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Union Customs Code — Article 12

The article's text

Article 12 Communication of information and data protection 1. All information acquired by the customs authorities in the course of performing their duty which is by its nature confidential or which is provided on a confidential basis shall be covered by the obligation of professional secrecy. Except as provided for in Article 47(2), such information shall not be disclosed by the competent authorities without the express permission of the person or authority that provided it. Such information may, however, be disclosed without permission where the customs authorities are obliged or authorised to do so pursuant to the provisions in force, particularly in respect of data protection, or in connection with legal proceedings. 2. Confidential information referred to in paragraph 1 may be communicated to the customs authorities and other competent authorities of countries or territories outside the customs territory of the Union for the purpose of customs cooperation with those countries or territories in the framework of an international agreement or Union legislation in the area of the common commercial policy. 3. Any disclosure or communication of information as referred to in paragrap
full text
hs 1 and 2 shall ensure an adequate level of data protection in full compliance with data protection provisions in force.

Who wrote about this article in the consultations

Filers who named this exact article number in their own text. It is their sentence, not our reading — and not a causal claim.

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ACADEMIC_RESEARCH_INSTITTUTION
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other
WhoCountryWhat they wrote
SOMONLrovisions providing for non-state actor access detailed trade information with customs. SOMO welcomes the proposed removal of UCC Article 12 that allows customs to categorically deny public access to trade information Ref. Ares(2023)7548253 - 07/11/2023 they c ↗
Anti-slavery InternationalGBBrazil, India, … who already make customs data publicly available. The central problem the UCC (Union Customs Code) poses lies in Article 12, where the UCC leaves it up to national authorities, to define the condition of “confidentiality”. Aa a result, and in ↗
ECCHRDEing the USA, Canada, Brazil, India, … who already make customs data publicly available. The central problem the UCC poses lies in Article 12, where the UCC even leaves it up to national authorities, to define the condition of “confidentiality”. In practice, al ↗
German Institute for Human Rights (NHRI)DEout, there is a high risk that current customs rules will pose a challenge in enforcing future EU law. One risk can be averted if Art 12 UCC is amended to ensure that customs data is not by default confidential and can be publicly disclosed. The Commission h ↗
Clean Clothes Campaign - International OfficeBEd to disclose names and address of the manufacturers and exporters to the relevant customs authorities. 2. the UCC legal package (Article 12) must to be amended to clarify that customs data on trade parties, exporter and manufacturers, is not confidential and ↗
SOMONLviolations. The proposed amendment can be made by changing article itself or by adding an extra exception to Art. 47(2) to which Article 12 currently refers to. Accessibility Once the categorical confidentiality measure in UCC Article 12 is properly addressed ↗
FinnwatchFIin the above mentioned document. To promote the necessary transparency of customs’ data, the UCC needs to be revised and the UCC Article 12 needs to be amended to clarify that customs’ data on trade parties is not confidential and that such data can be disclo ↗
University of Bologna - PhD thesisITndelsgesellschaft mbH, the Court rejected the argument that the the system of deposits as instituted by the third subparagraph of Article 12(1) of Regulation No 120/67 was not valid for several reasons, including the breach of fundamental rights. ↗

Source: public consultation submissions and position papers. n = 8 mentions; counted as a literal reference to the article number.

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