Customs Regulation

The Customs Regulation was prepared on the basis of Customs Law No. 4458 and published in Official Gazette No. 27369 (Repeated) of 7 October 2009. Its purpose is to regulate the matters that the Customs Law provides are to be regulated by regulation and to clarify points that guide implementation; it covers the procedures and principles of customs operations (Articles 1 and 2). It is a very extensive text and has been amended many times since publication. The provisions relevant to the destruction and abandonment of goods are brought together below.

When can the customs administration have goods destroyed on its own initiative?

Where goods presented to customs, before a customs declaration is made, are damaged, ruined or spoiled by an accident or events beyond the owner’s control, and as a result endanger goods stored with them or the environment, the customs administration may have them destroyed on its own initiative without notifying the owner (Article 98). The owner is informed of the outcome in writing, and the costs of destruction are collected from the owner.

If only part of the goods is destroyed, the owner is notified in writing about the remainder and action follows the owner’s request. The destruction decision is taken and carried out by a committee of at least three persons chaired by the head of the customs administration or an official or officer designated by them; the decision and results are recorded in an official report (Article 98).

How does facilitated destruction work where an intellectual property infringement is suspected?

Goods suspected during customs procedures of infringing an intellectual or industrial property right may be destroyed under the procedure in the Regulation without a lawsuit being filed or a court decision being awaited (Article 105). Within ten working days of notification that procedures have been suspended or the goods detained (three working days for perishable goods), the right holder must submit a petition setting out the alleged infringement and a letter of consent stating that the goods are abandoned to customs for destruction. If the owner of the goods or the declarant does not object within that period, destruction proceeds.

Destruction takes place under the supervision of the customs administration and the responsibility of the right holder; all costs are charged to the right holder and samples are taken during destruction. If there is an objection, Article 107 applies: unless the right holder files suit and obtains an injunction within the set period, the goods are dealt with under the customs regime requested by the declarant. Where a court finds the goods counterfeit or pirated, the costs of destruction are borne by the owner and the goods are destroyed under the liquidation provisions (Article 111).

How is destruction or abandonment carried out?

In applying Article 165 of the Law, notice of destruction is given in writing and signed by the person concerned, and it must be given early enough for customs administrations to supervise the destruction (Article 434). If a customs declaration has been registered for the goods, the customs administration annotates it with the destruction and cancels it. The same provision applies to goods abandoned to the Treasury.

Customs officers are present during destruction and record in an official report, or note on the declaration, the quantity and type of residue or waste left, so that the financial charges applicable to them can be determined. Residues and waste from destruction are treated as goods not in free circulation and remain under customs supervision (Article 434; see also Article 509 on refunds).

What does it mean for destruction and recycling?

The Regulation treats destruction as an operation carried out, documented and supervised under customs control; environmental conditions, such as the licensing of the body carrying out destruction, are found in the Liquidation Regulation and environmental legislation. The route is also clear where goods are not destroyed: goods placed in a temporary storage place for export or re-export that are not removed within the period, after notification and a further thirty days, are deemed abandoned to customs and are dealt with under the liquidation provisions (Article 417).

There is also a critical limit for environmental and health reasons: goods found by the relevant bodies to be dangerous and harmful to human, animal, plant and environmental health must be sent out of the country immediately by the person liable. Subject to other legislation, goods of this kind may not be destroyed in the Customs Territory or abandoned to customs administrations (Article 181).

What should be watched in practice?

For goods whose import is not permitted, unless the relevant body provides otherwise, the person liable may request that the goods be returned to the place of origin, sent in transit to a third country, or abandoned to the customs administration for sale on an export basis or for liquidation by destruction at the owner’s cost (Article 181). Which route is chosen depends on the nature of the goods and the view of the relevant body.

The most common mistakes in practice are giving notice of destruction late and carrying out destruction without customs supervision. Cancellation of the declaration, the destruction report and the residue and waste records are decisive for later customs and tax procedures, so correspondence with the customs administration should be kept and the records preserved before any step is taken.