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International Customs Law Research Guide

Introduction

The increase in the amount of goods and materials crossing national borders has prompted the need for research in the international aspects of customs requirements. The focus of this research guide is on both print and electronic sources for researching international customs law. This includes sources from international organizations, major trade agreements, as well as international law sources generally.

If you are interested in the domestic customs law of the United States, please refer to our U.S. Customs Law Research Guide.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Wolff Library reference desk at 202-662-4195 or by email: intlref@law.georgetown.edu. You may also submit your question via this online form.

Selected Background & General Sources

The law library has many materials on customs law, and the titles below are meant only as a starting point. To locate more resources, search the online catalog using keywords to narrow your search results. For example, "customs international" or "trade customs".

  • Basics of the International System of Customs and Tariffs INTL K4600.L475 2001
    This text outlines how national laws on customs and tariffs coordinate with international classification schemes.
  • EC Customs Law INTL KJE7312 .L96 2008
    This work presents an analysis of customs law in the EU, along with a review of major cases and legislation. This edition of the work includes an assessment of the changes stemming from the 2005 amendments to the Community Customs Code.
  • International Trade and Economic Relations in a Nutshell INTL RESERVE K3943 .F64 2009
    This nutshell provides an accessible and quick overview of international trade, including the role of customs laws.

International Customs Law

These websites provide a good deal of the basic information for researching international customs law, including treaties and agreements, procedures, tariff information, etc. For information about researching foreign customs law (the domestic law of countries outside the Uited States), see the "National Customs Law" section below.

  • Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA)
    This automated customs data system was created by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to facilitate economic analysis of customs data. In addition to other information, the site includes a list of all participating countries along with their major imports and exports.
  • World Customs Organization (WCO)
    The WCO is an IGO with 177 members that develops standards and practices that facilitate international trade.
    • Conventions
      Conventions and agreements sponsored or administered by the organization through June, 2011.
    • Recommendations
      Recommendations of the organization related to: the Harmonized System, Procedures and Facilitation, Information Technologies, and Compliance and Enforcement.
  • U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP)
    A division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the CBP is charged with enforcing customs law in the field.
  • World Trade Organization (WTO)
    IGO with 153 members that provides a forum for liberalizing international trade and resolving disputes.
    • Legal Texts
      Full text versions of the WTO's agreements, in PDF and WordPerfect format.
    • Documents Database
      Provides access to all of the WTO's official documentation since 1995. Also includes selected documents from 1986-1994.
    • Dispute Settlement Documents
      Provides access to documents related to disputes among member states.
  • Lex Mercatori
    Good source for agreements and documents related to international trade and commerce.
  • Juris International
    Free online database of materials related to international trade. Click on "Trade treatise, international conventions."
  • International Chamber of Commerce
    Organization for the international business community. Makes policy recommendations, statements, comments, and guidelines.
    • Customs
      The ICC's material on customs and trade regulation. To search, click on the magnifying glass on the right side of the screen.
  • U.S. Department of Commerce
    Cabinet-level department whose mission is, “to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce.�
    • Bureau of Industry and Security
      The mission of the BIS is to, "Advance U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives by ensuring an effective export control and treaty compliance system and promoting continued U.S. strategic technology leadership." The BIS website includes relevant regulations, policy guidance documents, and information about enforcement.
    • Trade Compliance Center (TCC)
      The TCC monitors foreign compliance with U.S. trade agreements.
  • Export Import Bank of the U.S.
    This independent executive agency is is the "official export credit agency of the United States." Its purpose is to finance and insure the purchase of U.S. goods by foreign customers.
  • World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)
    The World Legal Information Institute is a free database providing access to foreign and international legal materials. There is a section on taxation, revenue, and customs.

National Customs Law

The following sites provide the domestic customs laws of countries other than the U.S. The materials are all in English, and many include statutes, regulations, procedures, taxation information, and other related information.

Journal Articles

Journal articles are a quick and efficient way to obtain background information, locate the text of a foreign law or locate current information about a topic. Westlaw and Lexis provide excellent coverage of U.S. law reviews; however, by including foreign journals and indexes, your journal research will be more comprehensive and global in its coverage.

For best results, you may need to search both full text databases as well as periodical indexes. We have two additional research guides, Locating Journal Articles: Foreign & International and Using Articles for Legal & Non-Legal Research, that may be of interest to you.

If you already have a citation and would like to read the article, simply type the journal name as a title search in the library catalog. The results will tell you if we have print, electronic, or both. Be sure to check coverage dates or volume numbers to determine if your particular volume or issue is available. If the library does not have the journal article, you may request the article through interlibrary loan and we will ask another library to make a photocopy.

Below are listed a few of the most commonly used journal and index databases for international customs legal research.

  • Cambridge Journals Online (Georgetown Law only)
    This full-text database offers both legal and non-legal journals published by Cambridge University. We suggest using advanced searching.
  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Georgetown Law only)
    English keyword searching of over 450 foreign law journals. The index does not include the full text of articles, but you can email the citations to yourself, and then search the library catalog for the journal titles. This is the best resource to search for foreign legal journal articles.
  • Kluwer Law International Journals (Georgetown Law only)
    Full text journals (from the mid-1990s forward ) with a business and trade focus are available here. Older issues of these titles are available on HeinOnline. Click here for a complete list.
  • Legal Journals Index (Georgetown Law only)
    This indexes over 320 journal articles from the United Kingdom and Europe. The index does not include the full text of articles. LJI is also on Westlaw (database: LJI) which will provide links to the full text if that particular journal is available on Westlaw.
  • Legal Periodicals and Books (Georgetown Law only)
    Comprehensive citation (not full text) coverage of nearly 1000 English language law reviews and books from 1982 to the present. This does not have the full text of articles, but more articles are indexed here than on Westlaw or Lexis. For older articles, try Legal Periodicals and Books Retrospective (1918-1981).
  • LegalTrac (Georgetown Law only)
    This is a similar index (also not full text) to Legal Periodicals and Books. Coverage begins in 1981 and indexes articles from about 875 publications and law related articles from 1,000 business and general interest periodicals. Westlaw and Lexis do not usually provide access to articles prior to the early 1980s.
  • Oxford Journals Online (Georgetown Law only)
    Full text database of both legal and non-legal journals published by Oxford University. You can limit to a particular journal or to the subject "law."

Social Sciences Index

Current Awareness

Besides newspapers and other news sources, these sources will help keep the researcher abreast of current issues.

  • International Trade Reporter: Current Reports
    Is available in print. It is also available online through Westlaw (BNA-ITR) (Georgetown Law Only) , Lexis (Georgetown Law Only) Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > International Law > Search Analysis & CLE Materials > BNA > BNA International Trade Reporter-Current Reports. It also available through online (Georgetown Law Only). To locate current information on customs in this resource, click on the "finding tools", then click on "Browse Indexes" and then click on "C". When you click on the "+" next to "Customs", the default for searches is to within the most recent year.
  • International trade reporter decisions
    This is available in print . In addition, it is available online (Georgetown Law Only) as part of International Trade Reporter. To access the decision of U.S. federal and state courts, as well as the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. International Trade Commission in the field of U.S. import law, click on "All Courts/Tribunals" located on the left of the page. There will be a list of available jurisdictions; the default for the search is within the six months.
  • International Trade Daily
    In this daily publication are analyses of the possible impacts from the activities of the International Trade Commission, World Trade Organization, and European Union on export incentives, limits on imports and import relief. You can search by "Law Firms", "Countries", "Agencies", "Courts/Tribunals", "Industries" and by "International Organizations".
  • World Trade Online
    This resource also incudes online access to Inside US Trade, which is also available in print. This daily-published resource has news from around the world with a focus on trade related issues, as well as the actions of national and international trade organizations. In the "Database" section, there are select policy papers, WTO decisions, draft and final regulations and court decisions.

Other Customs Sources

Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade Practices
Available online. These reports were submitted to various Senate and House committees in accord with Section 2202 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of of 1988. These reports compare U.S. policies and trade regulations with those of countries with which the U.S. had major economic or trade relationships. As of fall 2002, Congress no longer requires submission of these reports.

Customs Valuation and Transfer Pricing : Is It Possible to Harmonize Customs and Tax Rules? INTL K4640.A66 J68 2002
The valuation of goods is relevant to both tax and customs liability in international transactions, but how values are calculated can vary greatly depending on the country. This book presents an overview of these problems, reviews current solutions, and proposes possible solutions.

Guide to Community Customs LegislationINTL KJE7312.L89 2002
Although a little dated, this book analyzes major laws and rulings of the European Court, along with summaries of major concepts. There is also a glossary of important custom terms.

Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System : Explanatory Notes INTL K4640.T48 C857 2007
This five volume loose-leaf set is current to within the last year. In this loose-leaf are comments on the fourth edition of the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (usually referred to as the Harmonized System or HS). This set includes, the recent amendments to the Nomenclature established under HS.

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States available in print (updated regularly) and online
The USITC (Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements) publishes the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSA). This nomenclature is used to classify and describe most goods that enter the U.S.. To search for older editions, of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, search in the archived materials section.

Tariff Negotiations and Renegotiations under the GATT and the WTO : Procedures and Practices INTL K4603.H74 2001
Outlined in this text is the history of the procedures and practices used to implement the provisions relating to tariff negotiations and renegotiations. The appendices have reproduced a select collection of treaty negotiation materials.

Transfer pricing and customs valuation : two worlds to tax as one INTL K4640.A66 T73 2009
The book reviews major international standards for transfer pricing and customs values, such as OECD Guidelines and the GATT/WTO Customs Valuation Agreement. In the Country Surveys chapter, there is commentary on relevant national legislation and case studies.

The WTO and reciprocal preferential trading agreements INTL HF1721 .W92 2007
This is a collection of previously published papers. The topics covered in these papers range from theoretical analysis to empirical evaluations of regional trade agreements. There are also essays on the progression of customs unions.

International Trade

Customs research involves international trade research. For more information on researching international trade generally, see our research guide on International Trade Law. There are also many print sources for international trade; consult our library catalog to determine what is available in the Law Library.

Other Research Guides

Due to the broad scope of this topic, the researcher may have need for other sources. Consult these research guides for more help in researching a variety of topics.


Revised June 2006 (aeb)
Links revised August 2008 (RAS)
Revised April 2012 (TMV)

Page last saved 04-Apr-2012