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New Croatian Customs Regulations
August 17th, 2007 Border, Croatia, Europe none Comments

Effective August 8, 2007, new customs regulations came into effect in the Republic of Croatia greatly expanding the rights of Croatian trademark owners to stop, seize and destroy infringing and, potentially, parallel market goods. Based on Article 70, paragraph 3 of the Croatian Customs Law, the new regulation amends the handling of suspect goods.

The new regulation has the following key elements:

  • the extension of Customs measures providing protection for IP rights to goods circulating by mail;
  • a simplified procedure for seizure and destruction of infringing goods.

The principal impact of the mail change is likely to be on goods purchased over the internet and delivered to the purchaser by mail.

The provisions of the amended Regulation which provide a simplified procedure for the destruction of infringing goods raise greater concerns and confusion. According to Anamarija Stancic of SD PETOSEVIC, an intellectual property practice with offices in Albania and throughout the former Yugoslavia, the rights holder is now able to submit the request for the destruction of detained goods which are under customs surveillance without an obligation to establish that the detained goods are infringing. Previously, the goods would be held by Croatian Customs while the Croatian trademark owner sought and obtained a final decision from a court of law. This process was very time consuming due to Croatian requirements regarding notice to all interested parties to the litigation.

This new regulation raises positive and negative concerns. On the one hand, it greatly enhances the ability of Croatian trademark owners to protect their rights administratively at the border. On the other hand, it raises serious concerns about possible abuses and the due process rights of the importers. Anyone doing business in the Croatian market or transshipping through Croatia would be well advised to monitor how this regulation develops and is enforced.

Thanks for information in this article to Anamarija Stancic at SD PETOSEVIC Croatia.

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