Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 25 / 1997 Coll.
Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on mutual administrative assistance to their customs administrations
Valid
International Treaty
Effective from 19.09.1996
Text versions:
27.02.1997
25
COMMUNICATION
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that on 17 November 1995 the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on mutual administrative assistance to their customs administrations was signed in Prague.
The Memorandum entered into force on 19 September 1996 pursuant to Article 23 (1) thereof.
The Czech version of the Memorandum is announced simultaneously.
MEMORANDUM ON DIMENSION
between the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on mutual administrative assistance to their customs administrations
Government of the Czech Republic and Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
be aware that the violation of customs legislation is detrimental to the economic, financial and social interests of their countries;
recognising that illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances poses a danger to public health and society;
be aware of the importance of ensuring accurate determination of customs duties, taxes and other charges levied in connection with the import or export of goods and the correct application of legislation on prohibitions, restrictions and controls;
convinced that close cooperation between their customs administrations will contribute to preventing breaches of customs legislation and to achieving greater accuracy in the collection of duties;
respecting international documents promoting bilateral cooperation and in particular the recommendation of the Customs Cooperation Council of 5 December 1953 and 8 June 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Trade in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances concluded in Vienna on 20 December 1988;
have reached the following agreement:
DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Memorandum:
(a) "Party" means one of the States whose government has signed this Memorandum;
(b) "customs administration" in the Czech Republic means the Ministry of Finance - Directorate-General for Customs and in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the Royal Office of Customs and Indirect Taxation;
(c) "customs legislation" means the laws and other generally binding laws which the customs authorities are entrusted with implementing;
(d) "customs delicacy" means any breach or attempted violation of customs legislation;
(e) "person" means both a natural person and a legal person, unless there is something else in the context.
SUBJECT MATTER AND FORMS OF COOPERATION
1. The Parties shall assist each other in accordance with the provisions of this Memorandum through their customs administrations:
(a) to ensure proper compliance with customs legislation;
(b) to prevent, investigate and suppress customs offences;
(c) in cases relating to the transmission of proofs of application of customs legislation.
2. Assistance under this Memorandum shall be provided in accordance with the law of the requested Party and within the scope and available resources of the relevant customs administration.
3. This Memorandum does not allow the requested Party to recover duties, taxes and other charges imposed by the requesting Party.
4. The Parties shall cooperate, if they deem it necessary and unless this is contrary to their laws, also in the following areas:
(a) facilitating effective coordination between the Parties, including the exchange of experts and the delegation of officials to maintain direct contact in the performance of the tasks arising from this Memorandum;
(b) the implementation, development and improvement of special training programmes for their staff.
Customs administrations of both Parties shall provide each other with lists of goods which could be the subject of illegal trade between their territories. These lists shall be supplemented as necessary.
The customs administration of one Party shall, upon request to the other Party's customs administration, provide information on the following matters:
(a) whether goods imported into the territory of the requesting State have been exported from the territory of the requested State in accordance with the law;
(b) whether goods exported from the territory of the requesting State have been imported into the territory of the requested State in accordance with the law and under which customs procedure they were placed there, if they were released.
1. The customs administration of one Party shall, on its own initiative or at the request of the other Party's customs administration, provide a report and any available information concerning the activities, carried out or planned, which could result in a customs offence in the territory of the other Party.
2. Where the customs administration of the requested Party does not have the information required, it shall, at its discretion and in accordance with the provisions of its customs legislation, take steps to obtain that information.
The customs administrations of both parties will inform each other of the new methods and means used in the smuggling sector. They will send copies or extracts of messages describing the specific methods used.
The documents referred to in this Memorandum may be replaced by data on the medium of information generated for that purpose in any form which allows their processing or transmission. Any relevant information concerning the interpretation or use of the material should be transmitted simultaneously.
1. The originals of the files and documents shall be required only in cases where certified copies would be considered insufficient.
2. The originals of the files and documents sent will be returned without delay if they are no longer needed.
SCOPE OF COOPERATION
1. The customs administration of one Party, on its own initiative or on written request from the other Party's customs administration and in accordance with its legislation, shall supervise:
(a) persons for whom there are serious grounds to believe that they have infringed or infringed customs legislation;
(b) the movement of goods known to cause a material breach of customs legislation;
(c) means of transport and containers for which there is a serious presumption that they have been, are or may be used in breach of customs legislation.
2. The results of such findings shall be communicated to the customs authorities of the other Party.
1. In order to strengthen the prosecution of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances on request or on their own initiative, the customs administrations of both Parties shall communicate to each other as soon as possible any information concerning:
(a) persons suspected or known to be involved in illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
(b) any means of transport known or suspected to be used for the illicit transport of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
(c) the methods established by the laborer and the new successful methods of detection.
2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be communicated by means of specially designated points mutually agreed by both customs administrations.
1. At the request of the customs administration of one Party, the customs administration of the other Party shall, in accordance with its legislation, conduct all official investigations concerning operations which are or appear to be contrary to the customs legislation of the requesting Party. The results of these investigations shall be notified without delay to the customs authority which requested them.
2. If the request cannot be satisfied in whole or in part, the requesting customs authority shall be informed in writing without delay.
Customs officials of one Party who are responsible for the investigation of customs offences may, with the agreement of the other Party's customs administration, be present in the investigation and detection of such customs offences in the territory of the requested Party, where the customs administration of the requesting Party is interested in such customs offences.
USE OF INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS
1. The information, communications and documents obtained shall be used exclusively for the purposes of this Memorandum, except where:
(a) the customs administration of one Party shall, in accordance with its customs legislation, inform either the competent authorities in any other State or the customs union or both of customs delicacies or suspected offences; or
(b) the customs administration of the providing Party shall expressly give its consent to other uses in writing if the laws governing the customs administration of the requested Party permit such further use.
2. Requests, information, expert reports and other communications to the customs administration of one of the Parties shall be granted under this Memorandum the same protection as that provided for similar documents and information under the law of the receiving Party.
1. The customs administration of the receiving Party may, in accordance with the purposes and to the extent of this Memorandum, use the information and documents obtained under this Memorandum in its records of evidence, reports and testimonies in court proceedings and legal proceedings.
2. The use of such information and documents as evidence in court and the importance assigned to them shall be determined in accordance with the legal order of the receiving Party.
Information relating to all matters under this Memorandum shall be transmitted only through officials responsible for their customs administration.
NOTIFICATION DOCUMENT
1. At the request of the customs administration of one Party, the customs administration of the other Party shall deliver documents relating to the proceedings to the natural or legal person or persons residing in its territory and notify them of the decision of the competent authorities of the requesting Party in the application of its customs legislation.
2. The service of documents under this Memorandum shall be governed by the legislation of the requested Party, including all relevant international agreements by which the requested Party is bound. The request for notification shall be accompanied by a brief content of the document.
3. If the requesting Party so wishes, service may be effected in a special manner provided that the requested procedure complies with the laws of the requested Party.
4. Proof of service may take the form of a certificate dated and authenticated by the authorised person or a certificate issued by the competent authority of the requested party showing the method and date of service.
EXEMPTIONS FROM AID
1. Where the customs administration of one Party considers that the requested assistance could undermine its sovereignty, security, public policy or other interests of major importance, including commercial and economic interest, it may refuse to provide such assistance or may provide it only on the basis of compliance with certain conditions.
2. Where assistance is refused, decisions and reasons for refusal shall be communicated in writing to the requesting customs authority without delay.
Where the customs administration of one Party requests assistance which it would not have been able to provide if it had been requested by the customs administration of the other Party itself, it shall draw attention to that fact in its request. Compliance with such a request will then be fully at the decision of the party to which the request for assistance has been made.
PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE VISITS OF OFFICIALS
Where, under the conditions laid down in this Memorandum, representatives of the customs administration of one Party are present in the territory of the other Party, they shall always be able to provide proof of their official status. They must not be in uniform and not carry a gun.
KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENTIFIC
The customs administration of one Party may, at the request of the customs administration of the other Party, instruct its officials to act as witnesses or experts in connection with customs offences in judicial or administrative proceedings within the territory of the other Party and to provide files, documents or other material or certified copies thereof which they have detected in the course of their business. The request for withdrawal shall clearly state the case and the role of the official to be questioned.
EXPENDITURE
The Parties shall waive the reimbursement of expenses related to the implementation of this Memorandum with the exception of expert and witness expenses, interpreters and translators who are not employed by the Government.
GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
1. This memorandum will apply to the territory of the Czech Republic and to the territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
2. Assistance provided under this Memorandum shall be provided directly between customs administrations of both Parties.
3. Customs administrations of both Parties shall jointly agree on the details of the implementation of this Memorandum.
4. The customs administrations of both Parties shall meet to examine the terms of this Memorandum at the end of the five-year period from the date on which this enters into force, unless they agree in writing that such review is not necessary and that they shall resolve any discrepancies that may arise.
PARTICIPATION AND TERMINATION
1. This Memorandum shall enter into force on the date on which the Parties have informed each other, by exchange of diplomatic notes, that the conditions required for the entry into force of this Memorandum have been fulfilled under each Party's national law. This Memorandum shall enter into force on the date of service of the later of the two notifications and shall be concluded for an indefinite period.
2. Each Party may denounce the Memorandum in writing by diplomatic means. In that case, the memorandum shall cease to be valid on the last day of the sixth month following receipt of the notice of termination by the other Party.
The above text is an expression of the Agreement between the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Signed in Prague on 17 November 1995 in two original copies, each in Czech and English, the two texts being equally authentic.
For the Government
Czech Republic:
JUDr. Miroslav Kárník v. r.
Director-General of Directorate-General for Customs
For the Government
United Kingdom
and Northern Ireland:
Valerie Strachan v. r.
Head of Customs Administration
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 25 / 1997 Coll., on the negotiation of Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on mutual administrative assistance to their customs administrations |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | International Treaty |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 27.02.1997 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 19.09.1996 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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