December 31, 2023
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Customs territory

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Uniform customs laws apply in a customs territory and there are no internal customs duties or similar taxes. According to GATT Art. XXIV(2): '... a customs territory shall be understood to mean any territory with respect to which separate tariffs or other regulations of commerce are maintained for a substantial part of the trade of such territory with other territories.'

A customs territory comprises territories including their territorial waters, inland waters and airspace. Please note that under international law:

  • Territorial waters are 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the coastline of a country (the baseline);
  • Internal waters include the waters on the landward side of the baseline of territorial waters as well as waterways such as rivers and canals;
  • The customs territory in the air includes not only the area above the ground and internal waters, but also above territorial waters - this principle goes back to the Geneva Convention on the High Seas (1958).

Watch the video 'Customs territory: Where does it begin and end?' (2020) for examples of the customs territory of the EU - what belongs to it and what does not.