Customs territory
December 31, 2023
en
lt
Adobe Stock
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.
- Topic: law
- Market: Global , EU - European Union