Bika Corporation v Ministry of Customs and Monopolies
| Jurisdiction | Turquia |
| Date | 20 June 1967 |
| Court | Council of State (Turkey) |
Treaties Conclusion and operation of Ratification Unconstitutional ratification Effect of The law of Turkey.
The Facts.This was an application for the annulment of a decision of the Ministry of Customs and Monopolies dated 19 February 1967, dismissing the claim of the plaintiff for the revocation of an additional sum of customs duties assessed on the basis of the general customs tariff. Previously, the Customs Administration had applied the schedule of tariff concessions to the imported goods, and the sum due was collected on this reduced basis. On further examination it was decided that the goods could not benefit from the reduced tariff owing to the fact that no certificate of origin was submitted. The plaintiff invoked the Commercial Agreement of 18 February 1966 concluded with the U.S.S.R., by which the requirement of submitting a certificate of origin for goods imported from the territories of the contracting parties was dispensed with.
Held: that the application must be granted, the plaintiff having meanwhile submitted a certificate of origin as required by Article 681 of the Customs Regulations.
On the question of the effect of the Agreement with the U.S.S.R. the Court said, in part:
Under Article 59 of the Law on the Customs numbered 5383, the submission of a certificate of origin issued by the competent authority and verified by the Turkish Consulate in the region concerned, indicating that the origin of the goods is the territory of the contracting parties, is required for goods benefiting under the treaties.
On the other hand, in the Annex to the Protocol [with Soviet Russia] signed on 18 February 1966 which came into force by publication in the Resmi Gazete dated 5 May 1966, it is stated that the certificate of origin provided for in Article 3 of the Treaty of Commerce and Payments dated 8 November 1937 will no longer be required. This provision, without referring to the certificate of origin the submission of which is made a precondition for the application of the above-mentioned Article 59, repeals the restrictive provision of the Treaty of 1937 to the effect that a certificate of origin is required for all goods exported to or imported from the respective countries. Article 65 of the Constitution[2] confirms this view. In the first paragraph of that...
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