ANNEX F.4.
concerning Customs formalities
in respect of postal traffic
Entered into force: 13 February 1981
May 1979
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Text and Commentary
- Introduction 5
- Definitions 6
- Principles (provisions 1 - 3) 8
- Relations between the Customs and postal authorities
(provisions 4 - 5) 9
- Exportation of postal items:
a) Customs status of goods (provision 6) 12
b) Production to the Customs (provisions 7 - 8) 12
c) Documents (provision 9) 13
d) Examination of postal items (provisions 10 - 11) 13
- Postal items in transit (provision 12) 14
- Importation of postal items:
a) Goods which may be admitted (provision 13) 14
b) Production to the Customs authorities (provisions 14 - 17) 15
c) Clearance against Customs declaration forms C 1 and C2/CP 3
or against a Goods declaration (provisions 18 - 20) 16
d) Examination of postal items (provisions 21 - 22) 17
e) Assessment and collection of import duties and taxes
(provisions 23 - 25) 17
- Repayment or remission of import duties and taxes (provision 26) 20
- Information concerning Customs formalities
in respect of postal traffic (provision 27) 20
II. Entry into force
- Contracting Parties having accepted the Annex 23
III. Reservations
- Contracting Parties having entered reservations 25
- Reservations entered (in alphabetical order of Contracting Parties)
IV. Alphabetical Index
I.-TEXT AND COMMENTARY *
* Annex F.4. was adopted by the Permanent Technical Committee at its
95th/96th Sessions in May 1977. The Annex has been incorporated in the
Kyoto Convention by decision of the Council, taken on 9 June 1977, at
its 49th/50th Sessions held in Nairobi (Kenya). It entered into force
on 13 February 1981.
Introduction
The post has always been one of the most widely used methods of
sending not only greetings and information but also gifts and other
goods from one person to another.
The Customs are necessarily involved in international postal traffic
since, just as in the case of goods imported and exported by other
means, they have to ensure that the appropriate duties and taxes are
collected, enforce import and export prohibitions and restrictions,
and in general ensure compliance with the laws and regulations which
they are responsible for enforcing.
Because of the special nature of postal traffic, however, the Customs
formalities in respect of items carried by post are somewhat different
from those applied to goods carried by other means. While individual
postal items are restricted in size, their numbers are enormous and,
to avoid creating unacceptable delays, special administrative
arrangements are necessary to deal with them. These are made possible
because in virtually all countries the postal services are furnished
by public administrations or authorities, and the two public bodies
involved in postal traffic, the post and the Customs, co-operate very
closely with one another.
In addition to this close co-operation between Customs and postal
authorities at the national level, there is close collaboration at the
international level between the Universal Postal Union (the
international organization whose rules and regulations govern postal
traffic) and the Council. These two international organizations have,
for example, established a Contact Committee at which Customs and
postal experts meet to discuss and find internationally acceptable
solutions to problems which cannot be resolved nationally or
bilaterally.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Annex:
(a) the term " postal items " means letter-post and postal parcels;
(b) the term " letter-post items " (1)(2) means letters, postcards,
printed papers, literature for the blind and small packets described
as letter-post items in the Acts of the Universal Postal Union
currently in force;
Note According to the Acts of the Universal Postal Union certain
letter-post items are required to be accompanied by a Customs
declaration form C 1 and/or form C 2/CP 3 as appropriate (3);
(c) the term " postal parcels " (4) means items called postal parcels
within the meaning of the Acts of the Universal Postal Union currently
in force.
Note According to the Acts of the Universal Postal Union postal
parcels are required to be accompanied by a Customs declaration form C
2/CP 3 (5);
(d) the term " the Universal Postal Union " means the
inter-governmental organization founded in 1874 by the Treaty of Berne
as the General Postal Union which, in 1878, was renamed the Universal
Postal Union (UPU) and which since 1948 has been a specialized agency
of the United Nations (with headquarters in Berne);
(e) the term " import 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 of goods but not including fees and
charges which are limited in amount to the approximate cost of
services rendered (6);
(f) the term " 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 exportation of goods but not including fees and
charges which are limited in amount to the approximate cost of
services rendered;
(g) the term " Goods declaration " means a statement made in the form
prescribed by the Customs by which the persons interested indicate the
Customs procedure to be applied to the goods and furnish the
particulars which the Customs require to be declared for the
application of that procedure;
(h) the term " clearance " means the accomplishment of the Customs
formalities necessary to allow goods to be exported, to enter for home
use or to be placed under another Customs procedure;
(ij) the term " clearance for home use " means the Customs procedure
which provides that imported goods may remain permanently in the
Customs territory. This procedure implies the payment of any import
duties and taxes chargeable and the accomplishment of all the
necessary Customs formalities;
(k) the term " examination of postal items " means the physical
inspection of goods in postal items by the Customs to ascertain their
nature, origin, condition, quantity and value;
(l) the term " goods in free circulation " means goods which may be
disposed of without Customs restriction;
(m) the term " Customs control " means the measures applied to ensure
compliance with the laws and regulations which the Customs are
responsible for enforcing;
(n) the term " release " means the action by the Customs to permit
goods undergoing clearance to be placed at the disposal of the persons
concerned;
(o) the term " person " means both natural and legal persons, unless
the context otherwise requires.
COMMENTARY
(1) Under the Acts of the Universal Postal Union the term "
letter-post items " includes:
- letters, the weight of which must not exceed two kilograms and
which may contain articles subject to import duties and taxes unless
they are addressed to countries which have expressly entered a
reservation to this effect in the Acts of the Universal Postal Union;
- postcards;
- printed papers, the weight of which must not exceed two kilograms
except in the case of books and pamphlets which must not exceed five
kilograms (or ten kilograms by agreement between the administrations
concerned);
- literature for the blind, the weight of which must not exceed
seven kilograms;
- small packets, the weight of which must not exceed one kilogram
and which must be clearly marked " Petit paquet " (small packet) or
its equivalent known in the country of destination.
(2) There is a postal category of item termed " insured letters "
which are letters containing securities, valuable documents and other
articles, the contents of which is insured for the value declared by
the sender. For Customs purposes in general, and for the purposes of
this Annex, insured letters are covered by the term " letter-post
items ".
(3) Under the Acts of the Universal Postal Union, letter-post items
other than small packets must bear on the front a Customs declaration
form C 1, or be provided with a tie-on label in the same form, if they
contain articles to be submitted to Customs control. If the value of
the contents declared by the sender exceeds 300 gold francs, or if the
sender prefers, the items shall also be accompanied by the prescribed
number of Customs declaration forms C 2/CP 3; in this case only the
upper part of the Customs declaration form C 1 must be affixed to the
item. Three hundred gold francs equal approximately 120 US dollars.
Small packets must always be covered by the Customs declaration
form C 1 or bear the upper part of this form and be accompanied by the
Customs declaration form C 2/CP 3, as appropriate.
(4) According to Article 2 of the Postal Parcels Agreement of the
Universal Postal Union the term " postal parcels " means parcels of
which the individual weight does not exceed 20 kilograms.
A Note to the term " postal parcels " points out that where the
Post uses the services of railway and shipping companies for the
conveyance of postal parcels it is always the postal administration
that holds responsibility and is in control of the operations.
(5) Under Article 106 of the Detailed Regulations of the Postal
Parcels Agreement, each postal parcel must be accompanied by a
despatch note CP 2 and by Customs declaration form C 2/CP 3 in the
required number of copies.
The sender may attach to the despatch note CP 2, in addition to
the required number of copies of Customs declaration form C 2/CP 3,
any document (such as an invoice, import or export licence or
certificate of origin) necessary for Customs treatment in the
countries of despatch and destination.
The contents of the parcel must be shown in detail on Customs
declaration form C 2/CP 3 - indications of a general kind are not
permitted. Although they assume no liability for the Customs
declaration, postal administrations are required to do their utmost to
inform senders of the correct way to complete the declarations.
(6) The definition of the term " import duties and taxes " covers
Value Added Tax collected in connection with the importation of goods.
Principles
1. Standard
The Customs formalities in respect of postal items shall be governed
by the provisions of this Annex (1).
COMMENTARY
(1) There is no obligation on States to accept all the provisions of
the Annex reservations in respect of any Standards and Recommended
Practice that they are not in a position to apply may be entered (see
Article 5 of the Convention).
Customs authorities are free to lay down rules on aspects of the
Customs treatment of postal traffic which are not covered by specific
provisions of this Annex.
Customs authorities may grant facilities greater than those
provided for in the Annex. The granting of such greater facilities is
recommended in Article 2 of the Convention.
2. Standard
National legislation (1) shall specify the conditions to be fulfilled
and the formalities to be accomplished for Customs purposes in respect
of postal items.
COMMENTARY
(1) See commentary on Article 3 of the Convention.
3. Standard
The clearance of postal items shall be carried out as rapidly as
possible and Customs control shall be restricted to the minimum
necessary to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations which the
Customs are responsible for enforcing.
Relations between the Customs and postal authorities
4. Standard
National legislation shall specify the respective responsibilities and
obligations of the Customs and of the postal authorities in connection
with the Customs treatment of postal items.
Notes 1. The postal authorities have certain obligations and
responsibilities which derive directly from the Acts of the Universal
Postal Union. Other responsibilities and obligations of the postal
authorities and those of the Customs may be decided upon by mutual
agreement between the two authorities.
2. The postal authorities are usually responsible for the
conveyance, storage and production to the Customs authorities of
postal items and, at the request of the Customs authorities,
may open them for the purposes of Customs control. However, in some
countries the actual conveyance, storage and production to the Customs
authorities of postal parcels is undertaken, by agreement not by the
postal authorities themselves but by railway authorities and other
approved enterprises. Such practical arrangements would mean that in
these countries certain of these obligations may become the
responsibility of the approved enterprise.
3. Whilst not accepting responsibility for the accuracy of
Customs declarations (e.g. form C 2/CP 3), postal authorities in the
country of departure in principle check that Customs declarations on
postal items are, where appropriate, present, and as far as possible
take steps to ensure that they are correctly and fully completed. When
a Customs declaration is obviously incomplete, postal authorities
generally draw the attention of senders to the relevant Customs
regulations and may refuse to accept the postal item in question (1).
When a consignment consists of a number of items,
particularly in the case of commercial consignments, the postal
authorities usually advise the sender of the need to attach separate
documents (such as certificates of origin) to each item (2).
COMMENTARY
(1) The International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union has issued
various recommendations to postal administrations on this question.
The latest recommendation, issued in 1978, states as follows:
" The difficulties experienced by Customs officials because of
inexact or inadequate Customs declarations are largely due to the
users' ignorance of Customs prescriptions. It is recommended that the
Post lend its assistance in order to improve this state of affairs. To
facilitate co-operation between the Customs and the Post in the
country of destination, it is essential that the sender should make
out a Customs declaration form in accordance with the provisions of
the Acts and that his attention should be drawn to the necessity of
strictly observing the instructions on the back of forms C 1 and C
2/CP 3. For this purpose, on the proposal of the CCC/UPU Contact
Committee, the Executive Council recommended postal administrations:
(a) to check that all letter-post items subject to Customs duty and
all postal parcels are accompanied by a Customs declaration form C 1
or C 2/CP 3 as the case may be, in the requisite number of copies, in
accordance with the provisions of Convention, Detailed Regulations [,
Article ?] 116 paragraph 1 and Parcels Agreement, Detailed
Regulations, Article 106;
(b) to ensure that the Customs declarations are fully completed in
accordance with the instructions given on the back of these forms;
(c) when a declaration is obviously incomplete, to draw the sender's
attention to the Customs regulations and to accept only items
accompanied by complete declarations;
(d) to advise exporters of commercial items of the need, where
appropriate to attach a certificate of origin to each parcel."
(2) See (d) of the above recommendation. Article 106 of the Detailed
Regulations to the Postal Parcels Agreement provides that, except in
the case of insured parcels, parcels for delivery free of charges and
cash-on-delivery parcels, the same despatch note accompanied by the
number of Customs declarations required for a single parcel may
suffice for three parcels at most, provided that they are posted
simultaneously at the same office by the same sender, sent by the same
route, subject to the same postal charge and addressed to the same
person, each postal administration may, however, insist on a despatch
note and the prescribed number of Customs declarations for each
parcel.
Difficulties in Customs clearance have arisen in the past with
regard to shipments consisting of a number of parcels for each of
which a despatch note CP 2 is prepared but in respect of which the
sender completes a single Customs declaration for the entire shipment,
a copy being attached to each CP 2. Similar problems occur when, for
example, a certificate of origin relating to all the parcels is
attached to one parcel and the others bear no origin indication.
It is accordingly desirable that the C 2/CP 3 Customs declaration
relating to each parcel should cover only the contents of that item
and that, if necessary, a certificate of origin be made out for each
parcel.
5. Standard
The Customs authorities, with any necessary agreement of the postal
authorities, shall designate the Customs offices or other places at
which postal items may be cleared.
Notes 1. Joint Customs/post offices may be set up, or Customs
officers may be stationed permanently or for certain hours of the day
at post offices; in these latter circumstances the postal authorities
may provide the Customs with office accommodation.
2. Customs offices may be set up at exchange post offices,
which are post offices responsible for exchanging postal consignments
with the appropriate foreign postal authorities (1).
COMMENTARY
(1) At importation, exchange post offices forward postal items
received from foreign postal authorities to the post offices of final
destination, while at exportation they forward items posted in the
post offices of their country to postal authorities abroad. In cases
of transit, they forward items received from one foreign postal
authority to another foreign postal a[u]thority.
Exportation of postal items
a) Customs status of goods
6. Standard
The exportation of goods in postal items shall be allowed regardless
of whether they are in free circulation or are under a Customs
procedure such as Customs warehousing or temporary admission, provided
that, when they are under a Customs procedure, all the formalities
prescribed for that procedure are complied with.
Note The exportation by post of certain goods, including narcotics,
explosives, inflammable and other dangerous substances, is closely
regulated and in many instances is prohibited by the Acts of the
Universal Postal Union.
Continue...
Top of this page Return to Standards & Recommendations