Netherlands And Japan Ink Customs Treaty

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

16 March 2009

The Netherlands and Japan signed a customs treaty on March 9. The treaty was signed by the State Secretary of Finance, Jan Kees de Jager, on behalf of the Netherlands and by Minoru Shibuya, the Japanese Ambassador in the Netherlands, on behalf of Japan. The treaty provides a legal basis for closer cooperation between the customs services of both countries.

The intended cooperation concerns both the supervision of the correct compliance with customs legislation and preventing, investigating and combatting violations of this legislation. The prevention of customs fraud by way of a quick and efficient exchange of information is put first and foremost in this context. The agreement is based on a model treaty developed by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) that serves as a basis for all members of this forum for negotiations on concluding customs treaties for mutual administrative assistance.

The treaty with Japan defines the parties that can cooperate with each other. In the Netherlands these are, apart from customs, also the other services active in the context of customs legislation in a broad sense, such as the Fiscal Intelligence and Information Service & Economic Investigation Service (FIOD/ECD) and the General Inspection Service (AID). In addition, it contains a definition of a number of forms of cooperation. For instance, it regulates what use can be made of the data and the conditions under which officials may be present in the other country.

In order to prevent the abuse of information, the treaty defines that the country receiving the information has to offer at least the same level of protection and confidentiality as is applicable to such information in the country providing the information.

The cooperation in this treaty is limited to administrative assistance and therefore does not cover the field of international legal assistance in criminal cases. It primarily concerns the gathering of information regarding the course of the international flows of goods. When a suspicion of irregularities arises, the customs administration can file a request for further investigation with the customs administration of the other country.

The treaty is expected to come into force in the course of 2009 upon approval by both parties.

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