Artikel 35

1. Subject to the provisions of the present Convention and of any other applicable agreement between the Federal Republic and the Three Powers or any one of them, members of the Forces shall in principle be subject to German customs legislation.
2. The prosecution of customs violations including the right of confiscation of goods, shall be solely within the criminal jurisdiction of the authorities of the Forces. The German procedure for administrative fines in respect of customs violations shall not apply to members of the Forces. German customs authorities shall have a right to goods confiscated by the Forces, as a result of customs violations by their members, to the extent necessary to recover tax debts on such goods due as the result of a civil action.
3. Members of the Forces shall be exempt from the provisions of German legislation covering the use of firearms by German customs officials.
4. Subject to the following provisions, members of the Forces shall be exempt from German import and export restrictions or prohibitions on imports and exports and from the payment of customs duties and other Federal taxes on goods moved by them for their personal or domestic use or consumption into, or out of, the Federal territory:
(a) the right of unaccompanied import by members of the Forces shall not apply to those rationed goods which the Forces sell or distribute to their members;
(b) the authorities of the Forces shall quantitatively restrict the import by their members in accompanied baggage of those rationed goods which they sell or distribute to their members;
(c) accompanied and unaccompanied import of non-rationed goods shall be quantitatively restricted by the authorities of the Forces when they find, after considering the recommendations of the German authorities, that such goods are peculiarly the subject of customs violations;
(d) in order to certify to German customs authorities that non-rationed goods imported by members of the Forces through commercial channels, the German postal system, or in their accompanied baggage are for their personal or domestic use or consumption, the members of the Forces may obtain certificates from the authorities of the Forces, which shall be accepted as authorisation to import in accordance with the terms of this Article;
(e) members of the Forces shall observe German regulations designed to preserve the health of humans, animals and plants.
5. For the purpose of customs control of members of the Forces, the authorities of the Forces may provide officials at frontier crossing points at which substantial numbers of members of the Forces cross. The authorities of the Forces shall establish these points in consultation with the Federal Government. At these points, the officials of the Forces, in co-operation with German customs authorities, shall carry out customs control of members of the Forces and their property. At all other crossing points members of the Forces shall be subject to normal customs control by the German authorities. The provisions of this paragraph shall also apply to the movement of members of the Forces between the Federal territory and Berlin.
6. Customs control of goods consigned to and by members of the Forces through postal or freight systems of the Forces shall be exercised by the authorities of the Forces at points established by themselves. German customs officials may be present during these controls.
7. Goods imported duty-free under the provisions of the present Convention may be disposed of in the Federal territory by members of the Forces to a person other than a member of the Forces only on prior notification to, and with the approval of, the appropriate German authorities; this provision shall, however, not apply to customary gifts of a personal or domestic nature in non-commercial quantities.
8. The authorities of the Forces shall take, within the framework of the present Convention, appropriate measures to restrain their members from committing offences against the fiscal, customs and import and export regulations of the Federal Republic. They shall consider these factors - the recommendations of the Federal Government being taken into account - in the rationing of goods peculiarly subject to such violations. The rations established by the authorities of the Forces shall not exceed the quantity reasonably required for personal consumption. The authorities of the Forces shall co-operate closely with German customs officials and law-enforcing agencies in combatting customs violations.
9. The authorities of the Forces shall notify German customs authorities of any violations to enable, if necessary, civil action to be taken against the violators. Similarly, the German customs authorities shall notify the authorities of the Forces of any customs violations involving their members. The German customs authorities shall notify the authorities of the Forces of property or currency seized from their members, and such property or currency shall be surrendered to the authorities of the Forces. Receipts shall be given by the German customs authorities to the members of the Forces for any property or currency detained.
10. Motor vehicles of members of the Forces which are intended for their personal use may enter and leave the Federal territory without payment of customs duties and without restrictions, on presentation of the registration certificate or other certificate issued by the authorities of the Forces certifying that the motor vehicle is owned by a member of the Forces and intended for his personal use. The authorities of the Forces shall upon request by the German customs authorities, give information about such vehicles. Vehicles for commercial purposes shall be excluded from this preferential treatment.
11. The import of goods by members of the Forces for charitable disposal in the Federal territory shall be the subject of mutual agreement between the authorities of the Forces and the appropriate German authorities.