[Procedure name] (General) Approval of Customs Transits
(Procedure for transit)
[ Summary]
- This is a procedure required when transiting foreign goods between open ports, customs airports, customs areas, customs offices, and places that have permit for storage at the place other than customs area having a permit to store foreign goods. When the Director-General of Customs considers these customs transits as no problem in control of the foreign goods, general approval may be granted for a period of up to one year after transit conditions and other circumstances are taken into consideration.
[ Bases for procedures]
- Article 63, Paragraph 1 of the Customs Law
- Article 53, Paragraph 1 of the Cabinet Order for Enforcement of the Customs Law
[ Subjects to procedure]
- Person who intends to transit the foreign goods concerned (owner of foreign goods, consignor, carrier, or forwarder, or customhouse broker concerned)
[ Time of submission]
- Submit an an application before engaging in customs transits of foreign goods.
[ Method of submission]
- Prepare a declaration and submit it to the administrative agency stated below.
[ Fee]
- There is no fee for declaration.
[ Documents to be attached and number of copies]
- No documents to be attached required.
[ Application form and description]
(The following form may be printed for use in A4-sized (portrait) sheets of paper.
- Declaration of Customs Transit (Customs Form C No. 4000): Three copies
- Declaration of General Customs Transit (Customs Form C No. 4010): Three copies (number of copies equivalent to two copies for each customs office when foreign goods are transited to places controlled by different competent customs offices)
[ Submitted to]
- Submit your application to a hozei section official of the customs office having jurisdiction over the area where goods are shipped.
[ Reception time]
- Office hours of customs (8:30 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. except on holidays for the administrative agencies)
Contact the customs beforehand if you intend to submit your application outside the office hours of customs.
[ Consultation service]
- For information, ask a customs counselor or the customs office that processes your application.
[S ubmission standard]
1. Examination standard of customs transit
(1)  Goods for transit are required not to fall into any of the following categories:
a.  Import-prohibited goods prescribed in Article 21 of the Customs Tariff Law and other goods whose import is prohibited according to other laws and orders
b.  Articles that require caution among goods that require an import permit or approval according to another law or order (for example, firearms, hazardous materials, etc. but not including those with the required permit or approval)
c.  Goods of unconfirmed quantity (not including foreign goods at point of discharge examination which are transited in sealed condition to a destination from the board of a foreign trade vessel), which are considered to have trouble in determining taxable articles according to Article 4 of the Customs Law (Time to determine taxable articles)
2. Examination standard of general customs transit
(1)  The person who will make the customs transit is required to fall into any of the following categories of persons.
a.  Person who has a customs area permit
b.  Customhouse broker
c.  Person with sufficient knowledge of customs clearance procedures and considered as appropriate
(2)  Customs transits must tale place between the following areas.
In this case, all of the container yards in a designated customs area may be regarded as one customs area.
a.  One customs area and another customs area (including the customs examination area concerned. Hereafter applied in the same meaning).
b.  Between one customs area (limited to a place of shipment) and other multiple customs areas, all of which are located in the areas controlled by the same customs office
However, the arriving place of goods included in containers (unsealed goods after they are unshipped are excluded) may not be necessarily located in the customs area controlled by the customs office having jurisdiction over the shipment area of the goods concerned.
(3)  Goods for transit are required to fall into any of the following cases:
a.  Air freight carried by an airline company or by a responsible person to whom an airline company consigned the goods
b.  Freight included in containers (unsealed goods after they are unshipped are excluded)
c.  Products resulted from hozei work in a customs manufacturing warehouse
d.  Travel tools and goods used for customs clearance (limited to those that a customhouse broker transports by itself at its responsibility in the identical area of the customs office)
e.  Goods whose type is identified (category in the table of tariff rates)
However, the following goods are excluded:
(a) Precious stones, precious metals, fur products
(b) Taxable articles transported in pieces
(c) Goods directly transported from the board of a main ship
f.  Goods specified as having no problem regarding controlling goods that are approved for storage in customs warehouses
[ Standard processing time]
[ Administrative appeal]
- Any person may file a protest with the Director-General of Customs within two months from the day following the date of acknowledgement of a disposition related to a customs declaration in case he or she is not satisfied with that disposition.
[ Remarks]
- The approval of a general customs transit may be withdrawn when customs considers it inappropriate that the approved person fails to abide by the related customs laws and orders and is unable to maintain general customs transits within the approved period.