<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of India on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters will enter into force on June 6.</strong></h4> The agreement was signed on October 28, 2024, by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in Vadodara, coinciding with the first official visit by a Spanish Prime Minister to the Asian country since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's visit in 2007. Given the growing trade relations between India and Spain and the potential violations of their respective customs laws, the Spanish Department of Customs and Excise began negotiations in 2011 for an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters between the two countries. This bilateral agreement strengthens relations between both customs administrations, in addition to the international multilateral conventions of 1961, 1971, and 1988 on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and their illicit trafficking, the positions of the World Customs Organization, and the Agreement between India and the European Union on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters, signed on April 28, 2004. It will also allow for the introduction of cooperation modalities not included in the scope of the European Union agreement, such as the exchange of information on sensitive goods, controlled deliveries, and the exchange of officials. The agreement regulates mutual assistance between the customs authorities of Spain and India, protecting economic, tax, social, commercial, and public health interests. It also addresses the need to ensure the enforcement of customs regulations through international cooperation, within the framework of conventional customs regulations in this area. In its preamble, the text, published this Tuesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), takes into account the damage caused by customs violations to the economic, commercial, tax, and social interests of both countries. It recalls that the illicit trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic substances, and other dangerous substances constitutes "a danger to public health and society." It emphasizes the importance of ensuring accurate calculation of customs duties and taxes on the import and export of goods, and the correct application of prohibition, restriction, and control measures. Furthermore, the two parties consider that efforts to prevent customs violations and ensure correct collection of customs duties and taxes on imports and exports can be more effective through cooperation between their customs authorities. In implementing these measures, the two parties take into account the relevant international conventions, resolutions, and recommendations of the World Customs Organization, promoting mutual assistance. the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of India on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters, signed on 28 April 2004; and the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (New York, 1961), the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (Vienna, 1971), and the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Vienna, 1988).
