Section 1

Goods brought into the customs territory of the Community shall, from the time of their entry, be subject to customs supervision and may be subject to customs controls. Where applicable, they shall be subject to such prohibitions and restrictions as are justified on grounds of, inter alia, public morality, public policy or public security, the protection of the health and life of humans, animals or plants, the protection of the environment, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value and the protection of industrial or commercial property, including controls on drug precursors, goods infringing certain intellectual property rights and cash entering the Community, as well as to the implementation of fishery conservation and management measures and of commercial policy measures. They shall remain under such supervision for as long as is necessary to determine their customs status and shall not be removed therefrom without the permission of the customs authorities. Without prejudice to Article 166, Community goods shall not be subject to customs supervision once their customs status is established. Non-Community goods shall remain under customs supervision until their customs status is changed, or they are re-exported or destroyed. The holder of goods under customs supervision may, with the permission of the customs authorities, at any time examine the goods or take samples, in particular in order to determine their tariff classification, customs value or customs status. The person who brings goods into the customs territory of the Community shall convey them without delay, by the route specified by the customs authorities and in accordance with their instructions, if any, to the customs office designated by the customs authorities, or to any other place designated or approved by those authorities, or into a free zone. Goods brought into a free zone shall be brought into that free zone directly, either by sea or air or, if by land, without passing through another part of the customs territory of the Community, where the free zone adjoins the land frontier between a Member State and a third country. The goods shall be presented to the customs authorities in accordance with Article 95. Any person who assumes responsibility for the carriage of goods after they have been brought into the customs territory of the Community shall become responsible for compliance with the obligation laid down in paragraph 1. Goods which, although still outside the customs territory of the Community, may be subject to customs controls by the customs authority of a Member State as a result of an agreement concluded with the relevant country or territory outside the customs territory of the Community, shall be treated in the same way as goods brought into the customs territory of the Community. Paragraph 1 shall not preclude application of any special provisions with respect to letters, postcards and printed matter and their electronic equivalents held on other media or to goods carried by travellers, goods transported within frontier zones or in pipelines and wires as well as any other traffic of negligible economic importance, provided that customs supervision and customs control possibilities are not thereby jeopardised. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to means of transport and goods carried thereon only passing through the territorial waters or the airspace of the customs territory of the Community without a stop within that territory. Articles 87 to 90, 92(1) and 94 to 97 shall not apply to goods which have temporarily left the customs territory of the Community while moving between two points in that territory by sea or air, provided that carriage has been effected by a direct route and by an air or regular shipping service without a stop outside the customs territory of the Community. The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, by supplementing it, laying down special provisions for air and regular shipping services, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 184(4). Where, by reason of unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure, the obligation laid down in Article 92(1) cannot be complied with, the person bound by that obligation or any other person acting on that person’s behalf shall inform the customs authorities of the situation without delay. Where the unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure do not result in total loss of the goods, the customs authorities shall also be informed of their precise location. Where, by reason of unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure, a vessel or aircraft covered by Article 92(5) is forced to put into port or to land temporarily in the customs territory of the Community and the obligation laid down in Article 92(1) cannot be complied with, the person who brought the vessel or aircraft into the customs territory of the Community, or any other person acting on that person’s behalf, shall inform the customs authorities of the situation without delay. The customs authorities shall determine the measures to be taken in order to permit customs supervision of the goods referred to in paragraph 1, or of the vessel or aircraft and any goods thereon in the circumstances specified in paragraph 2, and to ensure, where appropriate, that they are subsequently conveyed to a customs office or other place designated or approved by the authorities.

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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.