Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en de Republiek Estland inzake wederzijdse administratieve bijstand ten behoeve van de juiste toepassing van de douanewetgeving en de voorkoming, opsporing en bestrijding van inbreuken op de douanewetgeving

For the purposes of this Agreement:
1. the term “Customs Administration” shall mean: for the Kingdom of the Netherlands the central administration responsible for the implementation of customs law;
for the Republic of Estonia the National Customs Board or any body authorized to perform any functions at present performed by the said Board;
for the Kingdom of the Netherlands the central administration responsible for the implementation of customs law;
for the Republic of Estonia the National Customs Board or any body authorized to perform any functions at present performed by the said Board;
2. the term “customs law” shall mean: any legal and administrative provisions applicable or enforceable by the Customs Administrations of both Contracting Parties in connection with the importation, exportation, transshipment, transit, storage and circulation of goods, including legal and administrative provisions relating to prohibitions, restrictions and other similar controls on the movement of controlled items across national boundaries;
3. the term “customs offence” shall mean: any contravention of customs law as defined by the national legislation of each Contracting Party as well as any such attempted contravention;
4. the term “person” shall mean: either a physical human being or a legal entity;
5. the term “personal data” shall mean: data concerning an identified or identifiable physical human being;
6. the term “information” shall mean: any data, documents, reports, certified or authenticated copies thereof or other communications;
7. the term “intelligence” shall mean: information which has been processed and/or analysed to provide an indication relevant to a customs offence;
8. the term “requesting administration” shall mean: the Customs Administration which requests assistance;
9. the term “requested administration” shall mean: the Customs Administration from which assistance is requested.

1. The Contracting Parties shall through their Customs Administrations afford each other administrative assistance under the terms set out in this Agreement for the proper application of customs law and for the prevention, investigation and combating of customs offences.
2. All assistance under this Agreement by either Contracting Party shall be performed in accordance with its national legal and administrative provisions and within the limits of its Customs Administration's competence and available resources.
3. This Agreement is intended solely for the mutual administrative assistance between the Contracting Parties; the provisions of this Agreement shall not give rise to a right on the part of any private person to obtain, suppress or exclude any evidence or to impede the execution of a request.
4. If assistance on matters dealt with in this Agreement should be afforded in accordance with another co-operation agreement between the Contracting Parties, the requested administration shall indicate which other competent authorities are concerned.

1. The Customs Administrations shall provide each other, either on request or on their own initiative, with information and intelligence to ensure proper application of the customs law and to prevent, investigate and combat customs offences.
2. Either Customs Administration shall, in making inquiries on behalf of the other Customs Administration, act as if the inquiries were being made on its own account or on request of another authority in its own State.

1. On request, the requested administration shall provide all information about the customs law and procedures of that Contracting Party and relevant to inquiries relating to a customs offence.
2. Either Customs Administration shall communicate, on its own initiative and without delay, any available information relating to:
a) new customs law enforcement techniques having proved their effectiveness;
b) new trends, means or methods of committing customs offences.

On request, the requested administration shall in particular provide the requesting administration with the following information:
a) whether goods which are imported into the customs territory of the requesting Contracting Party have been lawfully exported from the customs territory of the requested Contracting Party;
b) whether goods which are exported from the customs territory of the requesting Contracting Party have been lawfully imported into the customs territory of the requested Contracting Party and about the customs procedure, if any, under which the goods have been placed.

On request, the requested administration shall maintain special surveillance over:
a) persons known to the requesting administration to have committed a customs offence or suspected of doing so, particularly those moving into and out of the customs territory of the requested Contracting Party;
b) goods either in transport or in storage notified by the requesting administration as giving rise to suspected illicit traffic towards the customs territory of the requesting Contracting Party;
c) means of transport suspected by the requesting administration of being used to commit customs offences in the customs territory of the requesting Contracting Party.

1. The Customs Administrations shall provide each other, either on request or on their own initiative, with information and intelligence on transactions, completed or planned, which constitute or appear to constitute a customs offence.
2. In serious cases that could involve substantial damage to the economy, public health, public security or any other vital interest of the other Contracting Party, either Customs Administration shall, wherever possible, supply information and intelligence without delay on its own initiative.

1. Original information shall only be requested in cases where certified or authenticated copies would be insufficient, and shall be returned as soon as possible; rights of the requested administration or of third parties relating thereto shall remain unaffected.
2. Any information and intelligence to be exchanged under this Agreement shall be accompanied by all relevant information for interpreting or utilizing it.

On request, the requested administration may authorize its officials to appear before a court or tribunal of the other Contracting Party as experts and witnesses in the matter of a customs offence.

1. Assistance under this Agreement shall be exchanged directly between the Customs Administrations.
2. Requests for assistance under this Agreement shall be made in writing and shall be accompanied by any documents deemed useful. When the circumstances so require, requests may also be made verbally. Such requests shall promptly be confirmed in writing.
3. Requests made pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article, shall include the following details:
a) the administration making the request;
b) subject of and reason for the request;
c) a brief description of the matter, the legal elements and the nature of the proceeding;
d) the names and addresses of the parties concerned with the proceeding, if known;
e) reference to the relevant Article(s) of this Agreement.
4. A request by either Contracting Party that a certain procedure be followed shall be complied with, subject to the national legal and administrative provisions of the requested Contracting Party.
5. The information and intelligence referred to in this Agreement shall be communicated to officials who are specially designated for this purpose by each Customs Administration. A list of officials so designated shall be furnished to the Customs Administration of the other Contracting Party in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 17 of this Agreement.

If the requested administration does not have the information requested, it shall initiate inquiries to obtain that information in accordance with its national legal and administrative provisions or promptly transmit the request to an other competent authority. These inquiries shall include the taking of statements from persons from whom information is sought in connection with a customs offence and from witnesses and experts.

1. On written request, officials specially designated by the requesting administration may, with the authorization of the requested administration and subject to conditions the latter may impose, for the purpose of investigating a customs offence:
a) consult in the offices of the requested administration the documents, registers and other relevant data to extract any information in respect of that customs offence;
b) take copies of the documents, registers and other data relevant in respect of that customs offence;
c) be present during an inquiry by the requested administration in the customs territory of the requested Contracting Party as far as this inquiry is relevant to the requesting administration.
2. When, in the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, officials of the requesting administration are present in the territory of the other Contracting Party, they must at all times be able to furnish proof of their official capacity. They shall, while there, enjoy the same protection as that accorded to customs officials of that other Contracting Party, in accordance with the laws in force there, and be responsible for any offence they might commit.

1. Any information and intelligence received within the framework of administrative assistance under this Agreement shall be used solely for the purposes of this Agreement and by the Customs Administrations except in cases in which the Customs Administration furnishing such information has expressly approved its use for other purposes or by other authorities. Any such information may, if the national law of the furnishing Contracting Party so prescribes, only be used in criminal matters after the public prosecution or judicial authorities in the requested Contracting Party have agreed to such use.
2. This Article shall not preclude use or disclosure of information if there is an obligation to do so under the laws of the requesting Contracting Party in connection with a criminal prosecution. Advance notice of such proposed disclosure shall be given.
3. Any information received under this Agreement shall be treated as confidential and shall at least be subject to the same protection and confidentiality as the same kind of information is subject to under the national legal and administrative provisions of the Contracting Party where it is received.
4. This Article is without prejudice to the obligations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the legislation of the European Union to provide information to the European Commission or any of the Customs Administrations of the European Union's Member States. Any such intended provision of information will be notified in advance to the Customs Administration of the Republic of Estonia.

1. Personal data exchanged under this Agreement shall be subject to the national legal and administrative provisions governing data protection in either Contracting Party. These provisions shall at least be in conformity with the provisions in the Annex to this Agreement which is an integral part of this Agreement.
2. No personal data shall be exchanged under this Agreement until both Contracting Parties have adopted national legal or administrative provisions necessary to conform to paragraph 1 of this Article.
3. As soon as the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, concluded on 28 January 1981 at Strasbourg, and the necessary national legal and administrative provisions to implement that Convention have entered into force for both Contracting Parties, the provisions of the Convention and the national legal and administrative provisions to implement the Convention shall apply to personal data exchanged under this Agreement and shall replace the provisions laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article and in the Annex to this Agreement.
4. None of the provisions of this Article and of the Annex shall be interpreted as limiting or otherwise affecting the possibility for a Contracting Party to grant data subjects a wider measure of protection than that stipulated in this Agreement.

1. The requested administration shall not be required to give the assistance provided for by this Agreement if it is likely to jeopardize public order or any other essential interest of the requested Contracting Party or would involve the violation of an industrial, commercial or professional secrecy.
2. If the requesting administration is unable to comply with a similar request made by the requested administration, it shall draw attention to that fact in its request.
Compliance with such a request shall be at the discretion of the requested administration.
3. Assistance may be postponed by the requested administration on the ground that it will interfere with an ongoing investigation, prosecution or proceeding. In such a case the requested administration shall consult with the requesting administration to determine if assistance can be given subject to such terms or conditions as the requested administration may require.
4. Where assistance is denied or postponed, reasons for the denial or postponement shall be given.

1. The Customs Administrations shall waive all claims for reimbursement of costs incurred in the execution of this Agreement, except for expenses and allowances paid to experts and to witnesses as well as costs of interpreters other than Government employees, which shall be borne by the requesting administration.
2. If expenses of a substantial and extraordinary nature are or will be required to execute the request, the Customs Administrations shall consult to determine the terms and conditions under which the request will be executed as well as the manner in which the costs shall be borne.

1. The Customs Administrations shall take measures so that their officials responsible for the investigation or combating of customs offences maintain personal and direct relations with each other.
2. The Customs Administrations will decide on further detailed arrangements, within the framework of this Agreement to facilitate the implementation of this Agreement.

1. The Customs Administrations shall endeavour to resolve by mutual accord any problem or doubt arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement.
2. Conflicts for which no solutions are found, shall be settled by diplomatic channels.

1. As far as the Republic of Estonia is concerned, this Agreement shall apply to its territory.
2. As far as the Kingdom of the Netherlands is concerned, this Agreement shall apply to its territory in Europe. It may, however, be extended either in its entirety or with any necessary modifications to the Netherlands Antilles and/or Aruba.
3. Such extension shall take effect from such date and be subject to such modifications and conditions, including conditions as to termination, as may be specified and agreed in notes to be exchanged through diplomatic channels.

This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month after the Contracting Parties have notified each other in writing through diplomatic channels that the constitutional or internal requirements for the entry into force of this Agreement have been complied with.

1. This Agreement is intended to be of unlimited duration but either Contracting Party may terminate it at any time by notification through diplomatic channels.
2. The termination shall take effect three months from the date of the notification of denunciation to the other Contracting Party. Ongoing proceedings at the time of termination shall nonetheless be completed in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
3. Unless otherwise agreed the termination of this Agreement shall not also terminate its application to the Netherlands Antilles and/or Aruba if it has been extended thereto in conformity with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19.

The Customs Administrations shall meet in order to review this Agreement on request or at the end of five years from the date of its entry into force, unless they notify one another in writing that no such review is necessary.