Goods arriving by sea must be entered on the ship’s manifest or general cargo list.
This document must be signed by the Captain. It must mention the species, number of packages, their marks and numbers, the nature and weight of the goods and the loading.
It is forbidden to present as a unit, in the manifest, several firm packages together in any way whatsoever.
Prohibited goods must be entered on the manifest under their true name by nature and kind.
The captain of a ship arriving in the maritime zone of the customs radius must, at the first requisition:
a) Submit the original of the manifest to the customs officers who come on board;
b) Hand over a copy of the manifest.
Except in duly justified cases of force majeure, ships may only dock in ports with a customs office.
On entering the port, the captain is required to present the logbook for approval by the customs officers.
Within twenty-four hours of the vessel’s arrival in port, the captain must submit to the customs office:
a) As a summary declaration: The cargo manifest with, where applicable, its authentic translation,
– special manifests for ship’s stores and junk belonging to crew members,
– certificates of departure or clearance;
b) Charter parties or bills of lading, act of nationality and any other documents that may be required by the customs administration for the application of customs measures.
The summary declaration must be filed even when the vessels are in ballast.
The twenty-four-hour period provided for above does not run on Sundays and public holidays.
Ships may only be loaded or unloaded in ports where customs offices are located.
No goods may be unloaded or transhipped without the written authorization of customs officers and in their presence. Unloading and transhipments must take place during the hours and under the conditions laid down by the National Director of Customs.
At the request of those concerned, and at their expense, exceptional authorizations for unloading and transhipment outside the places, times and days determined as above, may be granted.
Commanders of naval vessels are required to complete all the formalities to which commanders of merchant ships are subject on entry.
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