Pleasure Vessels of Malta Entitled To Cruising Licenses

What it does

This document amends U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations by adding the Republic of Malta (Malta) to the list of countries whose pleasure vessels may be issued U.S. cruising licenses. The U.S. Department of State has notified CBP that yachts used and employed exclusively as pleasure vessels and belonging to any resident of the United States are allowed to arrive at and depart from Maltese ports, and to cruise in Maltese waters without complying with formal entry and clearance procedures. Therefore, CBP is extending reciprocal cruising privileges to Maltese-flagged pleasure vessels.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

19 CFR 4

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has published 15 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 14 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 1651-AB68 since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This amendment is effective October 29, 2026. These reciprocal privileges became applicable for Malta as of June 10, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket USCBP-2026-1354 on Regulations.gov
• Title 19 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register