PART ONE
BASIC PROVISIONS
Chapter One
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. This Act shall regulate the customs administration structure and organization and the activities performed by its authorities.
Article 2. (1) (Amended and supplemented, SG No. 63/2000) Customs authorities' activities shall consist of performance of customs supervision and control on the country's customs territory upon the imports, exports and transit of goods to, from and through the Republic of Bulgaria, the collection of customs duties, the imposition of administrative penal provisions and investigations of crimes in the cases, under the terms and procedures provided for in the Criminal Procedure Code.
(2) Customs supervision shall be a set of actions undertaken with the purpose of ensuring compliance with the customs legislation and with other provisions applicable to goods subject to customs supervision.
(3) Customs control shall be the performance by the customs authorities of specific acts such as examinations of goods, transport, trade, accounting and other documents of natural and legal persons, of vehicles, luggage and other goods carried through the state border, other such actions with a view of ensuring compliance with customs legislation and observance of other provisions applicable to goods subject to customs supervision, as well as collection of customs duties.
Article 3. Persons and vehicles, as well as goods carried by, or on, them shall cross the state border through the border control crossing points and shall be subject to customs supervision and control, which shall be carried out in places specially designated for this purpose. The procedure under which customs supervision and control shall be carried out shall be established in the Regulations on the Application of this Act, referred to hereinafter as "the Regulations."
Article 4. (1) (Amended and supplemented SG No. 37/2003) Any person shall be obliged to inform the customs authorities forthwith about any goods left with, found by or seized by them, including vehicles, known or supposed to be imported without performing the respective customs formalities. These goods shall be presented to the customs authorities.
(2) (Amended SG No. 37/2003) If the owner of goods left, found or seized, including vehicles, is a foreign person, an unknown person or a native person whose address is unknown and claims them within six months from the day of presenting them before the customs authorities, the person shall perform the respective formalities for obtaining a customs clearance of the goods after paying all the expenses incurred by for the customs office in relation to them.
(3) Goods left, found or seized, including vehicles, shall be deemed abandoned in favour of the state when:
1. (amended SG No. 37/2003) the owner is a foreign person, an unknown person or a native person whose address is unknown and six months have elapsed from the day of their presentation before the customs authorities;
2. (amended SG No. 37/2003) the owner is a native person with a known address in the country and three months have elapsed since the day of delivering the notice of the customs office on moving the goods. The notice shall be sent within one week from the day of presenting the goods before the customs authority.
Article 5. (1) (Supplemented SG No. 45/2005) Any person, including state authorities within their competence, shall support the customs authorities in the performance of their activities. They shall be obliged within 14 days after receiving a request from the customs authorities to provide information on the facts and circumstances specified therein.
(2) No one shall be permitted to dispose with goods under customs supervision without the knowledge and the permission of the customs authorities.
(3) (New SG No. 37/2003) Actions performed in violation of Paragraph 2 shall be null and void in relation to the customs authorities.
Article 6. Any person related to the operations on importing, exporting or transiting goods, shall be obliged, for the purpose of customs supervision and control, to present to the customs authorities, on their demand and in a term specified by them, all information and documents on the specific operations regardless of their carrier.

Chapter Two
CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION
Section I
Structure and Organization
Article 7. (Amended, SG No. 83/1999 and SG No. 63/2000) (1) The Customs administration shall be a centralized administrative structure, organized within the Customs Agency under the Minister of Finance, which shall be a legal person financed by the state budget, with a seat in Sofia.
(2) The Customs Agency shall be structured into a Central Customs Directorate and regional customs directorates. The general and the specialized administrations within the Central Customs Directorate shall be organized in departments.
(3) The regional customs directorate shall be structured as a regional customs department and customs offices. The general and the specialized administrations within the regional customs department shall be organized in departments.
(4) The customs office shall be structured as a territorial customs office and customs bureaus and/or customs posts. The general and the specialized administrations within the customs office shall be organized in departments.
(5) The Central Customs Directorate shall organize, manage, control and report on the activities of the customs administration, and shall perform customs activities.
(6) The regional customs department shall organize, manage, control and report on the activities of the customs offices included in the structure of the regional customs directorate, shall perform customs activities, and shall provide information services to the customs offices and to the Central Customs Directorate.
(7) The territorial customs office shall organize, manage, control and report on the activities of the customs bureaus and/or customs posts and jointly with them shall be the main executor of customs supervision and control.
(8) (Supplemented, SG No. 91/2005) The general management and control over the activities of the customs administration shall be performed by the Minister of Finance or by one of the Deputy-Ministers designated by him. Officials from the inspectorate to the Minister of Finance shall be entitled to access to any data and documents in the customs administration in connection with the inspections conducted by them.
(9) The Customs Agency may publish specialized printed editions.
Article 8. (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) Regional customs directorates, customs offices, customs bureaus and customs posts shall be created, transformed and closed down by the Minister of Finance on a proposal of the Director of the Customs Agency. The Director of the Customs Agency shall define their structure and staff number within the framework of the total staff number of the Customs Agency.
Article 9. (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) (1) The Customs Agency shall be managed and represented by a Director, who shall be appointed and discharged by the Minister of Finance, in coordination with the Prime Minister.
(2) In performing his functions the Director of the Customs Agency shall be assisted by Deputy-Directors. The number of Deputy Directors shall be specified in the Agency's Rules of Organization.
(3) The Deputy-Directors of the Customs Agency shall be appointed and discharged by the Minister of Finance upon a proposal submitted by the Agency's Director.
(4) The structure of the Customs Agency shall include an inspectorate subordinated directly to the Agency's Director, which will exercise control over the activities of the customs administration.
Article 10. (1) Any legally able Bulgarian citizen, who has never been convicted for a premeditated crime of a general nature, and has never been legally debarred from the right to occupy such a position, and meets the requirements for work in the customs administration, may be appointed as customs officer.
(2) Customs officers shall be prohibited:
1. to be sole traders, unlimited partners or to participate personally or through proxies in the management of commercial companies, cooperatives or other economic organizations;
2. to sign additional employment contracts, save as associates in research institutes and lecturers in educational establishments.
3. (new, SG No. 37/2003, amended SG No. 95/2003) to be in a hierarchic relationship of management and control with a spouse, a direct relative without limitation, on a collateral line up to the fourth degree inclusive and by marriage up to the fourth degree inclusive.
(3) (New SG No. 63/2000) Customs officers occupying their position under a regular labour contract need to comply also with the requirements under Article 7 of the Civil Servants Act.
(4) (New SG No. 37/2003) On appointment customs officers shall sign a sworn statement on the circumstances under Paragraphs 1 and 2.
(5) (New SG No. 37/2003, supplemented SG No. 38/2004) On appointment and dismissal and every year by 31 May at the latest customs officers shall be obliged to declare before the Director of the Customs Agency their property state as well as the property state of their spouses and minor children on a statement form approved by the Minister of Finance.
(6) (New, SG 37/2003, amended, SG No. 105/2005) On a written request of the Director of the Customs Agency the authorities of the National Revenue Agency shall provide information on the income and property of customs officers.
(7) (New SG No. 37/2003) The provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act shall apply in relation to the protection and the access to the data under Paragraphs 5 and 6.
(8) (New SG No. 37/2003) Incompatibility under Paragraphs 1 and 2 as well as the failure to submit the statement under Paragraph 5 shall be grounds for unilateral termination of labour or official relations with the customs officer without prior notice.
Article 11. (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) (1) The Council of Ministers, upon proposal submitted by the Minister of Finance, shall adopt Rules of Organization of the Customs Agency and shall determine the staff number in the Agency and in the Central Customs Directorate.
(2) The Rules of Organization of the Customs Agency may stipulate additional requirements for occupying positions in the customs administration.
(3) The Minister of Finance, upon proposal submitted by the Director of the Customs Agency, shall approve Rules of Organization and Operation of the Regional Customs Directorates.
Article 12. The customs authorities shall collect fees for additional services rendered and in cases as defined in the Regulations. The fees shall not account as customs duties. The amount of such fees shall be specified by the Council of Ministers.
Article 13. (Amended SG No. 63/2000) The Customs Agency shall collect revenues from contracts concluded with natural or legal persons for activities approved by the Minister of Finance within the zones of the border checkpoints and other places where these activities require additional customs control.
Article 14. (Amended, SG No. 83/1999) (1) (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) The Customs Agency shall be the administrator of:
1. the revenues under Article 12;
2. the revenues under Article 13;
3. ninety per cent of the revenues under Article 240, Item 2;
4. (amended, SG No. 37/2003) the revenues from the use of real estate that is owned by the state and from provision of information;
5. (supplemented, SG No. 45/2005) twenty per cent of the fines and pecuniary sanctions collected for customs and currency violations; twenty per cent of the fines collected for customs and currency violations;
6. (amended, SG No. 63/2000, effective 1.01.2000) revenues from printed editions under Article 7, Item 9;
7. incomes from the holiday facilities;
8. (new, SG No. 63/2000, effective 1.01.2000, supplemented SG No. 37/2003) the revenues under Article 17, Item 3 of the Foreign Exchange Act and under Article 251, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code;
9. (new, SG No. 63/2000, effective 1.01.2000, amended, SG No. 59/2007) the payments under Article 78, Paragraphs 6 and 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(2) (Amended, SG No. 63/2000, effective 1.01.2001, supplemented, SG No. 109/2007) The Minister of Finance, upon proposal of the Director of the Customs Agency, shall determine the employees who are to receive additional remuneration for their participation in prevention of customs and foreign exchange violations and offences, for their participation in detection of excise legislation and for material incentives.
(3) (New, SG No. 63/2000, effective 1.01.2001) The funds under Paragraph 2 shall amount to twenty five per cent of the annual amount of the funds for salaries in the budget of the Customs Agency for the respective year and shall be incorporated in the State Budget Act for the same year.
(4) (New, SG No. 63/2000, effective 1.01.2001) The procedure for determining the individual amount of the additional remuneration under Paragraph 2 shall be established by an ordinance issued by the Minister of Finance.
Section II
Functions and Responsibilities
Article 15. (1) The customs administration shall:
1. participate in the development the customs policy of the Republic of Bulgaria and shall implement it;
2. participate in the development and implementation of international agreements related to customs activity;
3. maintain international customs relations;
4. collect, process, analyse, file and provide information concerning customs activity and develop customs statistics. The terms and procedure for the performance of these activities shall be set forth in an ordinance issued by the Minister of Finance;
5. ensure training and retraining of customs officers;
6. (new, SG No. 37/2003) insure customs officers against accidents and with life insurance at the expense of its own budget.
(2) The customs authorities shall:
1. perform customs supervision and control on goods, vehicles and persons in the zones of the border checkpoints and throughout the state's customs territory;
2. calculate, collect or require security for duties levied on imports, exports or transit of goods;
3. enforce, within their competence, the tariff and trade policy measures of the Republic of Bulgaria;
4. protect, within their competence, the economic interests of the country;
5. (amended and supplemented SG No. 63/2000, SG No. 37/2003) conduct customs intelligence and investigation for combating customs and currency violations;
6. organize and perform prevention and detection of the illegal traffic of drugs and precursors;
7. exercise foreign exchange control within the limits of their competence assigned by law;
8. issue decisions on the application of customs rules;
9. (new, SG No. 63/2000, repealed, SG No. 86/2005)
10. (new, SG No. 63/2000) perform activities related to establishing administrative violations and imposition of administrative sanctions;
11. (new, SG No. 63/2000) participate in operative and investigative activities jointly with bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, under the terms and procedures of the Ministry of the Interior Act;
12. (new, SG No. 37/2003) apply border control measures for protecting intellectual property rights.
(3) (New, SG No. 63/2000) The terms and procedures of interaction between the customs bodies and the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior for prevention and detection of customs and foreign exchange violations shall be stipulated by a joint instruction of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of the Interior.
(4) (Previous (3), SG No. 63/2000) The customs authorities shall perform other activities as assigned by law.

Section III
Powers of the Customs Authorities
Article 16. (1) While performing their professional duties customs officers shall be entitled:
1. to conduct inspections related to customs supervision and control of goods, vehicles and persons in the zones of border checkpoints and throughout the customs territory of the country;
2. to undertake the necessary measures, allowed by law, for performing customs control;
3. to require the presentation or delivery of goods, documents, data or other information carriers related to customs supervision and control;
4. to require presentation of personal identification documents;
5. to require written or oral explanations;
6. to perform follow-up customs control of goods and documents related to importation, exportation and transit;
7. to collect sums: for customs duties for imported and exported goods; for unfulfilled liabilities and guarantees; for payment of the equivalent amount for goods confiscated in favour of the state when they are missing or expropriated and for any state receivables, collectable by the customs authorities;
8. to levy, according to the procedure established by the law, distrait and injunctions for securing due customs duties and other state receivables collectable by them;
9. to carry out individual searches of persons crossing the state border;
10. (amended, SG No. 63/2000, amended and supplemented, SG No. 45/2005) to conduct searches and seize goods that have been or should have been subject to customs supervision and control and related documentation in offices, official and other premises, as well as personal searches of the persons located therein, in compliance with the procedures of the Criminal Procedure Code;
11. to execute controlled deliveries jointly with the competent authorities of the Ministry of the Interior and with the permission of the respective prosecution office.
(2) (Repealed, SG No. 63/2000).
(3) The customs officers shall be entitled to carry firearms and use them in cases of inevitable self-defence as a last resort;
(4) (New SG No. 76/2002) When exercising the powers under Paragraph 1, Item 1 specialised control bodies of the Customs Agency shall be entitled to stop vehicles inside the country under terms and procedures pursuant to Article 15, Paragraph 3;
(5) (New SG No. 76/2002, amended, SG No. 105/2005) On a written request of the Director of the Customs Agency, the directors of regional customs directorates and the heads of customs offices the authorities of the National Revenue Agency shall provide information on follow-up transactions related to the quantity, type, value and origin of goods subject to import-export operations, on sums subject to payment or reimbursement under the Value Added Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act, as well as on violations established by the internal revenue bodies, perpetrated by persons engaging in import and export activities;
(6) (New SG No. 37/2000, amended, SG No. 105/2005) The procedure and modalities for electronic exchange of information between the customs administration and the National Revenue Agency shall be specified in a joint instruction of the director of the Customs Agency and the executive director of the National Revenue Agency.
(7) (New, SG No. 45/2005) When conducting inspections within the framework of follow-up control or in the course of a customs investigation for establishing customs liabilities or violations, when there is information on withholding facts and circumstances that are substantial for the inspection or the investigation as well as in case of hindering their conduct, the customs authorities may carry out searches and seizures under the procedure of the Criminal Procedure Code. In these cases the customs authorities conducting the inspection or the investigation shall have the powers of the authorities of pre-trial proceedings.
(8) (New, SG No. 45/2005) The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code shall apply also to the powers and procedural actions of customs authorities under Paragraph 1, Item 10 when conducting inspections under Paragraph 7 as well as concerning the rights and obligations of the inspected persons in relation to the grounds of the search and the seizure, the authorities that are carrying them out and the attending persons, as well as in relation to the protection of the inspected persons.
Article 17. (1) While performing their professional duties the customs officers shall be obliged:
1. to observe the organization of work at the customs office;
2. to protect the property, rights and freedoms of persons;
3. to present a customs sign and an official identification card;
4. (supplemented, SG No. 63/2000) to wear uniform when this is required for the respective positions under the Rules of Organization of the Customs Agency;
5. (new, SG No. 37/2003) to observe the norms of conduct of the customs officer approved with an order of the Minister of Finance;
6. (amended and supplemented, SG 63/2000, renumbered from Item 5, SG No. 37/2003, supplemented, SG No. 91/2005) not to divulge circumstances and facts they have become aware of during or in relation to the performance of their official duties specified herein as official secret except on the request of a state body when provided by law at the request of the officials from the inspectorate to the Minister of Finance or of another customs body when performing its powers herein. The terms and procedures for providing information about circumstances and facts constituting official secret to another customs body shall be defined by the Director of the Customs Agency.
(2) Violations of the duties under Paragraph 1 shall be subject to disciplinary sanctions.
Article 17a. (New, SG No. 45/2005) (1) The customs authorities shall collect and process personal data for the purposes of customs supervision and control.
(2) The administrator of the personal data shall be the Director of the Customs Agency who shall assign personal information processing to persons authorised by him/her under the terms and procedures of the Personal Data Protection Act.
(3) Personal data collected and processed by the customs authorities may be provided to authorities of a foreign state in compliance with international agreements to which Bulgaria is a party under the terms and procedures of the Personal Data Protection Act.

Chapter Three
RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES OF PERSONS
Section I
Representation
Article 18. (1) Any person may be represented before the customs authorities for performing the actions and formalities laid down herein and in the statutory instruments for the implementation of this act, including by a customs agent.
(2) The Regulations shall establish the terms and procedures applicable to performing representation by a customs agent.
(3) The representative must be a native person, save in cases expressly specified herein.
(4) The customs authorities shall require any person stating that he/she is acting as an agent to produce evidence in writing thereof.
Section II
Decisions of the Customs Authorities
Article 19. (1) When a person requests that the customs authorities take a decision in relation to the application of customs rules that person shall supply all the information and documents required by those authorities.
(2) The decision under Paragraph 1 shall be taken and notified to the applicant within a term defined in the Regulations. Where a request for a decision is made in writing, the decision shall be made within the period laid down in the Regulations, starting from the date on which the said request is received by the customs authorities. Such a decision shall be notified to the applicant in writing.
(3) When the customs authorities are unable to take a decision within the specified term due to the need of collecting additional information they shall be obliged to inform the applicant before its expiry stating the grounds and the period of time they shall need in order to give the requested ruling.
(4) Decisions of the customs authorities, which either reject requests or are detrimental to the persons, shall be substantiated.
Article 20. (1) A decision favourable to the respective person which is based on incorrect or incomplete information shall be annulled when:
1. the applicant knew or should reasonably have known that the information was incorrect or incomplete, and
2. such decision could not have been taken on the basis of correct or complete information.
(2) The person shall be notified of the annulment of the decision.
(3) The annulment shall take effect from the date on which the decision was taken.
Article 21. (1) In cases different than those referred to in Article 20, a decision favourable to the interested person shall be revoked or amended when one or more of its conditions were not or are no longer fulfilled.
(2) A decision favourable to the interested person may be revoked when this person fails to fulfil an obligation imposed on him/her under that decision.
(3) The person to whom the decision is addressed shall be notified of its revocation or amendment.
(4) (Amended SG No. 63/2000) The revocation or amendment of the decision shall take effect from the date of notification referred to in Paragraph 3. In exceptional cases when the legitimate interests of the interested person so require, the Central Customs Directorate may defer the date when revocation or amendment takes effect.

Section III
Information
Article 22. (1) The customs authorities shall present to any interested person information concerning the application of customs legislation. The customs authority may refuse to respond when the request does not relate to importation or exportation operations actually envisaged.
(2) The information under Paragraph 1 shall be supplied free of charge. The costs incurred shall be paid when they are connected with analyses, with expert review of the goods, with their return to the applicant, etc.
Article 23. (1) (Supplemented, SG No. 37/2003) The customs authorities shall issue binding tariff information or binding information concerning the origin of goods with a decision upon written request and in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article 19.
(2) The information under Paragraph 1 shall be binding on the customs authorities and on its holder only in respect of the tariff classification of goods or of defining the origin of a specific product when the customs formalities on the goods are completed after the date on which the information was supplied.
(3) In the course of customs clearance of the goods the holder of the received information shall certify before the customs authorities the exact compliance:
1. between goods reported and goods described in the information for tariff purposes;
2. between goods reported and the circumstances defining the way the goods acquired their origin and the circumstances described in the information for the purposes of the origin.
(4) The binding information shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of issue. The binding information shall be annulled when it is based on inaccurate or incomplete information from the applicant regardless of the terms under Article 20, Items 1 and 2.
(5) Tariff information shall cease to be valid:
1. on the adoption of a statutory instrument when it no longer conforms to its provisions;
2. when it is incompatible with the interpretation of the nomenclatures referred to in Article 26. Incompatibility with the interpretation may be:
(a) (amended SG No. 37/2003) on a national level, due to changes of the national interpretation notes to the customs tariff nomenclature or by decision of the court;
(b) on an international level due to issuing of a classification opinion or an amendment to the explanatory notes to the nomenclature of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System adopted by the World Customs Organisation;
3. on its revocation or amendment under the provisions of Article 21 when the holder of the information is notified of its revocation or amendment.
(6) The information about origin shall cease to be valid:
1. on the adoption of a new statutory instrument or the Republic of Bulgaria signs an international agreement when it no longer conforms to their provisions;
2. when it is no longer compatible:
(a) on a national level - with the explanatory notes and opinions adopted for the purposes of interpreting the rules or upon a decision of the court;
(b) on an international level - with the International Agreement on Rules of Origin established by the World Trade Organization or with the explanatory notes or opinions on origin adopted for interpreting the Agreement;
3. on revocation or amendment pursuant to Article 21 provided the holder is notified of its revocation or amendment.
(7) (Amended SG No. 63/2000) The holder of binding information which ceases to be valid pursuant to Paragraph 5, Items 2 or 3 and Paragraph 6, Items 2 and 3 may still use that information for a period not longer than six months from the date of respective acts come into force under terms and procedures specified in the Regulations.
(8) When the statutory instruments or the agreement pursuant to Paragraph 5, Item 1 and Paragraph 6, Item 1 provide for a different period than the one under Paragraph 7, the period specified by them shall apply.
(9) The classification or definition of the goods' origin in the binding tariff information shall be applied only for:
1. determining import or export customs duties;
2. (new SG No. 37/2003) calculating export subsidies and any other financial grants in cases of exportation or importation of goods as part of the agricultural policy of the Republic of Bulgaria;
3. (previous (2) SG No. 37/2003) using export licences and import and export certificates which are presented for the acceptance of the customs statement of the goods provided these certificates are issued on the basis of this binding information.

PART TWO
ELEMENTS ON THE BASIS OF WHICH IMPORT AND EXPORT DUTIES AND OTHER
MEASURES PROVIDED IN RESPECT OF TRADE WITH GOODS ARE APPLIED

(Title - SG No. 37/2003)

Chapter Four
CUSTOMS TARIFF. TARIFF CLASSIFICATION
(Title - SG No. 37/2003)
Article 24. (Amended SG No. 63/2000, SG No. 37/2003) (1) Goods carried across the state border of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be charged with import or export customs duties unless otherwise provided herein, in another act or in an international agreement to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.
(2) Import or export customs duties due on the occurrence of the customs debt shall be based on the Customs Tariff of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Article 25. (Amended SG No. 37/2003) Other measures in relation to specific fields related to trade with goods provided for in statutory instruments and beyond the ones specified in Article 24 shall be introduced according to the tariff classification of those goods.
Article 26. (Amended SG No. 37/2003) (1) The Customs Tariff shall include:
1. the Combined Nomenclature of the Republic of Bulgaria
2. any other nomenclature which is based in whole or in part on the Combined nomenclature of the Republic of Bulgaria or adds subsections to it and which is adopted with a statutory instrument regulating specific fields in relation to applying tariff measures related to trade with goods;
3. the rates and other elements charging duties applicable to goods included in the Combined Nomenclature in relation to:
a. customs duties, and
b. charging the import of goods in compliance with agricultural policy or in compliance with specific provisions applicable to goods obtained from the processing of agricultural products;
4. preferential tariff measures including in agreements to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party providing for granting preferential tariff treatment;
5. preferential tariff measures adopted unilaterally by the Republic of Bulgaria in favour of countries, groups of countries or territories;
6. autonomous measures introduced by the Council of Ministers which temporarily reduce or abolish applicable import customs duties in relation to certain goods (autonomous suspension measures); the terms and procedures for introducing autonomous suspension measures shall be specified with an ordinance of the Council of Ministers;
7. other tariff measures provided for in other statutory instruments.
(2) In compliance with the rules for charging with a single customs rate the measures under Paragraph 1, Items 4, 5 and 6 shall apply instead of the ones specified in Item 3 on the reporting person's request when the goods conform to the conditions laid down for these measures. The request may be granted also at a later date in case the respective conditions are met.
(3) When the application of the measures under Paragraph 1, Items 4, 5 and 6 is restricted to a certain volume or cost of imports their application shall cease:
1. in the case of tariff quotas, as soon as the stipulated limit on the volume or cost of imports is reached;
2. in the case of tariff ceilings, as from a time fixed by a statutory instrument.
Article 26a. (New SG No. 37/2003) (1) Before the end of each calendar year the Council of Ministers shall adopt the Combined Nomenclature of the Republic of Bulgaria and shall determine customs duty rates in compliance with the linked duty rates of the Republic of Bulgaria under the List of Obligations and Concessions attached to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994 (conventional customs duty rates) which shall apply as from the first day of the following year.
(2) The Combined Nomenclature, the conventional customs duty rates and the autonomous customs duty rates shall be published in the State Gazette.
Article 27. (Amended SG No. 37/2003) (1) The tariff classification of goods shall be the determination pursuant to the rules established with a statutory instrument of.
1. the sub-positions of the nomenclature under Article 26, Paragraph 1, Item 1 or of any other nomenclature under Article 26, Paragraph 1, Item 2. or
2. the sub-positions of any other nomenclature which is wholly or partially based on the Combined Nomenclature of the Republic of Bulgaria or adds subsections thereto and which is adopted with a statutory instrument regulating specific areas in relation to the application of measures different from the tariff measures related to trade with goods.
(2) Additional tariff classification rules may be specified with an ordinance of the Minister of Finance in compliance with:
1. the explanatory notes to the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System;
2. the explanatory notes to the Combined Nomenclature applied in the European Union member-states;
3. the opinions on commodity classification adopted by the Harmonised System Committee of the World Customs Organisation;
4. the decisions on commodity classification applied in the European Union member-states.
Article 28. (1) (Amended SG No. 63/2000, SG No. 37/2003) The terms under which certain commodities may be entitled to a more favourable tariff treatment due to their nature or specific designation shall be established in the Regulations. When permission is required the provisions of Articles 92 and 93 shall apply.
(2) (Amended SG No. 37/2003) In the meaning of Paragraph 1 "more favourable tariff treatment" shall be understood to mean any reduction or abolition of (suspension from) import customs duties, even within the frameworks of the tariff quota.

Chapter Five
ORIGIN OF GOODS
Section I
Non-Preferential Origin
Article 29. The non-preferential origin of goods specified in Articles 30, 31 and 32 shall serve for the purposes of:
1. (amended SG No. 37/2003) applying the Customs Tariff, with the exception of the preferential tariff measures referred to in Article 26, Paragraph 1, Items 4 and 5;
2. applying measures other than the tariff measures established by an act of the Council of Ministers;
3. the preparation and issue of certificates of origin.
Article 30. (1) Goods originating in a country shall be the goods wholly obtained or produced in that country.
(2) Goods wholly obtained or produced in a given country shall be the following:
1. minerals extracted within that country;
2. vegetable products harvested therein;
3. live animals raised therein;
4. products derived from live animals raised therein;
5. products of hunting or fishing carried out therein;
6. products of sea-fishing and other products extracted from the sea, outside the inland sea waters and the territorial sea waters of that country by vessels registered in the country and flying the flag of that country;
7. goods obtained or produced on board factory-ships from the products referred to in Item 6 originating in that country provided such factory- ships are registered in that country and fly its flag;
8. products taken from the seabed or its subsoil outside the inland sea of the territorial sea provided that country has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil;
9. waste and scrap products, derived from manufacturing operations performed in the country and used articles provided they were collected therein and are fit only for the recovery of raw materials;
10. goods which are produced in the country exclusively from goods referred to in Items 1 to 9, or from their derivatives at any stage of production.
(3) Whereas Paragraph 2 shall apply, the customs territory of the country shall include its inland sea waters and the territorial sea.
Article 31. (1) Goods whose production involves more than one country shall be deemed to originate in the country where they underwent their last, substantial, economically justified processing or treatment in an enterprise equipped for that purpose and resulting in the manufacture of a new product or representing an important stage of manufacture.
(2) Any processing or treatment in respect of which it is established or there is sufficient data that that its sole objective was to circumvent the provisions applicable in the Republic of Bulgaria towards goods from specific countries, shall under no circumstances be deemed to confer on the goods thus produced the origin of the country where it is carried out.
Article 32. (1) The documents certifying the origin of goods shall be presented when required by a customs or other statutory instrument.
(2) Notwithstanding the presentation of a document ascertaining the origin of goods the customs authorities shall be entitled in the event of reasonable doubt to require other evidence confirming that the reported origin complies with the rules for non preferential origin established in the Republic of Bulgaria.

Section II
Preferential Origin
Article 33. (Amended SG No. 37/2003) The conditions for acquiring preferential origin of goods with the purpose of applying the measures under Article 26, Paragraph 1, Items 4 and 5 shall be regulated by:
1. the international agreements of the Republic of Bulgaria establishing preferential tariff measures;
2. the statutory instruments on preferential tariff measures adopted unilaterally by the Republic of Bulgaria.

Chapter Six
CUSTOMS VALUE
Article 34. The customs value shall be the value of goods in Bulgarian national currency determined for customs purposes. The provisions of this chapter shall regulate the determination of the customs value of goods for the purposes of applying the Customs Tariff of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as of non-tariff measures established by a statutory instrument.
Article 35. (1) The customs value of imported goods determined under this article shall be the contract value which shall be the price of goods actually paid or payable when they are sold for export to the Republic of Bulgaria, adjusted in accordance with Article 38, provided:
1. there is no restriction as to the disposal or use of the goods by the buyer, other than restrictions which:
(a) are established by statutory instruments of the Republic of Bulgaria;
(b) specify the geographical area in which the goods may be resold, or
(c) do not substantially affect the value of the goods;
2. the sale or price is not subject to some condition or consideration for which a value cannot be determined with respect to the goods being valued;
3. no part of the proceeds of any subsequent resale, granted right to use or dispose with the goods by the buyer shall accrue directly or indirectly back to the seller, unless an adjustment can be made in accordance with Article 38; and
4. the buyer and seller are not related persons, or, when the buyer and seller are related persons provided the contract value is acceptable for customs purposes under Paragraph 2.
(2) Circumstances that shall be taken into consideration in the case of related persons:
1. in determining whether the transaction value is acceptable for the purposes of Paragraph 1 the fact that the buyer and the seller are related persons shall not in itself be sufficient grounds for regarding the transaction value as unacceptable. Where necessary the circumstances of the sale shall be examined and the transaction value shall be accepted provided the relationship did not influence the price. If in the light of information provided by the buyer or another source the customs authorities have grounds to consider that the relationship has influenced the price, they shall communicate their grounds to the reporting person and he shall be given a reasonable opportunity to respond. If the reporting person so requests the communication of the grounds shall be in writing;
2. in a sale between related persons the contract value shall be accepted and the goods valued in accordance with Paragraph 1 when the reporting person proves that such value closely approximates one of the following values determined at or about the same time:
(a) the contract value in sales of identical or similar goods sold for export to the Republic of Bulgaria, between buyers and sellers who are not related persons;;
(b) the customs value of identical or similar goods, as determined under Article 36, Paragraph 2, Item 3;
(c) the customs value of identical or similar goods, as determined under Article 36, Paragraph 2, Item 3.
(3) In applying Paragraph 2, Item 2 due account shall be taken of differences in commercial levels, the levels listed in Article 38 and costs incurred by the seller in sales in which he and the buyer are not related persons and when such costs are not incurred by the seller in sales in which he and the buyer are related persons. The methods set forth in Paragraph 2, Item 2 shall be applied at the initiative of the reporting person and only for comparison purposes, and not as a basis for determining the customs value.
(4) The price actually paid or payable shall be the total payment made or to be made by the buyer to or for the benefit of the seller and shall include all payments made or to be made as a condition of the sale by the buyer to the seller or by the buyer to a third party to satisfy an obligation of the seller. The payment need not necessarily take the form of a transfer of money but may be made by way of a letter of credit or negotiable instrument and may be made directly or indirectly.
(5) Activities, including marketing activities, undertaken by the buyer on his own account, other than those for which an adjustment is provided in Article 38, shall not be considered to be an indirect payment to the seller even when they might be regarded as of benefit to the seller or have been undertaken by agreement with the seller, and their cost shall not be added to the price actually paid or payable in determining the customs value of imported goods. "Marketing activities" in the meaning herein shall be any activities related to the advertising or the promotion of the sale of the valued goods and all warranty activities in relation to the goods.
Article 36. (1) When the customs value cannot be determined under Article 35, it is to be determined by applying sequentially the provisions of Paragraph 2, Items 1 to 4 until the first provision in the sequence allows its application An exception from the specified procedure shall be admissible for the application of Items 3 and 4 if the reporting person requests the sequence of these Items to be reversed. It is only when such value cannot be determined under a particular subparagraph in the sequence specified that the provisions of the next subparagraph can be applied in a sequence established by virtue of this paragraph.
(2) The customs value as determined under this Article shall be:
1. the contract value of identical goods sold for export to the Republic of Bulgaria and exported at or about the same time as the goods to be valued;
2. the contract value of similar goods sold for export to the Republic of Bulgaria and exported at or about the same time as the goods being valued;
3. the value based on the unit price at which the imported goods for identical or similar imported goods are sold within the Republic of Bulgaria in the greatest aggregate quantity to persons not related to the sellers;
4. the computed value, consisting of the sum of:
(a) the cost of materials and manufacture or other operations related to the processing of the imported goods,
(b) a sum of the profit and general expenses equal to that usually calculated for sales of goods of the same class or type as the goods being valued which are manufactured by producers in the country of export for export to the Republic of Bulgaria,
(c) the cost referred to in Article 38, Paragraph 1, Item 5.
(3) Any additional conditions and rules for the application of Paragraph 2 shall be determined by the Regulations.
Article 37. (1) When the customs value of imported goods cannot be determined under Articles 35 or 36, it shall be determined through methods compatible with the principles and the general provisions of the Agreement on implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the provisions of this chapter.
(2) No customs value shall be determined under Paragraph 1 on the basis of:
1. the selling price in the Republic of Bulgaria of goods produced in the Republic of Bulgaria;
2. a system which provides for the acceptance for customs purposes of the higher of two alternative values;
3. the price of goods on the domestic market of the country of exportation;
4. production costs, other than the computed values which have been determined for identical or similar goods in accordance with Article 36, Paragraph 2, Item 4;
5. prices for goods sold for export which was not intended for the Republic of Bulgaria;
6. minimum customs values;
7. arbitrary or fictitious values.
Article 38. (1) In determining the customs value under Article 35 to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods the following shall be added:
1. (amended, SG No. 63/2000) the following costs, to the extent that they are incurred by the buyer but are not included in the price actually paid or payable for the goods:
(a) commissions and brokerage, except purchase commissions;
(b) the cost for containers which, for customs purposes, are treated as being one with the goods in question;
(c) packing cost, including labour and materials.
2. The value, apportioned as appropriate, on the following goods and services when supplied directly or indirectly by the buyer free of charge or at discount prices for use in connection with the production and sale for export of the imported goods, insofar as such value has not been included in the price actually paid or payable:
(a) materials, components, parts and the like incorporated in the imported goods;
(b) tools, dies, moulds and the like used in the production of the imported goods;
(c) materials consumed in the manufacture of the imported goods;
(d) engineering, development, artwork, design work, and plans and sketches undertaken elsewhere than in the Republic of Bulgaria and necessary for the production of the imported goods;
3. royalties and license fees related to the goods being valued that the buyer must pay, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of sale of the goods being valued, to the extent that such royalties and fees are not included in the price actually paid or payable;
4. the value of any part of the proceeds of any subsequent resale, granting the right to dispose of or use the imported goods that accrues directly or indirectly to the seller;
5. expenses for:
(a) transport of the imported goods to their entry point into the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria;
(b) loading/unloading and handling operations associated with the transport of the imported goods to entry border crossing point of the Republic of Bulgaria;
(c) insurance of the imported goods.
(2) Additions to the price actually paid or payable shall be made under this article only on the basis of objective and quantifiable data.
(3) No additions shall be made to the price actually paid or payable in determining the customs value except as provided in this article.
(4) (New, SG No. 63/2000) In this chapter the term 'purchase commission' shall mean fees paid by an importer to his agent for the service of representing him in the supply of goods being valued.
(5) (Previous (4) SG No. 63/2000) Notwithstanding Item 3 of Paragraph 1:
1. charges for the right to reproduce the imported goods in the Republic of Bulgaria shall not be added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods in determining the customs value;
2. payments made by the buyer for the right to distribute or resell the imported goods shall not be added to the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods if such payments are not a condition for the sale of the goods for export to the Republic of Bulgaria.
Article 39. The customs value of the imported goods shall not include the following costs provided they are shown separately from the price actually paid or payable:
1. transport costs of goods on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria after their arrival;
2. costs for construction, installation, assembly, maintenance or technical assistance, undertaken for the goods after their import;
3. charges for the right to reproduce imported goods in the Republic of Bulgaria;
4. purchase commissions;
5. import duties, taxes, excise charges and fees payable in the Republic of Bulgaria by reason of the import or sale of the goods;
6. interest under a financing arrangement of the buyer relating to the purchase of imported goods, irrespective of whether the credit is provided by the seller, by a bank or a third person, provided the interest is separated from the price payable, the financing agreement has been made in writing and the buyer can prove that:
(a) such goods are sold at the moment of evaluation at the price reported as the price actually paid or payable, and
(b) the reported interest rate does not exceed the level for such transactions prevailing in the country where, and at the time when, the financing was provided.
Article 40. Specific rules may be laid down in the Regulations for determining the customs value of imported information carrier media intended for use in electronic data processing equipment and bearing data or instructions.
Article 41. (Amended, SG No. 37/2003) The procedure for determining the customs value in specific cases shall be established by a Council of Ministers decree.
Article 42. (1) The transfer of foreign exchange into Bulgarian currency for determining the customs value shall be done according to the exchange rate for foreign currencies announced by the Bulgarian National Bank.
(2) The period of implementing the corresponding currency exchange rate shall be determined in the Regulations.
Article 43. (1) The provisions of this chapter shall not affect the specific provisions for determining the customs value when importing goods under a different a customs destination.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 35-37 the customs value of perishable goods usually delivered on consignment may at the request of the reporting person be determined under simplified procedures, defined in the Regulations.

PART THREE
ENTRY OF GOODS INTO THE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF
BULGARIA UNTIL THEY OBTAIN A CUSTOMS ASSIGNMENT

Chapter Seven
ENTRY OF GOODS INTO THE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA
Article 44. (1) From the time of their entry into the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria the goods shall be subject to customs supervision and may be subject to customs control in accordance with the provisions in force by the date of entry.
(2) The goods shall remain under customs supervision until their customs status is determined. With the exception of cases referred to in Article 88, Paragraph 1 foreign goods shall remain under customs supervision also until their customs status is changed, or they enter a free zone or a free warehouse, or they are re exported or destroyed in accordance with Article 180.
Article 45. (1) Goods brought into the customs territory of the country shall without delay be transported by the person bringing them into the country according to the instructions of the customs authorities to the designated customs office or to any other place designated by those authorities. Should this be necessary the customs authorities may specify the route for transporting the goods.
(2) The person who assumes responsibility for the transport of goods after they have been brought into the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria shall become responsible for compliance with the obligation laid down in Paragraph 1.
(3) Paragraph 1 shall not preclude the implementation of provisions of any other statutory instruments with respect to:
1. parcels;
2. tourist traffic;
3. shipment of goods with negligible economic importance, on condition customs supervision and customs control possibilities are not thereby jeopardized.
(4) Paragraphs 1,2 and 3 as well as Articles 46 to 60 shall not apply to goods which leave temporarily the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, while being shipped between two points in that territory by sea or air, provided the carriage has been effected by a direct route by regular air service or shipping line without a stop outside of the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.
(5) Paragraph 1 shall not apply to goods on board a vessel or an aircraft crossing the territorial waters or airspace of the Republic of Bulgaria without having as their destination a port or airport on the country's customs territory.
Article 46. (1) When, by reason of force majeure or unforeseeable circumstances, the person cannot comply with the obligation laid down in Article 45, Paragraph 1, he shall inform immediately the nearest customs authorities. When the goods are not destroyed or lost in total the customs authorities shall be informed of their exact location.
(2) When, by reason of force majeure or unforeseeable circumstances, a vessel or an aircraft is forced to put into port or land temporarily in the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and the obligation laid down in Article 38, Paragraph 1 cannot be complied with, the person bringing the vessel or aircraft into the customs territory of the country or any other person acting in his place shall inform immediately the customs authorities.
(3) The customs authorities shall determine the measures in the cases referred to in Paragraphs 1 and 2 to be taken for customs supervision and, where appropriate, for ensuring the shipping of the goods to a customs office or to another location designated by them.

Chapter Eight
PRESENTATION OF GOODS TO CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES
Article 47. Goods which have been transported pursuant to Article 45, Paragraph 1 shall be presented to the customs authorities by the person who has brought them into the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or by the person who had undertaken the carriage of the goods following such entry.
Article 48. For goods carried by travellers or placed under customs regime, but not presented to customs, other provisions for presentation may apply as provided in the Regulations.
Article 49. Once goods have been presented to customs, they may be subject to examination or sample-taking, for specifying their customs assignment with the permission of the customs authorities.

Chapter Nine
MANIFESTATION AND UNLOADING OF GOODS PRESENTED TO CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES
Article 50. (1) For goods presented to customs authorities a customs manifest shall be submitted.
(2) The customs manifest shall be submitted immediately after the goods have been presented to customs. The customs authorities may allow a different period for submitting the manifest which shall not extend beyond the first working day following the day on which the goods were presented to customs.
Article 51. (1) The manifestation of goods shall be done under terms and procedures specified in the Regulations. The customs authorities may accept also a commercial or other document instead of a customs manifest if it contains the particulars necessary for identification of the goods.
(2) The customs manifest shall be submitted by:
1. the person who has brought the goods into the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or by the person who has undertaken the carriage of the goods following such entry; or
2. the person in whose name the persons referred to in Item 1 had acted.
Article 52. The cases when the customs authorities may submit a manifest ex officio or waive the submission of a customs manifest shall be defined in the Regulations.
Article 53. (1) Goods shall be unloaded or reloaded from the vehicles carrying them solely with the permission of the customs authorities in places designated by them.
(2) No permission shall be required in the event of a breakdown or other circumstances necessitating the immediate unloading of all or parts of the goods. In that case, the customs authorities shall be informed forthwith.
(3) For the purpose of customs control and inspection of goods, including the vehicles carrying them, the customs authorities may at any time require goods to be unloaded and unpacked.
Article 54. Goods shall be removed from their original location only with the permission of the customs authorities.

Chapter Ten
OBLIGATION TO PERFORM FORMALITIES ON OBTAINING A CUSTOMS
ASSIGNMENT FOR THE GOODS PRESENTED TO THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES
(Title - SG No. 37/2003)
Article 55. (Supplemented SG No. 37/2003) Foreign goods presented to the customs authorities shall obtain an admissible customs assignment.
Article 56. (1) (Amended SG No. 37/2003) The respective formalities for obtaining a customs assignment shall be performed for the manifested goods within the following deadlines:
1. forty five days from the date of submitting the customs manifest for goods carried by sea;
2. twenty days from the date of submitting the customs manifest for goods carried otherwise than by sea;
(2) Depending on the specific circumstances the customs authorities may set deadlines shorter or longer than the periods referred to in Paragraph 1. The extension shall not exceed the period actually required in the specific case.

Chapter Eleven
TEMPORARY STORAGE OF GOODS
Article 57. Until obtaining a customs assignment the goods presented to the customs authorities shall have the status of "goods in temporary storage."
Article 58. (1) Goods in temporary storage shall be stored only in places approved by the customs authorities and under conditions laid down by them.
(2) (Supplemented, SG No. 153/1998) The customs authorities shall be entitled to require the person holding the goods to provide security for any customs debt that may arise under Article 199, Paragraph 1, Items 5, 6 and 7 as well as also taxes and excise duties.
Article 59. Goods in temporary storage shall not be subject to handling other than the one intended for ensuring their preservation in an unchanged state without modifying their appearance or technical characteristics. This provision shall not prejudice the provisions of Article 49.
Article 60. (1) (Amended SG No. 37/2003, SG No. 109/2007) Without prejudice to the provisions on arising of customs debts, for goods, in respect of which the respective formalities for obtaining an admissible customs assignment have not been performed, the customs authorities shall notify the consignee of those goods in writing with recorded delivery that within a period of thirty days from the date of receiving such notification the good would be treated as abandoned in favour of the state.
(2) (Supplemented, SG No. 109/2007) After the expiry of the period referred to in Paragraph 1 the goods shall be considered as abandoned in favour of the state, unless the customs debt is discharged within the above term or is treated as not having arisen under the provisions of the customs legislation.
(3) (Amended SG No. 37/2003, SG No. 109/2007) When the consignee of the goods is a foreign person, or an unknown person, a native person with address unknown or who cannot be located on the address indicated, no notification as referred in Paragraph 1 shall be sent and the goods shall be deemed abandoned in favour of the state after the expiration of six months from the day of their manifestation.
(4) (Amended SG No. 37/2003, SG No. 109/2007) The customs authorities may, after assuming the responsibility and the costs from the holder of the goods, allow their transfer to a different location under customs supervision.

Chapter Twelve
FOREIGN GOODS WITH A TRANSIT STATUS
Article 61. The provisions of Article 45, with the exception of Paragraph 1, and of Articles 46 to 60, shall not apply when goods that have been placed under a transit regime are brought into the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Article 62. Once foreign goods which have been moved under the transit regime reach their destination in the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and have been presented to the customs authorities in accordance with the provisions governing transit, Articles 49 to 60 shall apply.

Chapter Thirteen
OTHER PROVISIONS
Article 63. When circumstances so require, the customs authorities shall be entitled to order the destruction of the goods presented to them for customs clearance, after informing the holder of the goods thereof. The cost for destroying the goods shall be borne by the holder.
Article 64. When the customs authorities find that goods have been brought illegally into the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or have been withheld from customs supervision, they shall take the legal measures provided, including the sale of the goods.

PART FOUR
CUSTOMS ASSIGNMENTS
TITLE ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 65. (1) In case there are no statutory restrictions or prohibitions the goods may obtain the requested customs assignment under the conditions laid down in this Act irrespective of their type, quantity, origin, consignment or destination.
(2) Paragraph 1 shall not preclude the imposition of prohibitions or restrictions in relation to national security, public order or morality, the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants, the protection of the national heritage of artistic, historic or archaeological value or the protection of industrial and commercial property.
(3) (New, SG No. 37/2003) When performing customs control under Paragraph 2, unless otherwise provided, the customs authorities may postpone with a substantiated decision for a period of up to five working days the permission for the assignment requested for the goods and shall inform forthwith the authorities competent for exercising supervision and control related to the respective prohibitions or restrictions.

TITLE TWO
CUSTOMS REGIMES
Chapter Fourteen
PLACING GOODS UNDER CUSTOMS REGIMES
Article 66. (1) All goods intended to be placed under a customs regime shall be subject to reporting for the appropriate regime.
(2) Local goods reported for exportation, temporary exportation, outward processing, transit or customs warehousing regime shall be subject to customs supervision form the time of their reporting before the customs office until their leaving the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or destruction or the invalidation of the export manifest.
Article 66a. (New, SG No. 63/2000) (1) The Director of the Customs Agency may designate in an order individual customs institutions, which perform customs activities with respect to certain types of goods and/or in compliance with the customs regimes under which they will be placed.
(2) The order under Paragraph 1 shall be published in the State Gazette.
Article 67. (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) (1) The reporting before the customs authorities shall be made:
1. in writing;
2. electronically;
3. orally;
4. by means of any other act whereby the holder of the goods expresses his wish to place them under a customs regime.
(2) The terms and procedure for reporting in the cases under Paragraph 1, Items 2, 3 and 4 of shall be established in the Regulations.
Section I
Reporting in Writing under the Normal Procedure
Article 68. (1) Reports in writing shall be made with a customs statement on a standard form and under a procedure established by the Minister of Finance.
(2) (New SG No. 37/2003) The customs statement must be signed and shall contain all data required for applying the provisions of the customs regime for which the goods have been reported.
(3) All documents specified statutorily for allowing the customs regime for which the goods have been reported shall be enclosed with the customs statement in order of allow the customs regime for which the goods have been reported.
Article 69. Customs statements which comply with the provisions laid down in Article 68 shall be accepted by the customs authorities immediately, provided the reported goods are presented to them.
Article 70. (1) (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) Reporting may be performed by any person, including an agent, who is able to present the goods in question or to have them presented to the competent customs authority, together with all the documents required for allowing the customs regime in respect of which the goods are reported.
(2) (Amended, SG No. 63/2000) When the acceptance of a customs statement imposes particular obligations on a specific person, the reporting must be performed by that person or on his behalf.
(3) The reporting person must be established in the Republic of Bulgaria. This condition shall not apply to persons who:
1. (amended, SG No. 63/2000) report for transit or temporary importation; or
2. report goods on an occasional basis, provided that the customs authorities consider the reporting to be admissible.
Article 71. (1) Once the customs statement is accepted, on the request of the reporting person the customs authorities may allow him to amend one or more of the particulars in the statement. No goods other than those originally reported in the statement shall be included in the amendments.
(2) No amendment shall be allowed when the request has been made after the customs authorities have:
1. informed the reporting person that they intend to examine the goods;
2. established an inaccurate data in the customs statement;
3. allowed goods to be released.
Article 72. (1) The customs authorities shall, at the request of the reporting person, invalidate a customs statement already accepted, when the reporting person proves that the goods were reported by mistake for the respective customs regime or that, as a result of special circumstances, remaining of the goods under the reported customs regime is unjustified.
(2) When the customs authorities have informed the reporting person of their intention to examine the goods, the request for invalidation of the customs statement may be accepted after the examination has taken place.
(3) The customs statement shall not be invalidated after the permission on releasing the goods, except in cases defined in accordance with the Regulations.
(4) Invalidation of the customs statement shall not prevent the application of the penal provisions.
Article 73. The date used for the purposes of applying the customs regime for which the goods were reported shall be the date of acceptance of the customs statement by the customs authorities unless otherwise provided for by a statutory instrument.
Article 74. For verification purposes of the accepted customs statements the customs authorities may perform:
1. document control of the customs statement and the documents accompanying it. The customs authorities may require the reporting person to present other documents for verifying the accuracy of the particulars contained in the customs statement;
2. examination of the goods and taking samples for analysis or control.
Article 75. (1) Transport of the goods to the places where they are to be examined, samples to be taken and all the handling necessities shall be carried out and be under the responsibility of the reporting person. The costs incurred shall be borne by the reporting person.
(2) The reporting person shall be entitled to be present when the goods are examined and when the samples are taken. The customs authorities shall require the presence of the reporting person or his agent when the goods are examined or samples are taken, in order to facilitate the performance of the examination.
(3) When samples are taken in accordance with the provisions in force the customs authorities shall not owe any compensation but shall bear the costs of their analysis or examination.
Article 76. (1) When only a part of the goods covered by a customs statement is examined, the results of the examination shall be taken to apply to all the goods covered by that customs statement.
(2) The reporting person may request a further examination of the goods if he considers that the results of the partial examination are not valid as regards to the remainder of the goods reported.
(3) For the purposes of Paragraph 1, when a customs statement form contains several types of goods, the particulars relating to each of those types shall be deemed to constitute a separate customs statement.
Article 77. (1) The results of the verification of the customs statement shall be used for the purpose of applying the customs regime under which the goods are placed.
(2) When the customs statement is not verified, the provisions of the basis for applying the customs regime shall be the particulars reported in the customs statement.
Article 78. (1) The customs authorities shall take the measures necessary to identify the goods as required in order to ensure compliance with the terms of the customs regime for which the goods have been reported.
(2) Means of identification affixed to the goods or in cargo sections of vehicles may be removed or destroyed only by the customs authorities or with their permission. This provision shall not be applied in cases of force major or unforeseeable circumstances in view of ensuring the protection of the goods and vehicles.
Article 78a. (New SG No. 37/2003) (1) The customs authorities shall postpone with a substantiated decision giving permission on releasing goods reported for import regime and shall inform forthwith the competent market supervision authorities when in the course of the inspection they establish that:
1. the goods contain certain characteristics giving rise to reasonable doubts on the existence of serious and immediate risk for health and safety in case of their use in normal foreseeable conditions, or
2. the goods are not accompanied by the documents required pursuant to the safety rules or are not marked in compliance with these rules.
(2) When in the cases under Paragraph 1 the competent authorities consider that the goods do not represent serious and immediate risk for health and safety the customs authorities shall allow the release of the goods provided all other requirements and formalities for placing the goods under an import regime have been complied with.
(3) In case the customs authorities are not notified within three working days from the day following the actions under Paragraph 1 by the competent market supervision authorities on measures adopted by them, the release of the goods shall be allowed provided all other requirements and formalities provided in applicable law for placing the goods under import regime have been complied with.
(4) The customs authorities shall not allow the release of the goods and their placement under import regime when they have been notified by the competent market supervision authorities that the goods pose a serious and immediate risk for health and safety and prohibition measures have been taken in relation to their release on the market. In these cases the customs authorities shall place on the invoice and the other documents accompanying the goods the text "Dangerous product - import regime not allowed".
(5) The customs authorities shall not allow the release of the goods and their placement under import regime when they have been notified by the competent market supervision authorities that the goods do not comply with applicable safety rules and prohibition measures have been taken in relation to their release on the market. In these cases the customs authorities shall place on the invoice and the other documents accompanied the goods the text "Product incompatible with requirements - import regime not allowed".
(6) The provisions of this article shall apply to goods of which the customs authorities have been notified in advance by the market supervision authorities that they are subject to control on compliance with safety rules. The notification shall be performed under a procedure coordinated between the customs authorities and the market supervision authorities.
(7) The article shall apply inasmuch a statutory instrument does not provide otherwise in relation to the organisation of border control of specific goods.
Article 78b. (New SG No. 37/2003) The provisions of Article 78a shall not apply when veterinary and zoo-technical control and control in relation to protecting plants and animals have been regulated with a statutory instrument.
Article 79. (1) (Amended SG No. 37/2003) In compliance with the provisions of Article 80, when the conditions for placing the goods under a specific regime are met and provided the goods are not subject to any prohibitive and restrictive measures, the customs authorities shall allow the release of the goods as soon as the particulars in the customs statement have been verified or accepted without verification. Permission for release of the goods shall be granted also when the verification cannot be completed within a reasonable period of time and the presence of the goods is no longer required its performance.
(2) The release of the goods shall be allowed for the entire amount of goods reported in the same customs statement. When a customs statement covers several types of goods the particulars relating to each type shall be deemed to constitute a separate customs statement.
Article 80. (1) When the acceptance of a customs statement gives rise to a customs liability, the release of the goods covered by this customs statement shall be allowed only if the customs liability has been paid or secured. This provision shall not apply to the temporary importation regime with partial exemption from import customs duties in compliance with the provisions of Paragraph 2.
(2) When the regime for which the goods are reported requires security the customs authorities shall allow the release of the goods only after its institution.
(3) Goods dangerous for health, for the environment, flammable and perishable goods may be released with the written permission of the customs authorities even before security is provided.
Article 81. The customs authorities shall undertake the legally provided measures, including confiscation and sale in favour of the state, of goods which:
1. cannot be released due to the following reasons:
(a) it has been impossible to undertake or perform examination of the goods within the period prescribed by the customs authorities for reasons attributable to the reporting person;
(b) the documents required for placing the goods under the requested customs regime have not been produced;
(c) the import or export customs duties have nor been paid or secured within the prescribed term;
(d) are subject to prohibition or restriction measures;
2. (Amended SG No. 153/1998) are not removed within the period after giving the permission.
Section II
Reporting in Writing Under the Simplified Procedure
Article 82. (1) In order to simplify customs formalities, while ensuring procedures for reporting and the terms specified in the regulations, the customs authorities shall grant permission:
1. for submitting a simplified customs statement being the customs statement under Article 68 omitting certain of the particulars or not containing some of the required documents;
2. instead of the customs statement under Article 68 to submit a commercial or administrative document, accompanied by an application for placing the goods under the respective customs regime.
3. to perform the reporting of the goods for the respective customs regime through entering them in the accounting records of the reporting person. In this case the customs authorities shall be entitled to waive the requirement that the reporting person presents the goods.
(2) The simplified customs statement, the commercial or administrative documents or the entry of the goods in the accounting records must contain the particulars necessary for identifying the goods. The entry of the goods in the accounting records must contain also the date on which it is done.
(3) Except in cases to be determined in the Regulations, the reporting person shall be obliged to furnish a supplementary customs statement, which may be of general, periodic or recapitulative nature.
(4) The supplementary customs statement under Paragraph 3 shall be considered a single document indivisible from the documents referred to in Paragraph 1, Items 1, 2 and 3 which shall take effect on the date of acceptance by the customs authorities. In the cases referred to in Paragraph 1, Item 3 entry in the records of the accounting documents shall have the same legal force as acceptance of the customs statement under 68.
(5) Special simplified procedures for the transit regime shall be laid down in the Regulations.

Section III
Other Types of Reporting
Article 83. (1) (Supplemented, SG No. 63/2000, previous Article 83, SG No. 37/2003) When reporting before the customs authorities is made electronically, orally or through other means as referred to in Article 67, the provisions of Articles 68 to 82 shall apply mutatis mutandis without prejudice to the principles set out therein.
(2) (New SG No. 37/2003) When reporting before the customs authorities is made electronically the customs authorities may not require the attachment of the documents under Article 68, Paragraph 3. In these cases the documents must be available to the customs authorities for the purposes of customs control.
(3) (New SG No. 37/2003) The Minister of Finance shall specify the terms and procedures for reporting electronically to the customs authorities mutates mutandis.

Section IV
Subsequent Control of Reporting
Article 84. (1) After the permission for release of the goods the customs authorities shall be entitled, at their own initiative or at request of the reporting person, to perform subsequent control of the customs statement.
(2) The customs authorities shall be entitled, after releasing the goods for the purpose of establishing the truthfulness of the customs statement, to perform control of the commercial documents and data relating to the import and export operations in respect of the goods reported or of subsequent commercial operations with them. Such control shall be carried out at the premises of the reporting person, of any other person directly or indirectly involved in the said operations as well as of any other person in possession of the said documents and data. The customs authorities may also examine the goods when it is possible for them to be produced.
(3) When during a second inspection of the customs statement or subsequent control it is established that the respective customs regime has been applied on the basis of incorrect or incomplete information, the customs authorities shall take the necessary measures while taking into account the new circumstances.
(4) Any person involved directly or indirectly in activities of importation, exportation and transit operations of goods shall be obliged to keep for a period of five years the entire documentation on the specific operations, regardless of the type of the carrier media used. The period shall start running from the end of the calendar year during which:
1. for goods, processed under the importation customs regime, other than those mentioned in Item 2, or processed under the exportation customs regime, the corresponding customs statements have been accepted;
2. for goods, processed under the importation customs regime with reduced or zero-rate duty due to their specific usage, these goods cease to be subject of customs control;
3. for goods placed under another customs regime, the respective customs regime comes to an end;
4. for goods placed in a free zone or a free warehouse, these goods leave the free zone or the free warehouse.
Article 84a. (New, SG No. 45/2005) (1) Follow-up control on reporting shall be carried out in respect of all persons who are engaged or involved in an activity the control over which is assigned to the customs authorities by law.
(2) In the course of follow-up control an inspection shall be carried out of the compliance with the law of the actions of the inspected person for applying the respective regimes, procedures and trade policy measures, as well as of the fulfilment of its obligations for paying public state receipts collected by the customs authorities.
(3) Customs authorities shall be obliged to establish impartially the facts and circumstances under Paragraph 2 both to the detriment and in favour of the inspected person. In the course of the inspection the inspected person shall be entitled to receive information on the facts and circumstances established insofar as this would not impede its carrying out.
(4) The inspection shall comprise the goods, the stocks, the accounting records, the trade, accounting and other documentation of the inspected person that is material for the specific case.
(5) (Amended, SG No. 105/2005) The customs authorities shall be obliged to make clear to the inspected person and to the other participants in the proceedings under this Act their procedural rights provided for in the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code, according Criminal Procedure Code and to ensure the possibilities that they should be exercised.
Article 84b. (New, SG No. 45/2005) (1) Follow-up control shall be exercised by customs officials in specialised units for follow-up control in the Central Customs Directorate and in the regional customs directorates. Should this be required follow-up control units may be created also in the territorial customs directorates under the procedure of Article 11, Paragraph 3.
(2) The competence of the follow-up control units shall be determined according to the registered address, the permanent address respectively, of the inspected person. The competence of the follow-up control unit at the Central Customs Directorate shall be national.
(3) Should it be needed to establish facts and circumstances related to the activity of the inspected person, its affiliate, facility, business or property which is within the competence of another follow-up control unit the Director of the Customs Directorate may permit that the entire inspection or individual actions be performed by that unit.
(4) Should specific knowledge and qualifications be needed other customs officers who command them may participate in the inspection or expert opinions may be requested from them.
Article 84c. (New, SG No. 45/2005) (1) An inspection within the follow-up control framework shall be carried out on the basis of an assignment order.
(2) The order under Paragraph 1 shall be issued by:
1. The Director of the Customs Agency or by officials from the Customs Agency authorised by him/her.
2. A Director of a regional customs directorate and head of customs office and the Director of the Customs Agency shall be notified thereof.
(3) The order under Paragraph 1 shall be issued in writing and shall contain:
1. the legal and factual grounds for conducting the inspection;
2. the names and positions of the customs officers who shall carry out the inspection;
3. information on the inspected person;
4. the inspection period;
5. the type and scope of the inspection;
6. the initial date of commencing the inspection and the time of its completion;
(4) The order under Paragraph 1 shall be handed over to the inspected person by the customs officers at the start of the inspection. The inspected person may be notified in advance of the start of the inspection should this not threaten its objective.
(5) The order under Paragraph 1 may be amended by a new substantiated order of the body that has assigned the inspection. The amendment shall be deemed done as of the date of issuing the new order which shall be handed over to the inspected person.
(6) The period for carrying out the inspection within the follow-up control framework shall not exceed two months.
(7) In case of justified need the period under Paragraph 6 may be extended by not more than four months with a new substantiated order of the body that has assigned the inspection.
(8) The body that has assigned the inspection shall stop proceedings:
1. in case of force majeure - as of the date of its occurrence;
2. when judicial or administrative proceedings have been instituted that are material to the inspection's outcome - on presenting a certificate thereof issued by the body before which proceedings have been instituted;
3. under other circumstances provided for by law.
(9) The body that has assigned the inspection may direct that it be suspended for a certain period but for not longer than 30 days subject to a substantiated application by the inspected person and following a verification of the circumstances.
(10) The period for carrying out the inspection shall not run as of the date of occurrence of the relevant circumstance for its suspension until the date of its resumption.
(11) The inspection shall be resumed on an order of the body that has assigned it after the grounds for its suspension have become defunct. The resumption order shall be delivered to the inspected person.
(12) Orders on assigning, amending, suspending and resuming an inspection shall not be subject to appeal.
Article 84d. (New SG No. 45/2005) (1) The inspected person shall be obliged to cooperate with the customs authorities when they are clarifying facts and circumstances that are material to the inspection by:
1. providing commercial, accounting and other documentation;
2. providing explanations requested by the customs authorities;
3. drawing up information memoranda;
4. certifying information memoranda and copies of documents requested by the customs authorities;
5. ensure access to official premises, warehouses and cash offices;
6. ensure space and conditions for carrying out the inspection;
7. appoint persons to grant cooperation in conducting the inspection.
(2) The inspected person shall be obliged, within reasonable time specified by the customs authorities but not less than 24 hours, to provide any information, data, documents, papers, things, information carriers and other evidence relating to the facts and circumstances subject to establishment in the course of the inspection and to specify all persons, state and municipal bodies with which they may be found. This term may be extended should important reasons so require.
(3) The inspected person shall be obliged to ensure to the customs authorities access to its IT system when collection, storing and processing of the information under Paragraph 2 is done by such a system.
(4) In case it is impossible to carry out the inspection at the premises of the inspected person it shall be performed at the customs office. In this case the customs authorities shall compile a protocol and an inventory of the documents, things and other evidence that are handed over to them.
Article 84e. (New SG No. 45/2005) (1) The evidence in the proceedings under this section may be factual data related to circumstances that are material to the purposes of the inspection, contribute to their clarification and are collected and verified under the procedure herein.
(2) The evidence shall be collected and verified through written explanations, information memoranda and statements of the inspected persons or of their representatives, minutes on explanations of third persons who are not participating in the administrative proceedings, protocols on the actions of the customs authorities, expert opinions, official documents received through information exchange with the administrations of other states within international cooperation as well as through other means provided for by law.
(3) Any person, state and municipal authority shall be obliged, within seven days after the receipt of a request by the customs authorities, to provide information, data, documents, papers, things, information carriers and other evidence relating to the facts and circumstances specified in the request. This term may be extended by the body that has assigned the inspection.
(4) When conducting an inspection the customs authorities may request cooperation in writing from other bodies in performing actions for the purpose of establishing obligations or liabilities of the inspected person.
(5) When special knowledge that the customs authorities do not possess is required to clarify circumstances and issues that have arisen in the course of the inspection on their initiative or on request by the inspected person the body that has assigned the inspection shall institute an expert examination. When the expert examination has been instituted on request by the inspected person the costs for its carrying out shall be at the expense.
Article 84f. (New SG No. 45/2005) (1) In the course of an investigation the customs authorities may take action for securing evidence through distraint or through searches and seizures under the procedure of Article 16, Paragraph 7 and 8 of documents, papers and other information carriers, goods and data processing means, as well as through copying data from and on technical carriers allowing its reproduction, taking the necessary steps to preserve its authenticity.
(2) Where no other possibility exists to secure evidence the customs authorities may seal off offices, pay desks, warehouses, trade and other premises for a period of 72 hours.
(3) A statement shall be drawn up for the actions under Paragraphs 1 and 2 a copy of which shall be handed over to the inspected person.
(4) Before the expiry of the term under Paragraph 2 the body that has assigned the inspection may request from the district court within the jurisdiction of which the facility is located to extend the period of the sealing off. The court shall issue a ruling in a closed sitting on the day the request is received and shall determine a term for the sealing off. The ruling shall not be subject to appeal.
(5) The customs authorities shall lift the sealing off if before the expiry of the term under Paragraph 2 the district court has not allowed its extension.
(6) The actions to secure evidence may be appealed against within three days before the body that has assigned the inspection, which shall take a substantiated decision not later than the day following the day of the receipt of the appeal. With its decision the body that has assigned the inspection may confirm in whole or in part or revoke the actions appealed against.
(7) (Amended, SG No. 30/2006, effective 1.03.2007) Should the body under Paragraph 6 fail to make a decision within the term prescribed or in case the appeal is rejected the actions to secure evidence may be appealed against in respect of their compliance with the law within seven days after the expiry of the term for making a decision under Paragraph 6, of the receipt of the decision respectively, before the administrative court within the jurisdiction of which the body that has assigned the inspection is located. The court shall issue a ruling within 14 days, which shall not be subject to appeal.
(8) The appeal shall not suspend the actions to secure evidence.
(9) The decision under Paragraph 6 or the ruling under Paragraph 7, which order to discontinue the actions to secure evidence, shall be implemented by the customs authority that has undertaken them.
Article 84g. (New SG No. 45/2005, amended, SG No. 105/2005) The provisions of Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code shall apply to the issues relating to collection, verification and securing evidence and to preparing means of evidence that are not regulated respectively.
Article 84h. (New SG No. 45/2005) In the course of conducting the inspection the customs authorities may impose interim security measures under the procedure of Chapter Twenty Six, Section Ia to prevent actions relating to disposition with the property of the inspected person that may result in impossibility or substantial difficulties to collect customs duties or other public state receivables.
Article 84i. (New SG No. 45/2005) (1) The customs authorities carrying out an inspection within the framework of follow-up control may accept as established the levy elements determined by them as well as to accept as established the avoidance of trade policy measures when one of the following circumstances exists:
1. lack or failure to present accounting information pursuant to the Accountancy Act or the way the accounting is kept does not allow to establish or to determine the amount of the public state receivables as well where the documents required to establish the amount of the public state receivables and to apply trade policy measures have been destroyed at variance with the established procedures;
2. the required documents are missing or damaged in a way to make them unfit for use;
3. the required additional information and data cannot be obtained since the inspected person has not been found at the registered address or at the permanent address following a conscientious and documented search by the customs authorities;
4. in the course of the inspection the inspected person has failed to produce the relevant evidence within the time limit under Article 84d, Paragraph 2.
(2) In the cases under Paragraph 1 the customs authorities shall take into consideration any of the circumstances related to the inspected person concerning:
1. the type and nature of the activity carried out;
2. the customs duties and other public state receivables paid;
3. the transactions and the balance in the bank accounts;
4. the official and private documents;
5. the contracts concluded by the inspected person related to its business;
6. the difference between the raw materials and resources supplied and input in production;
7. aggregate information on the profit realised, respectively on the income or revenues from other persons engaged in the same or similar business under the same or similar conditions;
8. price and other terms of the transactions concluded, including information on such transactions between persons related to the inspected person;
9. the supplies received and carried out and the right to tax credit used;
10. other evidence material to the specific case.
(3) The circumstances under Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be pointed out in the inspection report.
(4) When the circumstances under Paragraph 1, Items 1,2 and 4 exist the customs authorities shall inform the inspected person that they accept as established the levy elements determined by them and that they accept as established the avoidance of the trade policy measures and shall determine a deadline for producing documents and an opinion.
Article 84j. (New, SG No. 45/2005) (1) When in the course of an inspection evidence is collected within the time limit under Article 84c on customs violations committed or on a different amount of the customs duties and other public state receivables due, the customs authorities conducting the inspection shall hold with the inspected person a final discussion of the circumstances established in the course of the inspection and of the ensuing legal consequences unless the inspected person rejects the discussion in writing. Within seven days after the final discussion the inspected person may present an opinion in writing on the preliminary findings as well as new evidence.
(2) Minutes shall be drawn up of the final discussion, which shall be signed by the customs officers who have conducted the inspection and by the inspected person.
(3) In case the inspected person rejects the final discussion or does not sign the minutes under Paragraph 2 this fact shall be certified by two witnesses.
Article 84k. (New, SG No. 45/2005) (1) Within 14 days after the expiry of the term under Article 84c, Paragraph 3, Item 6 a written report on the findings shall be drawn up which shall contain:
1. number and date;
2. the names and positions of the customs officers who have conducted the inspection;
3. the factual and legal grounds for the inspection;
4. information on the inspected person;
5. the type and scope of the inspection;
6. the actions carried out and the established facts and circumstances;
7. the findings made;
8 the steps taken to secure the evidence and the public state receivables;
9. proposals on determining the amount of the customs duties and the other public state receivables and on instituting administrative penal proceedings;
10. list of the evidence enclosed;
11. signatures of the customs officers who have drawn up the report and of the head of the respective follow-up control unit.
(2) The evidence enclosed with the report shall be an integral part thereof. The originals of the collected written evidence shall be enclosed with the copy of the report intended for the customs body that has assigned the inspection and certified copies thereof shall be enclosed with the copy intended for the inspected person.
(3) The factual findings in the report must be supported with evidence and shall be deemed true unless proven otherwise.
(4) Within seven days after its completion the inspection report and the evidence enclosed therewith shall be handed over to the inspected person against signature and shall be presented to the body that has assigned the inspection for follow-up action. In case it is impossible to hand over the report to the inspected person in person the customs authorities shall dispatch it by registered mail with a return receipt.
(5) The inspected person may present written objections and produce additional evidence before the body that has assigned the inspection within 14 days after the date of receipt of the report.
Article 84l. (New, SG No. 45/2005) The provisions of Article 211d shall apply to handing over notices and documents in the course of carrying out inspections within the framework of follow-up control.

Chapter Fifteen
IMPORTATION
Article 85. (1) Release for importation shall confer upon foreign goods the customs status of local goods.
(2) Importation shall entail application of trade policy measures, completion of the formalities laid down in respect of importation of goods and the levying of the customs duties due.
Article 86. (1) If after the date of acceptance of the importation customs statement but before the goods are released, the rate of customs duties or the charges with equivalent effect are reduced the reporting person may request application of the more favourable rates or charges. In such cases the provisions of Article 73 shall not apply.
(2) Paragraph 1 shall not apply when the goods have not been released for reasons attributable to the reporting person.
Article 87. When a consignment contains goods with different tariff classifications, the separate reporting of which leads to processing and costs disproportionate to the import duties chargeable, the customs authorities shall be entitled, at the request of the reporting person, to agree that import duties be charged on the whole consignment on the basis of the tariff classification of the goods with highest customs duty rate.
Article 88. (1) (Amended SG No. 37/2003) Goods which due to their use for specific purposes are placed under import regime with reduced or zero rates of customs duties or with exemption of customs duties shall remain under customs supervision. Customs supervision shall come to an end when:
1. the conditions laid down for granting a reduced or zero rate of duty or for exemption of import customs duties cease to apply;
2. the goods are exported or destroyed; or
3. the use of the goods for purposes other than those laid down for the application of a reduced or zero rate of duty or for exemption of customs duties is permitted subject to payment of the customs duties due.
(2) The provisions referred to in Article 94 Paragraphs 2 and 3 and Article 96 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to goods referred to in Paragraph 1.
Article 89. Imported goods shall lose their status of local goods when:
1. the import customs statement is invalidated after their release; or
2. the import duties payable on those goods are repaid or remitted under terms and procedures laid down in the Regulations.

Chapter Sixteen
SUSPENSIVE ARRANGEMENTS REGIMES AND CUSTOMS ECONOMIC REGIMES
Section I
General Provisions
Article 90. (1) For the purposes of application of the regimes referred in Articles 91 to 96:
1. the term "suspensive arrangements regime" shall refer to foreign goods, placed under the following regimes:
(a) transit;
(b) customs warehousing;
(c) inward processing with deferred payment;
(d) processing under customs control;
(e) temporary importation.
2. the term "customs economic regime" shall refer to goods placed under the following regimes:
(a) customs warehousing;
(b) inward processing;
(c) processing under customs control;
(d) temporary importation;
(e) outward processing.
(2) Goods placed under a deferred payment regime and goods under the inward processing regime in the form of the drawback system, that have undergone the formalities for import and the formalities provided in Article 128, Paragraph 4 shall be considered imported goods.
(3) Imported goods, which under the inward processing regime or the customs control processing regime have undergone no form of processing, shall be considered goods in unaltered state.
Article 91. The use of any customs economic regime shall be conditional upon authorization being issued by the customs authorities.
Article 92. The authorizations referred to in Article 91 and in Article 106, Paragraph 1 shall be granted in compliance with the conditions provided for the respective regime:
1. (amended and supplemented, SG No. 63/2000) to persons who are in a position to ensure the proper conduct of the operations; and
2. (amended, SG No. 63/2000) when the customs authorities are in a position to ensure the supervision and control of the regime without having to introduce administrative requirements that do not correspond to the economic need for using the regime.
Article 93. (1) The conditions under which the respective regime is applied shall be set out in the authorization.
(2) The holder of the authorization shall be obliged to notify the customs authorities of any change occurring after its issuing which might influence its contents and the conditions for its application.
Article 94. (1) In cases specified in the Regulations or when goods produced from goods under the suspensive arrangements customs regime shall not be considered as local, but as placed under the same customs regime.
(2) For placing goods under the suspensive arrangements customs regime the customs authorities may require security for the customs debt.
(3) Specific provisions may be laid down in the Regulations for providing the respective security for each customs regime with suspensive arrangements
Article 95. (Amended and supplemented, SG No. 63/2000) (1) A customs economic regime with suspensive arrangements shall be concluded when the goods under this regime or the received compensating or processed products obtain a new permissible customs-approved assignment.
(2) The customs authorities shall take all necessary measures prescribed in the Regulations in relation to the goods in respect of which the regime has not been concluded according to the conditions prescribed.
Article 96. The rights and obligations of the holder of a customs economic regime may, on the conditions laid down by the customs authorities, be transferred consecutively to other persons who comply with the requirements for using the respective regime.

Section II
Transit
Article 97. (1) (Amended and supplemented, SG No. 37/2000) The transit regime shall allow the movement from one point to another point within the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria of:
1. foreign goods without being charged with import customs duties and without being subject to trade policy measures;
2. (amended, SG No. 63/2000, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) local goods in cases and under terms specified in the Regulations for which restrictive or promotional export measures have been provided for with the aim that these measures should not be avoided or used illegally.
(2) (SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) Movement as referred to in Paragraph 1 shall take place:
1. under the provisions of the transit regime in the Republic of Bulgaria;
2. under cover of a TIR Carnet used as transit guaranty document under the Customs Convention for International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnet (TIR Convention 1975) where:
(a) (amended, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) the movement began or is to end outside the country; or
(b) (amended, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) the movement relates both to consignments of goods which must be unloaded in the country and to goods to be unloaded outside the country;
3. under cover of an ATA Carnet used as transit guaranty document under the prescriptions of the Customs Convention for Temporary Admission of Goods (ATA Convention, 1961), as well as other international conventions, to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party;
4. (new, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) under the cover of form 302 (NATO MANIFEST 302) pursuant to the ratified, promulgated and effective international agreements of the Republic of Bulgaria with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the NATO member-countries and the partner countries participating in "Partnership for Peace";
5. (previous Item 4, SG No. 37/2003, effective 1.11.2003) by post (including parcel post).
(3) The transit regime shall apply without prejudice to the specific provisions applicable to the movement of goods placed under an economic customs regime.
Article 98. (Amended, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) (1) The transit regime shall end and the obligation of the holder of the regime shall be concluded when the goods placed under the regime and the required documents are presented at the customs office of destination in accordance with the provisions of the regime.
(2) The customs authorities shall conclude the transit regime when they establish on the basis of comparing the information available at the sending with the information available at the receiving customs office that the transit regime has ended normally.
Article 99. (Amended, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) The transit regime for carrying goods through the territory of another country shall be applied when:
1. this possibility is provided under an international agreement;
2. carriage through the other country is effected on the basis of a single transport document issued in the customs territory of the Republic of Bulgaria. In such cases the operation of that regime shall be suspended temporarily on the territory of the other country.
Article 100. (Amended, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) (1) The persons responsible for the transit regime shall be obliged to provide security in order to ensure the payment of the customs debt and of the other public state receivables that might arise for the goods.:
(2) The security may be:
1. one-off, covering a single transit operation. or
2. general, covering several transit operations when the customs authorities have permitted the person responsible to use such genera; security.
(3) The permission under Paragraph 2, Item 2 shall be given to native person who:
1. use regularly the transit regime or about whom the customs authorities know that they are capable of fulfilling their obligations for this regime, and
2. have not committed serious or repeated violations of the customs or the tax legislation.
(4) Persons who prove before the customs authorities that they meet higher reliability requirements may receive permission to use a general security of a reduced size or permission for exemption from the obligation to provide security. The additional criteria for this permission shall include:
1. the correct use of the transit regime during a certain period;
2. cooperation with the customs authorities, and
3. in relation to the permission for exempting from the obligation to provide security - a sufficiently stable financial condition for covering the liability of the persons.
(5) The detailed terms for applying the criteria as well as the procedure for giving the permission under Paragraph 4 shall be specified in the Regulations.
(6) The permission for exempting from the obligation to provide security under Paragraph 4 shall not apply to transit operations comprising goods specified in the Regulations as high risk goods.
(7) Taking into consideration the principles in Paragraphs 4 the use of a general security of a reduced size for the transit regime may be temporarily prohibited as an exceptional measure under special circumstances.
(8) Taking into consideration the principles in Paragraphs 4 the use of a general security of a reduced size for the transit regime may be temporarily prohibited for goods which, when the general security regime is used, have been identified and are the subject of a wide range of fraud.
(9) The measures under Paragraphs 7 and 8 shall be introduced with an order of the Director of the Customs Agency which shall be published in the State Gazette.
Article 101. (Amended, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) No provision of security shall be required for:
1. carriage by water or by air;
2. carriage by electric lines and pipelines
3. carriages by rail performed by the licensed railway carriers and carriage of postal Items, including parcels;
4. carriage specified by a statutory instrument of the Council of Ministers.
Article 102. (Amended and supplemented, SG No. 63/2000, amended, No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) (1) The person responsible shall be the holder of the transit regime. The person responsible shall be obliged:
1. to present the goods in the receiving customs office in an unchanged state within the prescribed term and in compliance with the measures taken by the customs authorities for their identification;
2. to observe the provisions for the transit regime.
(2) Notwithstanding the obligations of the person responsible under Paragraph 1 the carrier or the consignee who accepts the goods and knows that they have been placed under a transit regime shall also be obliged to present them in an unchanged state at the receiving customs office within the prescribed term and in compliance with the measures taken by the customs authorities for their identification.
Article 103. (1) (Previous Article 103, SG No. 37/2003, effective 1.11.2003) The terms, procedure and exemptions in the application of the transit regime shall be established in the Regulations.
(2) (New, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) While observing the measures provided for the goods in the Regulations it shall be allowed:
1. to introduce through bilateral or multilateral agreements less strict formalities valid for certain types of goods or activities, pursuant to criteria specified in the agreements;
2. to introduce with a Council of Ministers act less strict formalities for goods under certain conditions.

Section III
Customs Warehousing
Article 104. (1) The customs warehousing regime shall allow the placing and storage in a customs warehouse of:
1. foreign goods which shall not be charged with import duties and shall not be subject to trade policy measures;
2. local goods, for which pursuant to existing provisions the application of measures normally pertinent to export shall be used when placing them in a customs warehouse.
(2) Customs warehouse shall mean any place approved by and under the supervision of the customs authorities where goods may be stored under certain conditions.
(3) The cases in which the goods referred to in Paragraph 1 may be placed under the customs warehousing regime without being stored in a customs warehouse shall be determined in the Regulations.
Article 105. (1) A customs warehouse may be either public or private. A public warehouse shall mean a warehouse available for use by any person for the warehousing of goods while a private warehouse shall mean a customs warehouse which can be used only for warehousing of goods by the warehouse keeper.
(2) The warehouse keeper shall be a person authorized to manage the customs warehouse.
(3) The depositor to the warehouse shall be the person bound by a customs statement to place the goods under customs warehousing regime or to whom these rights and obligations have been transferred.
Article 106. (1) The opening and managing of a customs warehouse shall be allowed after the issue of an authorization by the customs authorities, unless the said authorities operate the customs warehouse themselves.
(2) Any person wishing to open and manage a customs warehouse shall make a request in writing to the customs authorities containing the information required for granting the authorization and proving the economic viability for warehousing. The authorization shall lay down the conditions for opening and managing the customs warehouse.
(3) The authorization shall be granted only to local persons.
Article 107. The warehouse keeper shall be obliged:
1. to ensure that while the goods are in the customs warehouse they are not removed from customs supervision;
2. (amended SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) to observe the obligations that arise from the storage of goods;
3. to comply with the terms specified in the authorization.
Article 108. (1) (Amended SG No. 37/2003) When the authorization concerns a public warehouse the responsibilities referred to in Article 107, Items 1 and/or 2 may be assigned exclusively upon the depositors in the warehouse.
(2) The depositor shall be responsible at all times for complying with the obligations arising from the placing of goods under the customs warehousing regime.
Article 109. The rights and obligations of a warehouse keeper maybe transferred to another person with the agreement of the customs authorities.
Article 110. The customs authorities, without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Article 94, may demand that the warehouse keeper provides a guarantee in connection with the responsibilities specified in Article 107.
Article 111. (1) The stock records of all goods placed under the customs warehousing regime shall be kept by a person approved by the customs authorities under terms and according to a procedure endorsed by them, except where the public warehouse is managed by the customs authorities.
(2) Goods placed under the customs warehousing regime shall be entered in the records immediately after their entry in the warehouse.
(3) Subject to the application of Article 92, the customs authorities may not require keeping stock records when:
1. (amended SG No. 63/2000, supplemented, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) the responsibilities referred to in Article 107, Items 1 and/or 2 lie exclusively with the depositor; and
2. the goods are placed under customs warehousing regime on the basis of a written report forming part of the normal procedure or a commercial or other document accompanied with a request for placing the goods under that customs regime.
Article 112. (1) Where a reasonable economic need exists and customs supervision is not adversely affected thereby, the customs authorities shall be entitled to allow:
1. local goods, other than goods referred to Article 104, Paragraph 1, Item 2 to be stored in a customs warehouse;
2. foreign goods to be processed in the customs warehouse admitted under the inward processing regime, subject to the conditions provided for by that regime;
3. foreign goods to be processed in the customs warehouse under the customs control processing regime, subject to the conditions provided for by that regime;
4. formalities that may not be performed in a customs warehouse under Items 2 and 3 pursuant to the Regulations.
(2) In the cases referred to in Paragraph 1 the goods shall not be placed under the customs warehousing regime.
(3) The customs authorities may require the goods referred to in Paragraph 1 to be entered in the stock records under the procedure of Article 111.
Article 113. (1) There shall be no limit to the length of time the goods may remain under the customs warehousing regime.
(2) The Regulations may set certain cases where the customs authorities shall be entitled to set a time limit before the expiration of which the principal shall be obliged to apply for another customs assignment.
Article 114. (1) While being under the customs warehousing regime, imported goods may be subject to the usual operations listed in the Regulations intended to ensure their preservation, improve their commercial appearance or quality or prepare them for distribution or resale.
(2) The operations under Paragraph 1 shall be coordinated in advance with the customs authorities, which shall lay down the conditions for their performance.
Article 115. (1) When specific circumstances so warrant, goods placed under the customs warehousing regime may temporarily be removed from the customs warehouse. The removal of the goods must be authorized in advance by the customs authorities, which shall lay down the conditions under which it may be carried out.
(2) While they are outside the customs warehouse the goods may undergo the operations under Article 114 on the conditions set out therein.
Article 116. The customs goods placed under customs warehousing regime may be transferred from one customs warehouse to another with the permission of the customs authorities.
Article 117. (Amended SG No. 63/2000, SG No. 37/2003; effective 1.11.2003) (1) When a customs debt occurs for the import of goods and the customs value of these goods is determined on the basis of the price actually paid or payable that includes expenses for storing the goods and their preservation while the goods are kept in the warehouse, these expenses shall not be included in the customs value provided they have been separated from the price of the goods actually paid or payable.
(2) When foreign goods have undergone the usual operations in the meaning of Article 114, on the request of the reporting person for determining the import customs duties, the data on the type, quantity and the customs value shall apply that would have been applicable at the moment of the occurrence of the customs debt for these goods had they not undergone the operations specified. The exceptions from these provisions shall be set out in the Regulations.
(3) When foreign goods are placed under import regime pursuant to Article 82, Paragraph 1, Item 3 without they being presented before the customs authorities the type, customs value and the quantity of these goods at the moment of placing them under the customs warehousing regime shall be valid for determining the amount of the import customs duties provided these levy elements had been accepted or allowed by the customs authorities when placing the goods under the customs warehousing regime and the interested person has not submitted a request for applying the levy elements valid at the moment of the occurrence of the customs debt. The customs processing performed shall not prevent the application of the follow-up control provisions.

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