CUSTOMS REGULATIONS FOR THE IMPORTATION OF ARTICLES BY THE PARTICIPANTS IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)

Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] CUSTOMS REGULATIONS FOR THE IMPORTATION OF ARTICLES BY THE PARTICIPANTS IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

[Place] ANNEX, to the Convention done at Paris on 22nd of November 1928 relating to International Exhibitions, as amended and supplemented by the Protocols of the 10th of May 1948, the 16th of November 1966, the 30th of November 1972 and the Amendment of the 24th June 1982.

CUSTOMS REGULATIONS FOR THE IMPORTATION OF ARTICLES BY THE PARTICIPANTS IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

For the application of the present Annex the following interpretations shall apply:

a. "Import duties" means Customs duties and all other duties and taxes payable on or in connection with importation and shall include all excise duties and internal taxes chargeable on imported goods, but shall not include fees and charges, which are limited in amount to the approximate cost of the services rendered and do not represent an indirect protection to domestic products or a taxation of imports for fiscal purposes.

b. "Temporary admission" means temporary importation free of import duties, and free of import prohibitions and restrictions, subject to re-exportation.

b. goods intended for use in connection with the display of foreign exhibitions at the exhibition, including:

I. goods necessary for the purpose of demonstrating foreign machinery or apparatus to be displayed,

II. construction materials, even in the raw sate, decoration material and furnishings, and electrical equipment for the foreign pavilions and stands at the exhibition as well as for the premises assigned to the Section Commissioner-General of a foreign participating country,

III. tools equipment used in construction and means of transport necessary for the work of the exhibition,

IV. advertising or demonstration material which is demonstrably publicity material for the foreign goods exhibited at the exhibition, for example sound recordings, films and film slides, as well as apparatus for necessary use therewith;

c. equipment including interpretation apparatus, sound recording apparatus and films of an educational, scientific or cultural character, intended to be used for the purposes of the exhibition.

The facilities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Annex shall be granted provided that:

b. the Section Commissioner-General of the participating country, without being called upon to pay a deposit, guarantees the payment of the import duties to which the goods are liable in the event of their not being re-exported within the prescribed period after the closing of the exhibition; other guarantees provided for by the laws of the inviting country can be accepted at the request of the exhibitors (e. g. A.T.A. carnet inaugurated by the Convention of the Customs Co-operation Council of 6 December, 1961);

c. the Customs authorities of the country of temporary importation are satisfied that the conditions of this Annex will be fulfilled.

Unless the national laws and regulations of the country of temporary importation so permit, goods granted temporary admission shall not, whilst they are the subject of the facilities granted under the present Annex, be loaned, or used in any way for hire or reward or be removed from the site of the exhibition. They shall be re-exported with a minimum period of delay and at the latest within three months after the close of the exhibition. The Customs authorities may, for valid reasons, extend this period within the limits laid down by the laws and regulations of the country of temporary importation.

a. Notwithstanding the requirement of re-exportation laid down in Article 4, the re-exportation of perishable goods, badly damaged goods or goods of little value shall not be required provided that the goods are:

II. abandoned free of all expense to the Exchequer of the country into which they were temporarily imported;

III. destroyed, under official supervision, without expense to the Exchequer of the country into which they were temporarily imported, as the Customs authorities may require.

Furthermore, the re-exportation requirements shall not apply to goods whose destruction is required by the Section Commissioner-General concerned, but destruction must be under official supervision and without expense to the Exchequer of the country into which they were temporarily imported.

b. Goods granted temporary admission may be disposed of otherwise than by re- exportation, and in particular may be taken into domestic use, subject to compliance with the conditions and formalities applicable under the laws and regulations of the country of temporary importation in respect of such goods imported directly from abroad.

Products obtained incidentally during the exhibition from temporarily imported goods, as a result of the demonstration of displayed machinery or apparatus, shall be subject to the provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of this Annex, in the same way as if they had been granted temporary admission, subject to the reservations in Article 7 below.

Import duties shall not be levied and import prohibitions and restrictions shall be waived, and where temporary admission has been granted, re-exportation shall not be required, in respect of the following goods, if their aggregate value and quantity are, in the opinion of the Customs authorities of the country of importation, reasonable having regard to the nature of the exhibition, the number of visitors to it and the extent of the exhibitor's participation:

a. small samples (other than alcoholic beverages, tobacco goods and fuels) which are representative of foreign goods displayed at the exhibition, including such samples of foods and beverages, either imported in the form of such samples or produced at the exhibition from imported build materials, provided that:

I. they are supplied free of charge from abroad and are used solely for distribution free of charge to the visiting public at the exhibition, for individual use or consumption by the persons to whom they are distributed,

II. they are identifiable as advertising samples and are individually of little value,

III. they are unsuitable for commercial purposes and are, where appropriate, packed in quantities appreciably smaller than the smallest retail package, and

IV. samples of foods and beverages which are not distributed in packs as provided for in (III) above, are consumed at the exhibition;

b. imported samples used or consumed by the juries at the exhibition in appraising or judging articles displayed, subject to the production of a certificate from the Section Commissioner-General mentioning the nature and the quantity of the samples so used or consumed;

c. goods imported solely for demonstration or for the purpose of demonstrating the operation of a foreign machine or apparatus displayed at the exhibition and consumed or destroyed in the course of such demonstrations;

d. printed matter, catalogues, trade notices, price lists, advertising posters, calendars, whether or not illustrated, and unframed photographs, which are demonstrably publicity material for the foreign goods displayed at the exhibition, provided that they are supplied free of charge from abroad and are used solely for distribution free of charge to the visiting public at the exhibition.

Import duties shall not be levied, and import prohibitions and restrictions shall be waived, and where temporary admission has been granted, re-exportation shall not be required, in respect of the following goods:

a. products which are imported and which are used up in constructing, setting up, decorating, animating, or furnishing the stands of foreign exhibitors at the exhibition, such as paint, varnish, wall-paper, rectified spirit, fireworks, seeds, plants, etc. which are disposed of by the use to which they are put;

b. official catalogues, leaflets, posters and other printed matter, whether or not illustrated, which are published by the countries participating in the exhibition;

c. plans, drawings, files, records, forms and other documents which are imported for use as such at the exhibition.

a. Both on entry and on exit, the examination and clearance of goods which are going to be exhibited or used or which have been exhibited or used at an exhibition shall be carried out, whenever possible and convenient, at the site of this exhibition.

b. Each Contracting Party shall endeavour, whenever it considers this useful, taking into consideration the importance of the exhibition, to open for a reasonable period a Customs office on the site of the exhibition held in its territory.

c. The re-exportation of goods which were imported temporarily may take place in one or several instalments and through any Customs office which is open for this purpose, even if it is different from the office of importation, unless the importer undertook to re-export the goods through the office of importation in order to have the benefit of a simplified procedure.

a. more extensive facilities which Contracting Parties grant or may grant either by unilateral agreement, or by virtue of bilateral or multilateral agreements,

b. regulations, whether national or made by agreement, concerning the organisation of the exhibition which are not concerned with Customs matters,

c. prohibitions and restrictions arising from national laws and regulations and concerned with public morality or conduct, public security, public hygiene or health, or with veterinary or phytopathological matters, or with the protection of patents, trade marks, authors' rights and copyright.

For the purpose of the present Annex the territories of the Contracting Countries which form a Customs or economic union can be considered as a single territory.