A diplomatic pouch (or “bag”) is any property identified and sealed package, pouch, envelope, bag or other container that is used to transport official correspondence, documents and other articles intended for official use, between:
- Embassies, legations, consulates, and the foreign office of any government; or
- The headquarters or any other office of a public international organization and its regional offices in the United States or in a foreign country; or
- The government of any country with full membership in a public international organization, such as United Nations, and its mission to that organization.
In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR), diplomatic pouches, properly identified as such, “shall not be opened or detained” and will be admitted free of customs duty (Art. 27 and 36). The United States understands the VCDR prohibition on opening of diplomatic pouches to preclude their inspection by x-ray and therefore does not x-ray diplomatic pouches.
Diplomatic bags must bear “visible external marks of their character” (VCDR, Art. 27 (4)). The United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) imposes certain administrative requirements consistent with those provisions. Accordingly, a diplomatic pouch arriving in the United States must:
1. Have visible external markings, which identify it by clearly stating “Diplomatic Pouch” on the outside of the container;
2. Bear the official seal of the sending entity government or international organization, or with outbound pouches, the embassy or consulate;
3. Be addressed to an office of the government or international organization whose seal the pouch bears;
4. For unaccompanied pouches only: there must be a detachable certificate affixed to the outside of the pouch. The actual design of this detachable certificate is left to the discretion of the pertinent foreign office or international organization, but it must contain the following elements:
a. A brief description of the pouch, including its weight; and
b. A statement certifying that the pouch contains only official correspondence, documents, or articles intended for official use. It should bear the signature of a responsible official of the originating foreign government office, embassy, consulate, or international organization.
CBP regulations provide for the expeditious processing of diplomatic pouches that conform to the above-listed specifications. The detachable certificate, which is removed and retained by a CBP representative, provides the authority for import and as a record of the action.
Diplomatic couriers enjoy personal inviolability and are not liable to any form of arrest or detention in the performance of their functions. (VCDR, Art. 27(5)). A courier’s personal baggage, however, is subject to normal security screening and customs procedures and inspection.
Whenever a diplomatic pouch is accompanied or delivered by courier, he/she “shall be provided with an official document indicating his status and the number of packages constituting the diplomatic bag” (VCDR, Art. 27(5)). The official document identifying a diplomatic courier must be:
1. The original copy of an official document. If it is a letter, it must be on appropriate letterhead stationery and bear the seal of the sending state, embassy, consulate, or international organization.
2. It must clearly identify the bearer and his/her status as a diplomatic courier; and
3. It must contain information sufficient to identify the pouch(es) being escorted and state the quantity of packages or bags constituting the pouch.
The requirements listed above apply to both professional and ad hoc couriers. As provided by the VCDR, Art. 27(7), a diplomatic pouch may be entrusted to the captain of a commercial aircraft. In such cases, the captain must have an identifying document that meets the requirements stated above. The receiving mission or organization, by arrangement with the appropriate local authorities, may send one of its members or a designated representative to take possession of the diplomatic pouch directly and freely from the captain of the aircraft. Any such person must bear identification sufficient to meet local security requirements and must comply with all airport security procedures.
TSA exempts diplomatic pouches from x-ray screening and opening. However, to be exempted, the diplomatic pouch must be marked in accordance with Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. To ensure proper treatment of a diplomatic pouch, it is advisable to identify the pouch to both the proper representatives of the airline transporting it and to TSA officials at the airport.
When the diplomatic pouch is delivered to the airline representative at a United States the airport for delivery without a courier, the person delivering the diplomatic pouch must ensure that the airline representative is fully aware that it is a diplomatic pouch and that the airline representative is prepared to walk the pouch around TSA screening procedures. Therefore, the Department recommends that diplomatic bags not be entrusted to airline representatives for handling without the explicit clearance of a TSA official on the scene. NOTE that if the diplomatic pouch is improperly placed in the normal luggage-screening queue, it will be x-rayed and may be opened.
An unaccompanied diplomatic shipment, intended to be a diplomatic pouch, that arrives without the required documentation described above, including a detachable certificate will not be accepted as a diplomatic pouch and will not be automatically released by CBP. In order to import such a shipment, the foreign mission must request permission for entry using Form DS-1504, “Request for Customs Clearance of Merchandise.” Click here to obtain Form DS-1504. Click here for instructions for completing a Form DS-1504 associated with the import of a diplomatic pouch.
