Excise Duties

4. March 2011

• General liability for excise duty

• Whoever imports excise goods for resale, for delivery without remuneration or for own use, or who becomes responsible for the payment of excise duties is liable for duty

• All excise goods imported are subject to excise duty according to the Customs Tariff in Annex to the Customs Act

Entry of Goods – Customs Debt

• All imported and exported goods shall be recorded in a manifest

• Excluded are goods stored in a vessel and the luggage of passengers and crew

• Uncleared goods which are not recorded in the manifest must not be removed from a vessel unless they are at the same time produced before the customs and a permit received for their removal from the vessel

• Goods shall be manifested to the customs port which is their destination

Cargo Manifests

• Storage of uncleared excise goods is authorized in the following facilities:

• Clearance warehouses of transporters and licensed customs brokers• Bonded warehouses• Warehouses for duty free supplies• Duty free shops and warehouses for their duty free stock• Transit warehouses

It is prohibited to store uncleared excise goods in places other than the facilities mentioned in here above

Temporary Storage

• Goods which have been placed in a clearance warehouse must be cleared through customs within six months from the arrival of the transport vessel

• Director of Customs can authorize transport into a bonded warehouse, a warehouse for duty free supplies, a duty free shop or a free zone

• Director of Customs can authorize, with the licensee's approval, that goods be cleared through customs within 18 months from the arrival

Temporary Storage – cont.

• Before goods are removed from a vessel or clearance warehouse to a bonded warehouse, a warehouse for duty free supplies, a duty free shop, transit warehouse or free zone the licensee shall notify the Director of Customs about the intended movement of goods

• The same shall apply when goods are delivered from the custody of a transporter to the clearance warehouse of a customs broker or another transporter

Movement of undeclared goods

• Director of Customs must declare whether such delivery is permitted or whether the goods shall be detained for further inspection, immediately and not later than 24 hours after he has provably received a notification

• The aforementioned provision does not apply to goods transported to a warehouse for duty free supplies from a vessel’s stores

Movement of undeclared goods

• Uncleared goods may be transported between storage areas without a special permission from the Director of Customs

• The custodian must notify the Director of Customs about the transport of the goods before the transport takes place

• Transport of goods from a warehouse for duty free supplies or a duty free shop to other storage areas for uncleared goods is prohibited unless specially permitted by the Director of Customs

Transport of uncleared goodsbetween storage areas

• Transport of goods between storage areas for uncleared goods results in the transfer of responsibility from one custodian to another when a licensee receiving goods certifies their receipt

• Operator of a customs warehouse, a warehouse for duty free supplies, a transit warehouse or free zone shall post security to the State Treasury corresponding to 3% of the customs value of goods that may be expected to be stored in the storage area in question

Transfer of the responsibility – Security

Importation of goods

10

Arriving vessel

Manifest submitted

Arrival clearance

Arrival date

Temporary storage

Transporter, broker, postal storage or bonded warehouse

Customs Clearance,

Delivery Permit

Customs declaration

Customs

Importer - Broker

Whole or Retail sale

• Import charges fall due when a permit has been given for their release for domestic use

• Import charges shall fall due not later than six months from the date of arrival of the transport vessel to the country

• Due date of payment of import charges when deferment payment can be granted

• Import charges on goods which have been placed in a bonded warehouse, free zone, duty free supplies or a duty free shop fall due when a permit has been given for their release for domestic use

Due date of payment of import charges

• Registered Importers shall enjoy deferment of payment on import charges on excise goods, provided that they are not in arrears with regard to payments to the State Treasury• When deferment of payment is granted each period of settlement shall be 15 days• The due date of payment for deferred import charges shall be the 2 days after the aforementioned 15 days

Deferred Payment

Thank you for your attention