Abandoned goods con fiscated goods and goods handed over to the customs administration

Iran Customs Law : Part V Abandoned goods, confiscated goods and goods handed over to the customs administration

Article 33: Abandoned goods referred to in Article 24 of this law and confiscated goods and goods handed over to the customs , shall, subject to related regulations, be sold by “The Collection and Sale of Possessory Properties Organization” as the responsible authority for the sale of abandoned and confiscated goods.

Note 1:As long as the goods are not sold by the mentioned organization, the owner of the goods shall, after announcement of the customs to that organization and in order to perform final customs formalities and clear his/her goods, be entitled to submit declaration and/or change the title of declaration subject to related regulations and payment of all pertaining fees and other expenses incurred.

Note 2: The goods transferred to the warehouses of such organization after being abandoned, shall also be subjected to the provisions of note 1 of this Article.

Note 3: Properties held by the Supreme Leader and specified in related laws and regulations, shall, subject to related regulations and after issuance of the verdict of the competent judicial authorities, be delivered to competent body by the Supreme Leader.

Article 34: At the time of delivery of warehouse receipt, withholding authority shall be obliged to specify date of abandonment of the
goods and measure to sell it. The provisions of Article 24 of this law shall be endorsed on the warehouse receipt.

Note 1:Carrier or transport companies shall be obliged to inform the owner or recipient of goods, and intermediary bank or the consignor if the owner or recipient of goods in not known, the date of delivery of goods to the customs warehouse and the provisions of Article 24 not more than five days after delivery of the goods. If carrier or transport companies fail to perform the duty referred in this note, they shall be liable to compensate the losses of the concerned persons.

 Note 2: The customs shall be obliged to draw up a customs declaration for each line of storage book, examing the goods at the presence of a representative of the withholding authority , determine its amount, type, value and other specifications and mention them in the text of declaration and calculate import duties and charges of rendered services. Calculation of import duties and charges of abandoned goods shall be based on the rates of the time of formulation of declaration. The list of such goods together with related declarations shall be sent to ”the Collection and Sale of Possessory Properties Organization.”

Article 35: Where an abandoned goods is a prohibited one, assessors shall be obliged to immediately draw up a con fiscation minutes of meeting for it, and the customs shall formally inform the case to the owner of the goods and/or its carrier (if the name and address of the owner of the goods is not speci fied) and if the carrier is also unknown, by publishing a notice in highly circulated newspaper. If the owner of the goods objects the act of confiscation by the customs, he/she may refer to local judicial authority within two months from the date of service of con fiscation minutes of meeting or publishing a notice in a newspaper and inform the customs of the case by submitting a certificate not more than fifteen days from the date of referral to the judicial authority, otherwise the goods shall be outright con fiscated by the government.

Note: Fast-perishable con fiscated goods and the goods whose storage causes additional charges or risk, whether the con fiscation is outright or not, as well as goods in respect of which six months have passed from the date of confiscation but it is not outright disposed by the judicial authority, shall be sold in accordance with the regulation and the fees derived from its sale shall be held as a deposit until outright disposition unless such authority deems it necessary to continue the storage of original goods until outright disposition.

Article 36: The goods in customs premises in respect of which a costody order have been issued by the competent authority shall be subjected to regulation of abandoned goods, and surplus derived from the sale shall, within the limits of authority order, remain in custody. Cases in respect of which custody orders have been issued by virtue of Article 10 of the Islamic Penal Code shall be excluded from this provision.

Article 37: Immediately after the fulfillment of formalities referred to in articles 33 and 34 of this law, Collection and Sale of Possessory Properties Organization shall be obliged to receive under the control of the customs, the abandoned and confiscated goods from withholding authority by drawing up a minutes of meeting and transfer it to its warehouses.

Note 1: As far as container goods are concerned, it shall be unloaded from the container not later than one week after the fulfillment of formalities of abandonment, and the empty container shall be delivered to the withholding authority . The goods together with the container may be released by written consent of its owner. If such container have been abandoned from the date of unloading the consignment, and have not been exit from the customs, it shall also be subjected to regulation of abandoned goods.

Note2: Payments of surplus derived from the sale of abandoned goods to the owner of the goods, shall be required to provide delivery order by related transport company.

Note 3: Responsibility of protecting and preserving the goods delivered to Collection and Sale of Possessory Properties Organization
shall be borne by that organization.

Note 4: Charges of rendered services and other charges of abandoned goods at the time of releasing from the customs premises, shall be paid and/or subscribed by Collection and Sale of Possessory Properties Organization

Note 5: Maximum storage charges financeable from the proceeds derived from the sale shall be six months and Collection and Sale of Possessory Properties Organization shall bear storage charges balance.