Customs Law No. 168-21
Law number 168-21 | Customs Law of the Dominican Republic
Enacted: August 9, 2021
Revised: September 20, 2021
INDEX
1. PURPOSE AND APPLICATION SCOPE____________________________________________________________________________2
2. CUSTOMS AND CUSTOMS CONTROL____________________________________________________________________________3
3. PEOPLE LINKED TO CUSTOMS ACTIVITY_________________________________________________________________________3
4. CUSTOMS TAX OBLIGATION____________________________________________________________________________________4
5. PAYMENT AND DISPATCH OF MERCHANDISE______________________________________________________________________5
6. EXTINCTION OF THE CUSTOMS TAX OBLIGATION__________________________________________________________________6
7. CUSTOMS PLEDGE AND OTHER SECURITIES______________________________________________________________________7
8. GOODS AUCTION______________________________________________________________________________________________7
9. TRANSPORT MEANS TO AND FROM THE NATIONAL TERRITORY______________________________________________________7
10. PROCEDURES COMMON TO ALL CUSTOMS REGIMES______________________________________________________________8
11. CUSTOMS OPERATIONS_______________________________________________________________________________________9
12. SANCTIONING REGIME, CUSTOMS CRIMES, CUSTOMS TAX MISCONDUCT AND CUSTOMS MISCONDUCT__________________9
13. ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONING PROCEDURE____________________________________________________________________11
14. CUSTOMS TAX CRIMINAL PROCEDURE__________________________________________________________________________ 11
15. RECOURSES AGAINST CUSTOMS DECISIONS_____________________________________________________________________12
16. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES _________________________________________________________________________________12
On August 9, 2021 the Law number 168-21 which regulates Customs in the Dominican Republic was enacted (“Customs Law”), invalidating the Law No. 3489 dated February 14, 1953. The Customs Law arises as a response to the urgent need that the Dominican Republic (“DR”) counts with a regulation that is organized, updated and re-oriented to new foreign trade trends that includes economic, legal, technological and institutional advances of the country and that is compatible with international agreements and commitments for the facilitation of trade, customs control and procedures. As indicated by our president: “It has the purpose of recovering the economy and boosting trade through the simplification and elimination of bureaucratic procedures and legislative gaps, providing greater rationality to the national tax system and the regulatory framework of international trade […] and increases legal certainty to promote local and foreign investment”.
This is a step forward to turn the DR into the logistic hub or regional connection center for the Caribbean; a goal to capitalize the strategic location of the DR and place it within the global framework of international transport, for which we have the National Cargo Logistics Plan (“PNLOG”, for its acronym in Spanish) 2020-2032 that has the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as the public-private and academic sectors of the logistics sector.
The Customs Law also establishes the Logistics Community System (“SLC”, for its acronym in Spanish), an electronic service tool that will allow actors in the logistics chain to carry out comprehensive services related to the logistics activities users and link directly with the Single Window for Foreign Trade (“VUCE”, for its acronym in Spanish) or another state digital platform to facilitate trade and speed up compliance with customs obligations.
The creation of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (“CNFC”, for its acronym in Spanish) is added, chaired by the General Customs Directorate (“DGA” for its acronym in Spanish), serving as a permanent dialogue table to generate greater trade facilitation in the country, in addition to applying the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the figure of the Authorized Economic Operator is recognized, whose purpose is to ensure security in the logistics chain and help streamline international trade operations.
Finally, we highlight that pursuant to the mandate of the Customs Law the Executive Branch must dictate the regulations for the application of this legal text in a period not exceeding six (6) months as of its entry into force.
1. PURPOSE AND APPLICATION SCOPE
The Customs Law establishes the legal framework of the customs regime in the DR to facilitate and streamline foreign trade operations, control and supervise the passage of goods through the customs territory, to collect the established taxes, to pursue illicit customs and foreign trade behaviors, to develop and manage the execution of legislation and international treaties of which the country is a signatory; and to generate customs and foreign trade statistics.
2. CUSTOMS AND CUSTOMS CONTROL
The DGA is a public law entity with its own legal personality and administrative, technical, budgetary autonomy and its own assets, subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Finance1. This entity applies the following types of control:
Control in primary customs area2 is exercised by Customs Officials3. In case of customs crimes outside the primary zone, the Public Prosecutor will exercise control and in areas where the State exercises special jurisdiction, special customs controls will be carried out in accordance with public international law. In alignment with international standards for customs controls, risk analysis techniques will be applied to identify, prevent and confront risk threats. For the fulfillment of customs obligations, the DGA will supervise4 the veracity of the content of customs declarations and the fulfillment of legal and operational formalities.
3. PEOPLE LINKED TO CUSTOMS ACTIVITY
The Customs Law recognizes Customs Operators5 who must have a license issued by the corresponding authorities or an enabling title to exercise their functions6.
Operators are classified into:
Transport Agents or Representative of the Carrier, Depositary of Goods and Logistics Operators, companies of fast delivery shipping services (Couriers), and International Cargo Consolidators have a different registration procedure before DGA.
4. CUSTOMS TAX OBLIGATION
5. PAYMENT AND DISPATCH OF MERCHANDISE
7. CUSTOMS PLEDGE AND OTHER SECURITIES
All imported merchandise is considered a customs pledge. The debt certificate issued by the DGA for the unresolved part of a customs tax obligation shall have the character of an executive and enforceable title sufficient to exercise the applicable actions and procedures. This type of security is given at the request of the interested party to the customs authorities to cover various operations that generate a customs debt.
8. GOODS AUCTION
Unless it is a corruptible merchandise, lacking commercial value or its value is insufficient to cover the costs of the auction, the seized merchandise will be sold in public auction to cover the total of the duties and taxes when the law provides so. In the event that said merchandise is worthless, it will be sold grade by grade.
Whoever results as the successful bidder must remove the merchandise after making the payment of the value for which it is awarded within a period of 72 hours, otherwise it will be considered a false auctioneer and the security deposited will be affected by the compliance with the new call for auction of the lot or lots awarded. For the merchandise not awarded, the DGA will give any of the following courses: (a) to be donated free of taxes to state institutions or public charities; (b) to be submitted to another public auction process (bidding); (c) To award them; or, (d) To destroy them.
9. TRANSPORT MEANS TO AND FROM THE NATIONAL TERRITORY
The entry, arrival or departure of goods, vehicles and transport units from the national territory must be carried out through the places, routes and at the authorized times.
3. Tax and customs offenses: customs tax offenses are any action or omission of non-compliance with the tax obligations from which the responsibility for the payment of the tax debt and/or for the corresponding administrative or pecuniary sanctions arises29. Customs offenses, on their behalf constitute violations or transgressions of the administrative order. Any customs or customs tax offense will be sanctioned with a fine, which will accrue interest on the total sum and a moratorium according to the failure of the customs operator to comply with its obligation.
13. ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONING PROCEDURE
Faults will be sanctioned in the administrative way with the following procedure:
14. CUSTOMS TAX CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
Among the new features of the Customs Law, a Special Prosecutor’s Office or Unit for the Prevention and Persecution of Smuggling and Illicit Traffic of Cultural Goods is created for the investigation and prosecution of customs crimes and offenses. Processing of criminal proceedings for customs crimes will be governed by the rules established in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Customs criminal action is of public order and will be exercised ex officio by the Public Prosecutor, with the participation of the DGA, creditor of the customs tax debt as victim, who may become the plaintiff. The exercise of customs criminal action may not be suspended, interrupted or made to cease, except in the cases provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure. All criminal courts of the judicial order will be competent to hear and instruct criminal proceedings of a customs nature.
15. RECOURSES AGAINST CUSTOMS DECISIONS
Any administrative act dictated by Customs including the result of the tax determination, may be subject to administrative appeals, as well as contentious appeals before the Contentious Administrative Jurisdiction, in the manner and terms contemplated in Law No. 107-13 dated August 8, 2013, on the Rights of People in their Relationships with the Administration and Administrative Procedure and the Law No. 13-07 of February 5, 2007, which creates the Tax and Administrative Litigation Court, respectively.
16. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES
Conservative and enforceable measures, as well as all actions related to the compulsory collection procedure of customs tax debt and accessory charges, including fines, interest and surcharges, will be governed by the provisions of the Tax Code and its amendments.