (C) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
  - (D) the Committee on [Homeland](/usc/6/101.md?p=1) Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
  - (E) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;
  - (F) the Committee on [Homeland](/usc/6/101.md?p=1) Security of the House of Representatives;
  - (G) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives;
  - (H) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives; and
  - (I) other congressional committees, as appropriate.
- (2) **Commercial Operations Advisory Committee—** The term “Commercial Operations Advisory Committee” means the Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 9503(c) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 ([19 U.S.C. 2071](/usc/19/2071.md) note)[^1] or any successor committee.
- (3) **Commercial seaport personnel—** The term “commercial seaport personnel” includes any person engaged in an activity relating to the loading or unloading of cargo or passengers, the movement or tracking of cargo, the maintenance and repair of intermodal equipment, the operation of cargo-related equipment (whether or not integral to the vessel), and the handling of mooring lines on the dock when a vessel is made fast or let go in the [United States](/usc/6/101.md?p=19-A).
- (4) **Commissioner—** The term “Commissioner” means the Commissioner responsible for the [United States](/usc/6/101.md?p=19-A) Customs and Border Protection of the [Department](#7) of [Homeland](/usc/6/101.md?p=1) Security.
- (5) **Container—** The term “container” has the meaning given the term in the International Convention for Safe Containers, with annexes, done at Geneva, December 2, 1972 (29 UST 3707).
- (6) **Container security device—** The term “container security device” means a device, or system, designed, at a minimum, to identify positively a [container](#5), to detect and record the unauthorized intrusion of a [container](#5), and to secure a [container](#5) against tampering throughout the supply chain. Such a device, or system, shall have a low false alarm rate as determined by the [Secretary](#15).
- (7) **Department—** The term “Department” means the Department of [Homeland](/usc/6/101.md?p=1) Security.
- (8) **Examination—** The term “examination” means an [inspection](#9) of cargo to detect the presence of misdeclared, restricted, or prohibited items that utilizes nonintrusive imaging and detection technology.
- (9) **Inspection—** The term “inspection” means the comprehensive process used by the [United States](/usc/6/101.md?p=19-A) Customs and Border Protection to assess goods entering the [United States](/usc/6/101.md?p=19-A) to appraise them for duty purposes, to detect the presence of restricted or prohibited items, and to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. The process may include [screening](#13), conducting an [examination](#8), or conducting a [search](#14).
- (10) **International supply chain—** The term “international supply chain” means the end-to-end process for shipping goods to or from the [United States](/usc/6/101.md?p=19-A) beginning at the point of origin (including manufacturer, supplier, or vendor) through a point of distribution to the destination.
- (11) **Radiation detection equipment—** The term “radiation detection equipment” means any technology that is capable of detecting or identifying nuclear and radiological material or nuclear and radiological explosive devices.
- (12) **Scan—** The term “scan” means utilizing nonintrusive imaging equipment, [radiation detection equipment](#11), or both, to capture data, including images of a [container](#5).
- (13) **Screening—** The term “screening” means a visual or automated review of information about goods, including manifest or entry documentation accompanying a shipment being imported into the [United States](/usc/6/101.md?p=19-A), to determine the presence of misdeclared, restricted, or prohibited items and assess the level of threat posed by such cargo.
- (14) **Search—** The term “search” means an intrusive [examination](#8) in which a [container](#5) is opened and its contents are devanned and visually inspected for the presence of misdeclared, restricted, or prohibited items.
- (15) **Secretary—** The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of [Homeland](/usc/6/101.md?p=1) Security.
- (16) **Transportation disruption—** The term “transportation disruption” means any significant delay, interruption, or stoppage in the flow of trade caused by a natural disaster, heightened threat level, an [act of terrorism](/usc/6/444.md?p=2-A), or any [transportation security incident](#17) (as defined in section 70101(6)[^1] of title 46).
- (17) **Transportation security incident—** The term “transportation security incident” has the meaning given the term in section 70101(6)[^1] of title 46.

## Footnotes

[^1]: See References in Text note below.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–347, § 2, Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1886.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

This Act, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 109–347, Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1884, known as the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 or the SAFE Port Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

Section 9503(c) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, referred to in par. (2), is section 9503(c) of title IX of Pub. L. 100–203, which was set out as a note under section 2071 of Title 19, Customs Duties, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 114–125, title I, § 109(g)(1), Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 137. For establishment of successor committee, see section 4316(a) of Title 19.

Section 70101(6) of title 46, referred to in pars. (16) and (17), was redesignated section 70101(7) of title 46 by Pub. L. 115–254, div. J, § 1805(b)(1), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3534.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Short Title

Pub. L. 109–347, § 1(a), Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1884, provided that: “This Act [see Tables for classification] may be cited as the ‘Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006’ or the ‘SAFE Port Act’.”