Article 79

The following shall be exempt on admission: Ancillary materials for the stowage and protection of goods during their transport documents sent free of charge to the public services of Member States; publications of foreign governments and publications of official international bodies intended for distribution without charge; ballot papers for elections organized by bodies set up in countries other than the Member State of importation; objects to be submitted as evidence or for like purposes to the courts or other official agencies of the Member States; specimen signatures and printed circulars concerning signatures sent as part of customary exchanges of information between public services or banking establishments; official printed matter sent to the central banks of the Member States; reports, statements, notes, prospectuses, application forms and other documents drawn up by companies with headquarters outside the Member State of importation and sent to the bearers or subscribers of securities issued by such companies; recorded media (punched cards, sound recordings, microfilms, etc.) used for the transmission of information sent free of charge to the addressee, in so far as exemption does not give rise to abuses or to major distortions of competition; files, archives, printed forms and other documents to be used in international meetings, conferences or congresses, and reports on such gatherings; plans, technical drawings, traced designs, descriptions and other similar documents imported with a view to obtaining or fulfilling orders in a country other than the Member State of importation or to participating in a competition held in that State; documents to be used in examinations held in the Member State of importation by institutions set up in another country; printed forms to be used as official documents in the international movement of vehicles or goods, within the framework of international conventions; printed forms, labels, tickets and similar documents sent by transport undertakings or by undertakings of the hotel industry located in a country other than the Member State of importation to travel agencies set up in that State; printed forms and tickets, bills of lading, way-bills and other commercial or office documents which have been used; official printed forms from national or international authorities, and printed matter conforming to international standards sent for distribution by associations of countries other than the Member State of importation to corresponding associations located in that State; photographs, slides and sterotype mats for photographs, whether or not captioned, sent to press agencies to newspaper or magazine publishers; articles listed in the Annex to this Directive which are produced by the United Nations or one of its specialized agencies whatever the use for which they are intended; collectors' pieces and works of art of an educational, scientific or cultural character which are not intended for sale and which are imported by museums, galleries and other institutions approved by the competent authorities of the Member States for the purpose of duty-free admission of these goods. The exemption is granted only on condition that the articles in question are imported free of charge or, if they are imported against payment, that they are not supplied by a taxable person. Chapter IV

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-07 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.