Section 8

The person concerned shall, for the purposes of customs controls, keep the documents and information referred to in Article 9(1) for at least three calendar years, by any means accessible by and acceptable to the customs authorities. In the case of goods released for free circulation in circumstances other than those referred to in the third subparagraph, or goods declared for export, that period shall run from the end of the year in which the customs declarations for release for free circulation or export are accepted. In the case of goods released for free circulation duty-free or at a reduced rate of import duty on account of their end-use, that period shall run from the end of the year in which they cease to be subject to customs supervision. In the case of goods placed under another customs procedure, that period shall run from the end of the year in which the customs procedure concerned has ended. Without prejudice to Article 68(4), where a customs control in respect of a customs debt shows that the relevant entry in the accounts has to be corrected and the person concerned has been notified of this, the documents and information shall be kept for three years beyond the time limit provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article. Where an appeal has been lodged or where court proceedings have begun, the documents and information must be kept for the period provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article or until the appeals procedure or court proceedings are terminated, whichever is the later. Customs authorities shall not impose charges for the performance of customs controls or any other application of the customs legislation during the official opening hours of their competent customs offices. However, the customs authorities may impose charges or recover costs where specific services are rendered, in particular the following: attendance, where requested, by customs staff outside official office hours or at premises other than customs premises; analyses or expert reports on goods and postal fees for the return of goods to an applicant, particularly in respect of decisions taken pursuant to Article 20 or the provision of information in accordance with Article 8(1); the examination or sampling of goods for verification purposes, or the destruction of goods, where costs other than the cost of using customs staff are involved; exceptional control measures, where these are necessary due to the nature of the goods or to potential risk. The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, by supplementing it, laying down measures for the implementation of the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 184(4).

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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.