EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
TAXATION AND CUSTOMS UNION
Customs Policy
Customs policy and Electronic customs
                                               
                                                                     
Brussels,21.09.2007                                     
TAXUD/1402/2007 Final-EN

Working paper
Guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable terms for the description of goods for exit and entry summary declarations.

1. INTRODUCTION
    Annex 30A, as included in the implementing provisions of the Customs code by Regulation 1875/06 1 provides that goods description for summary declarations is "a plain language description that is precise enough for Customs services to be able to identify the goods.
General terms (i.e. “consolidated”, “general cargo” or “parts”) cannot be accepted. A list of such general terms will be published by the Commission. It is not necessary to provide this information where the Commodity code is provided." The object of these guidelines is to meet the legal requirement to publish such a list.
    This legal requirement stems from the need for customs administrations to be able to base their risk-analysis on adequate descriptions of goods where a commodity code is not provided by the person that lodges the summary declaration. In those cases, too vague a description would not provide Customs administrations with the means to identify consignments which might represent risks for the Community and its citizens; this might lead to unnecessary and costly hiccups in the supply chain; such as physical examinations of the goods concerned, in order to ascertain their real nature
    The list of generic, unacceptable terms and the suggested alternatives that would be acceptable by customs, hereafter referred to as "the list", is contained in the Annex to these guidelines.

2. PRINCIPLES
    2.1. The list is not of an exhaustive nature, and aims at providing examples of unacceptable and acceptable wordings that are meant as a guidance.
    2.2. The list is by nature dynamic; Everyday practice will show that new unacceptable terms will be identified and will need therefore to be added to the list as time goes by. This dynamic aspect of the list will require a certain level of maintenance by the Commission in coordination with Member States.
            Initially, it is suggested to have a standing point in each SAD committee meeting to discuss this matter. Experience will show whether those discussions can be more interspersed in the future. In early days, quicker updates might be considered on an exceptional basis and agreed upon by way of a committee written procedure.
    2.3. By virtue of the multilingual nature of the EU, the list covers all official
           Community languages and is therefore translated in all those languages.

3. PUBLICATION
Given its dynamic nature, and the importance to provide quick updates, the list needs to be published on the internet, in any respect on TAXUD website, for the benefit of all potential interested parties.