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Alper ÇATAKOĞLU
Customs Consultant
Diplomatic privileges at the international level gained a legal basis with the "Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations" signed in Vienna on 18 April 1961. This agreement, consisting of 53 articles, was accepted by Türkiye on 04/09/1984 and entered into force on 12/09/1984. At the beginning of the Vienna Convention, it is stated that "the purpose of these privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals, but to enable consulates to effectively perform their duties on behalf of their own states." In other words, the exemptions provided by the agreement were given for the purpose of carrying out official duties without interruption.
It is useful to mention some important articles of the Vienna Convention, which forms the basis of current practices.
In the 14th article of the agreement, “1. Heads of mission are divided into three classes as shown below: a) Ambassadors or Nons accredited to Heads of State and other heads of mission of equivalent rank; b) Delegates, Ambassadors and Interns accredited to Heads of State; c) Charge d'affaires accredited to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs; 2. Except for the order of priority and rules of courtesy, there will be no distinction between heads of mission based on their classes.”
In its 23rd article, “1. The sending State and the head of the mission shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal taxes and duties in respect of mission premises, whether owned or leased, except for payments for certain services performed. 2. This article provides that "the exemption from the tax in question does not apply to taxes and duties that persons who have concluded a contract with the sending State or the head of mission must pay in accordance with the law of the receiving State."
Again, in article 27 of the same agreement, “1. The receiving State shall permit and protect the mission's free communication for all official purposes. In communicating with the government of the sending State and its other missions and consulates wherever located, the mission may use all appropriate means of communication, including diplomatic couriers and coded or encrypted messages. However, the mission may only install and use the radio transmitter with the consent of the receiving State.”
Finally, we would like to touch upon the provisions of Article 36 of the agreement. In article 36, “1. The receiving State, in accordance with its laws and regulations, permits the entry of the following items and exempts them from all customs duties, taxes and related charges, except for charges for storage, transportation and similar services: a) Items for the official use of the Mission; b) Goods for the personal use of a diplomatic agent or his family members living with him, including items to be used in his accommodation. 2. The personal baggage of a diplomatic agent shall not be searched unless there are serious grounds for assuming that it contains goods which do not fall within the scope of the immunities mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article, or whose import or export is prohibited by the legislation of the receiving State or which are subject to the quarantine legislation of the receiving State. In the cases listed, the search is carried out only in the presence of the diplomatic agent or his authorized representative. In this regard, customs officers must carry out customs inspections of diplomatic missions in a different way than commercial goods.
Although diplomatic exemptions are carried out based on this agreement, it would be appropriate to also mention the "principle of reciprocity" in international relations. In interstate relations, there is a principle of responding in kind to the behavior suffered. This is called the "principle of reciprocity". This principle is regulated in the third paragraph of Article 55 of the Customs Law No. 4458 as follows: The President is authorized to impose bans or restrictions and to impose different procedures or different tariffs on goods and vehicles belonging to foreign countries that impose bans and restrictions or apply different procedures regarding them.”
Likewise, Article 167 of the Customs Law No. 4458 states: "In the cases listed below, goods to be put into free circulation are exempt from customs duties." After it is said, in the 2nd paragraph of the same article “Diplomatic goods imported on the basis of reciprocity;” The statement is included. In other words, the importation of diplomatic goods free of customs duties depends on the sending country's ability to import the goods sent to the Turkish diplomatic mission into its country free of customs duties.
To put it briefly, the Republic of Turkey has the right to take action on the basis of reciprocity against countries that violate the Vienna Convention.
In this article, we would like to touch upon the most commonly used diplomatic exemptions provided by the Vienna Convention, such as "embassy confirmations" and "courier letters".
In the 1st paragraph of the 60th article of the Customs Law No. 4458, after it is stated that "Written declaration is made with the declaration specified in the 4th paragraph", the 4th paragraph states that "Customs procedures must be made with the declaration and other documents, the form and content of which are determined by the regulation". has been given
In the 5th paragraph of the same article;
“In the following cases, official letters sent from the competent authorities will be accepted as declarations and the customs procedures of the goods will be carried out based on these letters.
- Letters to be sent from the Presidency regarding the person and property of the President.
- Letters sent by the heads of missions or heads of delegations who are granted exemption rights, provided that it is reciprocal for those who benefit from diplomatic exemptions and privileges, but for goods arriving in their own name or on behalf of the embassy, and courier letters for courier bags, the form, information to be included and procedures to be carried out are determined jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce.”
It is said.
Declaration of courier bags is regulated in articles 132 to 139 of the Customs Regulation.
These articles briefly state that a courier letter will be issued each time for official and confidential documents between the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs or National Defense and our foreign embassies, missions or military missions and delegations, or the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and their own embassies or missions in Turkey for official and confidential documents between these organizations. Couriers travel with diplomatic passports. Competent authorities can only give official documents to couriers in sealed envelopes. This letter is sealed and signed with the official seal, the couriers are careful not to damage the seal and show the sealed containers to the officer on duty. Couriers complete the customs procedures by giving these letters to the customs officer on duty and carrying out the customs procedures of the goods with these letters, which are called declarations.
In courier letters issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, transactions are carried out by filling out the form annexed to the customs regulation, which indicates the type, type, quantity and destination of the goods covered by the letter, and by applying the Ministry's seal. According to Article 132/3 of the Customs Regulation, courier letters must be issued in accordance with the example in ANNEX-19 in the annex of the same Regulation.
Customs officers on duty find and sign the courier letters for the containers subject to customs clearance and deliver them to the relevant customs administration. Article 134 of the Customs Regulation stipulates that the scope of courier containers will not be examined. Based on this provision, the courier containers are examined from the outside and if the seal is seen to be intact, the courier container is allowed to pass without any inspection.
Procedures regarding courier containers whose seals are not intact are regulated in Article 135 of the Customs Regulation. Accordingly, a report is kept regarding the courier containers whose seals are not intact and the customs seal is applied, and these containers are shipped to Ankara Esenboğa Customs Directorate under the responsibility of the courier. If this is the case for courier containers to be taken from Turkey, this situation is reported to the relevant Ministry through the Undersecretariat of Foreign Affairs.
Provisions regarding couriers in transit are regulated in Article 136 of the Customs Regulation. Accordingly, the letter, which is deemed appropriate by external inspection, annotated and signed, without any document being issued by the entry customs administration, must be compared with the containers by the exit customs administration and then allowed to exit.
In Article 137 of the Customs Regulation, it is stipulated that temporary couriers may be granted to ferry captains, aircraft pilots and vehicle attendants instead of couriers, and in such cases, courier containers must be delivered to customs by these people. These containers are inspected externally and delivered to the relevant parties.
Customs procedures for courier letters are regulated in Articles 138 and 139 of the Customs Regulation. Accordingly, if the courier letters are deemed appropriate, the letter must be recorded by the customs administration by giving a serial number in a book, by adding the name, surname, record, signature and date of the relevant officer, and then it must be kept in a folder. Top of the Form
In the 5th paragraph of Article 60 of the Customs Law No. 4458, "In the following cases, official letters sent from the competent authorities will be accepted as declarations and the customs procedures of the goods will be carried out based on these letters.
- Letters to be sent from the Presidency regarding the person and property of the President,
- Letters sent by the heads of missions or heads of delegations who are granted exemption rights, provided that it is reciprocal, for those who benefit from diplomatic exemptions and privileges, for goods that will arrive only in their own name or on behalf of the embassy, and courier letters for courier bags, the form, information to be included and procedures to be carried out are determined jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce.
It is said. In this regard, "Embassy Letters", which provide diplomatic exemption and are issued by the General Directorate of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are also accepted as customs declarations.
In the "Embassy Letters" prepared in accordance with the ANNEX-18 form annexed to the Customs Regulation, the number of parcels, number, brand, number, type, brand, model, amount, weight, value and origin of the goods received on behalf of the relevant embassy, except for the petition section containing the request of the relevant embassy. A detailed table is filled in, the official seal and signature are applied, and it is presented to the relevant customs directorate where the goods have arrived. With this form submitted, the goods are requested to benefit from the exemption and the necessary customs procedures are carried out and the goods are delivered to the relevant person. The Embassy letter issued is valid for 30 days from the visa date.
According to Article 443 of the Customs Regulation, embassy letters submitted to customs authorities are accepted and recorded in a separate book under a number, provided that they are prepared in accordance with the sample and have passed the visa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Records of completed letters and related documents are closed after the delivery of the goods and kept at the relevant customs office.
Article 444 of the Regulation regulates the procedures to be carried out by customs administrations regarding vehicles arriving within diplomatic scope. Accordingly, vehicles with diplomatic status and registered to traffic in Turkey should also be recorded in the "Vehicle Tracking Program" and their exit procedures should be carried out; It is stated that these vehicles will not be subject to any other customs procedures.
SOURCE:
Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations dated 18/04/1961
Assoc. Dr. Süleyman DOST Article (Principle of Reciprocity in International Law)
World Bulletin Magazine
Customs Law No. 4458
Customs Regulation
General Directorate of Customs Circular and Saving Letters
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Question 1. Who is called chief of mission? Are there any differences between chiefs of mission?
Answer: Head of mission is the person appointed by the sending state to act in this capacity; Ambassadors, envoys and chargé d'affaires are considered heads of mission. There is no distinction between heads of mission based on their classes.
Question 2. Apart from items for the official use of the mission, are the personal belongings of diplomatic personnel also within the scope of customs exemption?
Answer: Personal belongings of diplomatic personnel are also within the scope of customs exemption, and baggage containing personal belongings cannot be searched.
Question 3. What is Takrir?
Answer: Appreciation; It is a letter providing exemption from customs duties, issued by the relevant embassy or the heads of missions or heads of delegations who are granted exemption rights and approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Question 4. Can alcoholic beverages and cigarettes be brought with approval? Are the products entered with approval in free circulation?
Answer: Approximately, 240 bottles of alcoholic beverages and 200 cartons of cigarettes can be brought in in a calendar year.
Goods imported by approval are deemed to be put into free circulation three years after the import date of the goods and within the framework of reciprocity.
Question 5. Which forms are used in Embassy-Courier letters and endorsements, where are these forms located and what information do they contain?
Answer: The EK18 form annexed to the customs regulation is used in the embassy letter. This form contains information such as type, type, quantity, value and origin of the incoming parcels and goods.
EK19 form is used in the courier letter, and this form contains information on the number and type of containers and parts to be delivered by the courier and the destination of the courier.
