Objections to additional assessments and administrative fines, customs valuation, tariff and origin disputes, and procedures under customs regimes.
Customs law governs the taxation and control of goods entering and leaving the country; the principal text is Customs Law No. 4458. Most disputes arise not from the declaration itself but from the post-clearance control that follows it: an importation completed years ago can come back as an additional assessment and a fine. The period for objecting to these notifications is short, and no action may be brought before the administrative stage has been exhausted.
Objection to the customs administration, and the subsequent administrative action, against duties assessed following post-clearance control and the fines attached to them. Whether the finding on which the fine rests was made in the proper form is often the most productive part of the file to examine.
Rejection of the transaction value method, the addition to the customs value of royalties and licence fees, commissions, freight and insurance costs, and the question whether a sale between related persons has affected the value.
Disputes arising where the tariff code of goods is changed, applications for binding tariff information, and objections concerning laboratory analysis results and reference samples.
Post-clearance verification of A.TR movement certificates, EUR.1 certificates and origin declarations, withdrawal of preferential treatment, compliance with origin rules, and disputes arising under bilateral agreements.
Authorisations to open and operate a customs warehouse, liability arising from stock discrepancies, and procedures relating to the warehouse declaration.
Importation under an inward processing authorisation, closure of the undertaking, and the liability for duty and penalties that arises where the undertaking cannot be closed.
Temporary importation with partial or total relief, ATA carnet procedures, and the regime applied on entry to and exit from a free zone.
Defence in investigations and prosecutions under the Anti-Smuggling Law No. 5607; confiscation of goods, effective remorse, and the way in which the administrative process and the criminal proceedings affect one another.
The Customs Law provides for an objection to the higher authority within fifteen days of notification. The administration decides on the objection within thirty days. No action may be brought directly before this administrative stage is complete; if the period is missed, the decision becomes final.
An action for annulment may be brought before the administrative court within, as a rule, thirty days of notification of the rejection. Although the duty assessment and the administrative fine appear in the same act, they are different in legal character and must be addressed separately in the application.
Yes. The customs administration may examine a declaration after clearance and issue an additional assessment as a result. Import files should therefore be kept in order, together with the declaration and its annexes, throughout the statutory retention period.
A change of tariff affects the rate of duty, the application of surveillance and quotas, and sometimes whether the importation requires authorisation at all. The difference is claimed by way of additional assessment, and a fine may be added. An objection is assessed by reading the technical characteristics of the goods together with the tariff texts and explanatory notes.
Customs legislation provides for a reduction where the fine is paid within a given period, and taking that reduction may amount to waiving the right to bring an action. Which option is preferred should be settled deliberately before any payment is made.
4 min read
Against an additional assessment or a customs fine the courts are not open directly: an administrative objection comes first, and the period is fifteen days from notification. How the periods run, what settlement does to them, and the litigation stage.
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