Cap. 337 Art. 4Duties to be levied and collected by the Commissioner.

(1) There shall be levied and collected by the Commissioner on account of the Government the import duties shown in the ‘Import Duty’ column of the Customs Tariff upon all goods chargeable with such duties and enumerated in the first column of the said Tariff, which are grown, produced or manufactured in countries, other than those in the Community and which shall be imported into Malta or taken out of bond for use or consumption in Malta.

(2) The import duties shown in the ‘Import Duty’ column shall not apply to goods which are grown, produced or manufactured in the Community and which shall be imported into Malta or taken out of bond for use or consumption in Malta provided that such goods satisfy the rules of origin as in force from time to time in accordance with any agreement made between the Government of Malta and the Community.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-articles (1) and (2), the Commissioner may, with the concurrence of the importer, apply a flat rate of ten per cent import duty on goods of a non-commercial nature received by individual persons in consignments where the value of such goods does not exceed one hundred and sixteen euro and forty-seven cents (116.47), and on goods of a non-commercial nature imported by travellers in their luggage where the value of such goods does not exceed two hundred and thirty-two euro and ninety-four cents (232.94), in either case being goods other than spirits, tobacco or tobacco products.

(4) In the computation and collection of import duty, the Commissioner may round up or down the value of the goods and the amount of duty chargeable thereon to the nearest euro.

(5) Where any import duties leviable on goods under this article have not been duly collected, the amount still payable shall remain due for a period of six years from the tax point as defined in article 12A and the Commissioner shall have the right to claim payment of that amount within the said period:

Provided that notwithstanding the provisions of this sub-article, the Commissioner may not claim payment of such amount when he is satisfied that the goods have been properly inspected by a releasing officer and duly released by him and the value of such goods has been properly declared.