(c) ‘requested authority’ shall mean a competent administrative authority which has been appointed by a Party for this purpose and which receives a request for assistance in customs matters;
(d) ‘personal data’ shall mean all information relating to an identified or identifiable individual;
(e) ‘operation in breach of customs legislation’ shall mean any violation or attempted violation of customs legislation.
Article 2
Scope
1. The Parties shall assist each other, in the areas within their competence, in accordance with the arrangements and the conditions laid down in this Protocol, to ensure that the customs legislation is correctly applied, in particular with a view to preventing, investigating and prosecuting operations in breach of that legislation.
2. Assistance, in customs matters, as provided for in this Protocol, shall apply to any administrative authority of the Contracting Parties which is competent for the application of this Protocol. It shall not prejudice the provisions governing mutual assistance in criminal matters. Nor shall it cover information obtained under powers exercised at the request of the judicial authorities, except where communication of such information is authorised by the said authorities.
Article 3
Assistance on request
1. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall furnish it with all relevant information which may enable it to ensure compliance with customs legislation, including information regarding operations noted or planned which are or might be in breach of that legislation.
2. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall inform it as to whether:
(a) goods exported from the territory of one of the Contracting Parties have been properly imported into the territory of the other Party, specifying, where appropriate, the customs procedure applied to the goods;
(b) if the goods imported into the territory of one of the Contracting Parties have been properly imported into the territory of the other Party, specifying, where appropriate, the customs procedure applied to the goods.
3. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall, within the framework of its legal or regulatory provisions, take the necessary steps to ensure special surveillance of:
(a) natural or legal persons for whom there are reasonable grounds for believing that they carry out or have carried out operations in breach of customs legislation;
(b) places where stocks of goods have been or may be assembled in such a way that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that they are intended to be used in operations in breach of customs legislation;
(c) goods that are or may be transported in such a way that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that they are intended to be used in operations in breach of customs legislation;
(d) means of transport for which there are reasonable grounds for believing that they have been, or may be used in operations in breach of customs legislation.
Article 4
Spontaneous assistance
The Contracting Parties shall provide each other, at their own initiative and in accordance with their laws, rules and other legal instruments, with assistance if they consider that to be necessary for the correct application of customs legislation, particularly when they obtain information pertaining to:
Feedback