UNTC

STATUS AS AT : 22-05-2025 11:16:05 EDT

CHAPTER XI

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

A. Custom Matters

6. Convention concerning Customs Facilities for Touring

New York, 4 June 1954

Entry into force

11 September 1957, in accordance with article 16.

Registration

11 September 1957, No. 3992

Status

Signatories : 32. Parties : 80. ^{1, 2}

Text

Certified true copy

United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 276, p. 191; vol. 596, p. 542 (amendment to article 2).³

Note

The Convention was adopted by the United Nations Conference on Customs Formalities for the Temporary Importation of Private Road Motor Vehicles and for Tourism, held at the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, from 11 May to 4 June 1954. It also adopted the Additional Protocol to the said Convention, relating to the Importation of Tourist Publicity Documents and Material, and the Customs Convention on the Temporary Importation of Private Road Vehicles. The Conference was convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with resolution 468 F (XV)⁴ adopted by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations on 15 April 1953. For the text of the Final Act of the Conference, see United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 276, p. 191.

Participant ^{5, 6, 7}	Signature	Ratification, Accession(a), Succession(d)
Albania		9 Aug 2010 a
Algeria		31 Oct 1963 a
Argentina	4 Jun 1954	19 Dec 1986
Australia		6 Jan 1967 a
Austria	4 Jun 1954	30 Mar 1956
Barbados		5 Mar 1971 d
Belgium	4 Jun 1954	21 Feb 1955
Bosnia and Herzegovina ⁸		1 Sep 1993 d
Bulgaria		7 Oct 1959 a
Cambodia	4 Jun 1954	29 Nov 1955
Canada		1 Jun 1955 a
Central African Republic		15 Oct 1962 a
Chile		15 Aug 1974 a
Costa Rica	20 Jul 1954	4 Sep 1963
Croatia ⁸		31 Aug 1994 d
Cuba	4 Jun 1954	23 Oct 1963
Cyprus		16 May 1963 d
Denmark		13 Oct 1955 a
Dominican Republic	4 Jun 1954
Ecuador	4 Jun 1954	30 Aug 1962
Egypt	4 Jun 1954	4 Apr 1957
El Salvador		18 Jun 1958 a
Fiji		31 Oct 1972 d
Finland		21 Jun 1962 a
France	4 Jun 1954	24 Apr 1959
Germany ^{9, 10}	4 Jun 1954	16 Sep 1957
Ghana		16 Jun 1958 a
Greece ¹¹		15 Jan 1974 a
Guatemala	4 Jun 1954
Haiti	4 Jun 1954	12 Feb 1958
Holy See	4 Jun 1954
Honduras	15 Jun 1954
Hungary		29 Oct 1963 a
India	30 Dec 1954	5 May 1958
Iran (Islamic Republic of)		3 Apr 1968 a
Ireland		14 Aug 1967 a
Israel		1 Aug 1957 a
Italy	4 Jun 1954	12 Feb 1958
Jamaica		11 Nov 1963 d
Japan	2 Dec 1954	7 Sep 1955
Jordan		18 Dec 1957 a
Lebanon		16 Mar 1971 a
Liberia		16 Sep 2005 a
Lithuania		1 Dec 2005 a
Luxembourg	6 Dec 1954	21 Nov 1956
Malaysia		7 May 1958 d
Mali		1 Aug 1973 a
Malta		3 Jan 1966 d
Mauritius		18 Jul 1969 d
Mexico	4 Jun 1954	13 Jun 1957
Monaco	4 Jun 1954
Montenegro ¹²		23 Oct 2006 d
Morocco		25 Sep 1957 a
Nepal		21 Sep 1960 a
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) ¹³	4 Jun 1954	7 Mar 1958
New Zealand ¹⁴		17 Aug 1962 a
Nigeria		26 Jun 1961 d
Norway		10 Oct 1961 a
Panama	4 Jun 1954
Peru		16 Jan 1959 a
Philippines	4 Jun 1954	9 Feb 1960
Poland		16 Mar 1960 a
Portugal ⁵	4 Jun 1954	18 Sep 1958
Romania		26 Jan 1961 a
Russian Federation		17 Aug 1959 a
Rwanda		1 Dec 1964 d
Senegal		19 Apr 1972 a
Serbia ⁸		12 Mar 2001 d
Sierra Leone		13 Mar 1962 d
Singapore ¹		[22 Nov 1966 d]
Slovenia ⁸		6 Jul 1992 d
Solomon Islands		3 Sep 1981 d
Spain	4 Jun 1954	18 Aug 1958
Sri Lanka	4 Jun 1954	28 Nov 1955
Sweden	4 Jun 1954	11 Jun 1957
Switzerland ²	4 Jun 1954	23 May 1956
Syrian Arab Republic ¹⁵		26 Mar 1959
Tonga		11 Nov 1977 d
Trinidad and Tobago		11 Apr 1966 d
Tunisia		20 Jun 1974 a
Türkiye		26 Apr 1983 a
Uganda		15 Apr 1965 a
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ⁶	4 Jun 1954	27 Feb 1956
United Republic of Tanzania		22 Jun 1964 a
United States of America	4 Jun 1954	25 Jul 1956
Uruguay	4 Jun 1954	8 Sep 1967
Viet Nam		31 Jan 1956 a

Declarations and Reservations

(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made
upon ratification, accession or succession.)

Algeria

The Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria reserves the right, notwithstanding article 1 of the said Convention, not to regard as tourists persons who, in the course of their visit, accept any paid employment.

The Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 21 of the said Convention concerning compulsory arbitration and declares that the agreement of all the parties in dispute is required for the submission of each individual dispute to arbitration.

Bulgaria ¹⁶

Bulgaria16

Cuba

The Revolutionary Government of Cuba does not consider itself bound by the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 21 of the Convention.

Denmark

Notwithstanding the provisions of article 3 of this Conven- tion, the Scandinavian countries shall be permitted to make special rules applicable to persons residing in those countries.

Egypt

"The Delegation of Egypt reserves its Government's right to withhold the advantages provided for by the Convention con- cerning Customs Facilities for Touring from any person who, while visiting Egypt as a tourist, takes up employment with or without pay."

Finland

" (i) Notwithstanding the provisions of article 3 the Govern- ment of Finland shall be permitted to make special rules appli- cable to persons residing in the Scandinavian countries;

"(ii) Taking into account the relevant provisions in the Fin- nish legislation the Government of Finland apply the rule in ar- ticle 10, paragraph 2 so far as sub-paragraph c is concerned to tourists under 21 years of age."

Ghana

"(1) The exemption on arms and ammunition included in ar- ticle 2 (3) of the Convention shall not be applicable to Ghana.

"(2) The authorization contained in article 4 (b) of the Con- vention, to export travel souvenirs of a total value not exceeding 100 USA dollars, without the formalities applying to Exchange Control and without payment of export duties shall not apply to Ghana."

Guatemala

"The Guatemalan Government reserves the right:

"(1) Not to consider as tourists persons who enter the country for business as provided in article 1.

"(2) Not to accept the provisions of article 19 in respect of territories in dispute which are under the de facto administration of another State."

Haiti

The Delegation of Haiti reserves its Government's right to withhold the advantages provided for by the Convention con- cerning Customs Facilities for Touring from any person who, while visiting Haiti as a tourist, accepts any paid employment or engages in any other form of gainful occupation.

Hungary

"The Hungarian People's Republic does not consider itself bound by the terms of paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 21 of the Convention."

Poland ^{17, 18}

Poland17,18

1. The Government of the People's Republic of Poland reserves the right not to apply the provisions of article 4 of the Convention concerning Customs Facilities for Touring.

Romania ¹⁹

Romania19

The Romanian People's Republic does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 21, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention. The position of the Romanian People's Republic is that a dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention may be submitted to arbitration only with the agreement of all the parties in dispute and that only persons nominated by unanimous agreement of the parties in dispute may act as arbitrators.

Russian Federation ²⁰

Russian Federation20

The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, considering that disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention concerning Customs Facilities for Touring can be decided by arbitration, declares that a dispute may be submitted to arbitration only with the agreement of all the parties in dispute and that only persons nominated by unanimous agreement of the parties in dispute may act as arbitrators.

Senegal

1. The Government of the Republic of Senegal reserves the right to withhold the benefits of the provisions of the Conven- tion concerning Customs Facilities for Touring from any person who, while visiting Senegal as a tourist takes, any employment paid or not;

2. The Government of the Republic of Senegal reserves the right:

a) Not to consider as tourists persons who enter the country for business as provided in article 1.

b) Not to accept the provisions of article 19 in respect of territories in dispute which are under the de facto administration of another State.

Singapore ¹

Singapore1

Sweden

"Notwithstanding the provisions of article 3 of the Conven- tion concerning Customs Facilities for Touring, the Scandinavian countries shall be permitted to make special rules applicable to persons residing in those countries."

Syrian Arab Republic

Reserving "the right of the Government to deny the privileges and facilities provided in the said Convention, to any tourist who takes up any job paid or unpaid during his stay in the country".

Tunisia

A dispute may be submitted to arbitration only with the agreement of all the parties in dispute.

Uganda

"The Government of Uganda shall be bound by Article 2 provided that a tourist's stay in the East African Territories does not exceed six months, but shall not be bound by Article 2 in so far as it refers to portable gramophones with records, portable sound recording apparatus, portable wireless receiving sets, tents and other camping equipment, fishing outfits, non-powered bicycles, skis, tennis racquets and other similar articles if the period of stay in the Territories does not exceed six months, but undertakes to allow the temporary importation of these articles in accordance with the temporary importation permit procedure.

"The Government of Uganda shall not be bound by Article 3 but undertakes to grant reasonable concessions.

"The Government of Uganda shall not be bound by Article 4 and reserves the right to require that such goods shall be dealt with in accordance with the temporary importation permit procedure."

United Republic of Tanzania ²¹

United Republic of Tanzania21

"The Government of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar [Tanzania] shall not be bound by article 3 of the Convention, but undertakes to grant reasonable concessions in respect of the items referred to therein."

Territorial Application

Participant	Date of receipt of the notification	Territories
Belgium ²²	21 Feb 1955	Belgian Congo and the Trust Territory of Ruanda-Urundi, with reservations
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) ¹³	7 Mar 1958	Netherlands Antilles, Netherlands New Guinea and Suriname
New Zealand	21 May 1963	Cook Islands (including Niue)
Portugal ⁵	18 Sep 1958	Overseas Provinces
	30 Mar 1983	Macau
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ^{6, 23, 24}	7 Aug 1957	North Borneo, Cyprus, Fiji, Jamaica, Federation of Malaya, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somaliland Protectorate, Tonga and Zanzibar; and Malta with reservation
	14 Jan 1958	Brunei, Antigua, Mauritius, Sarawak, Dominica, Bermuda, Gambia, Montserrat, Federation of Nigeria, British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Gibraltar, Virgin Islands, St. Helena, Grenada, St. Vincent; and Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika with reservations
	16 Jun 1959	Barbados
	12 Sep 1960	British Honduras
	11 Nov 1960	Hong Kong
	9 Jan 1961	St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	15 Sep 1961	Trinidad and Tobago
	5 Feb 1962	British Guiana
United States of America	25 Jul 1956	Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and United States Virgin Islands

End Note

1On 3 November 1999, the Government of Singapore informed the Secretary-General that it had decided to denounce the Convention [with effect from 3 February 2001 in accordance with its article 17 (2)]. It will be recalled that the Government of Singapore had, on 12 July 1999, communicated to the Secretary-General, the following reservation: “... the Government of the Republic of Singapore wishes to make a reservation to article 3 of the [Convention]." Subsequently, the Secretary-General received objections to the reservation from the following Governments on the dates indicated hereinafter: Finland (22 October 1999) [The Government of Finland] notes that, according to the well-established rule under the international law of treaties, codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, reservations to treaties are only allowed when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty. Under international law, after a State has bound itself by a treaty it can no longer submit reservations. The Government of Finland therefore objects to the aforesaid reservation made by the Government of Singapore to the Convention concerning Customs Facilities for Touring.” United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (22 October 1999): “As it is well established in international law that, in the absence of express provision in the treaty itself, a party may not formulate a reservation to a treaty by which it is already bound, the United Kingdom is unable to agree that the reservation referred to above be accepted for deposit.” Consequently, the reservation in question is not accepted, the Governments of Finland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland having objected thereto.
2On 16 June 1975, the Government of Switzerland declared that the provisions of the Convention apply to the Principality of Liechtenstein so long as it is linked to Switzerland by a customs union treaty.
3In a communication received by the Secretary-General on 9 August 1966, the Government of the Netherlands proposed an amendment to article 2, paragraph 3 of the Convention to the effect that the words "one portable television set" be inserted after the words "one portable wireless receiving set". The text of the proposed amendment was circulated by the Secretary-General to all contracting States on 6 September 1966. No objection having been expressed to the proposed amendment within the period of six months from the date of the circulation of its text by any of the contracting States, the amendment is deemed to have been accepted, in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 23 of the Convention. Pursuant to paragraph 3 of the same article, the amendment entered into force for all contracting States three months after the expiration of the said period of six months, that is to say, on 6 June 1967.
4Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Fifteenth Session, Supplement No. 1 (E/2419), p. 9.
5On 29 September and on 19 October 1999, the Secretary-General received communications regarding the status of Macao from China and Portugal (see also note 3 under “China” and note 1 under “Portgual” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume). Upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Macao, China notified the Secretary-General that the Convention will continue to apply to the Macao Special Administrative Region
6The Secretary-General, received on 6 and 10 June 1997 communications regarding the status of Hong Kong from China and the United Kingdom of Great Brtiain and Northern Ireland (see also note 2 under “China” and note 2 under “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume). Upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, China notified the Secretary-General that the Convention will continue to apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
7The Republic of Viet-Nam had acceded to the Convention on 31 January 1956. See also note 1under “Viet Nam” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
8The former Yugoslavia had acceeded to the Convention on 10 July 1958. See also note 1 under “Bosnia and Herzegovina”, “Croatia”, “former Yugoslavia”, “Slovenia”, “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and “Yugoslavia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
9See note 1 under “Germany” regarding Berlin (West) in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
10See note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
11In a notification received on 4 April 1974, the Government of Greece stated that it accepted the decisions, recommendations and dec- larations contained in the Final Act of the Conference.
12See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.
13See note 1 under “Netherlands” regarding Aruba/Netherlands Antilles in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
14See note 1 under “New Zealand” regarding Tokelau in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
15Notification by the United Arab Republic. See also note 1 under “United Arab Republic” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
16The Governments of Italy and Switzerland have notified the Secretary-General that they object to this reservation. The Government of the United States of America has notified the Secretary-General that it has no objection to this reservation, but "considers that it may, and hereby states that it will, apply the aforesaid reservation reciprocally with respect to Bulgaria". Subsequently, in a notification received on 6 May 1994, the Government of Bulgaria notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw the reservation made upon accession with regard to article 21 (2) and (3). For the text of the reservation, see United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 348, p. 358.
17On 16 October 1997, the Government of Poland notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw its reservation with regard to article 21 of the Convention made upon accession. For the text of the reservation see United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 367, p. 334. (See also note 13.)
18The Governments of Italy and Switzerland have notified the Secretary-General that they object to these reservations.
19The Governments of Switzerland and the Republic of Viet-Nam informed the Secretary-General that they object to this reservation. The Government of the United States of America informed the Secretary-General that it has no objection to this reservation but "considers that it may and hereby states that it will apply this reservation reciprocally with respect to Romania".
20The Governments of Italy and Switzerland have notified the Secretary-General that they object to this reservation. The Government of the United States of America has notified the Secretary-General that it has no objection to this reservation, but "considers that it may and hereby states that it will apply this reservation reciprocally with respect to the Soviet Union". The Government of Yugoslavia has informed the Secretary-General that it does not object to this reservation subject to the provisions of paragraph 7 of article 20 of the Convention.
21In a communication received on 2 August 1965, the Government of Portugal notified the Secretary-General that, in accordance with paragraph 7 of article 20 and paragraph 7 of article 14, respectively, of the Convention and Additional Protocol, Portugal reserves the right of not extending to the United Republic of Tanzania the benefit of those provisions of the Convention and the Additional Protocol to which apply the reservations made upon accession by the United Republic of Tanzania.
22This Convention is applicable to the Territory of the Belgian Congo and to the Trust Territory of Ruanda-Urundi, subject to the following reservations: (1) The temporary importation of firearms and their ammunition cannot be considered without a temporary importation document (article 2 of the Convention); (2) The exemption in the case of wine, spirits, toilet water and perfume must continue to be limited to opened containers and subject, in the case of alcoholic beverages in particular, to the observance of the legal provisions in force (article 3 of the Convention); (3) Worked ivory and objects of indigenous art must be excluded from the operation of the Convention (article 4). The Government of Rwanda notified the Secretary-General of its succession to the Convention on 1 December 1964. Subsequently, in a communication received on 10 February 1965, the Government of Rwanda informed the Secretary-General that it did not intend to maintain any of the above-mentioned reservations.
23[As concerns Malta] "The definition of `Personal effects' contained in paragraph 3 of article 2 of the Convention shall not include `one portable wireless set'." On 3 January 1966, the Government of Malta notified the Secretary-General of its succession to the Convention. In a communication received on 28 February 1966, the Government of Malta notified the Secretary-General that it did not intend to maintain the said reservation, which had been made on its behalf by the Government of the United Kingdom at the time of the notification of the extension of the Convention to Malta.
24"(i) The Governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika shall not be bound by article 2 of the Convention in so far as it refers to portable musical instruments, portable gramophones with records, portable sound-recording apparatus, non-powered bicycles and sporting firearms with cartridges, but undertake to allow the temporary importation of these articles in accordance with the temporary importation permit procedure. "(ii) The Governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika shall not be bound by article 3 of the Convention but undertake to grant reasonable concessions in respect of the items referred to therein. "(iii) The Governments of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika shall not be bound by article 4 of the Convention and reserve the right to require a temporary importation permit in respect of the articles referred to therein." For the reservations made on accession by the Governments of Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, see under "Declarations and Reservations".

Home Page

Depositary

ABOUT

QUICK LINKS

HELP