International Organizations have operations, permanent and temporary, in almost every country around the world. These operations require goods of every type to function - furnishings, office supplies, telecommunications hardware, and on and on. Of course, not every country in which international organizations operate produces every type of good necessary to those operations. Moreover, representatives of member states* and international civil servants must enter and leave countries, bringing with them personal effects and work-related items. Thus, international organizations, representatives, and civil servants all import and export goods to varying extents.
Based on the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Untied Nations ("CPIUN")¹, this post provides an overview of some of the customs rules applicable to the operations of international organizations and the persons who work within them. The relevant (or arguably relevant) provisions of the CPIUN are as follows:
Art. II, Sec. 7. The United Nations, its assets, income and other property shall be:
...
(b) Exempt from customs duties and prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports in respect of articles imported or exported by the United Nations for its official use. It is understood, however, that articles imported under such exemption will not be sold in the country into which they were imported except under conditions agreed with the Government of that country;
(c) Exempt from customs duties and prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports in respect of its publications.
Art. IV, Sec. 11. Representatives of Members to the principal and subsidiary organs of the United Nations and to conferences convened by the United Nations, shall, while exercising their functions and during their journey to and from the place of meeting, enjoy the following privileges and immunities:
...
(g) Such other privileges, immunities and facilities not inconsistent with the foregoing as diplomatic envoys enjoy, except that they shall have no right to claim exemption from customs duties on goods imported (otherwise than as part of their personal baggage) or from excise duties or sales taxes.
Art. V, Sec. 18. Officials of the United Nations shall:
...
(g) Have the right to import free of duty their furniture and effects at the time of first taking up their post in the country in question.
Art. VI, Sec. 22. Experts (other than officials coming within the scope of Article V) performing missions for the United Nations shall be accorded such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions during the period of their missions, including the time spent on journeys in connection with their missions. ...
To this list, one might add Art. IV, Sec. 14 (duty to waive privileges and immunities of member's representative under certain circumstances), Art. V, Sec. 20 (same, for U.N. officials), and Art. VI, Sec. 23 (same, for U.N. experts on mission), insofar as these provide an overarching caveat to the provisions reproduced above.
Canada and New Zealand, among others, entered reservations to the CPIUN to permit taxation of their citizens' international organization salaries, at least while the citizen-employees were residing in their home country.² They did not, however, enter a similar reservation applicable to the waiver of customs duties. As such, none of the reservations to the CPIUN submitted to date would affect these rules.
As for the provisions themselves, a few things jump out. At a high level, the CPIUN never defines "customs duties," leaving it unsettled whether this phrase encompasses duties imposed as part of a domestic trade remedy, e.g., antidumping or countervailing duties, in addition to standard customs duties.³ Regarding the customs privilege afforded to the U.N. itself, Sec. 7(b) is limited to "articles" "for its official use" and that "will not be sold in the country into which they were imported..." The Sec. 7(c) carve-out essentially extending the same customs duty exemption to "its publications" without these caveats appears aimed at permitting the U.N. to sell books, pamphlets, etc., without jeopardizing its customs privilege, and without requiring that it settle on conditions of sale with the host government. The phrase "its publications," however, is rather ambiguous. It might mean UN-written, UN-published, or perhaps even UN-endorsed.
Another ambiguity concerns Sec. 7(b). Say that the UN wants to open a commissary for its employees. If it imports food for sale at the commissary and sells it to UN employees on UN grounds, is this a sale "in the country into which they were imported" for purposes of Sec. 7(b)? Does the answer change if the sale occurs at a UN conference held at a hotel? Of course, these types of questions could be answered through a standing agreement between the UN and the host government, but absent such an agreement, the answer is not clear. To the extent a dispute might arise, it is noteworthy that the dispute resolution provision of the CPIUN gives effect to the UN interpretation of the rule pending resolution of the dispute.
Notwithstanding the textual ambiguities highlighted above, if one assumes that the overarching purpose of the CPIUN is to allow the UN to carry out its activities independently and without the encumbrance of local taxation (which would inure to the benefit of the taxing member, to the financial detriment of the organization and its funding members), then I would answer these questions as follows:
1. "Customs duties" applies to both standard and trade remedy duties.
2. Considerations of national sovereignty likely lead to a broad conceptualization of "in the country," such that even sales on U.N. property would be subject to the restrictions.
3. "its publications" probably extends to anything published by the UN, but probably not just anything endorsed by the organization.
Moving to the privileges afforded to individuals, members' representatives are singled out as having no customs privilege, excepting personal baggage. Given that representatives are often associated with a country's diplomatic corps, perhaps this carve-out reflects an assumption that an additional privilege was superfluous. U.N. Officials' customs privilege is limited to "the time of first taking up their post in the country in question." Experts on mission are not specifically provided any privilege, but the general directive that they be "accorded such privileges...necessary for the independent exercise of their functions..." could be construed as at least extending them a customs privilege in respect of articles necessary to these functions, i.e., personal articles and work-related articles. Given the brief duration of experts' visits, it would seem unnecessary for them to have a customs privilege for "furniture." Regarding the latter two categories of persons, moreover, work-related articles could theoretically be imported duty-free by the United Nations organization itself.
As a practical matter, that U.N. Officials' privilege seemingly resets upon "taking up their post in" a new country is well-suited to the United Nations' multi-country operation. Read literally, however, were one to begin a tour of duty in Country #1, then spend a few months in Country #2, only to return to Country #1 to finish things out, it would appear that the third leg of this journey would not benefit from the customs privilege.
In any case, the bottom line is that individuals' customs privilege is largely limited to personal effects (and furniture, in the case of U.N. officials). Only Experts may have a privilege with respect to work-related articles, which might reflect the fact that Experts are more prone to work in countries with no other U.N. operations (though this would be the exception, rather than the rule). Consequently, as a practical matter, the customs privilege with respect to individuals likely represents a fairly negligible amount of duties foregone from the perspective of the host country. By contrast, the customs privilege afforded to the organization itself implicates a quite significant amount of money.
Given that this blog aims to amplify the practical, an example of how the U.N.'s customs privileges are operationalized on a national level is informative. For no particular reason other than the author's familiarity, the example of the United States is used. A number of countries have similar legal provisions, e.g., Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Switzerland, etc. A future post may analyze these provisions, and the degree to which they are consistent with the CPIUN. For now, relevant U.S. legal authorities are provided for reference.
The United States did not ratify the CPIUN until 1970, but passed The International Organizations Immunities Act, 59 Stat. 669, Public Law 79-291 in 1946. It is currently codified at 22 U.S.C. § 288 et seq., and states:
22 U.S.C. § 288a:
International organizations shall enjoy the status, immunities,
exemptions, and privileges set forth in this section, as follows:
...
(d)
Insofar as concerns customs duties and internal-revenue taxes imposed
upon or by reason of importation, and the procedures in connection
therewith...the privileges, exemptions, and immunities to which
international organizations shall be entitled shall be those accorded
under similar circumstances to foreign governments.
19 C.F.R. § 148.81. General provisions.
(a) Reciprocal privileges. The privileges provided for in §§ 148.81 through 148.86 and § 148.90 of this chapter shall be accorded only if reciprocal privileges are granted by the foreign government involved to U.S. personnel of comparable status.
(b) Baggage and effects. The term “baggage and effects,” as used in this subpart includes all articles which were in the possession of a person abroad, and are being imported in connection with his arrival, and which are intended for his bona fide personal or household use. It does not include articles imported as an accommodation to others or for sale or other commercial use.
(c) Aliens. The privileges provided in this subpart shall be accorded only to alien representatives, officers, employees, and members of the armed forces of foreign governments and designated public international organizations.
(d) Internal revenue tax. Any article exempted from the payment of duty under this subpart shall be exempt also from the payment of any internal revenue tax imposed upon or by reason of importation.
(b) Designated public international organizations. The President, by virtue of the authority vested in him by section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act of December 29, 1945, has designated certain organizations as public international organizations entitled to the free entry privileges of that statute. The following is a list of the public international organizations currently entitled to such free entry privileges and the Executive orders by which they were designated: [the regulation thereafter lists several dozen international organizations]
(a) Exemption for baggage and effects and admission without entry. At the request of the Department of State and upon appropriate instructions from the United States Customs Service in each instance, the privilege of admission free of duty without the filing of an entry may be extended to the baggage and effects of the following alien representatives, officers, and members of the staff of the United Nations..., and their personal baggage is ordinarily exempt from inspection, subject to § 148.82(e)(2):
(1) Every person designated by a United Nations member nation as the principal resident representative to the United Nations of such member or as a resident representative with the rank of ambassador or minister plenipotentiary and members of their families;
(2) Such resident members of their staffs as may be agreed upon between the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Government of the United States, and the Government of the United Nations member concerned and members of their families;
(3) Every person designated by a United Nations member of a specialized United Nations agency as its principal resident representative, with the rank of ambassador or minister plenipotentiary at the headquarters of such agency in the United States and members of their families;
(4) Such other principal resident representatives of United Nations members to a specialized United Nations agency and such resident members of the staffs of representatives to a specialized United Nations agency as may be agreed upon between the principal executive officer of the specialized agency, the Government of the United States, and the Government of the United Nations member concerned and members of their families;
(5) The Secretary-General, Under Secretaries-General, and Assistant Secretaries-General to the United Nations and members of their families;
(6) Representatives of members to the principal and subsidiary organs of the United Nations and to conferences convened by the United Nations, while exercising their functions and during their journey to and from the place of meeting, with regard to personal baggage only;
(7) Experts performing missions for the United Nations, the same facilities for personal baggage as are accorded diplomatic envoys;
....
(b) Absence of special request. In the absence of a special request from the Department of State prior to the arrival of persons of the classes enumerated in paragraph (a) of this section, the privilege of admission free of duty without entry may be extended to their baggage and effects upon presentation of their credentials or other proof of identity.
(c) Importations for personal or family use. Upon the request of the Department of State and appropriate instructions from the United States Customs Service, the privilege of importing without entry and free of duty articles for their personal or family use but not as an accommodation for others or for sale or other commercial use may be granted to persons of the classes enumerated in paragraph (a) of this section except those in paragraph (a) (6) and (7) of this section, under subheading 9806.00.55, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(d) Personal inviolability. The person of the representatives to and officers of the United Nations...set forth in paragraph (a) of this section shall be free from arrest, search, and detention except that persons of the rank set forth in paragraph (a) (6) and (7) of this section shall be accorded this privilege only while exercising their function and traveling to and from the place of meeting.
(a) Exemption from duty. Property of designated international organizations listed in paragraph (b) of § 148.87 or of foreign governments shall be admitted free of duty and internal-revenue taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation under 22 U.S.C. § 288a(d), but such exemption shall be granted only upon the receipt in each instance of instruction from the United States Customs Service issued at the request of the Department of State.
(b) Bond. Any Customs bond which may be required from a designated international organization (see paragraph (b) of § 148.87) in connection with the importation or entry of merchandise into, or the exportation of merchandise from, the United States may be accepted without surety.
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