Exceptions
Exceptions for certain goods
An entry summary declaration is not required for the following articles:
- goods carried on means of transport only passing through the territorial waters or the airspace of the customs territory of the Union without a stop within that territory (Article 127 (2) (a) Regulation (EU) Nr. 952/2013 (Union Customs Code - UCC)),
- goods carried on board aircraft or sea vessels, which have temporarily left the customs territory of the Union while moving between two points in that territory by sea or air, provided they have been carried by direct route without a stop outside the customs territory of the Union (Article 136 UCC),
- electric power,
- goods transported by pipeline,
- letters
- goods being transported under the rules of the Universal Postal Agreement,
- Household effects within the meaning of Art. 2 (1) (d) Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, unless transported under the terms of a contract of carriage,
- goods for which an oral customs declaration within the meaning of Articles 135 and 136 (1) Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 (Delegierte Verordnung (EU) 2015/2446 - DA) may be lodged, unless transported under the terms of a contract of carriage,
- goods covered by Article 138 (b) to (d) or by Article 139 (1) DA, which are deemed declared pursuant to Article 141 DA, unless transported under the terms of a contract of carriage,
- goods in a travellers’ personal luggage,
- goods, which are being transported with form 302 under the agreement signed in London on 19 July 1951 by the parties to the North Atlantic Treaty on the status of their forces,
- weapons and military equipment brought into the customs territory of the Union by the authorities in charge of the military defence of a Member State, be it in military transport or transport operated for the sole use of the military authorities,
the following goods, brought into the customs territory of the Union directly from offshore installations operated by a person established in the Union’s customs territory:
- goods incorporated in such offshore installations, for the purposes of their construction, repair, maintenance or conversion,
- goods used for the equipment of such offshore installations,
- provisions used or consumed on the said offshore installations, and
- non hazardous waste products from the said offshore installations,
- goods which are exempt from customs duties in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations of 18 April 1961, the Vienna Convention on consular relations of 24 April 1963 or other consular conventions, or the New York Convention of 16 December 1969 on special missions,
goods of the following kind, carried on board aircraft or vessels:
- goods intended to be incorporated into these aircraft or vessels as parts or accessories,
- goods intended to be used for the operation of engines, machinery and other equipment these aircraft or vessels,
- foods and other objects intended to be consumed or sold on board,
- products of sea-fishing and other products taken from the sea outside the Union's customs territory by vessels registered or recorded in the Union,
- ships including the goods they are carrying, entering a maritime area under the jurisdiction of a Member State exclusively for the purpose of taking supplies on board solely for victualising, without making use of port facilities
- goods in consignments, the individual value of which does not exceed 22 euros, provided that the customs office is furnished with e.g. manifests which allow a risk analysis to be carried out, and
- goods with an ATA carnet and a CPD carnet, unless they are transported under the terms of a carriage contract.
Exceptions applying to certain countries and areas
An entry summary declaration is not required for the entry of goods from Switzerland including Liechtenstein, from Norway, or from Andorra.
Along the same lines, it is not necessary to lodge an entry summary declaration in respect of goods originating from regions which, though belonging to the Union’s customs territory, do not come under its tax jurisdiction (special fiscal areas; consistent with an a contrario reading of Article 1 (3) UCC). The areas concerned are Åland Islands (Finland), the Channel Islands (United Kingdom), the Canary Islands (Spain) and the French overseas departments.
Neither is an entry summary declaration required for goods brought in from Ceuta and Melilla, Gibraltar, Heligoland, the Republic of San Marino, the Holy See (Vatican City State), the municipalities of Livigno and Campione d’Italia, or the Italian national waters of Lake Lugano which are between the bank and the political frontier of the area between Ponte Tresa and Porto Ceresio.
(Unless stated otherwise, the legal basis for an exemption from the obligation to lodge an entry summary declaration is set by Article 104 DA.)
