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LEGANET.CD

LEGANET.CD

LEGANET.CD LEGANET.CD

ORDER-LAW N ° 10/002 OF AUGUST 20, 2010 ON THE CUSTOMS CODE
The president of the Republic,
Considering the Constitution, especially in its articles 129;
Reviewed, as amended and completed to date, the Decree of January 29, 1949 coordinating and revising the customs regime of the Republic
Democratic of the Congo;
Considering Law No. 10/012 of June 23, 2010 authorizing the Government;
On the proposal of the Government deliberated in the Council of Ministers;
ORDERED:
TITLE I: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 1: Scope and basic definitions
Article 1:
Customs legislation is constituted by this code and the legal and regulatory provisions enacted for its application.
Article 2:
1. Customs legislation as defined in article 1 above applies to the entire customs territory of the Republic
Democratic of the Congo and without regard to the quality of the people.
2 Immunities, derogations or exemptions are those provided for by international conventions, customs legislation and
special legal provisions.
Article 3:
1.The customs territory includes the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including its territorial waters and its area
air.
2.Free zones and special economic zones may be established in the customs territory, in accordance with
provisions of this code.
3.Certain provisions of customs legislation may apply outside the customs territory by virtue of specific legislation
or international conventions.
Article 4:
With the exception of war material intended for national defense and national security, goods imported or exported
by the State or on its behalf are not subject to any immunity, derogation or exemption.
Article 5:
For the purposes of this code, it is understood by:
1. Mutual administrative assistance agreements: international conventions providing for the taking by customs on behalf of another
customs administration or in collaboration with it, measures for the correct application of customs legislation and
prevention, investigation and repression of customs offenses;
2. Customs or customs administration: administration or public body responsible for the application of customs legislation and
the collection of import and export duties and taxes, and which is also responsible for the application of other laws and
import and export regulations;
3. customs officer: an officer of the customs administration;
4.Customs office: the administrative unit competent to carry out customs formalities as well as the premises and other
locations approved for this purpose by customs;
5.Customs agent: legal person whose profession is to carry out, in its name and on behalf of others, the formalities
customs concerning the declaration of goods;
6. debtor: any person liable for payment of the amount of the customs debt;
7. decision: the specific act by which the customs regulate a matter relating to customs legislation; this term covers, among others,
binding information within the meaning of article 14 of this code;
8. declarant: the person making the goods declaration;
9.Load declaration: information transmitted before or at the time of arrival or departure of a means of transport to
commercial use, which contain the data required by customs regarding the cargo transported; it is in particular
the manifest for ships and aircraft, the consignment note for trains or the equivalent document for vehicles
road;
10. declaration of goods: the act made in the form prescribed by the customs, by which the interested parties indicate the customs procedure
to assign to the goods and communicate the elements which customs require the declaration for the application of this procedure;
11.Customs clearance: the completion of customs formalities necessary to release goods for consumption, for
to export or to place them under another customs procedure;
12. Customs destination of goods:
(a) placing the goods under a customs procedure;
b) its destruction;
13. customs debt: the obligation for a person to pay import duties and taxes (import customs debt) or
export duties and taxes (export customs debt) which apply to goods determined according to the provisions
in force ;
14.Director General of Customs: natural person appointed by the competent authority and exercising the highest functions in
the day-to-day management of the customs administration;
15. private home: the home of an individual or part of a construction reserved for his home, excluding outbuildings,
gardens and enclosures;
16. Export duties and taxes: customs duties and any other duties, taxes or miscellaneous charges which are levied on
the export or on the occasion of the export of goods, with the exception of charges the amount of which is limited to the cost
approximate services rendered or collected by customs on behalf of another organization;
17. Import duties and taxes: customs duties and any other duties, taxes or miscellaneous charges which are levied on
importation or on the occasion of importation of goods, with the exception of charges the amount of which is limited to the cost
approximate services rendered or collected by customs on behalf of another organization;
18. registration of the declaration: the operation by which the customs office recognizes a declaration as admissible and covers it
a serial number, the date of this operation and the office seal;
19. warehouse keeper: any person who is responsible for managing a customs warehouse;
20. warehousekeeper: the person who has drawn up or has drawn up on his behalf by a customs broker, the declaration of
goods under the customs warehouse regime;
21.examination of the goods declaration: the operations carried out by customs to ensure that the declaration of
goods is correctly established, and that the required supporting documents meet the prescribed conditions;
22. customs formalities: all the operations that must be carried out by the interested parties and by the customs to satisfy the
customs legislation;
23.Office hours: the legal hours during which the offices are open to the public;
24.place of importation into the customs territory:
a) the port of disembarkation for goods transported by sea, river or lake;
(b) the first customs office for goods transported by rail or road;
(c) the airport of disembarkation for goods transported by air;
25. Release of goods: the act by which customs allows interested parties to dispose of the goods which are the subject of a
customs clearance or seizure;
26. Goods: all things, without exception, such as raw or processed materials, foodstuffs, animals, vehicles, instruments of
payment (metallic or fiduciary currencies), public bills, company securities, originating or not from the Democratic Republic of
Congo, tradable or not, with or without commercial value, subject or not to import duties and taxes or
export;
27. goods in free circulation: goods which can be disposed of without restrictions from the point of view of customs;
28. goods exported with reserve of return: goods which are designated by the declarant as having to be
reimported and in respect of which identification measures may be taken by Customs to facilitate their reimportation
as is ;
29.produced goods: goods which have undergone a production process and goods grown, manufactured or
extracted;
30. Means of transport for private use: road vehicles and trailers, boats and aircraft, as well as their spare parts,
their accessories and normal equipment imported or exported by the interested party exclusively for his personal use, excluding
any transport of persons for consideration and industrial or commercial transport of goods for payment or not;
31. ship or boat: ships, whether or not decked, and any other means of transporting people or goods by water;
32. person: either a natural or legal person, or, when this possibility is provided for by the regulations in force, a
association of persons recognized as having the capacity to perform legal acts without having the legal status of a legal person;
33. person established in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a natural person who has his residence there, or a legal person who
has either its registered office, or its place of business, or a permanent establishment;
34 continental shelf: the seabed and their subsoil beyond the territorial sea, over the entire extent of the natural extension of the
land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or up to 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which
the breadth of the territorial sea is measured when the outer edge of the continental margin is at a lower distance; the
continental margin being the submerged extension of the land mass;
35.transport unit:
(a) containers with a capacity of one cubic meter or more, including removable bodies;
(b) road vehicles, including trailers and semi-trailers;
c) railway cars;
(d) ships, boats and other craft;
e) aircraft;
36. Verification of goods: the operation by which customs carry out a physical examination of the goods in order to ensure
that their nature, origin, condition, quantity and value are in accordance with the data in the goods declaration;
37. exclusive economic zone: the zone located beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, in which the Republic
Democratic of Congo has:
a) sovereign rights for the purposes of exploration and exploitation, conservation and management of natural or biological resources or
non-biological, waters superjacent to the seabed, the seabed and its subsoil as well as with regard to other
activities aimed at the exploration and exploitation of the area for economic purposes such as the production of energy from
water, currents and winds; and
b) jurisdiction over the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and works, scientific research
marine environment, protection and preservation of the marine environment.
Chapter 2: The right of representation
Article 6:
Without prejudice to the provisions of articles 7 points 1 and 2, 115, 116 point 1, and 117 of this code, any interested person may
carry out the acts and formalities provided for by customs legislation by oneself.
Article 7:
1.Any interested person may be represented at customs for the accomplishment of the acts and formalities provided for by the
customs legislation.
2.However, as regards the establishment of a goods declaration, the person referred to in point 1 above cannot be
only be represented by an approved customs broker.
3.The representative must be established on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
4.The representative must have a power of representation.
5.Customs must require from any person who declares that he is acting as a representative the means of proof establishing his power to
representation.
Chapter 3 : Decisions relating to the application of customs legislation
Article 8:
1.When a person requests a decision from customs on the application of customs legislation, he shall provide all the
elements and documents necessary for the examination of his request.
2.The decision must be taken and communicated to the applicant as soon as possible.
When the request for a decision is made in writing, the decision must be made within 15 days from the date of receipt of
said request by customs. It must be communicated in writing to the applicant.
However, when it is not possible for the customs to meet this deadline, it shall inform the applicant thereof before the expiry of the said deadline, in
indicating the reasons which justify the overrun as well as the new time limit that it considers necessary to rule on the request. This
new deadline may not exceed 7 days.
3. Decisions taken in writing which do not grant requests, or which have adverse consequences for individuals
to which they are addressed, are motivated by customs.
Article 9:
With the exception of the cases referred to in article 344 point 2 of this code, the decisions taken are immediately enforceable.
Article 10:
1.A decision favorable to the applicant may be annulled if it was taken on the basis of inaccurate or incomplete information, provided that
that the applicant knew or should reasonably have known of this inaccuracy or incompleteness, and that the decision could not have been
be taken on the basis of the correct and complete elements.
2.The annulment of the decision is communicated to the applicant and takes effect from the date on which the annulled decision was
taken.
Article 11:
1.A decision favorable to the applicant is revoked or modified when, in cases other than those referred to in Article 10 above,
one or more of the conditions provided for by the legal and / or regulatory provisions for its grant were not or are no longer
fulfilled.
2.A decision favorable to the applicant may be revoked if the addressee does not comply with an obligation which
incumbent, where applicable, as a result of this decision.
3.The revocation or modification of the decision shall be communicated to the applicant.
4. The revocation or modification of the decision shall take effect on the date of its communication. However, in exceptional cases and
to the extent that the legitimate interests of the addressee of the decision so require, customs may postpone this taking effect to a date
later.
Article 12:
Articles 10 and 11 above are without prejudice to the rules according to which a decision has no effect or loses its effects for
reasons which are not specific to customs legislation.
Chapter 4 : Information
Article 13:
1. Customs shall make available to the public useful information of a general nature relating to customs legislation.
When information already disseminated needs to be changed due to amendments to customs legislation, customs
make new information available to the public in sufficient time before it comes into force. In all cases,
this period cannot be less than 10 days.
2. Any person may request specific information from customs concerning the application of customs legislation.
Such a request may be refused when it does not relate to an import or export transaction actually envisaged.
Customs provides not only the information specifically requested, but also any other relevant information
that it deems useful to bring to the attention of the person concerned.
3. When Customs provides information, it shall take care not to disclose any information of a private or
confidential affecting Customs or third parties, unless such disclosure is required or permitted by law.
4. The information is provided free of charge to the applicant.
However, when specific costs are incurred by customs, in particular following analyzes or appraisals of the goods
as well as for their return to the applicant, these may be charged to the applicant.
Article 14:
1. Customs shall issue, on written request, binding tariff information or binding information on matters
original.
2. The binding tariff information or the binding information on origin does not bind the customs vis-à-vis the holder
as, respectively, for the tariff classification or for the determination of the origin of a good.
Binding tariff information or binding origin information only binds customs with respect to
goods for which customs formalities are completed after the date of issue.
3. The holder must be able to prove that there is correspondence in all respects:
a) in terms of tariffs: between the goods declared and that described in the information,
b) in terms of origin: between the goods concerned and the determining circumstances for the acquisition of origin on the one hand, and
the goods and the circumstances described in the intelligence, on the other hand.
4. Binding information is valid for 3 years from the date of its issue.
5. Binding information ceases to be valid when:
a) in terms of tariffs:
i. following a modification of the tariff nomenclature, it does not comply with the duty thus established;
ii. it becomes incompatible with the interpretation of the tariff nomenclature;
iii. it is revoked or modified in accordance with article 11 above, and subject to this revocation or modification being notified to the
holder;
The date on which the binding information ceases to be valid, for the cases referred to in points i) and ii), is the date of publication
such measures or, in the case of international measures, the date of their integration into the legal system of the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
b) in terms of origin:
i. as a result of a customs decision, or an agreement concluded by the Democratic Republic of Congo, it does not comply with the law
thus established;
ii. it becomes incompatible at the international level, with the agreement on the rules of origin of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
or with the explanatory notes or opinions on origin adopted for the interpretation of this agreement;
iii. it is revoked or modified in accordance with article 11 above, and subject to the holder being informed in advance.
The date on which the binding information ceases to be valid, for the cases referred to in points i) and ii), is the date indicated when
the publication of the aforementioned measures or, in the case of international measures, the date of their integration into the system
law of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
6. The holder of binding information which ceases to be valid in accordance with point 5 (a) (ii) or (iii) or (b) (ii) or (iii) may
continue to use it for a period of 3 months after the date of publication or notification, once it has concluded, on the
basis of the binding information and before the adoption of the measure in question, firm and final contracts relating to the purchase or
the sale of the subject goods.
In the cases referred to in point 5 (a) (i) and (b) (i), the law or international convention may set a period during which the holder of a
binding information can continue to rely on it.
Chapter 5: Other provisions
Article 15:
1. The customs may take, under the conditions fixed by the provisions in force, in particular by this code, all measures of
control that it considers necessary for the correct application of customs legislation, and has the necessary powers to
carry out :
a) control of the movement of means of transport, goods and people;
b) controls by audit.
2. In carrying out customs controls, customs limit their interventions to the minimum necessary to ensure the application of the
customs legislation and uses risk management techniques.
3. When the necessities of trade or other circumstances justify it, the Director General of Customs may take
measures having the effect of simplifying customs procedures and controls. Taking such measures must not jeopardize
the interests of the treasury.
4. The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by means of an order, the modalities of application of the provisions of the
this article.
Article 16:
1. For the purposes of facilitating customs procedures and enhancing the quality of controls, customs shall use, to the extent of the
possible, new technologies when their use is profitable and efficient both for them and for users.
2. When setting up computer systems, Customs shall comply with the standards prescribed in this matter by the
international organizations of which the Democratic Republic of Congo is a member.
3. Under the conditions determined by the Minister having finance in his attributions, the electronic data generated by
the use of new technologies, in application of this code, can serve as means of proof.
Article 17:
1. For the purposes of applying customs legislation, any person directly or indirectly interested in the operations
concerned carried out in the context of trade in goods supplied to customs, at the latter's request and on time
possibly fixed, all documents and information regardless of the medium as well as any necessary assistance.
2. Any information of a confidential nature, or provided on a confidential basis, is covered by professional secrecy. She cannot be
disclosed by Customs without the express permission of the person or authority that provided it. The transmission of information is
permitted insofar as Customs could be required or authorized to do so in accordance with the provisions in force, in particular
in matters of data protection, or in the context of legal proceedings.
Article 18:
1. The persons concerned must keep, for the period fixed by the provisions in force and for 10 years, for the purposes of
customs control, the documents and information referred to in Article 17 above, whatever the medium. This period starts from the
end of the year in which the goods cease to be under customs supervision or of the date on which it is certain that
the goods entered or left the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2. When a customs check shows the need for it, documents and information may be kept for a period of time.
longer period, but not exceeding 15 years.
Article 19:
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 73 point 2 of this code, the minister having finance in his attributions fixes, by
order, the conditions under which a customs document can be transferred to a third party by the declarant in whose name it is made out, or by
a previous assignee.
2. At the request of the person concerned, and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the customs authorities are empowered,
under the conditions determined by decision of the Director General of Customs, to issue duplicates of customs documents.
TITLE II: ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF CUSTOMS
Chapter 1: Field of action of customs
Article 20:
1.The action of the customs is exercised on the whole of the customs territory under the conditions fixed by this code.
2.A special surveillance zone is organized along the land, sea, river and lake borders, as well as in the
perimeter of ports, airports, stations and other points of embarkation or disembarkation of goods and persons in
international traffic.
It constitutes the customs department.
3.In the customs department, any transport, deposit or detention of goods must be covered by justifications
of origin determined by decision of the Director General of Customs.
In the absence of these justifications, the goods are deemed:
a) contraband for export, if they are of the nature of goods the exportation of which is prohibited or subject to
restrictions;
(b) contraband on importation in all other cases.
4.Within the customs territory outside the customs department, any transport, any deposit or any detention of goods
determined by order of the Minister having finance in his attributions, must be covered by proof of origin referred to in
point 3 above.
In the absence of these justifications, the goods are deemed:
a) contraband for export, if they are of the nature of goods the exportation of which is prohibited or subject to
restrictions;
(b) contraband on importation in all other cases.
5 The Director General of Customs provides, by decision, for exceptions to the provisions of point 3 above.
Article 21:
1.The customs radius includes a maritime, river or lake area and a land area.
2 The maritime area is between the coast and an outer limit located at sea 12 nautical miles measured from the lines of
base of the territorial sea.
The baselines are the low water mark as well as the straight baselines and bay closing lines which are
determined by ordinance of the President of the Republic.
3.The river or lake zone is between the shore and the line of the border.
4.The land area extends:
a) on maritime, river or lake borders, between the coast or the shore and a line drawn 20 kilometers below the shore of
the sea and the shores of rivers and lakes;
b) on land borders, between the border of the customs territory and a line drawn 20 kilometers below.
5.To facilitate the suppression of fraud, the depth of the land area may be increased, by a variable measure, up to 60
kilometers by decrees of the minister having finance in his attributions.
6.Distance is calculated as the crow flies without regard to winding roads.
Article 22:
In a contiguous area between 12 and 24 nautical miles measured from the baselines of the territorial sea and subject to agreements
of delimitation with neighboring States, customs can exercise the necessary controls in order to:
a) prevent infringements of the laws and regulations which it is responsible for applying in the customs territory;
b) prosecute infringements of the laws and regulations referred to in point a) above committed in the customs territory.
Article 23:
The course of the interior limit of the land area of ​the customs radius is fixed by order of the Minister having finance in his
attributions.
Chapter 2: Organization and operation of customs offices and brigades
Section 1: Establishment of customs offices
Article 24:
1.The creation, elimination, operation, powers and opening and closing hours of the offices of
customs are the subject of decisions of the Director General of Customs, taken in particular taking into account the needs of trade.
2.Each customs office is placed under the authority of a head of the customs office appointed by decision of the Director General of
customs.
3.The Director General of Customs is empowered to negotiate directly with the officials of the customs administrations of the countries
neighbors for the purpose of harmonizing the powers and opening hours of customs offices located on either side of a
common border, and organization of common controls.
Article 25:
Customs are required to affix on the facade of each office, in a very visible place, a table bearing this inscription:
"Customs of the Democratic Republic of Congo" - "Customs office of…".
Article 26:
1.Customs formalities are only completed at customs offices.
2.However, the minister having finance in his attributions may, by way of decree, grant exceptions to this rule.
Section 2: Establishment of customs brigades
Article 27:
1. Customs brigades are created and abolished by decision of the Director General of Customs.
2. Customs brigades are made up of uniformed personnel subject to special training and discipline. They
support the action of customs offices and are primarily responsible for:
a) border surveillance;
b) prevention and investigation of fraud.
3.The organization and functioning of the customs brigades are determined by decision of the Director General of Customs.
4.Under the conditions provided for in article 356 point 1 of this code, the officers of the brigades have the quality of judicial police officer.
Section 3: Provisions common to customs offices and brigades
Article 28:
1.Gates, offices or fences intended for border guard and surveillance can best be established on the ground.
appropriate, subject to the State paying the value where applicable.
2.Customs offices may be placed in the houses which are most suitable for customs, with the exception, however, of
those occupied by the owners. The rent of the said houses is fixed by the lease or, if there is none, according to the estimate.
experts. The usual compensation is due by the State to tenants who would be moved before the expiry of their leases.
3.The houses and sites rented by customs leases are, when the circumstances and the interests of the service require the displacement
offices, handed over to the owners. An indemnity is paid to the latter which is fixed in accordance with the lease contract.
4.The owners, concessionaires or managers of ports, airports and international stations are required to make available
customs, at no cost whatsoever, with the exception of costs relating to the consumption of water and electricity, the
necessary for the proper functioning of customs services.
5 The owners, licensees or managers of ports, airports and international stations are required to authorize, in all
time, customs have free and free access to the places of customs clearance, unloading and storage of goods.
Article 29:
1 The local authorities and, failing them, those of the province are bound, following requests made to them by the director
General of Customs, to designate the houses and locations suitable for the establishment of offices.
2.Without prejudice to the provisions of point 2 of article 28 above, the designation must relate only to houses or locations
which are not occupied by the owners, unless it is absolutely impossible to obtain others. In this case, part of the premises kept
by the owners should be temporarily assigned to the office service.
3.Local authorities and those of the province must immediately take the necessary measures to ensure that the said houses and
locations are made available to customs, under the conditions provided for in Article 28 above.
Chapter 3: Immunities, protection and obligations of customs officers
Article 30:
1. Customs officers are under the special protection of the law. It is forbidden for any person to oppose the exercise of their
functions or mistreat them, insult them, threaten them, or intimidate them in any way in the exercise of their
functions.
2.The civil and military authorities are required, at the first requisition, to lend a hand to the customs officers to
the accomplishment of their mission.
Article 31:
1.Before taking up their duties, customs officers having the capacity of judicial police officers must give a report to the Public Prosecutor.
the Republic of the jurisdiction, the following oath:
“I… .. I swear obedience to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. I undertake to perform with loyalty and integrity the functions
entrusted to me and to fight against customs fraud in all its forms ”.
2.The taking of the oath is registered free of charge at the court office.
3.At the judicial level, sworn customs officers cannot answer for acts performed in the exercise of their functions.
only before the public prosecutor or the competent court.
Article 32:
1. In the performance of their duties, customs officers must carry their service cards and are required to show them to
the first requisition.
2.The following are required to wear the official customs uniform:
(a) customs officers working at borders and at customs offices;
customs officers, other than those referred to in point a) above, who, in the performance of their duties, are regularly
contact with users.
3.The Director General of Customs determines, by decision, the official customs uniform.
Article 33:
1. Authorized customs officers have the right to carry arms in the performance of their duties.
2. They may use it in particular in self-defense or when threatened by armed individuals.
3.The conditions of detention, carrying and use of firearms by customs officers are determined by order of the Minister
having internal affairs in its attributions.
Article 34:
Any customs officer who is dismissed from his job or who leaves it is required to immediately hand over to customs his registration card.
service as well as the registers, seals, arms, ammunition and other materials placed at its disposal under penalty of legal proceedings.
Customs take the necessary measures to recover the aforementioned effects.
Article 35:
1 In addition to the penalties to which he is liable in application of the legal and regulatory provisions in force, the customs officer recognized
guilty of having demanded and / or received, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, reward or present of any kind whatsoever
either, to accomplish an act of his function, even just but not subject to remuneration, or to accomplish, in the exercise of his
duties, an unjust act or to refrain from performing an act that falls within the scope of his duties, loses the quality of customs agent.
2. Benefit from a reward, the customs officer or any other person external to the customs who denounces the facts referred to in point 1
above without having participated in it.
3. Is absolved from the sanction provided for in point 1 above, the guilty customs officer who denounces the aforementioned facts to which he has
participated with other customs officers.
Article 36:
Are bound by professional secrecy, under the conditions and subject to the penalties provided for by the provisions of the penal code,
customs as well as all persons called upon on the occasion of their functions or their attributions to exercise, in any capacity whatsoever.
or, duties at customs or involved in the application of customs legislation.
Article 37:
1.On request addressed to the Director General of Customs, Customs is authorized to communicate the information it holds in
foreign trade and financial relations with foreign countries, to the Central Bank of Congo, and to services under
other ministries which, through their activities, participate in public service missions to which customs contribute.
The information communicated must be necessary for the accomplishment of these missions.
2. The communication of this information may only be made to officials holding at least the grade of director or
equivalent.
3 The persons having to know and to use the information thus communicated are, under the conditions and under the penalties provided
by the provisions of the penal code, bound by professional secrecy.
Chapter 4 : Powers of customs officers
Section 1 : Right of inspection of goods, means of transport and people
Article 38:
For the application of customs legislation and for the purpose of investigating fraud, customs officers may carry out the visit
goods and means of transport as well as that of people.
Article 39:
1.Any driver of a means of transport must submit to the injunctions of customs officers.
2.The latter, subject to complying with the relevant provisions, may erect roadblocks to carry out checks.
3.They can make use of any appropriate gear to immobilize the means of transport when the drivers do not stop at
their injunctions.
Article 40:
1.Within the maritime, river or lake zone of the customs radius, customs officers may visit any vessel and
submit the documents attesting to the tonnage of the vessel as well as the original of the loading declaration to which they refer "do not
varietur "and of which they are given a copy.
2.These agents can continue even on the high seas and use all appropriate means to stop ships which, when they arrive
in the maritime zone of the customs department, did not comply with their summons and did not stop at their injunctions.
3.They then exercise the rights referred to in point 1 of this article.
Article 41:
1. Customs officers can go on board all ships, including warships, which are in ports. They
may remain there until unloading or departure.
2.The captains and commanders must receive the customs officers and accompany them in the visit of the ships. They must
also present to said officers the general condition of ship loading.

Customs officers may request the opening of hatches, chambers and cupboards of these ships, as well as packages
designated for the visit.
In the event of refusal by captains and commanders, customs officers may request the police. A report is drawn up
of this opening and the findings made at the expense of the captains or commanders.
3.Customs officers responsible for the control of ships and cargoes may, if necessary, close hatches, which do not
can only be opened in their presence.
4. The provisions of this article shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, to means of transport other than ships.
Article 42:
Customs officers can visit the continental shelf and economic zone facilities and devices at any time
exclusive. They can also visit the means of transport contributing to their exploration or to the exploitation of their resources.
natural.
Article 43:
1.When there are serious indications that a person is carrying narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or
precious materials dissimilated in her body, customs officers can subject her to medical examinations
after having previously obtained their express consent.
2. In the event of refusal, customs officers submit a request for authorization to the competent public prosecutor. This is
transmitted to the magistrate by any means.
3.The public prosecutor seized may authorize the customs officers to have medical examinations carried out. He then designates the
doctor responsible for practicing them as soon as possible.
4.The results of the examination communicated by the doctor, the observations of the person concerned and the course of the procedure
must be recorded in a report sent to the magistrate.
5.Anyone who refuses to undergo the medical examinations prescribed by the magistrate will be punished with penal servitude of
10 years maximum and a fine not exceeding 10,000,000 Congolese francs.
Section 2: Right of access to premises and places for professional use and home visits
Article 44:
1. In order to carry out the investigations necessary for the search and observation of customs offenses or for checks by
audit, customs officers holding a command rank have access to premises and places for professional use, as well as to
land and warehouses where the goods and documents relating to these offenses or to the operations subject to control
by audit are likely to be held. For the same purposes, they have access to means of transport for professional use and to their
loading.
2.This access takes place between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. or, outside these hours, when public access is authorized, or when
during production, manufacturing, packaging, transport, handling, storage or
marketing.
3 Apart from the conditions referred to in point 2 above, the public prosecutor is informed beforehand of the operations and can do so.
oppose. In this case, a copy of the report referred to in point 5 below is sent to it within 5 days of its establishment.
4.During their investigations, customs officers may, contradicting the person concerned, take a sample
samples and withhold documents for the purposes of the investigation or make copies of them.
5. The progress of operations as well as the findings made are reported in a report to be drawn up immediately or in
as quickly as possible. A copy of this report is given to the person concerned or sent to him at the latest within 5 days.
depending on its establishment.
6. The provisions of this article do not apply to the part of the premises and places mentioned in point 1 above which is also
assigned to the private home.
Article 45:
1. For the investigation and observation of customs offenses, the customs officers appointed for this purpose by the Director General of
Customs can carry out visits to all places, even private ones, with the exception of the private home, where the goods and documents
relating to these offenses are likely to be detained and proceed to their seizure.
2. Except in the case of flagrante delicto or when the pursuit of fraud has not been interrupted from the extreme border:
a) Any visit to the private home must be authorized by the public prosecutor.
This authorization is granted in writing, and indicates the address or location of the places to be visited.
The public prosecutor may visit the premises during the visit.
At any time, he can decide to suspend or stop the visit.
In this case, its decision is notified verbally and on site at the time of the visit to the occupant of the premises or his representative.
b) the visit cannot be started before 5 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
It is carried out in the presence of the occupant of the premises or his representative. If this is not possible, customs officers request
two witnesses chosen from outside the customs authorities.
The customs officers mentioned in point 1 above, the occupant of the premises or his representative and, where applicable, the
Public prosecutor and witnesses alone can take cognizance of the exhibits and documents before they are seized.
The occupant's representative or witnesses requested by customs officials must, under penalty of criminal prosecution, ensure the
confidential nature of the documents seized and of the information of which they became aware.
3. The report, to which is annexed an inventory of the goods and documents seized, is signed by the customs officers,
the occupant of the premises or his representative and, where applicable, by witnesses and the public prosecutor. In case of refusal to sign by
the occupant or his representative or by witnesses, mention is made in the report.
If the on-site inventory presents difficulties, the items and documents seized are placed under seal. The occupant of the premises or his
representative is advised that he can attend the opening of the seals. The inventory is then established.
A copy of the report and the inventory is given to the occupant of the premises or to his representative.
A copy of the report and the inventory is sent, within three days of its establishment, to the public prosecutor
who authorized the visit.
4.If there is refusal to open the doors, customs officers may request the police to open them.
Section 3: Right of communication
Article 46:
1.Customs officers holding a command rank may require the communication of papers, documents of any
nature and computer data relating to operations of interest to their service, in particular:
a) in railway stations: waybills, invoices, loading sheets, books, registers;
b) on the premises of maritime, river and lake navigation companies and among shipowners, consignees and brokers
maritime: freight manifests, bills of lading, ship's tickets, despatch advice, delivery orders;
c) on the premises of air navigation companies: dispatch notes, delivery notes and slips, records of
stores;
d) in the premises of road transport companies: take-over registers, parcel registration books,
delivery, waybills, waybills, waybills;
e) in the premises of agencies, including those known as "rapid transport", which are responsible for receiving, grouping,
shipping by all modes of locomotion (rail, road, water, air) and delivery of all packages: detailed shipping slips
collectives, receipts, delivery books;
f) at customs brokers and freight forwarders: accounting documents, registers, loading declarations,
deeds of approval, copies of goods declarations and attachments;
g) at warehouses, docks and general warehouses: deposit registers and files, warrants and debit cards
collateral, goods entry and exit registers, goods situation, stock accounts;
h) at the actual recipients or consignors of the goods declared to customs: declarations of goods, contracts,
invoices, accounting and financial documents;
i) among telecommunications operators and;
j) in general, to all natural or legal persons directly or indirectly interested in regular transactions or
irregularities falling within the competence of customs.
2 Agents having the capacity to exercise the right of communication provided for in point 1 above may be assisted by those having
a lower grade. In this case, they are bound like them and under the same penalties to professional secrecy.
3 The various documents referred to in point 1 above must be kept by the interested parties for a period of ten years, from the date of
date of dispatch of the packages, for the senders, and from the date of their receipt, for the addressees.
4.During the checks and investigations carried out on the natural or legal persons referred to in point 1 above, the officers of the
customs can seize, on report, documents of any kind (accounts, invoices, copies of letters,
check books, drafts, bank account statements and all other documents) as well as identity documents and passports
suitable to facilitate the accomplishment of their mission.
Article 47:
Customs is authorized, subject to reciprocity, or within the framework of mutual administrative assistance agreements, to provide
qualified authorities of foreign countries all information, certificates, reports and other documents likely to establish the
violation of laws and regulations applicable to entering or leaving their territory and ensuring the security of the logistics chain. The
information and documents can be exchanged before the arrival of the goods.
Section 4: Customs control of mail items
Article 48:
1.Customs officers have access to sedentary or itinerant post offices, including sorting rooms, in correspondence
direct with the outside, to search there, in the presence of the postal agents, the items, closed or not, of internal or external origin,
with the exception of consignments in transit, containing or appearing to contain articles of the kind referred to in this article.
2. The post office must submit to customs control:
(a) consignments containing goods which are prohibited or subject to import or export restrictions;
(b) consignments containing goods liable to duties and taxes;
c) consignments selected for inspection.
3.The secrecy of correspondence may only be infringed under the conditions provided for by law.
Article 49:
The provisions of article 48 above also apply to private courier companies.
Section 5: Identity verification
Article 50:
For the purposes of preventing, investigating and repressing customs offenses, customs officers may
check the identity of persons entering or leaving the customs territory or circulating within the customs department.
Section 6 : Controlled deliveries
Article 51:
1. In order to establish customs offenses relating to the import, export or possession of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances,
identify the perpetrators, co-perpetrators and accomplices of these offenses as well as those who participated in them as interested in a way
any, and carry out the seizures provided for by customs legislation, customs officers may, under the conditions set
by decision of the Director General of Customs, and after having informed the public prosecutor in writing and under his control,
monitor the flow of these products.
2. Customs officers are not criminally liable when, for the purposes referred to in point 1 above, with written authorization
of the Public Prosecutor and under his control:
(a) they acquire, possess, transport or deliver narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
b) they make available to persons detaining them or engaging in customs offenses mentioned in point 1 above of the
means of a legal nature, as well as means of transport, deposit and communication.
3. Authorization may only be given for acts which do not determine the commission of the offenses referred to in point 1 above.
4.The provisions of points 1 and 2 above are, for the same purposes, applicable to substances which are used for the manufacture
illicit narcotics and psychotropic substances, the list of which is fixed by order of the Minister having health in his
attributions, as well as the materials used for this production.
5. Are not criminally punishable, the customs officers who carry out, with regard to the funds to which relates
the offense provided for by article 391 of this code and for the establishment thereof, the acts mentioned in points 1 and 2 above.
TITLE III: BASIC ELEMENTS OF DUTIES AND TAXES AND OTHER MEASURES
Chapter 1 : Tariffs of duties and taxes on import and export, origin and value of goods
Section 1 : Tariffs of import and export duties and taxes
Article 52:
1.Goods entering or leaving the customs territory are liable to the duties and taxes provided for respectively
the Tariffs of import and export duties and taxes in the state in which they are at the time they become
applicable.
2.However, the customs office may authorize the separation of goods which, in the same load, would have been
damaged as a result of events occurring before registration of the goods declaration provided for in Article 112 of this
coded. Damaged goods must either be destroyed immediately in accordance with the
procedure in the matter, either re-exported or re-shipped within the customs territory as the case may be, or taxed according to their new
state.
Article 53:
The nomenclature of tariffs for import and export duties and taxes is based on the international convention on the System
Harmonized description and codification of goods.
Article 54:
The species of goods is the denomination assigned to them, according to the rules in force, in the tariffs of duties and taxes to
import and export.
Section 2: Origin of the goods
Article 55:
Without prejudice to the specific rules for determining origin provided for in international conventions concluded by the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the origin of goods is determined in accordance with the provisions of this code.
Article 56:
1. Goods wholly obtained in that country originate in a country.
2.Goods wholly obtained in a country are understood to mean:
(a) mineral products extracted in that country;
(b) the products of the vegetable kingdom which are harvested there;
(c) live animals born and raised there;
(d) products from live animals raised there;
e) products of hunting and fishing practiced there;
f) products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea outside the territorial sea of ​a country by vessels
registered or registered in that country and flying the flag of that same country;
(g) goods obtained on board factory ships from products referred to in point (f) originating in that country, provided that these
factory ships are registered or registered in that country and fly the flag of that country;
h) products extracted from the soil or the seabed located outside the territorial sea, in so far as that country exercises for the purposes
exploitation of exclusive rights over this land or subsoil;
i) scraps and waste resulting from manufacturing operations and end-of-life items, provided that they were collected there and not
can only be used for the recovery of raw materials;
j) products obtained there exclusively from the goods referred to in points a) to i) or their derivatives, at any stage
whether it be.
3 For the application of the provisions of point 2 above, the concept of country also covers the territorial sea of ​that country.
Article 57:
1. A good in the production of which two or more countries have intervened originates in the country where the last
substantial, economically justified processing or working carried out in a company equipped for this purpose and having resulted in
the manufacture of a new product or one representing an important stage of manufacture.
2. A joint decree of the ministers responsible for finance and industry determines the conditions under which a
processing or working is considered to be substantial within the meaning of point 1 above.
Article 58:
A processing or working for which it is established, or for which the observed facts justify the presumption that it had for
sole purpose of circumventing the provisions applicable in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to goods from a specific country, not
can in no case be considered as conferring, under Article 57 above, on the goods thus obtained the origin of the country
where it is performed.
Article 59:
1.Customs legislation or other specific legislation may provide that the origin of the goods must be justified by the
production of a document.
2.Notwithstanding the production of this document, customs may, if they deem it necessary, require any additional supporting documents.
to ensure that the indication of origin corresponds to the rules established by
the relevant regulations.
Section 3: The value of the goods
§1 : Of the value of the goods on import
Article 60:
For the purposes of this section, it is understood by:
1. buyer: the person to whom ownership of the goods is transferred against payment of the price on the occasion of a transaction;
2.Purchasing commission: the sums paid by an importer to his agent for the service which consisted in representing him abroad in
view of the purchase of the goods to be valued;
3. Identical Goods: Goods which are the same in all respects, including physical characteristics, quality,
reputation ; differences in minor aspects do not prevent goods otherwise conforming to the definition from being
considered identical;
4.similar goods: goods which, without being alike in all respects, have similar characteristics and are
composed of similar materials, which makes it possible to fulfill the same functions and to be commercially interchangeable; the
the quality of the goods, their reputation and the existence of a trade mark are among the factors taken into account.
consideration in determining whether goods are like;
5.goods of the same nature or of the same species: goods classified in a group or a range of goods
produced by a particular industry or sector of an industry, including goods
identical or similar;
6.persons deemed to be related: persons who find themselves in one of the following situations:
(a) one is a member of the management or board of directors of the other's undertaking;
b) they have the legal status of partners;
c) one is the employer of the other;
d) any person owns, controls or owns directly or indirectly five percent (5%) or more of the shares or units
issued with voting rights, by both;
e) one of them controls the other directly or indirectly;
f) both are directly or indirectly controlled by a third person;
g) together, both directly or indirectly control a third person;
h) they are members of the same family; thus, within the meaning of the present code, the persons who are associated in business between them of the
that one is the agent, distributor or exclusive licensee of the other, regardless of the designation employed, is deemed
be linked, if they meet one of the criteria set out above.
7 price actually paid or payable: the total payment made or to be made by the buyer to the seller or for the benefit of the latter for
imported goods; it includes all payments made or to be made, as a condition of the sale of the goods
imported by the buyer to the seller or by the buyer to a third party to meet an obligation of the seller; the payment
does not necessarily have to be in cash, it can be done by letter of credit or negotiable instrument and can be done
directly or indirectly;
8.seller: the supplier of the goods imported into the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Article 61:
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1.The customs value of imported goods is their transaction value, i.e. the price actually paid or payable
for goods when sold for export to the customs territory, after adjustment made
in accordance with the provisions of article 68 below, provided:
(a) that there are no restrictions on the transfer or use of the goods by the buyer, other than restrictions which:
i. are imposed or required by law or by the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
ii. limit the geographical area in which the goods can be resold; or do not substantially affect the value
goods ;
b) that the sale or the price is not subject to conditions or services the value of which cannot be determined
relates to the goods to be valued;
c) that no part of the proceeds from any resale, assignment or subsequent use of the goods by the purchaser is returned directly
or indirectly to the seller, unless an appropriate adjustment can be made under the provisions of article 68 below; and
d) that the buyer and seller are unrelated or, if they are, the transaction value is acceptable for customs purposes in
under the provisions of point 2 below.
2.
a) In order to determine whether the transaction value is acceptable for the purposes of applying the provisions of point 1 above, the fact that
the buyer and seller are related does not in itself constitute sufficient grounds for considering the transaction value as
unacceptable. In such a case, the specific circumstances of the sale are examined, and the transaction value accepted provided that
these links did not influence the price. If, taking into account the information provided by the declarant or obtained from other sources, Customs
has reasons to consider that the links influenced the price, it communicates its reasons to the declarant and gives him a possibility
reasonable to answer. If the declarant so requests, the reasons are communicated to him in writing.
b) In a sale between related parties, the transaction value is accepted and the goods are valued in accordance with
provisions of point 1 above when the declarant demonstrates that said value is very close to one of the values ​indicated below,
occurring at the same time or at about the same time:
i. transaction value in sales, to unrelated buyers, of identical or similar goods for export to
destination of the Democratic Republic of Congo;
ii. customs value of identical or similar goods, as determined by applying the provisions of Article 65
below ;
iii. customs value of identical or similar goods, as determined by applying the provisions of Article 66
below.
In applying the above criteria, due account shall be taken of the differences demonstrated between levels of trade,
quantities, the elements listed in article 68 below, and the costs borne by the seller during sales in which the
seller and buyer are not related and that he does not support in sales in which seller and buyer are related.
c) The criteria set in point b) are to be used at the initiative of the registrant, and for comparison purposes only. Values ​of
substitution cannot be established under point (b).
Article 62:
1.
a) If the customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined by application of the provisions of Article 61 below
above, the customs value is the transaction value of identical goods sold for export to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and exported at or around the same time as the goods to be valued.
b) When applying the provisions of this article, the customs value is determined by reference to the transaction value
identical goods, sold at the same commercial level and substantially in the same quantity as the goods to be valued.
In the absence of such sales, we refer to the transaction value of identical goods, sold on a commercial level.
different and / or in different quantity, adjusted to take account of the differences that the commercial level and / or the quantity may have
result, provided that such adjustments, whether they lead to an increase or decrease in value, can be
be based on evidence produced which clearly establishes that it is reasonable and correct.
2.When the costs and charges referred to in point 2 of article 68 below are included in the transaction value, this value is
adjusted to take account of the significant differences that may exist between the costs and costs relating to, on the one hand, the goods
imported, and on the other hand to the identical goods considered, as a result of differences in distances and modes of
transport.
3.If, during the application of this article, more than one transaction value of identical goods is established, reference is made to
the lowest transaction value to determine the customs value of imported goods.
Article 63:
1.
a) If the customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined by application of the provisions of Articles 61 and 62
above, the customs value is the transaction value of similar goods sold for export to the United States.
Democratic Republic of the Congo and exported at or around the same time as the goods to be valued.
b) When applying the provisions of this article, the customs value is determined by reference to the transaction value
like goods, sold at the same level of trade and substantially in the same quantity as the goods to be valued.
In the absence of such sales, we refer to the transaction value of similar goods, sold on a commercial level.
different and / or in different quantity, adjusted to take account of the differences that the commercial level and / or the quantity may have
result, provided that such adjustments, whether they lead to an increase or decrease in value, can be
be based on evidence produced which clearly establishes that it is reasonable and correct.
2.When the costs and charges referred to in point 2 of article 68 below are included in the transaction value, this value is
adjusted to take account of the significant differences that may exist between the costs and costs relating to, on the one hand, the goods
imported, and on the other hand to the like goods concerned, owing to differences in distances and modes of
transport.
3.If, during the application of the provisions of this article, more than one transaction value of similar goods is established,
the lowest transaction value is used to determine the customs value of imported goods.
Article 64:
If the customs value of imported goods cannot be determined by applying the provisions of Articles 61, 62 and 63
above, the customs value is determined by application of the provisions of Article 65 below or, when the customs value
cannot be determined by application of this article, by application of the provisions of article 66 below.
However, at the request of the importer, the order of application of Articles 65 and 66
below is reversed.
Article 65:
1.
a) If the imported goods, or identical or similar imported goods, are sold in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo in the state in which they are imported, the customs value of the imported goods, determined by application of the provisions
of this article, is based on the unit price corresponding to sales of the imported goods or identical goods
or similar imported totaling the highest quantity, so made to persons unrelated to the sellers, at the time or shortly
near the time of importation of the goods to be valued, subject to deductions relating to the following:
i. commissions generally paid or agreed to, or margins generally practiced for profits and overheads relating to
sales, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, of imported goods of the same species or of the same nature;
ii. usual costs of transport and insurance, as well as associated costs incurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
iii. where applicable, costs and charges referred to in point 2 of Article 68 below; and
iv. import duties and taxes and other taxes payable in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by reason of importation or sale
goods.
(b) If neither the imported goods nor identical or similar imported goods are sold at or about
at the time of importation of the goods to be valued, the customs value is based, subject otherwise to the provisions of
point
a), on the unit price at which the imported goods, or identical or similar imported goods, are sold in
Democratic Republic of the Congo in the state in which they are imported, on the earliest date following the importation of the goods to
evaluate, but within 90 days of this import.
2.If neither the imported goods nor identical or similar imported goods are sold in the Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo in the state in which they are imported, the customs value is based, if the importer so requests, on the unit price
corresponding to sales of imported goods totaling the highest quantity, made after working or processing
subsequent, to persons, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who are not related to the sellers, taking due account of the
value added by working or processing and deductions provided for in point 1 a) above.
Article 66:
1.The customs value of imported goods, determined by application of the provisions of this article, is based on a
calculated value. The calculated value is equal to the sum:
a) the cost or value of the materials and of the manufacturing or other operations involved in producing the goods
imported;
b) an amount for profits and overheads, equal to that which generally goes into sales of goods of the same
kind or of the same kind as the goods to be valued, which are made by producers in the exporting country for
export to the Democratic Republic of Congo;
c) the cost or value of the items and charges referred to in Article 68, point 2 below.
2. Customs may not require or oblige a person not residing in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to
produce, for examination, accounts or other documents, or allow access to accounts or other documents, for the purposes of
determining a calculated value. However, the information provided by the producer of the goods for the purposes of
determination of the customs value by application of the provisions of this article may be verified in another country by the
authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the agreement of the producer and on condition that sufficient notice is given to the
government of the country concerned and that the latter does not oppose the investigation.
Article 67:
1.If the customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined by applying the provisions of Articles 61 to 66
above, it is determined by reasonable means consistent with the principles and general provisions of the
the World Trade Organization (WTO) on customs valuation and Article VII of the General Agreement on Trade and
Customs tariffs (GATT) of 1994 and on the basis of data available in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
2 The customs value determined by applying the provisions of this article is not based on:
a) on the sale price, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, of goods produced there;
(b) on a system providing for the acceptance, for customs purposes, of the higher of two possible values;
c) on the price of goods in the domestic market of the exporting country;
d) on the cost of production, other than the calculated values ​which will have been determined for identical or similar goods
in accordance with the provisions of article 66 above;
e) on the price of goods sold for export to a country other than the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
(f) on minimum customs values; or
g) on ​arbitrary or fictitious values.
3.If he so requests, the importer is informed in writing of the customs value determined by application of the provisions of
this article and the method used to determine it.
Article 68:
1.To determine the customs value by application of the provisions of Article 61 above, one adds to the price actually paid or
payable for imported goods:
a) the following items, insofar as they are borne by the buyer but have not been included in the price actually paid or
to pay for the goods:
i.commission and brokerage fees, with the exception of buying commissions;
ii. cost of containers treated, for customs purposes, as one with the merchandise;
iii.cost of packaging, including both labor and materials;
b) the value, appropriately imputed, of the products and services indicated below when supplied directly or indirectly
by the buyer, free of charge or at reduced cost, and used in the production and sale for export of the imported goods,
to the extent that this value has not been included in the price actually paid or payable:
i. materials, components, parts and similar elements incorporated in the imported goods;
ii. tools, dies, molds and similar items used in the production of the imported goods;
iii. materials consumed in the production of the imported goods;
iv. engineering, study, art and design work, plans and sketches, carried out elsewhere than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
necessary for the production of imported goods;
c) royalties and license fees relating to the goods to be valued, which the buyer is required to pay, either directly or
indirectly, as a condition of the sale of the goods to be valued, insofar as these royalties and license fees
have not been included in the price actually paid or payable;
(d) the value of any part of the proceeds from any resale, disposal or subsequent use of the imported goods that returns
directly or indirectly to the seller.
2.To determine the customs value, it is also added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods,
the following items to the extent that they have not been included in the price actually paid or payable for the goods:
(a) the cost of transporting the imported goods to the port or place of importation;
b) loading, unloading and handling charges associated with the transport of the imported goods to the port or place
import; and
c) the cost of insurance.
3.Any element which is added by application of the provisions of this article to the price actually paid or payable shall be
exclusively on objective and quantifiable data.
4.For the determination of the customs value, nothing is added to the price actually paid or payable, with the exception of those
which are provided for in this article.
Article 69:
The customs value of imported computer media intended for data processing equipment and comprising
data or instructions includes:
(a) the cost or value of the IT support itself;
b) the cost or value of the data or instructions.
Article 70:
When elements used to determine the customs value of a good are expressed in a currency other than the
national currency, the exchange rate to be taken into account is that which has been duly published by the Central Bank and applicable
day before the date of registration of the goods declaration.
Article 71:
The provisions of this section do not affect the specific provisions relating to the determination of the customs value of
goods released for consumption following another customs destination.
§2: The value of the goods for export
Article 72:
1.The customs value for export is that of the goods at the point of exit, increased, where applicable, by transport costs.
up to the border but not including the amount:
(a) export duties and taxes;
(b) internal taxes and similar charges for which discharge has been granted to the exporter.
2. By way of derogation from point 1 above, the Minister having finance in his attributions may, when the circumstances justify it,
designate the goods for which export duties and taxes will be levied according to the values ​it determines by decree
and in force on the date of registration of the declaration. The values ​thus determined are applicable for a period not exceeding
not 90 days.
Chapter 2: Prohibitions and restrictions
Section 1 : Generalities
Article 73:
1. For the application of this code, the following are considered:
a) prohibited, all goods the import or export of which is prohibited for any reason whatsoever, in particular for
reasons:
- public order;
- public security;
- of public morality;
- hygiene and public health;
- preservation of the environment;
- protection of national treasures;
- protection of intellectual property;
- consumer protection.
(b) subject to restrictions, any goods the import or export of which is subject to the fulfillment of conditions or
special formalities other than customs conduct and declaration obligations.
2.Any documents bearing authorization to import or export (licenses or other similar documents) may not, under any circumstances, be
the object of a loan, a sale, an assignment and, in general, any transaction on the part of the holders to whom
they were given by name.
Article 74:
In addition to the cases provided for by this code, the minister having foreign trade in his attributions determines, by decree, the
prohibited goods and those subject to restrictions.
Article 75:
Customs is responsible for the application of measures relating to prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports.
Section 2: Prohibitions relating to the protection of intellectual property
Article 76:
1. All foreign products, natural or manufactured, are prohibited from importation, excluded from storage, transit and circulation,
bearing either on themselves or on packaging, boxes, bundles, envelopes, bands or labels, etc., a trademark
or trade, a name, a sign or any indication of such a nature as to make believe that they were manufactured in the Republic
Democratic of the Congo or that they are from there.
2.Are also prohibited on importation, excluded from storage, transit and circulation, all foreign products, natural or
manufactured, obtained in a locality of the same name as a locality of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which do not bear, in
at the same time as the name of this locality, the name of the country of origin and the mention "Imported", in clearly visible characters.
Article 77:
All foreign products, natural or manufactured, which do not
do not meet the obligations imposed by the regulations of the Democratic Republic of
Congo in terms of indication of origin.
Article 78:
1.The holder of an intellectual property right, who has valid grounds for suspecting that the import or export of
counterfeit branded goods or pirated goods infringing its right is envisaged or in progress, may present
to customs a written request to suspend customs clearance of these goods. This request can also be
made with regard to infringements other than counterfeiting and piracy.
2.Anyone making the request referred to in point 1 above is required to provide adequate evidence to
convince customs that under the laws in force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a presumption of infringement of its right to

intellectual property, as well as a sufficiently detailed description of the goods to facilitate identification.
The Director General of Customs determines, by decision, the elements that must be included in the request referred to in point 2 above.
3.Customs inform the applicant within 30 days whether or not they grant their request and, if applicable, the duration of the measure.
suspension of customs clearance of suspicious goods.
4. Customs may require the plaintiff to provide sufficient security to protect the defendant and Customs against any abuse.
possible.
5. In cases where, following a request made under the provisions of point 1 above, the customs have suspended the
customs clearance of goods containing industrial designs, patents, layout-designs or
undisclosed information, based on a decision not issued by a judicial or independent authority, and where
the period provided for in point 4 above has expired without the authority empowered for this purpose having taken any provisional measure, and under
provided that all other conditions for importation have been fulfilled, the person concerned may be authorized to
clear customs by providing a security in an amount sufficient to protect the holder of the property right
intellectual property rights infringement.
The constitution of this guarantee does not prejudice any other measure that may be obtained by the holder of the right, the guarantee being
be released if the holder does not assert his right to sue within 90 days of the filing of the request.
6.The interested person is informed, within 10 days, of the suspension of the customs clearance of the suspicious goods.
Article 79:
1.If, within a period not exceeding 10 days after the applicant has been informed of the suspension of customs clearance
suspicious goods, customs have not been informed that a procedure leading to a decision on the merits has been initiated by a
party other than the defendant or the authority duly empowered for that purpose has taken provisional measures extending the suspension of the
customs clearance of goods, they may be cleared, provided that all other conditions set for
import or export have been fulfilled. If necessary, this period can be extended by 10 days.
2.If proceedings leading to a decision on the merits have been initiated, a review, including the right to be heard, shall take place at the
defendant's request that it be decided within a reasonable time whether these measures will be modified, repealed or confirmed, in order to
provided that the suspension of the customs clearance of the goods has not been executed or maintained in application of a decision
provisional judicial process.
Article 80:
The court may order the applicant to pay the interested person damages in compensation for any damage which
was caused to him due to the unjustified suspension of the customs clearance of goods in accordance with article 78 above.
Article 81:
1.Without prejudice to the protection of confidential information, Customs may authorize the applicant and the respondent to
inspect all detained goods to establish the merits of their respective claims.
2. In the event of an affirmative determination as to substance, Customs may inform the right holder of the names and addresses of the person
interested as well as the quantity of the goods concerned.
Article 82:
1. Customs may, on its own initiative, suspend the clearance of goods for which it has suspected
proof that they infringe an intellectual property right. In that case :
a) Customs and the competent authorities may, at any time, request from the right holder any information useful to
the investigation of the case;
(b) the importer or exporter and the right holder are immediately informed of the suspension measure.
2.In the event of an unjustified suspension, the liability of the Customs and its agents can only be engaged if it is proved that they have acted
dishonest.
Article 83:
1.Without prejudice to other rights to initiate an action that the holder of the intellectual property right has and subject to the rights of the
defendant to request a review by a judicial authority, the competent authorities may order the destruction or
excluding goods infringing an intellectual property right.
2.The re-exportation of counterfeit branded goods as they are, or their placement under another customs procedure is not
permitted, except in exceptional circumstances.
Article 84:
The provisions of Articles 78 to 83 above do not apply to goods without a commercial character contained in small
quantities in the luggage and personal effects of travelers.
Chapter 3: Control of foreign trade, exchange and foreign financial relations
Article 85:
1.Importers, exporters and travelers must comply with the regulations of foreign trade, foreign exchange as well
than those governing external financial relations.
2. Customs officers are empowered to record infringements of the regulations referred to in point 1 above.
Chapter 4 : The transitional clause
Article 86:
1.Any act instituting customs measures less favorable than the former measures may grant the benefit of the former
measures to goods which can be proven to have been dispatched to the customs territory before the date of entry into force of the said act
when they are declared for consumption without having been placed in a warehouse or made up for deposit.
2.The justifications must result from the last transport tickets created before the date of entry into force of the act, at the destination
direct and exclusive of the customs territory.
TITLE IV: CONDUCT OF GOODS AT CUSTOMS
Chapter 1 : Importation
Section 1 : Transport by sea
Article 87:
1.All goods arriving by sea, whether or not intended for unloading, must be entered on the loading declaration
of the ship.
2.This document must be signed by the captain; it must mention:
(a) the place where the loading declaration is presented to customs;
(b) the name of the vessel;
c) the nationality of the vessel;
(d) the name of the master;
e) the place (s) of loading of the goods;
f) the identification number (s) of the container (s), if applicable;
(g) the marks and numbers of the packages;
(h) the number and nature of the packages;
i) description of the goods;
j) the gross weight;
k) dimensions;
l) bill of lading numbers.
Article 88:
The captain of a ship arriving in the maritime zone within the customs department must, upon first requisition:
a) submit the original of the loading declaration for visa by the customs officers going on board; and
(b) give them a copy of the said declaration.
Article 89:
1. Except in duly justified cases of force majeure, ships may dock only in ports provided with a customs office.
2.When the goods are transported from the place of their introduction into the customs territory to the port provided with a customs office or
in another place designated by customs is interrupted as a result of accident or force majeure, the captain of the vessel is required to
take the necessary steps to prevent goods from circulating in unauthorized conditions and to inform customs
the nature of the accident or other circumstances which interrupted the transport.
Article 90:
Upon arrival of the vessel in port, the captain is required to:
a) present the logbook for the visa of customs officers;
b) deliver to the customs office the loading declaration with, in annex, the tickets which, according to custom,
accompany the goods as well as the special manifests of ship's stores and junk goods belonging to
members of the crew;
c) also deliver to the customs office the charter parties or bills of lading, acts of nationality and any other documents which
may be required by customs for the application of customs measures;
d) deliver to the customs office the list of bunkering products.
Article 91:
1.Goods may only be unloaded or transhipped from the vessel on which they are located at the request of the
carrier or his representative and with the authorization of the customs office and in the places designated or approved by it.
However, this authorization is not required in the event of imminent danger requiring the immediate unloading of the goods, in
in whole or in part.
In this case, the customs office is informed without delay.
2 The customs office may, in order to ensure control of both the goods and the vessel on which they are found, require any
when unloading and unpacking the goods.
3.Goods cannot be removed without permission from the customs office of the place where they were originally placed.
Article 92:
1.Unloading or transhipment operations must be carried out during working days and opening hours
from the customs office.
2.However, at the request of the carrier or his representative, and for reasons deemed valid by the customs office, the latter
authorizes the unloading or transhipment of goods outside working days and / or opening hours of the
office.
3.Unloading, transhipment and removal carried out outside working days and / or office opening hours
give rise to the payment of a fee limited to the approximate cost of the services rendered and whose rate and terms of payment
are set by decision of the Director General of Customs.
Article 93:
The commanders of the ships of the national and foreign military navy are not exempted from the obligations provided for by this present
coded.
Article 94:
The provisions of Articles 87 to 93 above apply, mutatis mutandis, to goods transported by inland waterway and
lake.
Section 2 : Land transport
Article 95:
1.All goods imported through land borders must be taken immediately to the nearest customs office, in
taking the most direct route determined by order of the Minister having finance in his attributions.
2.They may not be brought into houses or other buildings before they have been taken to the customs office, and may not
may exceed this without customs clearance.
3.Goods may not circulate without authorization from the customs office on direct routes serving the offices
of secondary importance during the hours of their closure.
Article 96:
Direct routes serving offices of secondary importance may be closed to international traffic, by order of the Minister
having finances in its attributions, during all or part of the period of suspension of the activities of these offices.
Article 97:
1.On arrival at the customs office, any driver of vehicles transporting goods must hand over to customs the
declaration of loading, with in annex, the commercial documents which, according to the usage, accompany the goods, as well as
that, where applicable, the customs documents issued by the customs office of the neighboring country.
2.The loading declaration must mention:
a) the owner (s) of the goods;
b) the country of departure of the means of transport;
c) the country of destination, if applicable;
d) the registration number (s) of the vehicle (s);
e) the identification number (s) of the container (s), if applicable;
(f) the marks and numbers of the packages;
g) the number and nature of the goods;
h) the marks and numbers of the seals, if applicable;
i) the gross weight.
3.Goods arriving after the customs office has closed are deposited free of charge in the dependencies of the said office.
until the moment of its opening. In this case, the documents referred to in point 1 above must be submitted to the customs office as soon as
its opening.
Article 98:
The provisions of Articles 91 to 93 above are applicable, mutatis mutandis, to goods transported by land.
Section 3: Transport by air
Article 99:
1 Aircraft making an international route must, in order to cross the border, follow the air route imposed on them.
2.Except in duly justified cases of force majeure, they may only arise at customs airports.
3.When, in the event of force majeure, the aircraft is obliged to land at a non-customs airport, the captain is required to take
the necessary measures to prevent goods from circulating in unauthorized conditions, and to inform customs thereof.
Article 100:
1.Goods transported by air must be entered on a loading declaration signed by the captain
of the aircraft.
2.The loading declaration must mention:
(a) the name of the company;
b) the flight numbers and date;
c) the airport (s) of departure;
d) the number of the air waybill (s);
e) the number of packages corresponding to each bill of lading number;
f) the nature of the goods;
g) the list of fueling products.
Article 101:
1.The aircraft commander must present the loading declaration to customs officers upon first requisition.
2.He must deliver this document to the airport customs office as soon as the aircraft arrives, or, if the aircraft arrives before the opening of the
office, as soon as it opens, with attached the transport tickets which, depending on usage, accompany the goods.
Article 102:
1.All unloading and throwing of goods during transport are prohibited.
road.
2.However, the commander of the aircraft has the right to have the ballast, the postal mail thrown in the course of the route for this purpose.
officially designated, as well as the loaded goods of which the jet is essential to the safety of the aircraft. Customs must be
informed as soon as
as possible.
Article 103:
The provisions of Articles 91 to 93 above are applicable, mutatis mutandis, to goods transported by air.
Section 4: Provisions common to all modes of transport
Article 104:
1.It is forbidden to present as a unit in the loading declaration, several closed packages brought together in any way
is.
2. Prohibited goods must be entered on the loading declaration under their real name.
3.The loading declaration can be lodged at the customs office before the arrival of the means of transport. However, the minister
having finances in its attributions can, by way of decree, determine the cases in which the filing of the declaration of
loading before the arrival of the means of transport is obligatory.
4. Customs may require, under the conditions it determines, the filing of the loading declaration in electronic format.
5.When the loading declaration and the other documents referred to in Article 101 (2) above are drawn up in a language
foreign, customs may require a translation, especially if the information contained therein is not understood.
6.The loading declaration lodged by the carrier with the customs office is the subject of a registration which is worth taking
in charge of the goods.
7.Goods presented to the customs office without being included in a loading declaration must
also be supported.
Chapter 2: Temporary storage of goods in warehouses and customs clearance areas
Article 105:
1 Unless special provisions to the contrary, goods brought to customs under the conditions provided for in Articles 87 to 103 below.
above can, pending the subscription of the declaration of goods
referred to in article 112 of this code, be placed in temporary storage in stores or customs clearance areas.
2.The creation of warehouses and customs clearance areas is subject to the authorization of the Director General of Customs who approves them.
location, construction and layout.
3.A decision by the Director General of Customs determines the conditions for the approval and operation of warehouses and
clearance.
Article 106:
1.The admission of goods to stores or customs clearance areas is subject to deposit, at the customs office,
a summary declaration of temporary storage by one of the following persons:
(a) the carrier or his representative;
(b) the owner, consignee or consignor of the goods;
(c) the operator of the store or customs clearance area.
2.Goods placed in temporary storage in warehouses or customs clearance areas are, vis-à-vis customs, under the
responsibility of the operator of the warehouse or customs clearance area.
3. The Director General of Customs determines, by decision, the form of the declaration of temporary storage.
Article 107:
1.The maximum period of stay of goods in store or in customs clearance areas is:
a) 15 working days for goods transported by sea, river and lake;
b) 5 working days for goods transported by air and land.
2. The deadlines set out in point 1 above run from the date of filing of the declaration of temporary storage.
3.When the circumstances warrant, the customs office may set a shorter time limit or authorize an extension of the time limits.
referred to in point 1 above.
4.When, at the end of the aforementioned periods, the goods have not been the subject of a declaration assigning them a customs procedure,
the operator is required to take them to the public customs warehouse or to any other place designated by the customs office, where they
are, in accordance with article 283 of this code, automatically constituted in deposit.
Article 108:
1.Following a written request from the persons referred to in article 106 above, and for reasons deemed valid by the
customs, the latter may authorize goods placed in temporary storage to undergo:
a) the operations normally required to keep them in good condition, in particular cleaning, threshing, dusting, sorting, or
replacement and repair of packaging;
b) the usual operations intended to facilitate their removal from warehouses or customs clearance areas and their subsequent routing,
including sorting, stacking, weighing, marking, and labeling.
2.When circumstances so require, the customs office may subject the operations referred to in point 1 above to compliance with
certain conditions that it deems necessary.
Article 109:
1.Goods deteriorated, spoiled or damaged as a result of accident or force majeure before leaving the stores or
Customs clearance areas may be cleared as if they had been imported in the state in which they are located, provided that
deterioration, damage or damage is established to the satisfaction of the customs office and provided that the
conditions and formalities applicable to the customs clearance of such goods.
2.The provisions of point 1 above do not apply to stolen goods or to those irretrievably lost due to
their nature.
Article 110:
The obligations and responsibilities of the store or clearance area operator vis-à-vis customs must be covered by
a guarantee, the amount of which is fixed by decision of the Director General of Customs.
Chapter 3 : Export
Article 111:
1.Goods intended for export must be taken to a customs office or to places designated by customs.
2.On borders, carriers are prohibited from taking any route to bypass or avoid customs offices.
3 Pending completion of customs formalities, goods intended for export may be placed in
warehouses or customs clearance areas in accordance with the provisions of articles
105 to 110 above.
TITLE V: CUSTOMS CLEARANCE OPERATIONS
Chapter 1: Declaration of goods
Section 1 : The compulsory nature of the declaration of goods
Article 112:
1.All goods imported or exported must be the subject of a goods declaration assigning them a procedure
customs officer.
2.Exemption from duties and taxes, either on importation or exportation, does not exempt from the obligation provided for in point 1 above.
3. The following are exempt from the declaration of goods referred to in point 1 above:
a) merchant ships and warships flying a foreign flag carrying out trade missions, stopovers or
of
visits to the Democratic Republic of Congo;
b) merchant ships and warships flying the flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo which have been the subject of a
declaration of release for consumption on their first import; however, these ships and vessels must be subject to
export declaration in the event of transfer to a foreign flag;
(c) aircraft of regular international traffic registered abroad;
d) military aircraft registered abroad carrying out trade missions, stopovers or visits to the Republic
Democratic of the Congo;
e) aircraft registered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which have been the subject of a declaration of release for consumption at their
first import; however, these aircraft must be the subject of a goods declaration in the event of export;
f) locomotives in international traffic, including wagons.
Article 113:
1.The goods declaration must be lodged in a customs office competent for the customs operation envisaged.
2.The goods declaration must be lodged:
a) on importation, within 3 clear days (not including Sundays and public holidays) after the arrival of the goods.
office or in places designated by the customs office;
b) on export, upon arrival of the goods at the office or at the places designated by the customs office or, if the goods
arrived before the opening of the office, from this opening.
3 The deadlines provided for in point 2 above are increased by the regulatory period of stay of the goods in stores or in
customs clearance if the goods have been placed in temporary storage.
4.The filing of the goods declaration must be made on working days and during office opening hours.
However, at the request of the person concerned and for reasons deemed valid by the customs office, the goods declaration may
be filed outside working days and / or office opening hours.
The filing of the goods declaration outside working days and / or office opening hours gives rise to
royalty payment
referred to in article 92, point 3 of this code.
Section 2: Filing of the goods declaration before their arrival at the customs office
Article 114:
1.The goods declaration may be lodged before the arrival of the goods at the office or at the places designated by the
customs.
2.The Director General of Customs shall fix, by decision, the conditions for the application of point 1 above, in particular the conditions and
time limits within which the arrival of the goods at the office or at the places designated by customs must be justified.
Section 3: Persons authorized to make the declaration of goods
Article 115:
The declaration of goods is made by the person having the right to dispose of the goods or by a forwarding agent.
customs approved.
Article 116:
1 No one may carry out on behalf of another person the customs formalities concerning the declaration of goods unless he has been approved
as a customs broker.
2.This approval is granted and, where appropriate, withdrawn temporarily or permanently, by the Director General of Customs.
Article 117:
1.Only legal persons can be approved as customs brokers.
2. Approval is granted on a personal basis. It must be obtained for the legal person and for any natural person authorized to
represent.
3. Under no circumstances may the refusal or withdrawal, temporary or definitive, of the approval give entitlement to compensation or damages.
Article 118:
1. The customs broker must register all the customs operations he performs for others in annual directories.
2.He is required to keep the said directories, as well as the correspondence and documents relating to his customs operations for 3
years from the date of registration of the corresponding goods declarations.
Article 119:
The conditions for granting and withdrawing the authorization of customs brokers and natural persons authorized to represent them
are fixed by order of the minister having finance in his attributions.
Section 4: Form, particulars, admissibility and registration of the goods declaration
Article 120:
1.The goods declaration must be made using an electronic process. In the absence of a computerized system of
customs clearance, the declaration of goods must be made in writing. In this case, it cannot be written in pencil and must be
signed by the declarant.
2.When the conditions determined by Customs are met, the Director General of Customs may authorize the use of
simplified goods declarations.
3 The goods declaration must contain all the information necessary for the application of customs legislation and for
the establishment of foreign trade statistics.
4.The Director General of Customs determines by decisions:
(a) the computerized customs clearance procedure;
b) the simplified customs clearance procedure;
(c) the form of the goods declaration, the particulars it must contain and the documents which must be annexed thereto.
Article 121:
When several articles are listed on the same goods declaration, each article is considered to have been the subject of
an independent declaration.
Article 122:
It is prohibited to present as a unit in the declaration of goods several closed packages grouped together in any way.
is.
Article 123:
1.When the person empowered to lodge the goods declaration is not in possession of the information necessary for
to establish this, it may be authorized to examine the goods before declaration and to take samples. She must then present
at the customs office a request for authorization to open the goods which cannot, under any circumstances, exempt it from the obligation
to make the goods declaration.
2. Any manipulation likely to modify the presentation of the goods for which the opening authorization has been granted is prohibited.
3.The form of the request for authorization to open the goods and the conditions under which the examination may take place
prior goods are determined by decision of the Director General of Customs.
Article 124:
1.The goods declaration recognized as admissible is immediately registered.
2. Is considered inadmissible, the declaration of goods irregular in the form or which is not accompanied by
documents whose production is compulsory.
When the customs office considers a declaration of goods as inadmissible, it communicates to the declarant the reason for the
rejection. This communication can be made electronically, in writing or orally as the case may be.
3 Notwithstanding the provisions of point 2 above, the goods declaration not including the documents may be received.
required when the registrant has been authorized to do so.
The authorization is subject, on the one hand, to the undertaking by the declarant to produce the missing documents within a given period,
on the other hand, to the constitution of a guarantee.
Authorization cannot be granted when the documents required for the application of the prohibition or control measures are lacking.
restriction.
4.When there is a contradiction in a goods declaration between a statement, in letters or numbers, worded
in accordance with customs terminology and a statement not in accordance with this terminology, the latter statement is void.
When the species is declared, by simple reference to the coding elements of the product customs clearance nomenclature, the
mentions in letters contradicting these coding elements are null.
In any other case, the entries in figures contradicting the entries in letters of the declaration are void.
Article 125:
1. Unless otherwise specified, the date to be taken into consideration for the application of all the provisions governing the regime
customs authority for which the goods are declared is the date of registration of the goods declaration by the office of
customs.
2.For the application of this code, and in particular of duties and taxes, prohibitions and other measures, the declaration of
goods deposited before the arrival of the goods in accordance with the provisions of article 114 above does not take effect, with
all the consequences attached to the registration, only from the date on which the arrival of the goods is justified and
provided that the said goods declaration satisfies the conditions required on that date by virtue of Article 124 above.
Article 126:
If the last valid day for applying a tariff is a Sunday or a public holiday, the system and the reception desks and
registration of customs offices must remain open to receive and register goods declarations relating to
the application of this tariff throughout the duration of the opening hours of the office as they are fixed for the working days.
Article 127:
1.The declarant is authorized to correct the registered goods declaration, subject to the following reservations:
a) rectification must be requested:
i. on importation, before the customs office has authorized the removal of the goods;
ii. on export, before the goods have left the customs office or the place designated for that purpose, unless the request is
relates to items the accuracy of which the customs office can verify, even in the absence of the goods;
(b) the rectification cannot be accepted if the customs office has informed the declarant of its intention to carry out a review of the
declaration of goods, or if he has noticed the inaccuracy of the particulars of the declaration of goods;
c) the correction may not relate to the species of the goods or to the number of packages.
2.At the declarant's request and for reasons deemed valid by customs, the head of the office may, under the conditions determined
by decision of the Director General of Customs, authorize the correction of the goods declaration after the start of the examination of
this one.
However, Customs may take the necessary measures, including the application of a penalty, if an infringement is discovered during
examination of the goods declaration or goods verification.
3.The declarant is authorized to request the withdrawal of the goods declaration,
a) on importation:
i. if he provides proof that the goods were declared in error under a specific customs procedure and requests the application
another customs procedure, or that due to special circumstances this declaration is no longer justified; and
ii. provided that the request is made to the customs office before the release is granted, and provided that the reasons
invoked are considered valid by customs.
b) on export, if he provides proof that the goods have not left the customs territory, or have been reintroduced there.
Article 128:
1 By way of derogation from Article 124, point 2 above, the declarant who, for reasons considered valid by the customs office, does not have
not have all the information necessary to establish the goods declaration, may be authorized to lodge a declaration of
provisional or incomplete goods, provided that this includes the elements deemed necessary by customs and that the
declarant undertakes to lodge the final declaration or to complete the goods declaration within a specified period.
2 The particulars of the complementary goods declarations are deemed to constitute, together with the particulars of the declarations of
incomplete goods to which they relate, a single and indivisible act taking effect on the date of registration of the
corresponding incomplete goods declaration.
3 The Director General of Customs shall determine, by decision, the modalities of application of the provisions of point 1 above.
Chapter 2 : Examination of the goods declaration
Section 1 : Conditions for examining the goods declaration
Article 129:
1. As soon as the goods declaration is registered, the customs office shall proceed, if it deems it necessary:
a) a documentary check on the goods declaration and the documents attached to it. He may require the declarant
to present other documents to him in order to ensure that the particulars of the goods declaration are correct;
b) the verification of all or part of the declared goods, with, where appropriate, the taking of samples for analysis
or a thorough check.
The customs office informs the declarant, by any means, of its decision to proceed with the verification of the goods.
2. In the event of a dispute, the declarant has the right to challenge the results of the partial examination and to request the full examination of the
statements of the declaration of goods to which the dispute relates.
Article 130:
1.The goods are checked at the customs office on working days and during office opening hours.
However, following a request from the declarant and for reasons deemed valid by customs, the customs office may authorize
checking the goods in places, days or hours other than those referred to above. Verification of
goods carried out under these conditions give rise to the payment of the fee
referred to in article 92, point 3 of this code, the costs which may result therefrom being borne by the declarant.
2.The transport of goods to the place of checking, unpacking, repacking and all other handling
required by the verification are carried out at the expense and under the responsibility of the declarant.
3.Goods which have been brought to the site of the verification may not be moved without the authorization of the office of
customs.
4.People employed by the declarant for handling the bonded goods must be approved by the office of
customs.
In the absence of this approval, access to the places designated for verification is prohibited.
5.The taking of samples by the customs office for the purposes of verification shall not give rise to any compensation for the
part of customs. The quantities sampled must be strictly limited to the needs of the analysis.
The costs of analysis or control are the responsibility of:
(a) from customs when the results of the analysis or control confirm the elements of the goods declaration;
b) of the declarant when the results of the analysis or the check invalidate the elements of the goods declaration.
Article 131:
1.The goods are checked in the presence of the declarant.
2.When the declarant does not appear to be present at the verification, the customs office may require the presence of a
representative of the facility concessionaire or freight carrier.
Section 2: Settlement of disputes relating to the species, origin or value of the goods
Article 132:
1. In the event that the customs office disputes, at the time of examination of the goods declaration, the particulars relating to
the species, origin or value of the goods, the dispute is settled in accordance with the provisions of Title XII of this
code, when the declarant does not accept the assessment of the customs office. If necessary, a sample is taken
sample.
2.However, the provisions of point 1 above do not apply when a law provides for a specific procedure for determining
the species, origin or value of the goods.
Section 3 : Application of the results of the examination of the goods declaration
Article 133:
1.Duties and taxes and other customs measures are applied according to the results of the examination of the declaration of
goods and, where appropriate, in accordance with the uncontested decisions of the Director General of Customs, the Commission of
Settlement of Customs Disputes or the Minister having finance in his or her attributions as the case may be, or in accordance with the decisions of
justice having the authority of res judicata.
2.When the customs office does not examine the declaration of goods, duties and taxes and other measures
customs are applied according to the details of the goods declaration.
Chapter 3 : Liquidation and payment of duties and taxes
Section 1 : Settlement of duties and taxes and communication of the amount to the declarant

Article 134:
1.Subject to the provisions of article 125 point 2 above, the tariff of applicable duties and taxes is that in force on the date
registration of the goods declaration.
2. In the event of a reduction in the rate of duties and taxes, the declarant may request the application of the new rate which is more favorable than that
that was in force on the date of registration of the declaration of goods for consumption, if the release has not yet
been given.
Page 3

Article 135:
The duties and taxes payable for each item of the same declaration are rounded down to the nearest franc.
Article 136:
1 Duties and taxes are paid by the collector of the customs office in accordance with the provisions of Articles 133, 134 and 135 below.
above.
2. The collector must immediately communicate to the declarant the amount of duties and taxes assessed.
Section 2: Payment of duties and taxes
Article 137:
Without prejudice to the provisions of articles 317 point 2 and 322 point 1 of this code, the duties and taxes paid by the recipient are
payable in cash before removal of the goods, in accordance with the terms determined by order of the Minister having the
finances in its attributions.
Chapter 4 : Removal of the goods
Section 1 : General rules
Article 138:
1.The release is granted by the receiver of the customs office for the declared goods as soon as the customs have completed the
verification or has decided not to submit them for verification, provided that:
(a) that no infringement has been detected;
b) that all authorizations relating to the scheme in question and other necessary documents have been communicated;
c) that the duties and taxes as well as any fines have been paid or guaranteed.
2 By way of derogation from the provisions of point 1 above, when the customs considers that the verification of the goods requires a
analysis of samples, specific technical documentation or expert opinion, release may be granted before
know the results of the verification by providing a guarantee and provided that the goods are not subject to
no prohibitions or restrictions.
3. In the event of a finding of an infringement, the release may be granted without waiting for the settlement of the contentious procedure,
provided that the declarant pays the duties and taxes and provides a guarantee covering the additional duties and taxes and
possible penalties and provided that the goods:
(a) are not prohibited or subject to restrictive measures;
b) not subject to confiscation;
(c) must not be presented as real evidence at a later stage of the proceedings.
4. As soon as the release has been granted, the goods must be removed, except for delays specially granted by the customs office.
Section 2 : Collection credit
Article 139:
1.The receiver may, under his responsibility, allow the goods to be collected as and when checks are carried out and before liquidation and
payment of the duties and taxes payable, subject to the constitution of a sufficient guarantee, renewable each year, covering:
a) payment of the duties and taxes payable;
b) payment of any interest.
2.The time allowed to the declarants to release themselves from the duties and taxes relating to the goods to be removed immediately after examination of the
declaration of goods is set at 14 days after visa of the voucher to be collected by the recipient.
The pre-liquidation of duties and taxes must appear on all declarations made by the beneficiary of the collection credits.
3.If the deadline referred to in point 2 above is not respected, interest and a late payment penalty shall be applied in accordance with the
Article provisions
325 of this code.
4.The modalities of application of the provisions of this article are fixed by order of the Minister having finance in his
attributions.
Section 3 : Embarkation and conduct abroad of goods intended for export
Article 140:
1.After completion of customs formalities, goods intended for export by sea, river, lake
or aircraft must be immediately put on board ships or aircraft.
2.Those which are to be exported by land must be taken abroad immediately by the most direct route,
determined in accordance with the provisions of article 96 of this code.
3 By way of derogation from points 1 and 2 above, these goods may be placed in stores or in export areas while waiting
their boarding or their conduct abroad.
4.The creation of stores and export areas is subject to the authorization of the Director General of Customs who approves them.
location, construction and layout.
5.A decision of the Director General of Customs determines the operating conditions of warehouses and export areas as well
as the period during which the goods can stay there.
6.At the expiry of the period referred to in point 5 above, the goods concerned are automatically placed in storage by the customs authorities.
Article 141:
1.Goods intended for export by sea, river or lake may only be loaded or transhipped at the docks
ports where customs offices are established.
2.Goods intended for export by air may only be loaded or transhipped at an airport
customs officer.
3.The loading or transhipment operations of goods are only undertaken at the request of the carrier or
its representative and with the written authorization of the customs office. These operations are carried out on working days and during business hours.
opening of the office.
4.However, following a request from the carrier or its Representative, and for reasons deemed valid by customs, the
customs office may authorize the embarkation or transhipment of goods outside working days or hours
opening of the office. In this case, the carrier or his representative is required to pay the fee referred to in Article 92 point 3 of the
this code.
Article 142:
1. No vessel, loaded or on ballast, may leave port before customs formalities have been completed and without being provided with the
loading declaration endorsed by the customs office presenting the re-export goods originating from abroad and / or
export goods from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
2. The cargo declaration, bills of lading and all other cargo documents must be presented to all
requisition of customs officers.
Article 143:
The commanders of the national military navy and the commanders of air force aircraft departing abroad, do not
are not exempt from the obligations provided for by this code.
TITLE VI: CUSTOMS REGIMES
Chapter 1 : Generalities
Article 144:
1 Unless otherwise specified, the goods may at any time, under the conditions laid down, receive any customs destination
whatever their nature, quantity, origin, provenance or destination.
2 The provisions of point 1 above may not be interpreted as preventing the application of prohibitions or
restrictions referred to in article 73 of this code.
Article 145:
In accordance with the provisions of article 112 of this code, any goods intended to be placed under a customs procedure must
be the subject of a goods declaration for this procedure.
Chapter 2 : From release to consumption
Article 146:
Release for consumption is the customs procedure which allows imported goods to be released for free circulation in the
customs territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo after payment of any import duties and taxes payable
and completion of all necessary customs formalities.
Article 147:
1.When the same consignment consists of goods of different tariff classification and the treatment of each of these
goods according to its tariff classification would entail, for the establishment of the goods declaration, labor and costs
out of proportion to the amount of import duties and taxes applicable to them, the customs office may, on request
written by the declarant, accept that the entire shipment be taxed by retaining the tariff classification of that of these goods which is
subject to the highest import duties and taxes.
2. The Director General of Customs determines the conditions of application of the provisions of point 1 above.
Article 148:
When goods are released for consumption for the benefit of reduced or zero import rates because of their
use for specific purposes, they remain under customs control. They cease to be under customs control when
the conditions fixed for the granting of reduced or zero rates are no longer applicable, when the goods are exported or destroyed
or when the use of the goods for purposes other than those prescribed for the application of reduced or zero import rates
is admitted against payment of the duties and taxes due.
Article 149:
Goods released for consumption lose their status as goods in free circulation when the duties and taxes
the importation relating to these goods are reimbursed or remitted:
(a) either under the inward processing regime;
b) or for goods that are defective or do not comply with the contract in accordance with article 332 point 1 of this code.
Chapter 3: Suspensive procedures and customs procedures with economic impact
Section 1 : Common provisions
Article 150:
1. Unless otherwise provided in this code, recourse to the following customs procedures is subject to issuance by customs
an authorization:
a) re-importation as is;
b) inward processing;
c) outward processing;
(d) the processing of goods intended for consumption.
2. The Director General of Customs determines the modalities of application of the provisions of point 1 above.
Article 151:
Without prejudice to the additional special conditions provided for under the scheme in question, the authorization referred to in Article 150
above is only granted:
a) to persons who offer all the guarantees necessary for the smooth running of operations; and
b) if the customs can ensure the surveillance and control of the regime without having to set up an administrative mechanism
disproportionate to the economic needs in question.
Article 152:
1.The conditions under which the customs procedure is used are laid down in the authorization.
2.The holder of the authorization is required to inform customs of any element which arises after the granting of this authorization and which could
to have an impact on its maintenance or its content.
Article 153:
For the purpose of determining the origin, any product or good obtained from a good placed under one of the aforementioned regimes
below is considered to be placed under the same regime:
a) inward processing suspension;
b) the processing of goods intended for home use.
Article 154:
The procedures referred to in Articles 150 and 153 above are cleared by placing the goods under another customs procedure.
imported or, where applicable, compensating products provided that the conditions and formalities applicable to this are met.
diet.
Article 155:
1 The rights and obligations of the beneficiary of one of the schemes referred to in Articles 150 and 194 of this Code may, under the conditions
determined by the customs authorities, be transferred successively to other persons fulfilling the conditions required for
benefit from the scheme in question.
2.The transfer referred to in point 1 above may not have the effect of extending the period of stay of the goods under the procedure.
customs determined.
Section 2 : From the customs warehouse Sub-section 1: General
Article 156:
1.The customs warehouse regime is the regime under which goods imported or to be exported are stored under
customs control for a fixed period, in a place designated for this purpose, with suspension of import duties and taxes or
for export.
2.Unless otherwise specified, placing in customs warehouses suspends the application of prohibitions and other economic measures,
tax or customs to which the goods are liable.
3.There are two categories of customs warehouse:
(a) the public customs warehouse;
b) the private customs warehouse.
The period of stay of goods under the customs warehouse regime is limited to:
a) 1 year for the public customs warehouse;
b) 3 years for the private customs warehouse.
Article 157:
Subject to the provisions of article 158 below, are admissible in customs warehouses, under the conditions set out in this
chapter, all goods subject by reason of import or export, either to duties and taxes or prohibitions, or
other economic, fiscal or customs measures.
Article 158:
1. Prohibitions or restrictions on entry into customs warehouses may be imposed, on a permanent or temporary basis, at
with regard to certain goods, when justified:
a) for reasons of public morality, public order, public security, hygiene or public health, protection of the lives of
people and animals, preservation of the environment, protection of national treasures, or protection of property
intellectual, and consumer protection;
(b) for reasons relating either to the characteristics of the storage facilities or to the nature or condition of the goods.
2. Goods subject to a permanent ban on entry into customs warehouses are designated by order of the
minister having finance in his attributions.
3. Goods subject to a temporary ban or entry restrictions into customs warehouses are designated by
decision of the Director General of Customs.
Article 159:
1. The warehouse keeper is responsible for:
(a) ensure that the goods, during their stay in the customs warehouse, are not exempt from customs supervision;
b) to fulfill the obligations resulting from the storage of goods under the customs warehousing procedure; and
c) to observe the special conditions fixed in the authorization to manage the customs warehouse.
2. The warehouse keeper is responsible for fulfilling the obligations resulting from the placing of the goods under the
customs warehouse.
3. In the case of a private customs warehouse, the warehouse keeper identifies himself with the warehouse keeper.
Sub-section 2 : From the public customs warehouse
§ 1: Establishment of the public customs warehouse
Article 160:
1. The public customs warehouse is established by decision of the Director General of Customs where its usefulness is recognized.
2.The public customs warehouse is said:
(a) type A, when managed by customs;
b) type B, when it is managed by a third party who has obtained customs authorization.
3.The public customs warehouse is open to any person who has the right to dispose of goods, for the storage of
goods referred to in article 157 above.
4.The person requesting to manage a type B public customs warehouse must submit a written request containing the
information necessary for the granting of the authorization, in particular those indicating an economic need for storage.
5 The management of a type B public customs warehouse is subject to the provision of a guarantee, the amount of which is fixed by the
director general of customs. This amount can be revised at any time, at the initiative of the customs, when the interests of the treasury
justify.
6.The conditions of operation and operation of the public customs warehouse are fixed by decision of the Director General of
customs.
§ 2: Use of the public customs warehouse
Article 161:
Goods which present a danger, or which are liable to alter other goods should only be admitted
in specially equipped public customs warehouses.
Article 162:
1.The warehouse keeper is debtor of the customs debt in the event of the removal or substitution of the goods placed in the warehouse.
which he manages.
2.If the goods referred to in point 1 above are prohibited for importation, the warehouse keeper shall be required to pay an equal sum
to their value.
3 Deficits for which it is justified that they come from the extraction of dust, stones and impurities are admitted duty free.
4.When it is justified that the loss of the goods placed in the public customs warehouse is due to a fortuitous event, a case of force
major or for causes depending on the nature of the goods, the warehouseman is exempted from the payment of duties and taxes or, if the
goods are prohibited, payment of the sum representing the value of these goods.
5.In the event of theft of goods placed in a public customs warehouse, the warehouseman is also exempt from the payment of duties and
taxes or, as the case may be, the sum representing the value of these goods, if proof of the theft is established to the satisfaction of the
customs.
6.If the lost or stolen goods are insured, the provisions of points 4 and 5 above are only applicable when it is
justified that the insurance only covers their value in the warehouse.
Article 163:
1. Goods damaged or damaged as a result of accident or force majeure while they are under the
the customs warehouse may, in the absence of re-export, be declared for home use as if they had been
imported in the state in which they are found, provided that the deterioration or damage is duly established to the satisfaction of customs.
2.However, at the written request of the warehouse keeper, the customs office may, in accordance with the relevant procedure, authorize the
destruction of imported goods which have spoiled in a public customs warehouse, provided that the duties are paid
and taxes relating to the residues of this destruction.
Sub-section 3 : From the private customs warehouse
§ 1 : Establishment of the private customs warehouse
Article 164:
The private customs warehouse is established under the same conditions as those set by article 160 above for the customs warehouse.
public type B. It is reserved for the exclusive use of a specific person.
§ 2 : Goods admissible in a private customs warehouse and the stay of the goods
Article 165:
The private customs warehouse is open only to goods designated in the authorization granting the benefit of this regime and
intended for the exclusive use of the warehouseman.
Article 166:
The provisions of Articles 162 and 163 above are applicable to the private customs warehouse.
Sub-section 4: Provisions common to customs warehouses
Article 167:
The stored goods may be subject to transfer. In this case, the obligations of the former warehouse keeper are transferred to the
assignee who thereby becomes warehouse keeper.
Article 168:
At the written request of the warehouse keeper, the customs office may extend the period of stay in the warehouse fixed by article 156 point 4.
above, provided that this extension is justified by special circumstances and that the goods concerned are
in good condition.
Article 169:
1.For reasons deemed valid by the customs office to which the warehouse is attached, the warehousekeeper of the goods is
authorized:
(a) to examine them;
(b) to take samples thereof against payment, where applicable, of import or export duties and taxes;
c) to carry out the operations necessary to ensure its conservation; and
d) to perform any other normal handling necessary to improve their presentation or merchantability or
condition for transport, such as the division or assembly of packages, the assortment and classification of goods, the
packaging change.
2 In the event of default by the warehouseman, the warehouseman may, for reasons deemed valid by the head of the customs office to which
the warehouse is attached, carry out the operations necessary to ensure the proper conservation of the stored goods.
3.The Minister having finances in his attributions determines, by decree, the nature and the height of the permissible shrinkages in warehouse
customs.
Article 170:
1.Goods in customs warehouses may, unless otherwise provided, receive the same goods upon leaving the customs warehouse.
destinations only if they came from direct importation including transfer in transit to another warehouse in
customs or another customs office and under the same conditions.
2.Subject to the provisions of point 3 below, when the goods in customs warehouses are declared for the
consumption or for export, the duties and taxes payable on import or export are levied according to the tariff type
and on the basis of the quantities which are observed on leaving the warehouse.
3.Products set up in a customs warehouse on discharge of operations carried out under the inward processing procedure must
be re-exported outside the customs territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Director General of Customs may, however, authorize the release for consumption of these products.
Article 171:
1. In the event of release for home use following a customs warehouse, the applicable duties and taxes are those in force on the date
registration of the declaration of goods for consumption, except the application of the provisions provided for in Article 134
point 2 of this code.
2.When they must be applied to deficits, the applicable duties and taxes are those in force on the date of the recognition of the
deficit.
3. In the event of irregular removal of goods, the applicable duties and taxes are those in effect on the date of removal.
If the date of the removal cannot be ascertained, the higher of the rates or amounts which have been in force shall be applied.
from the day of entry into the customs warehouse or, possibly, from that of the last census, until the day of the
finding the missing.
4.For the application of the provisions of points 1 and 3 above, the value to be considered is, as the case may be, that of the goods at one
of the dates referred to in those points. It is determined in accordance with the provisions of this code relating to customs value.
Article 172:
1.On the expiry of the period of stay or when they cease or are no longer likely to benefit from the customs warehousing procedure,
goods in public customs warehouses must immediately be removed from these warehouses for any destination
authorized.
2. Failing this, the goods are immediately placed in storage in accordance with the provisions of Articles 283 and
following sections of this code.
Article 173:
In the event of the closure of a customs warehouse, the warehousekeepers concerned are required to transfer their
goods in another customs warehouse or to place them under another customs procedure, provided that the
conditions and formalities applicable in each of these cases.
Article 174:
1. The warehouseman collects a warehouse charge on goods that remain in the public customs warehouse.
2.The Director General of Customs determines, by decision, the rates, bases and methods of collecting warehouse charges for
type A public customs warehouse.
3.When the goods staying in the public customs warehouse are not removed under the conditions set out in article 138 of the
this code after their declaration, they are automatically deposited at the expiration of a period of 15 days from the date
for granting the release.
Section 3 : Transit
Sub-section 1 : Customs transit
Article 175:
1.Customs transit is the customs procedure under which goods transported under customs control of an office are placed
customs at another customs office.
2.Goods transported in customs transit are not subject to the payment of duties and taxes, subject to
compliance with the conditions set by customs and provided that a security is provided covering the duties and taxes payable in
case of release for consumption of said goods. They benefit from the suspension of measures of prohibition, restriction and
than other economic measures which are normally applicable to them.
3.An additional security, the amount of which is set by the Director General of Customs, is required when the goods
transported in customs transit are prohibited on importation or subject to restrictions.
4.When the goods in customs transit are those whose circulation is subject to special measures in terms of
international customs, customs subject them to strict control measures and take the necessary steps to inform and update
contribution from the public authorities concerned.
Article 176:
1.The following customs transit transport operations for goods are authorized in the customs territory:
(a) from a customs office of entry to a customs office of exit;
(b) from a customs office of entry to an inland customs office;
(c) from an inland customs office to a customs office of exit; and
(d) from one inland customs office to another inland customs office.
2. Transit operations must be carried out within the time limit and, where applicable, following the itinerary fixed by the customs office of
departure.
3.On the written request of the interested party and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the time limit referred to in point 2 above may be
extended.
Article 177:
1.When goods in customs transit are transported to a transport unit, customs seals are affixed
on the transport unit, provided that the latter is constructed and fitted out in such a way:
(a) customs seals can be affixed to them in a simple and effective manner;
b) that no goods can be removed from the sealed parts of the transport unit or introduced into them without leaving traces
break-in or without breaking the customs seal;
(c) that it does not have any concealed space for concealing goods; and
d) that all spaces capable of containing goods are easily accessible for customs inspections.
2.If the transport unit cannot be effectively sealed, the packages are identified and manipulations not
authorizations made detectable by:
a) full verification of the goods with mention of the result on the transit document;
b) affixing customs seals to each package;
c) the exact description of the goods with reference to samples, plans, drawings, photographs or any other similar means,
which are attached to the transit document;
d) setting a strict itinerary and deadlines; or
e) transport under customs escort, if the measures referred to in points a), b), c) and d) could not be taken or are considered
insufficient by customs.
3. In the case referred to in point 2 e) above, the fee provided for in article 92, point 3 of this code is due.
Article 178:
1.Following a written request from the interested party, and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the customs office may accept the
change of office of destination.
2.When the circumstances justify it, goods in customs transit may be transferred from one means of transport to a
other without customs clearance, provided customs seals are not broken or tampered with.
3.Any accident or unforeseen event directly affecting the customs transit operation must be reported as soon as possible to the
customs office of departure or the nearest customs service.
Article 179:
During the course of the transit, it is forbidden to modify the marks and numbers of the packages, to add other marks and
registrations, make changes to the packaging and open the packages or remove the identification marks affixed by
customs.
Article 180:
During transport, goods in customs transit and the accompanying documents must be presented to any
requisition of customs officers.
Article 181:
1.The customs transit procedure is cleared by the presentation of the goods and the customs documents accompanying them to the
customs office of destination within the time limit set for this purpose, without the said goods having undergone any modification, nor
have not been used. Customs seals and identification marks must remain intact.
2.As soon as the goods are placed under its control, the customs office of destination shall take all measures without delay.
necessary for the discharge of the customs transit operation after ensuring that all the conditions have been met. It signals
any anomalies noted at the customs office of departure.
3. In the event of non-presentation of all or part of the goods in customs transit at the office of destination, the carrier must pay
duties and taxes on recorded deficits.
If these deficits relate to prohibited goods, the carrier is required to pay a sum equal to their value.
4.When it is justified that the loss of goods in customs transit is due to a fortuitous event, a case of force majeure or
causes depending on the nature of the goods, the carrier is exempt from payment of duties and taxes or, if the goods
are prohibited, the payment of the sum representing the value of these goods.
5.Goods damaged or damaged as a result of accident or force majeure while in customs transit
can be declared for home use as if they had been imported in the state in which they are found, at
provided that the deterioration or damage is duly established to the satisfaction of Customs.
6.However, at the written request of the person concerned, the customs office may authorize the destruction of goods in customs transit.
which have been damaged, provided that the duties and taxes relating to the residues of this destruction are paid, if applicable.
7.The receiver of the customs office of departure can only release the security put in place after having been informed by the office of departure.
customs of destination of the compliance of the customs transit operation.
Sub-section 2 : Transhipment
Article 182:
1.Transhipment is the customs procedure under which, under customs supervision, the transfer of goods which
are removed from the means of transport used for importation and loaded onto that used for export, this transfer being effected in the
comes from a customs office which is both the customs office of entry and the customs office of exit.
2.Goods admitted to the customs transhipment procedure are not subject to payment of duties and taxes.
provided that the conditions set by customs are observed.
3 Goods prohibited for importation or subject to restrictions and those whose circulation is subject to the measures
specific at the international level, may be admitted to the benefit of the customs transhipment procedure, subject to authorization
customs and provided that strict control measures are taken. The customs office takes, if necessary,
the necessary arrangements to inform and involve the public authorities concerned.
Article 183:
1.A single goods declaration is required to cover both the arrival and the departure of the goods admitted to the procedure.
customs officer.
2.When deemed necessary, the customs office shall take steps upon importation to ensure that the goods to be
transshipment can be identified during export and any unauthorized manipulation can easily be detected.
Article 184:
1.The customs office sets a deadline for the export of goods declared for transhipment. This delay takes into account the
duration necessary for the execution of transhipment operations.
2.Following a written request from the interested party, and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the customs office may extend
the time limit initially set.
Article 185:
1.Following a written request from the party concerned, the customs office may, under the conditions it fixes, authorize
goods in transhipment are subject to operations likely to facilitate their exportation, in particular consolidation,
change of packaging, marking, sorting, sampling, as well as the repair or replacement of
defective packaging.
2. Prohibited goods and those whose circulation is subject to restrictions are excluded from the benefit of the provisions of point 1 above.
special measures at the international level.
Article 186:
Goods in transhipment may not be used in any way whatsoever in the customs territory, unless they have
been placed under another customs procedure and provided that the conditions and formalities laid down for that procedure are met.
Sub-section 3 : Cabotage transport
Article 187:
1. The cabotage regime is the applicable customs regime:
(a) goods in free circulation, and
(b) imported goods which have not been declared, provided that they are carried on board a vessel other than the
ship on board which they were imported into the customs territory, which are loaded on board a ship at a point in the territory
customs and are transported to another point in the same customs territory where they are then unloaded.
2.The transport of goods by cabotage is carried out by using the territorial sea, international waters, or waters
adjoining.
Article 188:
1.The transport of goods under the cabotage regime on board a ship which is carrying other goods at the same time,
may be cleared by the customs office, provided it is established to the satisfaction of the customs that such goods may be
identified and that the other conditions set will be met.
2.When the customs office deems it necessary for control purposes, goods in free circulation transported under the procedure
cabotage must be segregated from other cargo on board the vessel.
Article 189:
1.Following a request from the person concerned and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the customs office may authorize
goods are transported under the cabotage procedure on board a vessel which has to call at a foreign port during the
cabotage.
2.When the stopover in a foreign port is due to a case of force majeure, the goods remain placed under the
cabotage provided that it is established to the satisfaction of the customs that they are indeed those which were initially placed under this
diet.
Article 190:
1.The Director General of Customs determines, by decision, the ports where the loading and unloading of goods placed
under the cabotage regime are authorized, as well as the days and hours during which these operations can be carried out.
2.However, when a vessel carrying goods under the cabotage regime is diverted during its voyage, the
unloading of these goods can, following a request from the person concerned, be carried out in a place other than the port initially
planned.
Article 191:
When the transport of goods under the cabotage regime is interrupted by accident or force majeure, the captain
or any other interested person must take all reasonable steps to prevent the goods from circulating in
unauthorized conditions and to inform customs or other competent authorities of the nature of the accident or other
circumstances which interrupted the transport.
Article 192:
Ships that provide a regular link between authorized ports for the loading and unloading of goods
placed under the cabotage regime, may benefit from a general authorization for the transport of goods under this regime.
Article 193:
When goods in free circulation transported under the cabotage regime are liable to export duties and taxes

or are subject to export prohibitions or restrictions, the customs office requires, if it deems it essential, that a guarantee
sufficient is constituted.
Section 4 : Temporary admission
Article 194:
Temporary admission is the customs procedure which allows the introduction into the customs territory, with total or partial suspension of
duties and taxes, of certain goods imported for a defined purpose and intended for re-exportation, within a specified period, without
have undergone any modification, except for their normal depreciation as a result of the use which is made of them.
Article 195:
1.The benefit of temporary admission is granted by the customs office when subscribing to the goods declaration.
2 In the cases determined by the Director General of Customs, the benefit of temporary admission may be subject to a
preliminary authorisation.
Article 196:
Unless otherwise granted by the Director General of Customs, the declaration of temporary admission must be drawn up in the name of the
person who will use or cause to be used the imported goods.
Article 197:
1.Customs do not grant the temporary admission procedure when it is impossible to ensure the identification of the goods
import upon re-export.
2.However, customs may authorize recourse to the temporary admission procedure without ensuring the identification of the goods.
when, taking into account the nature of the goods or the nature of the operations to be carried out, the absence of identification measures
is not likely to lead to abuse of the regime.
Article 198:
1. Customs shall fix, in each case, the time limit within which the import goods must have been re-exported or have received a
new customs destination and informs interested parties.
2.Within the limit of the duration of the proposed operation, the period referred to in point 1 above may not exceed 12 months.
3.On the written request of the person concerned and for reasons considered valid by the customs, the latter may extend the time limit referred to in points 1 and
2 above.
Article 199:
The following goods may benefit from the temporary admission regime with total suspension of import duties and taxes:
a) goods intended for display or use at an exhibition, fair, congress or similar event;
b) professional equipment;
(c) containers, pallets, packaging, samples and other goods imported in the course of a commercial operation;
d) goods imported for educational, scientific or cultural purposes;
e) personal effects of travelers and goods imported for sporting purposes;
f) tourist propaganda material;
g) goods imported for humanitarian purposes;
h) means of transport;
i) live animals intended for exhibitions, sporting and other events.
Article 200:
The benefit of the regime of temporary admission with partial suspension of import duties and taxes may be granted for
goods which are not mentioned in article 199 above or which, being mentioned there, do not fulfill all the
conditions laid down for the granting of temporary admission with total suspension of duties and taxes.
Article 201:
The minister having finance in his attributions fixes, by decree, the conditions of application of the provisions of articles 199 and 200
above.
Article 202:
1.The amount of import duties and taxes payable on goods placed under the temporary admission procedure in
partial suspension of import duties and taxes is set at 3%, per month or fraction of a month during which the goods are
placed
under the regime of temporary admission with partial suspension, of the amount of duties and taxes which would have been collected for the aforementioned
goods if they had been released for home use on the date on which they were placed under the
temporary admission.
2.The amount of import duties and taxes to be collected must not be greater than that which would have been collected in the event of the
consumption of the goods concerned on the date on which they were placed under the temporary admission procedure, not
not taking into consideration any applicable interests.
3.The transfer of rights and obligations arising from the temporary admission regime in accordance with the provisions of article 155 of the
this code does not imply that the same exemption system is applied for each of the periods of use to be taken into account.
consideration.
4.When the transfer referred to in point 3 above is carried out with the system of partial exemption for the two holders of the scheme
during the same month, the previous holder is debtor of the amount of import duties and taxes due for the whole of that month.
Article 203:
1.When a customs debt arises in respect of imported goods, the amount of this debt is determined on the basis of
elements of taxation specific to these goods at the time of registration of the declaration of entry under the
temporary admission with partial suspension.
2.When, for a reason other than placement under the temporary admission procedure with partial suspension of duties and taxes to
import, a customs debt arises in respect of goods placed under the said regime, the amount of this debt is equal to the
difference between the amount of duties and taxes determined in application of point 1 above and that due in application of article 202 below
above.
Article 204:
1.The temporary admission regime is terminated by the re-exportation of the import goods.
2.It can also be cleared by placing the imported goods under another customs procedure, provided that it is
meets the conditions and formalities applicable to this customs procedure.
Section 5 : Reimportation as is
Article 205:
1.Re-importation in the same state is the customs procedure which allows the release for consumption, free of duties and taxes.
the importation of goods which have been exported, provided that they have not undergone any processing, working or
repair, and provided that all amounts due as a result of a refund, remission or suspension of duties
and taxes or any subsidy or other amount granted in connection with the exportation be paid.
2. The authorization for re-importation as is is issued upon written request from the person concerned. The customs office sets the deadline beyond
from which reimportation as is is no longer likely to be granted.
3.Within the limit of the duration of the proposed operation, the period referred to in point 2 above may not exceed 12 months.
4.On the written request of the person concerned and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the customs office may extend the time limit referred to
in points 2 and 3 above.
Article 206:
1. The following can benefit from the re-importation regime as is:
a) goods intended for display or use at an exhibition, fair, congress or similar event;
b) professional equipment;
(c) containers, pallets, packaging, samples and other goods exported in the course of a commercial operation;
d) goods exported for educational, scientific or cultural purposes;
e) personal effects of travelers and goods exported for sporting purposes;
f) tourist propaganda materials;
g) means of transport;
h) goods exported for humanitarian purposes;
i) live animals intended for exhibitions, sporting and other events.
2.The goods referred to in point 1 above may also benefit from the re-importation regime as is:
(a) even if only part of the exported goods is re-imported;
b) even when they have undergone during their stay abroad, operations necessary for their maintenance in good state of conservation or
to their maintenance, provided however that their value has not become, as a result of these operations, greater than that which they had
at the time of export;
(c) even when they have already been placed under another customs procedure;
d) even when they have been exported with or without a return reservation;
e) even when they have been used, damaged or deteriorated during their stay abroad.
Article 207:
The reimportation declaration as is is taken out for the reimportation of the goods referred to in article 206 above, at
with the exception of packaging, containers, pallets and means of transport for commercial use which are in use
for the international transport of goods, provided that it is established to the satisfaction of customs that they were free
circulation in the customs territory during their exportation.
Article 208:
The Director General of Customs fixes, by decision, the modalities of application of the provisions of Articles 206 and 207 above.
Section 6: Inward processing
§1: Generalities
Article 209:
For the purposes of this section, it is understood by:
1.equivalent goods: domestic or imported goods, identical in species, quality and characteristics
techniques to those which have been imported for an inward processing operation and which they replace;
2 compensating products: products resulting from the processing, working or repair of goods for
which use of the inward processing procedure has been authorized;
3.drawback: the amount of import duties and taxes refunded in application of the refunded inward processing regime.
Article 210:
1. Inward processing is the customs procedure which allows to receive in the customs territory, in suspension of the duties and taxes to
importation, certain goods intended to undergo processing, working or repair and to be subsequently
exported.
2 Inward processing suspension relates to foreign goods intended for subsequent exportation in the form of
compensating products, without these goods being subject neither to duties and taxes upon importation, nor to measures
trade policy.
3 Refunded inward processing relates to foreign goods having paid the duties and taxes upon importation.
and who benefit from the reimbursement of said duties and taxes if they are subsequently exported in the form of products
compensators.
4. Goods already placed under another procedure may also benefit from the inward processing procedure.
Article 211:
The following constitute inward processing operations:
(a) the working of the goods, including their assembly or assembly with other goods;
b) processing of goods;
(c) repair of the goods including their repair and re-ordering;
d) the conditioning of the goods, their wrapping or repacking; and
e) the use of certain goods determined by order of the Minister having finance in his attributions, which must not
be found in the compensating products, but which allow or facilitate the production of these products, even if they are
fully or partially used during the process.
Article 212:
1.When the conditions provided for in point 2 below are met, customs shall allow that:
(a) the compensating products are obtained from the equivalent goods;
b) the compensating products obtained from the equivalent goods are exported outside the Democratic Republic of
Congo prior to the importation of import goods.
2.The equivalent goods must be of the same quality and have the same characteristics as the goods.
import.
However, it may be accepted, in special cases, that the equivalent goods are at a more advanced stage of manufacture.
advanced as import goods.
3.If the provisions of point 1 above are applied, the import goods are in the customs situation of the
equivalent goods and the latter in the customs situation of the import goods.
4.When the provisions of point 1 (b) above are applied and the compensating products would be subject to duties and
export taxes if they were not exported or re-exported as part of an inward processing operation, the holder of
the authorization must constitute a guarantee to ensure the payment of these duties and taxes in the event that the importation of
Import goods would not be carried out within the allotted time.
§2: The granting of the authorization
Article 213:
1.The authorization for inward processing is issued by the Director General of Customs, upon written request from the person who
carries out or has carried out improvement operations.
2.Persons who frequently carry out inward processing operations may be granted general authorization
covering these operations.
Article 214:
Authorization for inward processing is only granted:
a) to persons who are established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
b) when, without prejudice to the use of the goods referred to in Article 211 (e) above, it is possible to identify the
import goods in the compensating products or, in the case referred to in Article 212 above, when it is possible to
check that the conditions laid down for equivalent goods are fulfilled;
c) where the inward processing regime can help to create the most favorable conditions for export or
re-export of compensating products, provided that the interests of producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are
saved.
§3 : Operation of the regime
Article 215:
1 The inward processing authorization fixes the time limit within which the compensating products must have been exported or re-exported
or have received another customs destination.
This period is determined taking into account the time necessary for the completion of the processing operations and for the
compensating products.
2.The period shall run from the date on which the foreign goods are placed under the inward processing procedure.
3.On the written request of the person concerned and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the period initially fixed may be extended.
4.If the provisions of Article 212, point 1 b) above are applied, the authorization shall fix the period during which the goods
foreign must be declared for the plan. This period runs from the date of registration of the export declaration.
compensating products obtained from the corresponding equivalent goods.
Article 216:
1.When goods accepted for inward processing are to undergo working or processing,
the authorization fixes the rate of return of the operation based on the actual conditions under which this operation is carried out.
The rate of return is set by specifying the species, quality and quantity of the various compensating products.
2.When the circumstances justify it and in particular in the case of processing operations carried out traditionally
under well-defined technical conditions, which relate to goods of substantially constant characteristics and
result in obtaining compensating products of constant quality, flat rates of return can be fixed on the
based on actual data previously observed.
3.The authorization fixes the nature and the height of the permissible shrinkage in the processing operations.
Article 217:
When a customs debt arises, the amount of this debt is determined on the basis of the taxation elements specific to the
import goods at the time of registration of the declaration of placement of these goods under the
inward processing.
§4 : Special provisions relating to reimbursed inward processing
Article 218:
1.The goods declaration for home use must bear the indication that the reimbursement system is used in this way.
as the authorization reference.
2. The said authorization must be attached to the goods declaration referred to in point 1 above.
Article 219:
Within the framework of the reimbursement system, the provisions of Articles 212 point 1 b) and points 3 and 4, 215 point 4, 217, and 222 of this
code are not applicable.
Article 220:
1.The holder of the authorization may request reimbursement of import duties and taxes provided that he establishes, at the
satisfaction of the customs, that the imported goods released for consumption under the inward processing regime reimbursed
were exported, in the form of compensating products or as goods in the same state.
2.The export declaration must be lodged with the customs office designated in the inward processing authorization at
support the reimbursement request.
3.The reimbursement decision falls within the competence of the Director General of Customs.
4.Where the holder of the authorization frequently carries out inward processing operations, Customs may, at his request,
pay drawback periodically for compensating products exported during a specified period.
§5: Clearance
Article 221:
1.Except for the application of Article 212, point 1b above, the inward processing regime is terminated by the export of the products
compensators in one or more shipments.
2.At the beneficiary's written request, and for reasons deemed valid by customs, the latter may authorize the re-export of the
goods as is.
3 The inward processing regime is also cleared by the placement of imported goods or products
compensators under another customs procedure, provided that the conditions and formalities applicable to that procedure are met.
4.The amount of applicable import duties and taxes, in the event that the compensating products are not exported, is limited
the amount of import duties and taxes applicable to goods imported for inward processing.
5.For goods the loss of which results from their nature, discharge of inward processing is obtained to the extent that the
compensating products are exported and provided that this loss is duly established to the satisfaction of customs.
6.Waste and debris resulting from inward processing operations are subject, in the event of customs clearance for release
consumption, import duties and taxes that would be applicable to such waste and scrap if they were imported in that state.
§ 6 : Special provisions relating to inward processing suspension
Article 222:
The inward processing suspension regime is also applicable, in order to allow compensating products to benefit from
exemption from export duties and taxes to which identical products obtained from goods would be liable
national instead of import goods.
Section 7 : Outward processing
§1 : Generalities
Page 4

Article 223:
For the purposes of this section, it is understood by:
1.equivalent goods: foreign or exported goods, identical in species, quality and
technical characteristics to those which have been exported for an outward processing operation and which they replace;
2 compensating products: products resulting from the processing, working or repair of goods for
which the use of the outward processing procedure has been authorized.
Article 224:
1. Outward processing is the customs procedure which allows the temporary export of goods which are free
circulation in the customs territory, with a view to subjecting them abroad to a transformation, working or repair and
then re-import them with total or partial exemption from import duties and taxes.
2. Make up outward processing operations, the operations referred to in article 211 of this code.
(3) The following may not be placed under the outward processing procedure:
(a) goods the export of which gives rise to a refund or remission of import duties and taxes; and
b) goods which, prior to their export, had been released for consumption with total exemption from duties and taxes
on importation by reason of their use for special purposes, as long as the conditions laid down for the granting of this
exemption still apply.
Article 225:
1.When the conditions provided for in point 2 below are met, customs shall allow that:
(a) the compensating products are obtained from the equivalent goods;
b) compensating products obtained from equivalent goods are imported into the Democratic Republic of Congo
prior to the export of export goods.
2.The equivalent goods must be of the same quality and have the same characteristics as the goods.
export.
3.However, it may be accepted, in special cases, that the equivalent goods are at a stage of manufacture more
advanced as export goods.
4.If the provisions of point 1 above are applied, the export goods are in the customs situation of the
equivalent goods and the latter in the customs situation of the export goods.
5.When the provisions of point 1 (b) above are applied and the compensating products would be subject to duties and
import taxes if they were not imported or re-imported as part of an outward processing operation, the holder of
the authorization must constitute a guarantee to ensure the payment of these duties and taxes in the event that the export of
export goods would not be carried out within the allotted time.
§2: The issuance of the authorization
Article 226:
1.The authorization for outward processing is issued by the Director General of Customs, on written request from the person who
carry out improvement operations.
2.Persons who frequently carry out outward processing operations may be granted a general authorization
covering these operations.
Article 227:
The authorization for outward processing is only granted:
a) to persons who are established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
b) when it is considered that it will be possible to establish that the compensating products will result from the implementation of the goods
temporary export;
c) provided that the granting of the benefit of the outward processing regime is not such as to prejudice the interests of
companies established in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
§3 : Operation of the regime
Article 228:
1. The outward processing authorization fixes the time limit within which the compensating products must be reimported into the territory
customs officer.
This period is determined taking into account the time necessary for carrying out the improvement operations.
2.The period shall run from the date on which the goods are placed under the outward processing procedure.
3.On the written request of the person concerned, and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the period initially fixed may be extended.
Article 229:
1.When goods admitted to the outward processing procedure must undergo working or processing,
the authorization fixes the rate of return of the operation based on the actual conditions under which this operation is carried out.
The rate of return is set by specifying the species, quality and quantity of various compensating products.
2.When the circumstances justify it and in particular in the case of processing operations carried out traditionally
under well-defined technical conditions, which relate to goods of substantially constant characteristics and
result in obtaining compensating products of constant quality, flat rates of return can be fixed on the
real database previously observed.
3. The outward processing authorization fixes the nature and height of the permissible shrinkage in processing operations.
Article 230:
1. The total or partial exemption from import duties and taxes provided for in Article 224 point 1 above is only granted for
provided that the compensating products are declared for home use in the name or on behalf of:
(a) the holder of the authorization;
b) or any other person established in the Democratic Republic of Congo provided that he has obtained the consent of the holder
of the authorization and provided that the conditions of the authorization are fulfilled.
2. The total or partial exemption from import duties and taxes provided for in article 224, point 1 above is not granted.
when one of the conditions or obligations relating to the outward processing procedure is not fulfilled, unless it is
established to the satisfaction of the customs that the shortcomings had no real consequence on the correct functioning of said
diet.
Article 231:
1. The total or partial exemption from import duties and taxes provided for in Article 224 point 1 above consists of deducting from the
amount of import duties and taxes relating to compensating products released for consumption, the amount of duties and taxes
importation which would be applicable, on the same date, to temporary export goods, used to obtain
compensating products, if they were imported into the customs territory from the country where they were processed or
were the subject of the last transformation operation.
2.The amount to be deducted under point 1 above is calculated according to the quantity and species of the goods concerned.
on the date of registration of the declaration of their placement under the outward processing regime, and on the basis of the other
elements of taxation applicable to them on the date of registration of the declaration of release for consumption of the products
compensators.
The value of the temporary export goods is that which is taken into account for these goods at the time of the
determination of the customs value of compensating products in accordance with Article 68 (1) (b) (i), or, if the value cannot be
be determined in this way, the difference between the customs value of the compensating products and the processing costs
determined by reasonable means.
However, when the goods for temporary export have been, prior to their placement under the regime of the
outward processing, release for consumption at reduced rates due to their use for specific purposes and
as long as the conditions fixed for the granting of these reduced rates remain applicable when importing products
compensators, the amount to be deducted is the amount of import duties and taxes actually collected at the time of this adjustment.
consumption.
3 This article is without prejudice to the application of the provisions adopted or likely to be adopted within the framework of
trade between the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries and providing for exemption from duties and taxes to
importation for certain compensating products.
Article 232:
(1) When the outward processing operation has as its object the repair of goods for temporary exportation, their release
consumption is carried out with total exemption from import duties and taxes if it is established to the satisfaction of the customs office,
that the repair was carried out free of charge, either because of a contractual or legal guarantee obligation, or as a result of
the existence of a manufacturing defect.
2 The provisions of point 1 above are not applicable when the defective condition at the time of
first release for consumption of the goods in question.
Article 233:
By way of derogation from the provisions of article 231 above, when the improvement operation has as its object the repair of
temporary export goods, and that this repair is carried out against payment, partial exemption from duties and taxes to
the importation provided for in Article 224 point 1 above consists in determining the amount of applicable duties and taxes on the basis of
elements of taxation relating to compensating products on the date of registration of the declaration of release for consumption of
these products, taking into account, as customs value, an amount equal to the repair costs, provided that these costs
constitute the sole service of the license holder and are not influenced by links between him and the operator.
§4 : Outward processing with recourse to the standard exchange system
Article 234:
1.Under the conditions set out in point 3 below, and provided that the improvement operation consists of repairing the
goods, outward processing with recourse to the standard exchange system makes it possible to import, instead of the product
compensator, another product, called a “replacement product”, while retaining the benefit of outward processing.
2. The provisions applicable to compensating products also apply to replacement products.
3.Under the conditions set by the authorization, replacement products may be imported prior to the export of
temporary export goods. The anticipated importation of a replacement product gives rise to the constitution of a guarantee.
covering the amount of import duties and taxes.
Article 235:
1.Replacement products must fall within the same tariff classification, be of the same commercial quality and possess the
same technical characteristics as the temporary export goods if the latter had been repaired
planned.
2.When the temporary export goods have been used before exporting, the replacement products should
also have been used and cannot be new products.
Customs may, however, grant exemptions from this rule if the replacement product was issued free of charge, either due to
a contractual or legal guarantee obligation, either as a result of the existence of a manufacturing defect.
Article 236:
Standard exchange is only accepted when it is possible to verify whether the conditions set out in article 235 above are met.
Article 237:
1. In the event of anticipated importation of substitute products, the export of temporary export goods should be
completed within a timeframe
30 days from the date of registration of the declaration of
goods replacement products.
2.However, following a written request from the interested party and for
reasons deemed valid by customs, this period may be extended.
Article 238:
In the event of anticipated importation and when the provisions of article 231 above are applied, the amount to be deducted is determined.
depending on the tax items applicable to temporary export goods on the date of registration of the declaration
of their placement under this regime.
§5 : Clearance
Article 239:
1 The outward processing procedure is cleared by the importation of the compensating products in one or more consignments or, in the
case of the standard exchange system, by importing replacement products in one or more shipments.
2.For goods the loss of which results from their nature, discharge is obtained to the extent that the compensating products are
imported and provided that such loss is duly established to the satisfaction of Customs.
3.On the written request of the person concerned, and for reasons deemed valid by the customs, the latter may authorize the re-importation, in
exemption from import duties and taxes, goods for temporary exportation for outward processing if they are
returned as is.
4.The outward processing regime is also cleared by the placement of temporary export goods or the
compensating products under the definitive export regime, provided that the applicable conditions and formalities are met
in that case.
5.The amount of applicable export duties and taxes, in the event that the compensating products are not imported, is limited
the amount of export duties and taxes applicable to export goods for outward processing.
Section 8: Processing of goods intended for home use
Article 240:
1. The processing of goods intended for home use is the customs procedure under which the
imported goods may undergo, under customs control, before release for consumption, a transformation or
working having the effect that the amount of import duties and taxes applicable to the products obtained is lower than the amount
duties and taxes that would be applicable to imported goods.
2.The customs procedure for processing goods intended for home use may also benefit from
goods which are already subject to another customs procedure.
3.The ministers having finance and industry in their attributions determine, by joint decree, the categories of goods
and the operations authorized for the processing of goods intended for home use.
Article 241:
The authorization to process goods intended for home use is issued by the Director General of
customs, at the written request of the person carrying out or having the processing carried out.
Article 242:
Authorization is only granted:
a) to persons who are established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
b) whether the customs can ensure that the products resulting from the processing of goods intended for home use have been
obtained from imported goods and that the original condition of the goods cannot be economically restored after the
processing or working;
c) if the recourse to the regime cannot have the consequence of diverting the effects of the rules on origin and restrictions
quantitative applicable to imported goods;
d) in the event that the conditions necessary for the scheme to contribute to the creation or maintenance of
an activity of transformation of goods in the Democratic Republic of Congo without harming the interests of
producers of similar goods established in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Article 243:
The provisions of articles 215 points 1 and 2 and 216 of this code apply, mutatis mutandis, to the goods referred to in article
240 above.
Article 244:
When a customs debt arises in respect of goods in the unaltered state or of products which are at an intermediate stage of
transformation compared to that provided for in the authorization, the amount of this debt is determined on the basis of the
taxation specific to imported goods at the time of registration of the declaration of placement of these goods under
the processing regime for goods intended for home use.
Article 245:
1.The processing regime for goods intended for home use is cleared by the release for home use of
products resulting from said transformation.
2.Following a written request from the interested party, and for reasons deemed valid by customs, the processing regime for
goods intended for home use can be cleared by placing the goods under another regime
customs, provided that the conditions and formalities applicable to this procedure are met.
3.Waste and debris resulting from the processing of goods intended for consumption are subject, in the event of
customs clearance for home use, import duties and taxes that would be applicable to this waste and scrap if they
were imported in this state.
Chapter 4 : Definitive export
Article 246:
Definitive export is the customs procedure applicable to goods in free circulation which leave the customs territory and
which are intended to remain permanently outside of it.
TITLE VII: FREE ZONES AND SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES
Chapter 1 : Free zones
Article 247:
1.The free zone is a part of the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in which the goods which are there
introduced are generally considered not to be in the customs territory with regard to import duties and taxes
as well as other trade policy measures.
2.The free zone is established by a decree of the Prime Minister, deliberated in the Council of Ministers, which fixes the modalities of
operation.
Article 248:
1.The Minister having finance in his attributions determines:
(a) the categories of goods which may be admitted into free zones;
b) the nature of the operations to which the goods may be subjected during their stay in the free zone; and
c) the conditions under which goods consumed within the free zone can benefit from the exemption of
rights and taxes.
2.The conditions for exercising customs control in free zones, including design requirements,
construction and fitting-out of premises are set by the Director General of Customs.
Article 249:
1 May be admitted in free zone:
(a) goods brought directly from abroad;
b) goods originating from the customs territory.
2. Prohibited or restricted goods may be admitted to a free zone, except when it concerns:
a) prohibitions or restrictions based on considerations of morality or public order, public security, hygiene or
public health or veterinary or phytosanitary considerations;
b) prohibitions or restrictions relating to the protection of intellectual property;

c) prohibitions or restrictions on goods the circulation of which is subject to special measures in terms of
international.
3.Goods admitted to a free zone and which, by virtue of their exportation, benefit from the exemption or
reimbursement of internal or import duties and taxes, benefit from this exemption or reimbursement
immediately after they have been brought into the free zone.
Article 250:
The period of stay of goods in a free zone is not limited.
However, due to exceptional circumstances such as the nature of the goods, their expected lifespan or
health or security considerations, customs may set or limit the length of time certain goods can stay in the
free zone.
Article 251:
Under the conditions set by order of the Minister having finance in his attributions, goods admitted into a free zone
may be subject to transfer.
Article 252:
1.All or part of the goods admitted or produced in a free zone may be withdrawn and transferred to another zone
free or placed under a customs procedure, provided that the conditions and formalities applicable in each of these
case.
2.On leaving a free zone, only the goods declaration required to place the said goods under the
customs procedure assigned to them.
3.The date to be taken into consideration in determining the value and quantity of the goods which may be released
consumption at the exit of a free zone, as well as the rates of import duties and taxes or internal duties and taxes, according to
the case, which are applicable to them, is the date of registration of the declaration of release for consumption of the said goods.
4.The Minister having finance in his attributions fixes, by decree, the rules to be applied to determine the amount of the rights and
import taxes or internal duties and taxes, as the case may be, applicable to goods released for consumption after having
undergone various processing or processing operations in a free zone.
Article 253:
In the event of the closure of a free zone, interested persons are required to transfer their goods to another zone.
free or place them under another customs procedure, provided that the conditions and formalities applicable in
each of these cases.
Chapter 2: Special economic zones
Article 254:
1. The special economic zone is any space, geographically limited, in which the economic laws are more liberal, that is
say more advantageous for companies than those practiced under common law.
2.The special economic zone is established by a decree of the Prime Minister, deliberated in the Council of Ministers, which sets its objectives.
economic and operating methods.
3.The Minister having finance in his attributions determines the specific customs and fiscal provisions applicable in the
special economic zone.
4.The conditions for exercising customs control in the special economic zones, including the requirements for
design, construction and layout of the premises are set by the Director General of Customs.
Chapter 3 : Of the common disposition
Article 255:
The provisions of this title may not be interpreted as hindering the exercise by the customs, within the
free zone or special economic zone, the powers of control granted to it by customs legislation.
TITLE VIII: SPECIAL PROCEDURES
Chapter 1 : Travelers
Article 256:
For the purposes of this chapter, it is understood by:
a) traveler:
i. any person who temporarily enters the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he does not have his residence
normal ("non-resident"), or who leaves this territory, and
ii.any person who leaves the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he has his normal residence ("resident leaving the
country of residence ") or returning there (" resident returning to country of residence ");
b. personal effects: all items, new or used, that a traveler may reasonably need for their personal use
during his trip, taking into account all the circumstances of this trip, excluding any imported goods or
exported for commercial purposes.
Article 257:
1. Travelers must present the goods imported or to be exported at a customs office.
2.Customs formalities relating to travelers are carried out only in the customs offices having in their competence
these customs operations.
3.In so far as the execution of customs controls allows it, travelers traveling on board their own means of transport
transport for private use may be authorized, both on arrival and departure, to complete all necessary customs formalities
without being systematically required to leave the means of transport they use.
Article 258:
1 Passengers are authorized to verbally declare the goods they are transporting as long as they are not
commercial character.
2.Unaccompanied baggage, which is not of a commercial or routine import character, may be declared
under the conditions provided for in point 1 above, provided that their owner justifies to the satisfaction of customs that
actually from abroad or going there.
3 The Director General of Customs shall determine, by decision, the conditions for the application of the provisions of points 1, 2 and 3 above.
Article 259:
Body examination of travelers for the purposes of customs controls may only be carried out when there are grounds for suspecting
whether there is an act of smuggling or another customs offense.
Article 260:
Residents returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo are allowed to re-import duty-free and tax-free.
the importation of their personal effects and the means of transport for private use which they have previously exported when leaving the
countries and which were in free circulation there.
Article 261:
1 The benefit of temporary admission is granted to the personal effects and means of transport for private use of nonresidents.
2.When customs considers that the personal effects referred to in point 1 above present, by their nature and / or by their quality and
quantity, a risk for the Public Treasury, the customs office may require that said personal effects be the subject of a document
customs and sufficient guarantee.
In this case, the period of temporary admission is fixed taking into account the duration of the stay of the traveler in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
3.Spare parts necessary to repair a means of transport for private use temporarily in the Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo can benefit from the temporary admission regime.
Article 262:
Personal effects and means of transport for private use of non-residents which are seriously damaged or destroyed as a result
accident or force majeure are exempt from the obligation to re-export.
Article 263:
The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by decree, the modalities of application of the provisions of this present
chapter.
Chapter 2: Postal traffic
Article 264:
1.On the arrival of postal items other than letter-post items intended for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the post
provides the customs office with simplified goods declarations, including the data necessary for customs controls,
especially :
(a) the names and addresses of the consignor and the consignee;
b) the numbers and gross weight of the shipment;
c) description of the goods;
(d) the tariff classification of the goods;
(e) the customs value of the goods;
f) the amount of duties and taxes as well as that of any other taxes to be collected.
2.Postal shipments in transit are not subject to any customs formalities.
Article 265:
Upon submission of the declarations referred to in Article 264 point 1 above, the customs office designates, immediately or at the latest
within 8 hours, the postal items which must be presented to him for control.
Article 266:
The duties and taxes applicable to the goods contained in the import postal items are collected by the post office on the basis of
elements of the simplified goods declarations and, where applicable, the results of customs controls.
Article 267:
1.No later than the 5th of the following month, the post office shall deliver to customs an additional comprehensive and summary declaration of the whole
shipments cleared during the previous month and pay the total amount of duties and taxes payable.
2.In the event of late payment of duties and taxes, the amount payable is increased by interest.
Article 268:
The provisions of Articles 264 to 267 above apply, mutatis mutandis, to postal items for export.
Article 269:
The provisions of this chapter also apply to private courier companies.
Article 270:
The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by decree, the modalities of application of the provisions of this present
chapter.
Chapter 3 : Means of transport for commercial use
Article 271:
For the purposes of this chapter, is considered a means of transport for commercial use, any ship, hovercraft, aircraft, vehicle
road or railway rolling stock, used, in international traffic, for the transport of persons for valuable consideration or for transport
industrial or commercial goods, whether or not for a consideration, as well as their spare parts, accessories and
normal equipment and the lubricants, fuel and fuel contained in their normal tanks, when they are
board of the means of transport for commercial use.
Article 272:
Without prejudice to the provisions of article 112, point 3 of this code, means of transport for commercial use, whether they are
loaded or not, are temporarily admitted to the customs territory with suspension of import duties and taxes provided that:
(a) they are not used for internal transport within the customs territory;
(b) they are intended for re-exportation without having undergone any modification, except for normal depreciation due to
the use made of it, the normal consumption of lubricants, fuels and fuels, as well as the necessary repairs
carried out.
Article 273:
When the customs office considers it essential for the purposes of customs control, it may require that the means of transport used
commercial document is the subject of a customs document and a sufficient guarantee. In this case, the time limit for re-exporting the means of
transport for commercial use is fixed taking into account the specific conditions of the transport operations envisaged.
Chapter 4 : Provisioning products
Article 274:
For the purposes of this chapter, it is understood by:
1.bunker products:
a) the supplies to be consumed, and
(b) take-out supplies;
2.bunker products to consume:
(a) goods intended for consumption by passengers and crew on board ships, aircraft or
trains, whether sold or not; and
(b) goods necessary for the operation and maintenance of ships, aircraft or trains, including fuel,
fuels and lubricants, excluding spare parts and equipment which are on board on arrival or are
embarked during the stay in the customs territory, ships, aircraft or trains used or intended to be used in
international traffic for the transport of persons for consideration or for the industrial or commercial transport of goods, to
onerous or not;
3 take-home bunkering products: goods intended for sale to passengers and crew members of the
ships and aircraft to be disembarked, and which are already on board on arrival or are embarked during the stay in
the customs territory, ships or aircraft used or intended to be used in international traffic for the transport of
persons for a consideration or for the industrial or commercial transport of goods for a consideration or not.
Article 275:
1.As long as they remain on board, bunkers that are on board a ship or an aircraft arriving in the
customs territory are admitted free of import duties and taxes.
2 The provisions of point 1 above only apply to trains for the supplies to be consumed necessary for their
operation and maintenance.
Article 276:
The supplies to be consumed which are on board the vessel can be delivered to passengers and crew members,
up to quantities reasonable taking into account their number, during the stay of the vessel in the customs territory.
Article 277:
1.When an aircraft has to stop at several airports located in the customs territory, the supplies to be consumed
that are on board may be delivered to passengers and crew members during the aircraft's stay in these
intermediate airports and during the flight between these airports.
2.Building products to be consumed necessary for the operation and maintenance of the aircraft which stops in several
airports in the customs territory must, when consumed during the stay of the aircraft in these intermediate airports
or during the flight between these airports, be declared for home use.
Article 278:
1.The carrier is required to take all necessary measures to prevent any irregular use of the products.
refueling.
2.When it deems it necessary, the customs office may seal the said products.
Article 279:
1 Ships and aircraft departing for a final destination abroad are allowed to embark, free of
rights and taxes :
a) bunkering products, up to the quantities deemed reasonable by customs taking into account the number of
passengers and crew, the duration of the crossing or flight and the quantities already on board;
b) supplies to be consumed necessary for their operation and maintenance, up to the quantities
considered reasonable for operation and maintenance during the passage or flight, also taking into account the quantities already
on board.
2.Is granted free of duties and taxes, the restocking of supplies of ships and aircraft arrived
in the customs territory and who need to restock for the remaining journey to the place of final destination
in the customs territory.
Article 280:
Bunkers on board ships, aircraft and trains arriving in the customs territory may:
(a) be released for home use or be placed under another customs procedure, provided that the conditions and formalities are met
applicable in each case;
b) be transhipped respectively to other ships, aircraft or trains in international traffic, subject to authorization
prior to the customs office.
Chapter 5 : Relief consignments
Article 281:
For the purposes of this chapter, the following are considered to be relief consignments:
a) goods, including vehicles or other means of transport, foodstuffs, medicines, clothing,
blankets, tents, prefabricated houses, water purification or storage equipment or other
basic necessities, sent to help disaster victims; and
b) all equipment, vehicles and other means of transport, animals trained for special purposes, food, supplies,
personal effects and other goods intended for emergency personnel to enable them to carry out their mission or to help them
to live and work during the period of his mission in the country affected by the disaster.
Article 282:
1. Must be carried out as a priority, customs clearance formalities for import, temporary admission, transit and
the export of relief consignments.
2 In so far as they relate to relief consignments, the following are authorized:
a) the lodging of a simplified, provisional or incomplete goods declaration, provided that the declaration is completed within
a time limit determined by the customs office;
b) the filing, registration and examination of the goods declaration and accompanying documents before the arrival of
goods, and release upon arrival thereof;
c) customs clearance outside working days and opening hours of customs offices or at a location other than
offices, by waiving the collection of the fee provided for in article 92, point 3 of this code;
(d) checking the goods or taking samples, or both, only in circumstances
exceptional.
3 Relief consignments which constitute a donation addressed to an approved organization and which are intended to be used or distributed
free of charge by this body or under its control are admitted free of import duties and taxes.
TITLE IX: CUSTOMS DEPOSIT
Chapter 1: The constitution of goods in storage
Article 283:
1. The following are automatically deposited by the customs office:
a) goods which have not been the subject within the legal period of the declaration provided for in article 112 of this code;
b) goods which remain in customs for a reason other than that referred to in point a) above.
2.When the goods are without market value, the customs may have them destroyed.
Article 284:
Goods held in customs warehouses are entered in a special register kept by the receiver of the customs office.
Article 285:
Goods held in customs warehouses are deposited in the public customs warehouse or, if this proves impossible, in
any other place designated by the receiver of the customs office.
Article 286:
1.Goods in customs warehouses remain there at the risk of the owners, unless proof can be established that their
deterioration, alteration, loss or disappearance is attributable to customs or to the person who had sole custody of it.
2. The costs of any kind resulting from the constitution and the stay in storage are to be borne by the goods.
Article 287:
Customs officers cannot open packages made up in customs warehouses and verify their contents.
in the presence of the owner or recipient or, failing that, a person designated by the public prosecutor in the
conditions provided for in article 131 point 2 of this code.
Chapter 2 : Sale of goods in customs warehouses
Article 288:
1.Goods which have not been collected within the period of 2 months from the date of their entry in the deposit register are sold to
public auctions.
2. Goods subject to rapid deterioration, or the storage of which presents inconveniences or difficulties due to
in particular of their nature or volume, as well as those which have become liable to warehouse costs, the amount of which is reached.
their value, can be sold immediately by customs, without waiting for the expiry of the period provided for in point 1 above.
Article 289:
1.The sale of goods is carried out by customs to the highest and last bidder, in the presence of the officer of the
Territorial competent public prosecutor.
2.Goods are sold free of all duties and taxes collected by customs.
3.Customs officers and any other agent of the public services or bodies involved in the process of sale of
goods may not, directly or through an intermediary, compete in the auction, under penalty of nullity of the transaction.
sale.
Article 290:
1.The proceeds of the sale are allocated, in order of priority and to the extent:
a) the payment of costs and other incidental expenses of any kind incurred by the customs or on its order for the constitution and
stay in storage as well as for the sale of goods;
b) collection of duties and taxes.
2.When the balance of the proceeds of the sale is sufficient, after payment of the debts referred to in point 1 above, the
payment of all other costs that may encumber the goods.
Any remaining balance is consigned by the receiver of the customs office for 1 year at the disposal of the owner of the goods.
or beneficiaries. After this period, it is acquired by the Public Treasury.
3.When the balance of the proceeds of the sale is insufficient, after payment of the debts referred to in point 1 above, to settle the
debts listed in point 2 above, it is distributed according to the procedure of distribution by contribution, at the behest of customs.
Article 291:
Export duties and taxes are not due on goods initially intended for export which, in accordance with
provisions of articles 283 and 289 above, are put up for sale by public auction.
TITLE X: CUSTOMS DEBT
Chapter 1 : Guarantee of the customs debt
Article 292:
1.When, in application of customs legislation, the customs require the lodging of a security in order to ensure the payment of a
customs debt, this guarantee must be provided by the debtor or the person likely to become one.
2. Customs may only require the provision of a single guarantee for the same customs debt.
3. Customs may allow the security to be provided by a third party in place of the person from whom the security was issued.
required.
4.When the debtor or the person likely to become one is the Democratic Republic of the Congo or a territorial entity with
of legal personality, no guarantee is required.
Article 293:
Following a written request from the person referred to in article 292 above, the customs allow a comprehensive guarantee to be provided.
to cover several transactions giving rise or likely to give rise to a customs debt.
Article 294:
1.Customs set the amount of the guarantee at an equal level:
(a) the exact amount of the customs debt or debts in question, if this amount can be determined with certainty at the time when the
guarantee is required;
b) the highest amount, estimated by the collector at the customs office, of the customs debt (s) born or likely to arise
in other cases.
2.When a comprehensive guarantee is established for customs debts the amount of which varies over time, the amount of this
guarantee must be set at a level which will cover at all times that of the customs debts in question.
Article 295:
The guarantee can be constituted:
(a) by a cash deposit;
b) or by a surety.
Article 296:
1.The cash deposit must be made in currency that is legal tender in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the minister
having finances in its attributions can, by decree, determine in which circumstances it can be derogated from this rule.
2.Is assimilated to a cash deposit:
(a) delivery of a check the payment of which is guaranteed by the body on which it is drawn;
b) the delivery of any other document having a discharge power and which is recognized by the customs.
Article 297:
1.The surety is a third person, established in the Democratic Republic of Congo and who undertakes, in writing, to pay jointly
with the debtor the guaranteed amount of the customs debt whose payment becomes due and this, without recourse to the benefit of
discussion.
2.The collector of the customs office may refuse to accept the proposed bond when it does not seem to him to ensure in a manner
certain payment of the customs debt on time.
Article 298:
1 The person required to provide the guarantee has the free choice between the methods of constitution of the latter provided for in article 295 below.
above.
However, the receiver of the customs office may refuse to accept the mode of guarantee proposed when it is incompatible with the
proper functioning of the customs procedure concerned.
2. Customs may require the security chosen to be maintained for a specified period.
Article 299:
When the customs find that the guarantee provided no longer guarantees in a certain or complete way the payment of the customs debt
within the prescribed time limits, it requires the person referred to in Article 292 point 1 above, at the latter's choice, to provide
an additional guarantee, i.e. the replacement of the initial guarantee by a new guarantee.
Article 300:
1.The guarantee cannot be released as long as the customs debt for which it was provided is not extinguished or is
likely to take birth. As soon as the customs debt is extinguished or is no longer likely to arise, the guarantee must
be immediately released.
2.When the customs debt is partially discharged or is no longer likely to arise for part of the amount that has
been guaranteed, the security provided is, at the request of the interested party and in the same proportions, partially released, unless the
amount involved does not justify it.
Chapter 2 : The origin of the customs debt
Section 1 : From the origin of the customs debt to importation
Article 301:
1.Create a customs debt on importation:
(a) release for consumption of goods liable to import duties and taxes; or the placement of such merchandise
under the regime of temporary admission with partial exemption from import duties and taxes.
2.The customs debt arises at the time of registration of the declaration of the goods in question.
3.The debtor is the declarant.
Article 302:
1.Create a customs debt on importation:
(a) the irregular introduction into the customs territory of goods liable to import duties and taxes; or
b) in the case of such a good located in a free zone, its irregular introduction into another part of the territory
customs officer.
2.The customs debt arises at the time of the irregular entry.
3.The debtors are:
(a) the person who made the illegal entry;
(b) persons who participated in that introduction knowing or reasonably expected to know that it was unlawful;
c) as well as the persons who acquired or held the goods in question and who knew or should reasonably have known at
when they acquired or received this commodity that it was an irregularly introduced commodity.
4 For the purposes of this article, an irregular introduction shall be understood to mean any introduction in violation of the provisions of Chapter 1.
of Title IV of this code.
Article 303:
1.Create a customs debt upon importation, the removal of goods liable to import duties and taxes from the
customs supervision.
2.The customs debt arises when the said goods are withdrawn from customs supervision.
3.The debtors are:
(a) the person who removed the goods from customs supervision;
b) persons who participated in this subtraction knowing or reasonably expected to know that it was a subtraction
from the goods to customs surveillance;
(c) the persons who acquired or held the good in question and who knew or should reasonably have known at the time
they acquired or received this merchandise whether it was merchandise withdrawn from customs supervision; as well as
d) where applicable, the person who must fulfill the obligations entailed by the stay of the goods in the store or in the
customs clearance or the use of the customs procedure under which the goods have been placed.
Article 304:
1.Create a customs debt on importation:
a) the non-fulfillment of one of the obligations entailed for a merchandise liable to import duties and taxes by its stay in store
or in a customs clearance area or the use of the customs procedure under which it has been placed; or
b) failure to observe one of the conditions set for placing goods under this regime or for granting a reduced rate, or
void of import duties and taxes due to the use of the goods for special purposes, in cases other than that
referred to in Article 303 above, unless it is established that these breaches had no real consequences on the
correct functioning of the stay in the store or in the customs clearance area or the customs procedure in question.
2.The customs debt arises either when the obligation ceases to be fulfilled, the non-performance of which gives rise to the customs debt, or at the
when the goods were placed under the customs procedure in question when it appears a posteriori that one of the conditions laid down
for the placing of the said goods under this regime or for the granting of a reduced or zero rate of import duties and taxes in
reason for the use of the goods for special purposes was not really satisfied.
3 The debtor is the person who must, as the case may be, either perform the obligations entailed by the stay in the store or in the
customs clearance of goods liable to import duties and taxes or the use of the customs procedure under which this
merchandise has been placed, or comply with the conditions set for placing the merchandise under this regime.
Article 305:
1. Creates a customs debt on importation, consumption or use, in a free zone, under conditions other than
than those provided for by customs legislation, of a commodity liable to import duties and taxes.
In the event of the disappearance of goods and in the event that this disappearance cannot be satisfactorily justified to the
customs, the latter may consider that the goods have been consumed or used in the free zone.
2.The customs debt arises when the goods are consumed or when they are used for the first time in
conditions other than those provided for by customs legislation.
3.The debtor is the person who consumed or used the goods as well as the persons who participated in this consumption
or to such use knowing or reasonably expected to know that such consumption or use was taking place in
conditions other than those provided for by customs legislation.
When, in the event of the disappearance of goods, Customs considers that these goods have been consumed or used in the
free zone and that it is not possible to apply the provisions of point 2 above, the person liable for the payment of the debt
customs officer is the last person who, to the knowledge of customs, was in possession of the goods.
Article 306:
1.No customs debt on importation shall be deemed to arise in respect of a specific commodity, by way of derogation from the
Articles 302 and 304 point 1 a) above, when the interested party provides proof that the non-performance of the obligations arising from:
a) either of the provisions of Chapter 1 of Title IV of this Code,
b) either the stay of the goods concerned in the store or in the customs clearance area,
c) either from the use of the customs procedure under which the goods have been placed, results from the total destruction or loss
irremediable of the said goods for a cause depending on the very nature of the goods or as a result of a fortuitous event or
force majeure or following authorization from customs.
For the purposes of this point, a good is irretrievably lost when it is rendered unusable.
2.No customs debt on importation is deemed to arise in respect of goods released for consumption.
for the benefit of reduced or zero import duties and taxes due to its use for specific purposes, when this
goods are exported or re-exported with customs clearance.
Article 307:
When, in accordance with the provisions of Article 306 point 1 above, no customs debt is deemed to arise
in respect of goods released for consumption for the benefit of reduced or zero import duties and taxes by reason of their
use for specific purposes, waste and debris resulting from such destruction are considered foreign goods.
Article 308:
When, in accordance with the provisions of article 303 or 304 above, a customs debt arises in respect of goods released
consumption for the benefit of reduced or zero duties and taxes due to its use for particular purposes, the amount paid during
release for consumption is deducted from the amount of the customs debt born.
This provision applies, mutatis mutandis, when a customs debt arises for waste and scrap resulting from the destruction
of such a commodity.
Section 2 : From the origin of the customs debt to export
Article 309:
1.Create a customs debt on exportation, the exit out of the customs territory, with declaration of goods, of a
goods subject to export duties and taxes.
2.The customs debt arises when the registration of this declaration of goods takes place.
3.The debtor is the declarant.
Article 310:
1.Create a customs debt on exportation, the exit out of the customs territory, without declaration of goods, of a
goods subject to export duties and taxes.
2. The customs debt arises when the actual exit of the said goods from this territory takes place.
3.The debtors are:
a) the person who carried out the exit; as well as
(b) persons who took part in that outing knowing or reasonably expected to know that a goods declaration
had not been filed, but should have been.
Article 311:
1. Gives rise to a customs debt on exportation, failure to comply with the conditions which allowed the goods to be released out of the
customs territory with total or partial exemption from export duties and taxes.
2. The debt arises when the goods have reached a destination other than that which allowed their exit from the customs territory.
in total or partial exemption from export duties and taxes or, in the absence of the possibility for customs to determine this
the moment, when the time limit set for the production of proof that the conditions set to give entitlement to this
exemption have been met.
3. The debtor is the declarant.
Section 3: Common provisions
Article 312:
The customs debt referred to in Articles 301 to 305 and 309 to 311 above, arises even if it relates to goods which are
the subject of a measure of prohibition or restriction on import or export, whatever its nature.
Article 31:
When customs legislation provides for favorable tariff treatment of a good by reason of its nature or its destination
special exemption or total or partial exemption from import or export duties and taxes, this treatment
favorable, this deductible or exemption also applies in the event of a customs debt arising under the
Articles 302 to 305, 310 and 311 above, provided that the behavior of the interested party does not involve fraudulent maneuver or
manifest negligence and that the latter provides proof that the other conditions for the application of favorable treatment,
or exemption are met.
Article 314:
When there are several debtors for the same customs debt, they are required to pay this debt jointly and severally.
Article 315:
1. Unless otherwise provided for in this code and without prejudice to point 2 below, the amount of duties and taxes to be
import or export applicable to a good is determined on the basis of the taxation elements specific to that
goods at the time when the customs debt relating to them arises.
2. When it is not possible to determine exactly when the customs debt arises, when
consideration for the determination of the elements of taxation specific to the goods in question is when the customs find that
this commodity is in a situation which has given rise to a customs debt.

However, when the information available to customs enables it to establish that the customs debt has arisen
at a time prior to that at which it made this determination, the amount of import or export duties and taxes
relating to the goods in question is determined on the basis of the taxation elements which were specific to it at the most
distant in time when the existence of the customs debt resulting from this situation can be established from the information
available.
Chapter 3 : Recovery of the amount of the customs debt
Page 5

Section 1 : Liquidation, taking into account of duties and taxes and communication of the amount to the debtor
Article 316:
1.Any amount of import or export duties and taxes resulting from a customs debt shall be liquidated by the receiver of the
customs office with territorial jurisdiction as soon as it has the necessary elements, and be taken into account in the
register of duties and taxes paid by the customs office.
2.The taking into account of duties and taxes by the collector of the customs office is carried out as soon as the duties and taxes have been liquidated.
3 Except in the case referred to in article 136 point 2 of this code, the collector must communicate to the debtor the amount of duties and taxes due,
as soon as the taking into account has been carried out.
4.The collector of the customs office is personally and financially responsible for the errors of liquidation, of taking into account
or perception that he commits to the detriment of the treasury or of third parties referred to in article 351 below.
5.The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by means of an order, the minimum value of the goods and / or the
minimum amount of duties and taxes below which no duty or tax is levied.
Section 2 : Methods and deadline for payment of the amount of duties and taxes
Article 317:
1.Any amount of duties and taxes which has been the subject of the communication referred to in Articles 136 and 316 point 3 must be paid by the
debtor under the conditions provided for in articles 137, 316, 318 and 319 of this code.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 137 of this code, it may be granted to the debtor of the customs debt who requests it,
a postponement of the payment of duties and taxes provided that the conditions provided for by the provisions of Articles 320 and
321
below.
Article 318:
1. Duties and taxes are paid in currency which is legal tender in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, the minister having the
finances in its attributions can, by decree, determine the conditions under which it can be derogated from this rule.
2.Payment is made in cash or by any other means, including electronic means, having a discharge power
similar in accordance with the legal and regulatory provisions in force.
3 Payment may not be made by offsetting, except in the cases provided for in Chapter 5 of this Title.
Article 319:
Any operation of establishment, liquidation, authorization or recovery of duties and taxes carried out in violation of the
provisions of this code and / or the measures taken for its execution, has no effect from the point of view of the discharge of the debtor
customs debt to the public treasury.
Article 320:
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 321 below, the granting of the deferral of payment provided for in Article 317 point 2 above is
subject to the lodging of a sufficient guarantee by the applicant and may give rise to the collection of ancillary costs for
service rendered.
Article 321:
1.The delay of payment deferral is at least 14 days and cannot exceed 30 days.
2. The Director General of Customs determines, by decision, the conditions for granting deferral of payment.
Article 322:
1. Customs may grant the debtor payment facilities other than deferral of payment.
2.The granting of these payment facilities:
(a) is subject to the lodging of sufficient security;
b) gives rise to the collection, in addition to the amount of duties and taxes, of credit interest.
3.The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by decree, the conditions under which the payment facilities
may be granted and the rate of credit interest to be applied.
Article 323:
Whatever the payment facility that has been granted to the debtor, the latter may, in any event, pay all or part
the amount of duties and taxes without waiting for the expiry of the period granted to him.
Article 324:
Any amount of duties and taxes can be paid by a third party in place of the debtor.
Article 325:
1.When the amount of duties and taxes has not been paid within the time limit:
a) the collector of the customs office must make use of all the possibilities granted to him by the provisions in force, including
enforcement, to ensure the recovery of this amount;
b) interest and a late payment penalty are collected in addition to the amount of duties and taxes.
2.The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by decree, the methods of application of the provisions of point 1b below.
above.
Article 326:
The receiver of the customs office is authorized to detain the goods as long as they have not been paid in full or
guaranteed:
a) the related duties and taxes;
b) fines;
c) any amount whatsoever due by the declarant to the Treasury.
Chapter 4: The extinction of the customs debt
Article 327:
The customs debt is extinguished by:
a) payment of the amount of duties and taxes;
b) remission of the amount of duties and taxes;
c) destruction of the goods duly certified by customs before they are released;
d) confiscation of the goods;
e) withdrawal of the goods declaration when the procedure in which the goods are declared includes the obligation to pay the
rights and taxes ;
f) the public auction of the abandoned goods;
g) prescription.
Article 328:
For the purposes of applying the penal provisions, in the event of seizure and confiscation, the customs debt is considered not to be
extinguished when the duties and taxes and / or the existence of a customs debt serve as a basis for the determination of penalties or
lawsuits.
Chapter 5 : Reimbursement and remission of duties and taxes
Article 329:
For the purposes of this chapter, it is understood by:
a) reimbursement: the total or partial refund of import or export duties and taxes which have been paid;
b) remission: the decision not to collect, in whole or in part, an amount of the customs debt.
Article 330:
1. The procedure is:
a) the reimbursement of duties and taxes when it is established that at the time of payment, their amount was not legally due;
b) remission of duties and taxes when it is established that at the time of entry into account, their amount was not legally due;
2.No refund or discount is granted, when the facts leading to the payment of an amount which was not legally due
result from a maneuver by the person concerned.
3.The reimbursement or discount referred to in point 1 above is granted by the Director General of Customs, upon written request.
filed with the customs office concerned before the expiration of a period of 3 years from the date of registration of the
declaration of goods.
This period is extended if the person concerned provides proof, to the satisfaction of the customs, that he was prevented from filing his request within
said delay as a result of a fortuitous event or force majeure.
4.The Director General of Customs may have the reimbursement or remittance proceed ex officio when the Customs ascertains of it.
even, during this period, the existence of the situation described in point 1 above.
Article 331:
1.Duties and taxes are refunded or remitted when a goods declaration is withdrawn. The
reimbursement or remission is granted on the written request of the interested party lodged with the customs office within the time limit set
article 127 point 2 of this code.
2. In the case referred to in point 1 above, reimbursement or remission shall be granted by the head of the customs office.
Article 332:
1. A refund or remission of duties and taxes shall be made when it is established that the amount taken into account relates to
goods refused by the recipient because they are defective or do not comply with the stipulations of the contract following which
the import or export was carried out at the time referred to in article 125 point 1 of this code.
2. Defective goods within the meaning of point 1 above are goods damaged before release.
3.Reimbursement or remission of duties and taxes is subject to:
a) on condition that the goods have not been used, unless commencement of use has been necessary to
note their defect or non-compliance with the stipulations of the contract;
(b) the re-export or re-import of these goods, depending on whether they are import or export duties and taxes.
At the request of the person concerned, customs may allow the re-export or re-import of the goods to be replaced by
their destruction.
4.Refund or remission of duties and taxes is not granted for goods which, before their release for consumption
or their final export as the case may be, had been imported or exported temporarily for testing, unless it is established
that the defectiveness of these goods or their non-conformity with the stipulations of the contract could not normally be detected at
during these tests.
5.Reimbursement or remission of import duties and taxes for the reasons indicated in point 1 above is granted by the
Director General of Customs on written request filed, before the expiration of a period of 90 days from the date
registration of the goods declaration, with the customs office where this declaration was registered.
6.The goods to be re-exported or destroyed must be presented in support of the request referred to in point 5 above.
Article 333:
1) Duties and taxes are reimbursed when the goods released for consumption or exported cannot be
delivered to their consignee, provided that these goods must be re-exported or re-imported as the case may be.
2. The provisions of Article 332 point 5 above apply to the case of reimbursement referred to in point 1 above.
Article 334:
1.It is proceeded with the reimbursement or remission of export duties and taxes, when the declarant renounces exporting the
goods initially declared for export.
2. Under no circumstances will the store fees be refunded.
3 The reimbursement or discount referred to in point 1 above is granted by the head of the office at the written request of the declarant.
Article 335:
The reimbursement by customs of the amounts of duties and taxes on import or export as well as interest on credit or
delay that may be perceived on the occasion of their payment does not give rise to the payment of interest.
Article 336:
When, unduly, a customs debt has been forgiven or the corresponding amount of duties and taxes reimbursed, the initial debt
becomes payable again.
TITLE XI: CUSTOMS EXEMPTIONS
Article 337:
The admission or the exit free of duties and taxes is the release for consumption or the export of goods in exemption
duties and taxes, regardless of their normal tariff classification or the amount of duties and taxes of which they are normally
liable, provided that they are imported or exported under conditions and for a purpose determined by legal provisions
and regulations in force.
Article 338:
It can only be granted exemption from duties and taxes in application of international conventions or only by law or by virtue of
this one.
Article 339:
1 May be admitted free of import duties and taxes, under the conditions determined by the Minister having finance in
its attributions:
a) samples of no commercial value which are considered by Customs to be of negligible value and which are not used
than to search for orders of goods of the kind they represent;
b) movable property, excluding equipment of an industrial, commercial or agricultural nature, intended for personal use or
professional of a person or members of his family, who are brought to the Democratic Republic of Congo at the same time
that person or at another time for the purpose of transferring his residence;
c) property collected by way of inheritance by a person having, on the date of the deceased's death, his principal residence in
Democratic Republic of Congo, provided that these goods have been used for the personal use of the deceased;
d) personal gifts, excluding alcohol, alcoholic beverages and tobacco;
e) goods such as food, medicine, clothing and blankets, which constitute donations addressed to
charitable or philanthropic organizations approved and which are intended to be distributed free of charge by these organizations or under their
control to needy people;
f) awards given to persons having their residence in
Democratic Republic of Congo, subject to the submission of supporting documents deemed necessary by customs;
g) coffins containing mortal remains and funeral urns containing ashes of cremated remains, as well as
ornamental objects that accompany them;
h) materials and articles intended for research and / or education;
i) religious objects intended for use in the exercise of worship;
j) products imported for testing, provided that the quantities do not exceed those strictly necessary for
tests and that the products are completely consumed during the tests or that the non-consumed products are re-exported or
processed, under customs control, in such a way as to deprive them of any commercial value;
k) goods imported under diplomatic and consular privileges;
l) donations or materials provided free of charge to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to territorial entities with
juridic people ;
m) goods imported within the framework of bilateral or multilateral cooperation projects;
n) banknotes and coins having legal tender as well as fiduciary papers imported by the Central Bank of
Congo;
o) foreign currency imported by commercial banks;
p) postage stamps and uncancelled revenue stamps current or intended to be valid in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2.The goods referred to in point 1 above may, where appropriate and mutatis mutandis, benefit from duty free and
export taxes under the conditions determined by the Minister having finance in his attributions.
Article 340:
Admission free of duties and taxes may be granted for goods already placed under another customs procedure, for
as long as the conditions for benefiting from exemption from duties and taxes are met.
TITLE XII: THE RIGHT OF APPEAL
Chapter 1 : Generalities
Article 341:
Anyone directly concerned by a customs decision or omission has a right of appeal.
Article 342:
1. The person directly concerned by a customs decision or omission must, if he so requests, be informed by
writes, within 15 days, the reasons for the said decision or omission.
2.From the receipt of the response from customs, the applicant has, if he contests it, a period of 30 days to submit, by
written, a reasoned appeal to the Director General of Customs. Upon justified request submitted within the aforementioned period, and for
reasons deemed valid by the customs, additional time may be granted to complete his appeal by the elements of
possible evidence.
3.From the receipt of the appeal or additional evidence, the Director General of Customs has a period of
30 days to inform the applicant of its decision.
If the appeal is rejected, the applicant is notified in writing of the reasons for the decision, and customs informs him of his right.
possibly lodge a new appeal with the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission or the Minister having
finances in its attributions as the case may be, specifying the time limit within which this new appeal must be introduced.
4.From the receipt of the decision of the Director General of Customs, the applicant has 30 days for the
challenge. In the event of a dispute, the Director General of Customs must, within 10 days, transmit the entire file therein.
including any samples:
a) to the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission, referred to in Chapter 2 of this Title, if the dispute relates to the case,
the origin or value of the goods;
b) to the minister having finance in his attributions in other cases. The latter has 30 days to respond to the
recourse.
Article 343:
1.When the applicant contests the decision taken by the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission or by the Minister having
finances in its attributions according to the case, it has a period of 30 days as from the notification of the contested decision, to
lodge an appeal with the Council of State. The latter seizes the elements of the file and decides in first and last resort.
as to the substance.
2. In the event that the customs contest the decision taken by the Customs Dispute Resolution Commission, it has a period of 30
days to lodge an appeal with the Council of State. The latter seizes the elements of the file and decides first and last
appears as to the substance.
Article 344:
1.The lodging of an appeal does not suspend the execution of the contested decision.
2.However, the customs shall postpone, in whole or in part, the execution of the said decision when it has justified reasons to doubt the
compliance of the contested decision with customs legislation or that irreparable damage is to be feared for the person concerned.
3.When the contested decision results in the application of import or export duties and taxes, it may be offered or
requested release of the disputed goods not prohibited by providing sufficient security, which may amount to
double the amount of duties and taxes presumed to be compromised.
4.When, according to the findings of the customs, the goods are prohibited, it may, unless public order prevents it, be offered or
requested release of the said goods subject to provision of a sufficient security, which may amount to the amount of their
value estimated by customs; goods declared for import to be returned abroad or placed in warehouse and
goods whose exit is requested must remain in the customs territory.
Article 345:
The provisions of this title do not apply to sanctions taken in contentious matters in accordance with the legislation.
customs.
Chapter 2 : The Commission for the settlement of customs disputes
Article 346:
1.It is established in the Democratic Republic of Congo an independent body responsible for settling disputes relating to origin,
the species or customs value of the goods called the “Customs Dispute Settlement Commission”.
2.The Customs Disputes Settlement Commission is made up of:
a) the First President of the relevant Administrative Court of Appeal;
b) two advisers to the relevant Administrative Court of Appeal;
c) two assessors appointed for their technical competence.
The First President of the Administrative Court of Appeal of the jurisdiction or the one who replaces him in the event of absence or impediment in
assumes the presidency.
Article 347:
1.Only can be appointed as assessors for each dispute referred to the Dispute Resolution Committee.
Customs officers, the persons appearing on the list drawn up by order of the Minister having finance in his attributions.
This list indicates the area of ​expertise of each person.
2. In each case, the president appoints the two assessors called to the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission and their
substitutes.
3.The assessors are bound by professional secrecy.
4.The First President of the Administrative Court of Appeal of the jurisdiction appoints, for each case, the advisers to the Court
administrative appeal to sit on the Commission for the settlement of customs disputes and their deputies.
Article 348:
The ministers having in their attributions respectively finance and justice determine, by joint decree, the regulation
interior of the Customs Dispute Resolution Commission.
Article 349:
1.The chairman of the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission may order any personal hearings, research or analysis
which he deems useful for the investigation of the case.
2.When the dispute does not relate to the species, origin or value of the goods, the president shall ascertain, by a decision not
subject to appeal, the incompetence of the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission.
This decision is notified to the parties within a week.
After examining any briefs produced and having summoned the parties or their representatives to be heard,
together and contradictorily in their observations, the Commission for the settlement of customs disputes, unless there is an agreement between
the parties, sets a time limit at the end of which, after deliberating, it makes known its decision, which is taken by a majority of its members.
In the event of a tie, the president's vote is decisive.
3.When the parties have reached an agreement before the expiry of the period provided for in point 3 above, the Settlement Commission
customs litigation acknowledges this agreement by specifying its content.
4.In its decision, the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission must indicate in particular the names of the members who have deliberated,
the object of the dispute, the name and domicile of the applicant, the summary of the arguments presented, the technical findings
and the reasons for the solution adopted. When the dispute relates to the species, the tariff heading of the disputed goods must
be further specified.
5.The decision of the Customs Disputes Settlement Commission is notified to the parties within a week.
Article 350:
The costs incurred by the functioning of the Commission for the settlement of customs disputes are borne by the Public Treasury.
TITLE XIII: COLLECTIONS ON BEHALF OF THIRD PARTIES
Article 351:
1. Customs alone are competent to settle, collect and collect taxes, duties, commissions, fees or remuneration.
any on behalf of other administrations and / or public bodies when they are due on the occasion of importation and / or
export of goods.
2. Customs reports to the administrations and / or public bodies concerned, in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed upon,
the liquidation, collection and recovery operations referred to in point 1 above.
3.Modalities for the application of the provisions of this article, in particular the harmonized procedures as well as those relating to
dispute settlement, are set by regulation.
Article 352:
Any taxes, duties, commissions, fees or remuneration referred to in Article 351 above are settled and collected according to
the rates and bases provided for by the legal or regulatory provisions establishing them.
Article 353:
Unless there are specific legal or regulatory provisions, offenses relating to collections made under the provisions of
Article 351 above are subject to the procedural conditions provided for by this code.
TITLE XIV: CUSTOMS LITIGATION
Chapter 1: Generalities
Article 354:
1.Constitutes a customs offense, any violation of customs legislation which is punishable by a penalty provided for by this code.
or by the legal or regulatory provisions enacted for its application.
2. Is punished with the same penalty as the consummated offense, any attempt to violate customs legislation.
Article 355:
Unless otherwise provided in this code, customs offenses are established independently of any intentional element.
Chapter 2: Finding customs offenses
Article 356:
1.Customs officers holding at least the rank of first class attaché de bureau have the power to ascertain offenses
to customs legislation.
2.When the judicial police officers with general jurisdiction observe customs offenses, they immediately report them.
at the customs.
Article 357:
1.Customs offenses must be recorded in reports to be drawn up immediately or as quickly as possible.
2.The customs infringement reports describe the nature and circumstances of these infringements, the time and place where
they have been committed, the evidence or clues to be borne by those who are the alleged perpetrators, as well as the goods and means
of transport possibly seized.
3.If the alleged offender is present, the report shall state that it has been read to him and that he has been invited to sign it.
4.The reports of infringements in customs matters end with the following written oath: "I swear that the present report
is sincere ”.
5.The reports of infringement in customs matters are drawn up in one piece, without blanks, spaces or surcharges. Referrals
and apostilles can only be entered in the margin unless they are signed or initialed by the verbalisers.
6 The minutes thus drawn up are sent, without delay, to the hierarchical manager to whom the reporters report, and a copy is
delivered to the alleged perpetrators or sent to them by registered letter. If the alleged perpetrators refuse this
communication or are unknown, the notification is made to the administrative authority of the place where the infringement was noted.
Article 358:
1. Those who notice a customs offense have the right to seize all objects liable to confiscation, to withhold all documents
relating to the seized objects and to proceed with the preventive detention of the means of transport and the disputed goods not liable to
confiscation to guarantee payment of duties and taxes due as well as fines incurred.
2.They may only arrest and seize the alleged perpetrators in the event of a flagrant or deemed offense and for
as far as it is punishable by penal servitude. The territorially competent public prosecutor is immediately
informed. The duration of the detention of the seized persons cannot exceed 48 hours, except extension of the same duration authorized by
the officer of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
During the detention, the public prosecutor can go to the scene to check the modalities of detention and make
communicate the minutes and registers provided for this purpose. If he considers it necessary, he may designate a doctor to administer, the
where appropriate, appropriate care.
3.As far as the circumstances allow, the goods and means of transport seized are taken and left at the office.
customs office closest to the place of seizure. When there are several customs offices in the same locality, the items seized
can be carried indifferently in one of them. When they cannot be taken immediately to the customs office, or
when there is no customs office in the locality, the seized objects may be placed in the custody of the alleged perpetrator or of a
third party at the place of seizure or in another locality. The custodian of the goods and means of transport seized is required to
present at the first request of customs officers.
4.At the request of the person seized or on offer from the customs, release of the goods and means of transport seized may be granted to
conditions below:
(a) the goods must not be prohibited or subject to restrictive measures;
b) the goods or means of transport do not have to be presented as physical evidence at a later stage of the
procedure.
The release is subject to the deposit of a security the amount of which is equal to the value of the goods and means of transport in
cause. However, the release of the means of transport is granted without guarantee to the owner in good faith, when he has concluded the
contract of transport, rental or leasing binding it to the alleged perpetrator in accordance with the laws and regulations in force and according to
the uses of the profession, in return for reimbursement of any costs incurred by customs to ensure the custody and
conservation of the means of transport seized.
5.When the seized party does not request release and / or rejects the offer made by customs, the goods in storage
difficult because they are susceptible to quickly corrupting or depreciating, as well as those whose storage presents
inconveniences or difficulties due in particular to their nature or volume, can be immediately auctioned
public. In this case, the proceeds of the sale take the place of the objects seized for the purposes of confiscation or restitution.
6. Prohibited goods which are difficult to keep because they are liable to corrupt or depreciate quickly and
those whose storage presents drawbacks or difficulties due in particular to their nature or volume may, when their
export or their return can not be considered, be destroyed by customs.
Article 359:
The ticket takers who do not present all the seizures, and those who practice illegal captures or seizures, are
liable to disciplinary sanctions, without prejudice to their prosecution before the courts and tribunals.
Article 360:
1. Damages caused by illegal seizures which could be claimed by the owners of the goods and
means of transport or persons interested in it, will in no case be allocated by the judges to an amount greater than that of
1% of the value of the seized objects per month of 30 days, from the day of the seizure until the day of the release.
2.These damages are the responsibility of the administration responsible for the verbalizers.
Article 361:
1.The reports of infringements in customs matters are authentic until they are proven false, insofar as they relate
operations or observations made by the verbalizers.
2.They are valid as a title to take all useful precautionary measures against persons criminally or civilly responsible,
for the purpose of guaranteeing customs debts of any kind resulting from said reports.
Chapter 3 : prosecutions and collection
Article 362:
Customs offenses can be prosecuted and proven by all legal channels.
Article 363:
1.The action for the application of the penalty of penal servitude is exercised by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
2.The action for the application of fines and confiscations provided for by customs legislation shall be exercised by the customs.
Article 364:
Whether it is a civil or commercial proceeding or an opening of an investigation, even terminated by a classification without follow-up,
the judicial authority is required to inform customs of any information likely to presume a customs offense or a
any maneuver having the purpose or effect of violating customs legislation.
Article 365:
When the perpetrator of a customs offense dies before the intervention of a transaction or a final judgment, the customs are
founded, in accordance with the provisions of article 364 point 2 above, to bring an action against the succession tending to bring
pronounce by the court the condemnation to the payment of the fines and to the confiscation of the objects liable to this penalty.
Article 366:
Pursuant to the provisions of article 363 point 2 above, customs may be represented at the hearing. His representative
exposes the case and files its conclusions.
Article 367:
For the recovery of duties and taxes as well as fines, the Public Treasury is granted a lien on all goods.
located in customs facilities or in any other places under customs supervision or control, whether there
are deposited in or belong to the debtor. This privilege takes precedence over all other privileges.
Chapter 4 : The extinction of the rights of prosecution
Section 1: Of the transaction
Article 368:
1 For the purposes of this chapter, a transaction is understood to mean the agreement by which the customs authorities, acting within the limits of their
jurisdiction, waives the prosecution of the customs offense provided that the person (s) involved comply with the conditions
well determined.
2.The Director General of Customs or his delegate has the power to deal with persons prosecuted for customs offenses.
3.When the transaction referred to in point 1 above takes place before any referral to the competent court, it definitively extinguishes
action for the application of fines and confiscation, as well as action for the application of penalties of penal servitude.
4.When the competent court has been duly seized, the transaction referred to in point 1 above can only take place with the agreement of the
president of the said tribunal.
5.After final judgment, the sentences pronounced by the competent court cannot be the subject of any settlement.
6.The Minister having finance in his attributions determines, by decree, the conditions of application of the provisions of this
article.
Section 2: Prescription
Article 369:
1. The action for total or partial recovery of duties and taxes is time-barred within 3 years from the date of registration.
of the goods declaration.
2.The action for repression of customs offenses is prescribed within the time limit referred to in point 1, when the goods in question are
covered by a goods declaration duly registered by the competent customs office.
Article 370:
When the goods in question have not been the subject of a goods declaration duly registered by the customs office
competent, actions for recovery of duties and taxes and repression of customs offenses related to said goods
are prescribed within 6 years.
Article 371:
1.The limitation period will be interrupted, in each case, by written acts of investigation or prosecution communicated in due and due.
form to the alleged offender before the time limit expires.
2.However, the prescription is acquired irrevocably if the action thus initiated is interrupted for one year, without initiation
proceedings before the courts and tribunals, even though the initial period of 3 years or 6 years, as the case may be, has not expired.
Chapter 5: Competent jurisdictions in matters of customs offenses and the procedure before these jurisdictions
Article 372:
Unless otherwise provided in this code, the rules of jurisdiction and procedure applicable in matters of customs offenses
are those provided for respectively by the code of organization and judicial competence and by the code of criminal procedure.
Chapter 6: Responsibility
Section 1: Criminal liability
§1: Holders
Article 373:
1.The holder of the fraudulent goods is held responsible for the fraud.
2.However, public carriers are not considered, themselves and their employees or agents, as offenders when, by a
exact and regular designation of their principals, they put the customs in a position to usefully prosecute against
the real perpetrators of the fraud.
3 For the purposes of this article, a public carrier shall be understood to mean any person approved by order of the Minister having the transport
in its attributions and having for profession the public transport of the goods.
§ 2 : Captains of ships, commanders of aircraft, drivers of vehicles
Article 374:
1.The captains of ships, the commanders of aircraft and the operators of vehicles are held responsible for omissions and
inaccuracies noted in the loading declarations and, in general, customs offenses committed on board
their means of transport.
2.However, the penalties of penal servitude decreed by this code are only applicable to them in the event of personal fault.
§3 . Declarants
Article 375:
1.The declarant who acts on his own account, in application of the provisions of article 6 of this code, is responsible for
omissions, inaccuracies and other irregularities noted in the goods declaration.
2.When the goods declaration has been made out by a customs broker, the latter is responsible for any omissions,
inaccuracies and other irregularities noted in the goods declaration.
§4. Accomplices
Article 376:
Are complicit in customs offenses and liable to the same penalties as the perpetrators and co-perpetrators thereof, the persons concerned
in article 22 of the penal code, book I.
§5 . Those interested in fraud
Article 377:
1. Are liable to the same penalties as the perpetrators and co-perpetrators of a customs offense, those who participated as interested parties
somehow.
2. Are deemed interested:

c) entrepreneurs, business members, insurers, policyholders, lenders, owners of goods, and, in general, those
who have a vested interest in fraud;
d) those who have cooperated in any way with a set of acts performed by a number of individuals acting in
concert, according to a plan of fraud adopted to ensure the result pursued jointly;
e) those who knowingly either covered up the actions of fraudsters or attempted to procure them impunity, or bought or detained, even
outside the customs department, goods resulting from a smuggling offense or from an import or export without
declaration.
3. Cannot be considered as interested, any person who acts in a state of necessity or as a result of invincible error.
Section 2: Civil liability
§1 : From customs
Article 378:
Customs is civilly responsible for acts committed by its agents in the performance of their duties.
§2. From the owner of the goods
Article 379:
The owner of the goods is civilly liable for the acts of his employees with regard to duties and taxes,
forfeitures, fines and costs.
§3: The deposit
Article 380:
The surety is required, like the principal, to pay the duties and taxes, fines and other sums due by the
indebted that it has guaranteed.
Section 3: Solidarity
Article 381:
Convictions against several people for the same customs offense are joint and several, both for duties and taxes and
pecuniary penalties in lieu of confiscation only for fines and costs, with the exception of infringements of Articles 30 point 1 and
40 point 1 of this code.
Article 382:
The owners of the goods, those who are responsible for importing or exporting them, declarants, commission agents in
customs, holders, those concerned with fraud and accomplices, are all united for the payment of duties and taxes,
fines, sums in lieu of confiscation and costs.
Chapter 7: Repressive provisions
Section 1: Qualification of customs offenses and penalties
Article 383:
The penalties applicable to customs offenses are:
(a) the fine;
b) special confiscation;
c) penal servitude.
Article 384:
1.Is liable to a fine equal to the equivalent in Congolese Francs of 500,000 to 2,000,000 Congolese francs, any offense
customs when it is not more severely punished by this code.
2.Complete with the provisions of point 1 above, in particular:
a) any omission or inaccuracy relating to any of the particulars that the goods declarations must contain when
the irregularity has no influence on the application of duties and taxes or prohibitions and restrictions;
b) any omission to register in the repertoires referred to in article 118 of this code;
c) any infringement of the provisions of articles 88, 90, 97 point 1 and 101 points 1 and 2 of this code.
Article 385:
1.Is liable to a fine of between one and two times the amount of duties and taxes evaded or compromised,
any customs offense when this results in evading or compromising the collection of duties and taxes and
is not specifically repressed by this code.
2.Complete with the provisions of point 1 above, in particular the following offenses when they relate to
goods subject to duties and taxes:
a) deficits in the number of packages transported, included in the loading declaration or declared;
b) deficits in the quantity of goods placed under a suspensive procedure, in stores or in customs clearance areas;
c) non-representation of goods placed in private customs warehouses;
d) presentation at destination under a broken or altered seal of the goods shipped under customs seals or seals;
e) total or partial non-fulfillment of commitments made to customs;
f) any maneuver the aim or result of which is to unduly benefit its author or a third party from a total exemption or
partial duties and taxes.
Article 386:
1.Is liable to a fine of between one and five times the amount of duties and taxes evaded or compromised,
any false declaration as to the species, value, or origin of the goods imported, exported or placed under a procedure
suspensive when duties and taxes are evaded or compromised by this false declaration.
2.When the false declaration in this case, the value or the origin has been committed through the production of false, inaccurate documents,
incomplete or invalid, the offense referred to in point 1 above is punishable by a fine of between one and
ten times the amount of duties and taxes evaded or compromised.
. Is liable to confiscation of the goods and a fine equal to double the value of these goods, any false
statement in the present case intended to evade a prohibition or to circumvent a restrictive measure.
Article 387:
Is liable to a fine equal to double the value of the goods, any diversion of the goods from their destination
privileged.
Article 388:
1.Is liable to one month of penal servitude and a fine equal to the equivalent in Congolese Francs of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 of
Congolese francs, any infringement of the provisions of Articles 30 point 1, 40 point 1 and 142 point 2, as well as any refusal to
communication of documents, any concealment of documents or operations in the cases provided for in articles 46 and 118 of this code.
2. Also fall under the provisions of the previous point:
a) any customs broker who, having been the subject of a withdrawal of the authorization provided for in Article 116 of this Code, continues to
carry out for others, directly or indirectly, the customs formalities relating to the declaration of goods;
b) any person who lends his assistance with a view to exempting from the effects of the withdrawal of authorization, the customs broker who
would have been achieved.
3. In the event of a repeat offense, the penal servitude may be extended to 2 months.
Article 389:
Are liable to a maximum penalty of 3 years of penal servitude, confiscation of fraudulent goods, confiscation of
means of transport, the confiscation of the goods used to conceal the fraud and a fine whose height is
between one and three times the value of the fraudulent goods, any smuggling as well as any import or
export without declaration when they relate to goods which are neither prohibited nor subject to control measures.
restriction.
Article 390:
Are liable to a maximum penalty of 3 years of penal servitude, confiscation of fraudulent goods, confiscation of
means of transport, the confiscation of the goods used to conceal the fraud and a fine whose height is
between one and five times the value of the fraudulent goods, any smuggling act as well as any import or
export without declaration when they relate to prohibited or restricted goods.
Article 391:
Are liable to a penalty of penal servitude of 2 to 10 years, the confiscation of the sums in violation or a sum taking
place when the seizure could not be pronounced, and a fine of between one and five times the sum on
who carried the offense, those who, by exporting, importing, transferring or clearing, carried out or attempted to carry out
financial transaction between the Democratic Republic of Congo and abroad involving funds that they knew to come directly from
or indirectly, of an infringement of customs legislation, of the regulations on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and of
money laundering regulations.
Article 392:
Breaches of the provisions of article 85 point 1 of this code are punished in accordance with the regulations governing the control of
foreign trade, foreign exchange and foreign financial relations.
Article 393:
1. By smuggling, we mean imports or exports outside the customs offices as well as any violation of
provisions of customs legislation relating to the detention and transport of goods within the customs territory. 2.
Constitute acts of smuggling, in particular:
a) infringement of the provisions of Articles 20 points 3 and 4, 95 points 1 and
3, 99, 102 point 1 and 111 point 1 of this code;
b) fraudulent payments or fraudulent embarkation of goods made either within ports, airports, stations,
either on the coasts or banks;
c) subtractions or substitutions during transport of goods dispatched under a suspensive procedure, non-compliance without
legitimate reason for the routes and timetables set, maneuvers having the aim or result of altering or rendering ineffective the
means of sealing, security or identification and, in general, any customs fraud relating to the transport of
goods shipped under a suspensive duty and tax regime;
d) violation of provisions, legal or regulatory, prohibiting export or re-export or making
export or re-export for the payment of duties and taxes or for the completion of special formalities, when the fraud has
been made or attempted outside the customs offices and that it is not specifically punished by any other provision of this
coded.
3.Are assimilated to acts of contraband, imports or exports without declaration of goods, when the
goods passing through a customs office are shielded from the visit of customs officers by concealment, in particular in
specially equipped hiding places or in cavities or empty spaces which are not normally intended for the accommodation of
merchandise.
Article 394:
Constitute imports or exports without declaration of goods:
a) imports or exports by customs offices, without declaration of goods or under cover of a declaration of
goods not applicable to the goods presented;
b) subtractions or substitutions of goods in bond;
c) failure to file, within the time limit, the additional declarations provided for in article 128 of this code.
Article 395:
The following are deemed to be imported without a declaration of goods:
a) goods declared for the re-importation procedure as they are in the event of non-representation or difference in nature or
the species between the said goods and those presented for export;
b) Prohibited goods discovered on board ships within the limits of ports independently of the goods
regularly included in the loading declaration or making up the cargo and ship's stores duly presented
before visit;
c) goods found in free zones in violation of the provisions of articles 247 point 2 and 249 point 2 of this
coded.
Article 396:
Are deemed imported or exported without declaration of goods, packages exceeding the quantities mentioned on the declaration of
goods or on the loading declaration.
Section 2: Specific cases of application of penalties
Article 397:
When the goods or means of transport liable to confiscation could not be seized or when, having been seized, the
customs so request, the court pronounces, in lieu of confiscation, an order to pay a sum equal to the
value represented by said goods or means of transport.
Article 398:
1.The amount of multiple fines of duties and taxes or of the value may not be less than 500,000 or 1,000,000 francs
Congolese according to whether they are defined according to rights or value.
2.The Minister having finances in his attributions readjust, by way of decree, the rates of the amounts of the pecuniary fines
provided for in this code in view of the economic situation.
Article 399:
1 The fines provided for by customs legislation are not subject to reduction due to extenuating circumstances, nor in
cases of concurrent offenses.
2.They are applied separately for each of the established offenses.
Chapter 8: Distribution of the proceeds of fines
Article 400:
1.The proceeds from fines are allocated up to 40% for the benefit of the
Plublic treasure.
2.The balance is allocated at the rate of:
a) 50% to the equipment of the customs, to the reinforcement of the means of control, research and repression of fraud;
b) 50% to the remuneration of the persons having participated in the discovery, the establishment and the repression of the customs offense.
TITLE XV: TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 401:
Any person benefiting from a special authorization issued under the decree of January 29, 1949 coordinating and revising the
customs regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo and / or ordinance n ° 33/9 of January 6, 1950 on implementing regulations
of the aforementioned decree, as amended and supplemented to date, is required to comply with the provisions of this code within 90 days
of its entry into force.
Article 402:
Are repealed:
a) the Decree of January 29, 1949 coordinating and revising the customs regime of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as amended and
completed to date; as well as
b) any previous provisions contrary to this code.
Article 403:
This Code comes into force 6 months from the date of its promulgation.
Done in Kinshasa, August 20, 2010
Joseph KABILA KABANGE

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