Section J
Customs matters
Article 18
Customs control. Customs duty and other fees
1
The designated operators of the countries of origin and destination
shall be authorized to submit items to customs control, according to the
legislation of those countries.
2
Items submitted to customs control may be subjected to a presenta-
tion-to-Customs charge, the guideline amount of which is set in the Regula-
tions. This charge shall only be collected for the submission to Customs and
customs clearance of items which have attracted customs charges or any
other similar charge.
3
Designated operators which are authorized to clear items through the
Customs on behalf of customers may charge customers a customs clearance
fee based on the actual costs. This fee may be charged for all items declared
at Customs according to national legislation, including those exempt from
customs duty. Customers shall be clearly informed in advance about the
required fee.
4
Designated operators shall be authorized to collect from the senders
or addressees of items, as the case may be, the customs duty and all other
fees which may be due.
Commentary
18.1 Congress adopted formal opinion C 40/Hamburg 1984 to encourage DOs to approach the authorities
in charge of customs questions in their countries to have their governments ratify Annex J.2 to the Kyoto
Customs Convention.
In resolution C 11/Washington 1989, Congress urged member countries to do everything possible to estab-
lish national postal-customs contact comms, the better to solve any local problems.
The conditions of submission of items to Customs depend on any national law which Customs is required
to apply.
For the list of DOs that place restrictions on the acceptance of arts subject to customs duty, see Prot art X.
18.2 The 1994 Seoul Congress decided that this charge would be collected only in respect of parcels
which have already attracted customs charges or any other similar charges.
18.4 The expression “customs duty” is to be interpreted in a wide sense so as to cover all import duties
and charges that customs adms are responsible for collecting in application of the national legislations of
each country. In all cases, the internal legislation is applicable.
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