(2023-03) Decree Establishing the Customs Code
Summary — Published in Le Moniteur's Special Issue No. 11 of 21 March 2023, this decree overhauls Haiti's Customs Code, replacing the amended 1987 code to align customs rules with international trade practice and new anti-fraud tools. It was issued by the Council of Ministers, exercising the Executive's decree power while Parliament remained inoperative, on the report of the Minister of Economy and Finance.
Key Findings
- Replaces the amended 1987 Customs Code with a modernized framework aligned to international trade rules.
- Cites treaties and border/maritime agreements with the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Colombia as part of its legal foundation.
- Aims to give economic operators access to attractive special customs regimes and to speed clearance via new IT tools.
- Fills gaps in customs offences and applicable sanctions left by the 1987 code.
- Opens with formal definitions for dozens of technical customs terms establishing the code's operative vocabulary.
Full Description
The decree establishing Haiti's new Customs Code was issued by the Council of Ministers on the report of the Minister of Economy and Finance and published in a special issue of Le Moniteur on 21 March 2023. Its preamble recites the treaties, conventions, and prior customs-related decrees underpinning Haitian customs law, including the 1929 and 1936 border settlement treaties with the Dominican Republic, the 1971/1977 maritime border agreements with Cuba and Colombia, GATT/Uruguay Round instruments, and the 1987 Customs Code and its subsequent amendments. It states that the 1987 code no longer meets the state's economic vision, that current customs provisions do not let economic operators benefit from attractive special customs regimes, and that new information-technology tools should be used to accelerate customs clearance while addressing gaps in customs offences and applicable sanctions.
The reviewed pages cover Title I (general principles of the customs regime) and the opening definitions article, which sets out formal definitions for dozens of customs terms (acquit-à-caution, admission en franchise, admission temporaire, agent des douanes, contrebande, entrepôt douanier, etc.), establishing the technical vocabulary that governs the remainder of the code.