International Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance for the Prevention, Investigation and Repression of Customs Offences ^[*]

the term "Customs law" means all the statutory or regulatory provisions enforced or administered by the Customs administrations concerning the importation, exportation or transit of goods;

the term "Customs offence" means any breach, or attempted breach, of Customs law;

the term "Customs fraud" means a Customs offence by which a person deceives the Customs and thus evades, wholly or partly, the payment of import or export duties and taxes or the application of prohibitions or restrictions laid down by Customs law or obtains any advantage contrary to Customs law;

the term "smuggling" means Customs fraud consisting in the movement of goods across a Customs frontier in any clandestine manner;

the term "import or export duties and taxes" means Customs duties and all other duties, taxes, fees or other charges which are collected on or in connection with the importation or exportation of goods but not including fees and charges which are limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered;

the term "person" means both natural and legal persons, unless the context otherwise requires;

the term "the Council" means the organization set up by the Convention establishing a Customs Co-operation Council, done at Brussels on 15 December 1950;

the term "Permanent Technical Committee" means the Permanent Technical Committee of the Council;

the term "ratification" means ratification, acceptance or approval.

The Contracting Parties bound by one or more Annexes to this Convention agree that their Customs administrations shall afford each other mutual assistance with a view to preventing, investigating and repressing Customs offences, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.

The Customs administration of a Contracting Party may request mutual assistance as provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article in the course of any investigation or in connection with any judicial or administrative proceedings being undertaken by that Contracting Party. If the Customs administration is not itself conducting the proceedings, it may request mutual assistance only within the limits of its competence in these proceedings. Similarly, if proceedings are undertaken in the country of the requested administration, the latter provides the assistance requested within the limits of its competence in these proceedings.

Mutual assistance as provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not extend to requests for the arrest of persons or for the recovery of duties, taxes, charges, fines or any other monies on behalf of another Contracting Party.

Any intelligence, documents or other information communicated or obtained under this Convention:

Such intelligence, documents or other information may be used for other purposes only with the written consent of the Customs administration which furnished them and subject to any restrictions laid down by that administration and to the provisions of paragraph 1 (b) of this Article.

The communications between Contracting Parties provided for by this Convention shall pass directly between Customs administrations. The Customs administrations of the Contracting Parties shall designate the services or officials responsible for such communications and shall advise the Secretary General of the Council of the names and addresses of those services or officials. The Secretary General shall communicate this information to the other Contracting Parties.

The Customs administration of the requested Contracting Party shall, subject to the laws and regulations in force in its territory, take all necessary measures to comply with a request for assistance.

The Customs administration of the requested Contracting Party shall reply to a request for assistance as soon as possible.

Requests for assistance under this Convention shall normally be made in writing; they shall contain the requisite information and be accompanied by such documents as may be deemed useful.

Requests in writing shall be in a language acceptable to the Contracting Parties concerned. Any documents accompanying such requests shall be translated into a mutually acceptable language, if necessary.

Contracting Parties shall in all cases accept requests for assistance and accompanying documents in English or French accompanied by a translation into English or French.

When, for reasons of urgency in particular, requests for assistance have not been made in writing, the requested Contracting Party may require written confirmation.

The Council shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, be responsible for the administration and development of this Convention.

To these ends the Permanent Technical Committee shall, under the authority of the Council and in accordance with any directions given by the Council, have the following functions:

Any State Member of the Council and any State Member of the United Nations or its specialized agencies may become a Contracting Party to this Convention^{[Annotation 1]}

This Convention shall be open until 30th June 1978 for signature at the Headquarters of the Council in Brussels by the States referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Thereafter, it shall be open for their accession.

Each State referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall at the time of signing, ratifying or acceding to this Convention specify the Annex or Annexes it accepts, it being necessary to accept at least one Annex. It may subsequently notify the Secretary General of the Council that it accepts one or more further Annexes.

The instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council.

Customs or economic unions may, together with all their Member States or at any time after their Member States have become Contracting Parties to this Convention, also become Contracting Parties to this Convention in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article. However, such unions shall not have the right to vote.

This Convention shall enter into force three months after five of the States referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 15 thereof have signed the Convention without reservation of ratification or have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession.

For any Contracting Party signing without reservation of ratification, ratifying or acceding to this Convention after five States have signed it without reservation of ratification or have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession, this Convention shall enter into force three months after the said Contracting Party has signed without reservation of ratification or deposited its instrument of ratification or accession.

Any Annex to this Convention shall enter into force three months after two States have accepted that Annex. For any Contracting Party which subsequently accepts an Annex after two States have accepted it, that Annex shall enter into force three months after the said Contracting Party has notified its acceptance. No Annex shall however enter into force for a Contracting Party before the Convention has entered into force for that Contracting Party.

Any State may, at the time of signing this Convention without reservation of ratification or of depositing its instruments of ratification or accession, or any time thereafter, declare by notification given to the Secretary General of the Council that this Convention shall extend to all or any of the territories for whose international relations it is responsible. Such notification shall take effect three months after the date of receipt thereof by the Secretary General of the Council. However, the Convention shall not apply to the territories named in the notification before the Convention has entered into force for the State concerned.

Any State which has made a notification under paragraph 1 of this Article extending this Convention to any territory for whose international relations it is responsible may notify the Secretary General of the Council, under the procedure of Article 19 of this Convention, that the territory in question will no longer apply the Convention.

This Convention is of unlimited duration but any Contracting Party may denounce it at any time after the date of its entry into force under Article 16 thereof.

The denunciation shall be notified by an instrument in writing, deposited with the Secretary General of the Council.

The denunciation shall take effect six months after the receipt of the instrument of denunciation by the Secretary General of the Council.

The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall also apply in respect of the Annexes to this Convention, any Contracting Party being entitled at any time after the date of their entry into force under Article 16 of the Convention, to withdraw its acceptance of one or more Annexes. Any Contracting Party which withdraws its acceptance of all the Annexes shall be deemed to have denounced the Convention.

Any Contracting Party which denounces the Convention or withdraws its acceptance of one or more Annexes shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 5 of this Convention for as long as it retains in its possession any intelligence, documents or other information obtained under the Convention.

The Council may recommend amendments to this Convention.

The text of any amendment so recommended shall be communicated by the Secretary General of the Council to all Contracting Parties to this Convention, to the other signatory States and to those States Members of the Council that are not Contracting Parties to this Convention.

Any proposed amendment communicated in accordance with the preceding paragraph shall come into force with respect to all Contracting Parties three months after the expiry of a period of two years following the date of communication of the proposed amendment during which period no objection to the proposed amendment has been communicated to the Secretary General of the Council by a State which is a Contracting Party.

If an objection to the proposed amendment has been communicated to the Secretary General of the Council by a State which is a Contracting Party before the expiry of the period of two years specified in paragraph 3 of this Article, the amendment shall be deemed not to have been accepted and shall have no effect whatsoever.

Any Contracting Party ratifying or acceding to this Convention shall be deemed to have accepted any amendments thereto which have entered into force at the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.

Any Contracting Party which accepts an Annex shall be deemed to have accepted any amendments to that Annex which have entered into force at the date on which it notifies its acceptance to the Secretary General of the Council.

signatures, ratifications, accessions and notifications under Article 15 of this Convention;

the date of entry into force of this Convention and of each of the Annexes in accordance with Article 16;

notification received in accordance with Article 17;

denunciation under Article 19;

any amendment deemed to have been accepted in accordance with Article 20 and the date of its entry into force.