clearance
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CLEARANCE, com. law. The name of a certificate given by the collector of a
port, in which is stated the master or commander (naming him) of a ship or
vessel named and described, bound for a port, named, and having on board
goods described, has entered and cleared his ship or vessel according to
law.
2. The Act of Congress of 2d March, 1790, section 93, directs, that the
master of any vessel bound to a foreign place, shall deliver to the
collector of the [dis ot?] from which such vessel shall be about to depart, a
manifest of all the cargo on board, and the value thereof, by him
subscribed, and shall swear or affirm to the truth thereof; whereupon the
collector shall grant a clearance for such vessel and her cargo; but without
specifying the particulars thereof in such clearance, unless required by the
master so to do. And if any vessel bound to any foreign place shall depart
on her voyage to such foreign place, without delivering such a manifest and
obtaining a clearance, the master shall forfeit and pay the sum of five
hundred dollars for every such offence. Provided, anything to the contrary
notwithstanding, the collectors and other officers of the customs shall pay
due regard to the inspection laws of the states in which they respectively
act, in such manner, that no vessel having on board goods liable to
inspection, shall be cleared out, until the master or other person shall
have produced such certificate, that all such goods have been duly
inspected, as the laws of the respective states do or may require, to be
produced to the collector or other officer of the customs. And provided,
that receipts for the payment of all legal fees which shall have accrued on
any vessel, shall, before any clearance is granted, be produced to the
collector or other officer aforesaid.
3. According to Boulay-Paty, Dr. Com. tome 2, p. 19, the clearance is
imperiously demanded for the safety of the vessel; for if a vessel should be
found without it at sea, it may be legally taken and brought into some
port for adjudication, on a charge of piracy. Vide Ship's papers.