RECOMMENDATION OF THE CUSTOMS CO-OPERATION COUNCIL
CONCERNING THE REPAYMENT OR REMISSION OF DUTIES
ON GOODS REFUSED BY THE IMPORTER
AS NOT CONFORMING TO CONTRACT
(28th NOVEMBER 1957, T2-341)
THE CUSTOMS CO-OPERATION COUNCIL,
DESIRING to facilitate international trade;
CONSIDERING that repayment or remission of import duties and taxes should be accorded to goods imported in pursuance of a firm contract of sale which are found to be defective or otherwise not in accordance with the contract and which, with the consent of the foreign supplier, are returned abroad or destroyed under official control, in accordance with national regulations;
RECOMMENDS that Members of the Council and members of the United Nations Organization or its specialized agencies, and Customs or Economic Unions, should take the necessary steps to assure the repayments or remission of the import duties and taxes (*) on such goods. They may however require that the repayment or remission should be subject to the following conditions :
(1) that it shall be established to the satisfaction of the Customs authorities that the goods for which a refund or remission is being claimed are identical with the imported goods;
(2) that a claim must be made by the importer within a reasonable time and prior to the exportation or destruction of the goods under official control, and satisfactory documentary evidence establishing the importer's claim to repayment or remission is produced;
(3) that the goods shall have been imported in pursuance of a firm contract of sale, and not under a contract of sale or return, on approval, on consignment for sale or on similar terms;
(4) that the goods were not at the time of importation in accordance with the terms of the contract in respect of their description, quality, state or condition or because they had been damaged before that time;
(5) that the goods shall not have been offered for sale after the defect became known to the importer;
(6) that the goods shall not have been used, except that it is understood that Members will allow repayment or remission even where there has been limited use of the goods in cases where such use is indispensable to reveal any inherent defect in the imported goods or to establish that they do not conform to the conditions of the contract;
(7) that where the goods are returned abroad they are returned to the supplier;
(8) that the foreign supplier shall undertake to reimburse the amount paid for the goods, to waive payment for them or to replace them free of charge.
RECOMMENDS that Members of the Council and members of the United Nations Organization or its specialized agencies, and Customs or Economic Unions should take all necessary steps to ensure that the procedure for claiming repayment and remission of duties and taxes shall be as simple as possible and that decisions are reached without delay.
The provisions of the present Recommendation set out the minimum facilities to be accorded. They do not prevent the application of greater facilities which certain Members grant or may grant in future by unilateral provisions or in virtue of bilateral and multilateral agreements.
REQUESTS Members of the Council and members of the United Nations Organization or its specialized agencies, and Customs or Economic Unions which accept this Recommendation to notify the Secretary General of the Council of the date from which they will apply the Recommendation and of the conditions of its application. The Secretary General will transmit this information to the Customs administrations of all members of the Council. He will also transmit it to the Customs administrations of the Members of the United Nations Organization or its specialized agencies and to Customs or Economic Unions which have accepted this Recommendation.
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(*) The term "import duties and taxes" means Customs duties and all other duties and taxes payable on or in connection with importation, and shall include all internal taxes and excise duties chargeable on imported goods, but shall not include fees and charges which are limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered and do not represent an indirect protection to domestic products or a taxation of imports for fiscal purposes.
(*)The Customs Co-operation Council is the official name of the World Customs Organization.