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Law Approving The Agreement On Cooperation And Mutual Assistance In Customs Matters Between The Government Of The Kingdom Of Belgium And The Government Of The Republic Of Kazakhstan, Signed In Brussels On December 5, 2006 (1) (2)

Original Language Title: Loi portant assentiment à l'Accord de coopération et d'assistance mutuelle en matière douanière entre le Gouvernement du Royaume de Belgique et le Gouvernement de la République du Kazakhstan, signé à Bruxelles le 5 décembre 2006 (1) (2)

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belgiquelex.be - Carrefour Bank of Legislation

5 FEBRUARY 2009. - Act to approve the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, signed in Brussels on 5 December 2006 (1) (2)



ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, signed in Brussels on 5 December 2006, will come out its full effect.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 5 February 2009.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
K. DE GUCHT
Minister of Finance,
D. REYNDERS
Seen and sealed the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
____
Notes
(1) 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 session:
Senate.
Documents. - Bill tabled on 3/07/2008, No. 4-848/1. - Report, number 4-848/2.
2008-2009:
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion, meeting of 6 November 2008. - Vote, meeting of 6 November 2008.
Room.
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 52-1565/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 52-1565/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion, meeting of November 27, 2008. - Vote, meeting of 27 November 2008.
(2) This agreement comes into force on 1er January 2012, pursuant to article 18.

ACCORD DE COOPERATION ET D'ASSISTANCE MUTUELLE EN MATIERE DOUANIERE ENTRE LE GOUVERNEMENT DU ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE ET LE GOUVERNEMENT DE LA REPUBLIQUE DU KAZAKHSTAN
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium
and
The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
designated as the "Contracting Parties",
Considering that it is important to ensure the fair determination of customs duties, taxes and other duties collected for import or export and to ensure that restrictions and prohibition measures are applied correctly during customs controls;
Considering that violations of customs laws adversely affect their economic, social, cultural, public and commercial interests;
Considering that illicit cross-border trafficking in hazardous products, threatened flora and fauna and toxic waste is a danger to society;
Recognizing the need to cooperate at the international level on issues related to the application of their customs legislation;
Convinced that the fight against violations of customs laws and the fair determination of customs duties, taxes and other duties can be made more effective by close cooperation between the customs administrations of the Contracting Parties;
In view of the International Conventions, of which the two Contracting Parties are members, providing for specific prohibitions, restrictions and control measures in respect of certain goods.
The following agreed:
CHAPTER Ier
Definitions
Article 1er
For the purposes of this Agreement:
1. “Custom Administration”:
For the Republic of Kazakhstan: the Customs Control Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
For the Kingdom of Belgium: Customs and Access Administration, Federal Public Service Finance, Belgium.
2. "Custom Legislation": all legal and regulatory requirements of the Contracting Parties States applied by Customs administrations with respect to the import, export and transit of goods, including legal and regulatory requirements for prohibition, restriction and control measures.
3. "Customs duties and taxes": customs duties, taxes and other duties that are collected in or in relation to the import or export of goods.
4. “Custom infringement”: any violation or attempt to infringe customs legislation.
5. "Person": any natural or legal person.
6. "Personal Data": data concerning a duly identified or identifiable natural person.
7. "Information": any data, document, report, certified copy of the data or other communication in any format, including electronic.
8. "Applicant Administration": Customs administration that makes a request for assistance.
9. "Required administration": 1 customs administration to which a request for assistance is addressed.
10. "Administrative provisions": all directives, circulars, instructions, guides and manuals that the officials of the customs administration of each Contracting Party apply in the exercise of their duties.
CHAPTER II
Scope of the Agreement
Article 2
1. The Contracting Parties agree to provide mutual administrative assistance through their customs administrations, under the conditions laid down in this Agreement, with a view to preventing, investigating and punishing any customs offence.
2. Any assistance provided by this Agreement shall be provided by each Contracting Party in accordance with the legal and administrative national provisions of its State and within the limits of the competence and available resources of its Customs administration.
CHAPTER III
Scope of assistance
Article 3
1. On request or on their own initiative, Customs administrations provide all information in order to ensure the correct application of customs legislation and the prevention, research and punishment of customs offences.
2. Each Customs administration, by conducting investigations at the request of the other Customs administration, acts in accordance with the legal and administrative national provisions of its State.
Article 4
1. Upon request, the requested administration shall provide all information on the relevant customs legislation and procedures in the State of that Contracting Party and shall be relevant to investigations into a Customs offence.
2. Each Customs Administration shall, on its own initiative, communicate all the information available to it on the following issues:
(a) new techniques to combat customs fraud that have been proven to be effective;
(b) new trends in customs offences, and the means or methods used to commit them.
Article 5
Customs administrations of Contracting Parties agree to assist in the technical field, including:
(a) official visits by Customs officials to facilitate mutual knowledge of the techniques, for the benefit of each person;
(b) training and assistance in the development of the specific skills of customs officials;
(c) the exchange of information and experience on the use of detection and control equipment;
(d) official visits of experts in customs matters;
(e) exchange of scientific and technical professional data relating to customs legislation and procedures.
CHAPTER IV
Special administrative assistance cases
Article 6
Upon request, the requested administration shall provide the requesting administration with information on:
(a) the regularity of the export, from the customs territory of the State of a Contracting Party, of the goods imported into the customs territory of the State of the other Contracting Party;
(b) the regularity of the importation, in the customs territory of the State of a Contracting Party, of goods exported from the customs territory of the State of the other Contracting Party;
(c) the customs regime under which the goods were placed regularly imported into the customs territory of the requested Contracting Party State.
Article 7
Upon request, the required administration exercises special monitoring on:
(a) persons in respect of whom the requesting administration has reason to believe that they commit or may commit offences to customs laws, including persons entering and leaving the customs territory of the requested State of administration;
(b) goods transported designated by the requesting administration as suspected of being subject to a customs offence;
(c) means of transport suspected by the requesting administration to be used to commit violations of customs laws in the customs territory of the requesting Contracting Party State.
Article 8
1. Customs administrations shall, upon request or on their own initiative, communicate information on completed or planned transactions that constitute or appear to constitute a customs offence. This information includes illicit trafficking:
(a) weapons, explosives and nuclear equipment;
(b) art objects of great historical, cultural or archaeological value to the States of one of the Contracting Parties;
(c) hazardous substances for the environment or public health;
(d) endangered species of flora and fauna and their products.
2. In serious cases that may seriously affect the economy, public health, public safety or other vital interests of the State of a Contracting Party, the customs administration of the other Contracting Party shall promptly provide information and information on its own initiative.
CHAPTER V
Transmission of assistance requests
Article 9
1. Applications made pursuant to this Agreement shall be submitted directly to the customs administration of the other Contracting Party, shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by the estimated documents necessary, including copies of the documents submitted to the requesting administration during import or export proceedings. If the situation requires, the request may also be made electronically; such a request must be confirmed in writing within one month.
2. Requests in accordance with paragraph 1er of this section shall include the following information:
(a) the administration of the application;
(b) the object and purpose of the application;
(c) a brief description of the case in question, the legal provisions at issue and the nature of the proceedings in question;
(d) the names and addresses of the parties involved in the proceedings if known.
3. The application by a customs administration, in order to obtain a certain procedure, is satisfied in accordance with the national legislation of the required administration.
4. The information exchanged under this Agreement shall be communicated exclusively to the officials authorized for this purpose by each Customs administration. The lists of officials designated for this purpose shall be exchanged between the Customs administrations of each Contracting Party.
5. Requests for assistance are written in English.
CHAPTER VI
Application implementation
Article 10
When the requested administration does not have the requested information, it undertakes, subject to national legal and administrative provisions, research to obtain such information. This research extends to the collection of all information and documents relating to customs offences.
Article 11
1. Upon written request, for the purposes of the investigation of a Customs offence, officials designated by the requesting administration may, with the authorization of the required administration, and subject to the conditions imposed by the requesting administration as appropriate:
(a) consult the relevant documents, records and other data held in these offices in the required administration offices to extract information relating to this Customs offence;
(b) take copies of such documents, records and other relevant data relating to the Customs offence in question.
2. When, under the conditions specified in paragraph 1er of this Article, officials of the requesting administration shall be present in the territory of the State of the other Contracting Party, at any time shall be in a position, by producing their commission, to provide proof that they have officially quality to act.
3. They shall be provided with the same protection and assistance as provided to Customs officials of the other Contracting Party by the legislation in force in the territory of the latter and shall be liable for any offence committed if any.
CHAPTER VII
Protection of information
Article 12
1. The information received in accordance with this Agreement shall be used exclusively for the purposes of this Agreement and by Customs administrations, except where the Customs administration which has provided this information expressly authorizes its use for other purposes or by other authorities. Such use is subject to restrictions imposed by the customs administration that provided information.
2. The data and documents, provided upon request, are used only for the purposes of this Agreement and may not be transferred or used for other purposes or notified without the written consent of the Customs Administration that provided the information.
3. If the law of the State of the Contracting Party that has provided this information requires it, the latter may only be used in the course of legal proceedings after the agreement of the Customs administration which has provided it.
4. The information received under this Agreement shall be protected and confidential at least equivalent to that provided for information of the same nature under the national legislation of the other Contracting Party.
5. The personal data shall be submitted pursuant to this Agreement in accordance with the national legislation of the State of each Contracting Party.
CHAPTER VIII
Derogations
Article 13
1. The assistance provided by this Agreement may be denied completely or partially, or subject to certain restrictions, where the requested administration considers that it is likely to infringe upon the sovereignty, security, public order or other essential national interests of its State, or that it involves the violation of an industrial, commercial or professional secret, or is incompatible with the legal and administrative provisions of that administration.
2. When the requesting administration is not in a position to satisfy an application of the same nature that would be submitted by the requested administration, it shall report the fact in the statement of its application. In such a case, the required administration has full discretion to determine the follow-up to this application.
3. Assistance may be postponed by the required administration when it disrupts investigations, prosecutions or ongoing proceedings. In this case, the requested administration shall consult with the requesting administration to determine whether the assistance may be provided subject to any conditions imposed by the required administration.
4. When a request for assistance is refused or postponed, the requesting Contracting Party shall be notified of the request, with a statement of the reasons for such refusal or postponement.
CHAPTER IX
Costs
Article 14.
1. Customs administrations waive any claim for reimbursement of costs arising from the application of this Agreement, except for witness expenses, as well as fees paid to experts and interpreters other than administrative agents. The costs will only be incurred with the prior agreement of the requesting State.
2. If high and unusual costs are to or should be incurred in response to the application, Contracting Parties shall consult to determine the conditions under which the application will be met, as well as how these costs will be borne.
3. The costs incurred by the application of Article 11 of this Agreement shall be borne by the Contracting Party of the requesting administration.
CHAPTER X
Implementation of the Agreement
Article 15
1. Customs administrations shall arrange for assistance, where necessary, to be made by direct communication between Customs officials responsible for the investigation or control of customs offences.
2. Customs administrations shall stop detailed provisions under this Agreement to facilitate its implementation.
3. Disputes between Contracting Parties, arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement, shall be resolved by mutual consultations and negotiations.
4. At the request of one of the Contracting Parties, Customs administrations meet to review the Agreement.
CHAPTER XI
Entry into force and denunciation
Article 16
Contracting Parties may agree to amend this Agreement by separate Protocols considered to be an integral part of this Agreement. Amendments and amendments come into force in accordance with the procedure described in Article 18 of this Agreement.
Article 17
This Agreement shall be concluded without prejudice to the rights and duties of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kingdom of Belgium under the international conventions of which they are Contracting Parties.
Article 18
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month after the date of receipt of the last written notification as the constitutional or internal requirements for the entry into force of this Agreement have been met by the Contracting Parties.
Article 19
1. This Agreement shall be concluded for an unlimited period of time, but each Contracting Party may denounce it at any time by diplomatic notification.
2. The denunciation shall take effect three months from the date of notification of the denunciation to the other Contracting Party.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized by their national legislation, have signed this Agreement.
Done in Brussels on 5 December 2006, in double copy each in Dutch, English, French, Kazakh and Russian languages, all texts being equally authentic. In the event of a discrepancy of interpretation, the English text will prevail.