Guarantee of the Customs Debt

71 5. The amount of the interest on arrears payable shall be calculated on the basis of the rate of 3 for every month or fraction of a month over the total amount of the customs debt. Article 157 Payment Modalities The payment of a customs debt may be made in cash or by certified cheque to the order of the Treasury, at the customs office where the declaration has been registered.

CHAPTER IV Guarantee of the Customs Debt

Article 158 Requirement of Guarantee 1. Whenever, in applying the customs legislation, the customs authorities require the constitution of a guarantee in order to ensure the payment of a customs debt, such guarantee shall be provided by the debtor. 2. Where the debtor is a body of the Public Administration, the bank guarantee may be replaced by a letter of responsibility. 3. The list of bodies of the Public Administration authorised to use letters of responsibility shall be approved by instruction of the Minister of Planning and Finance. Article 159 Moment of the Constitution of the Guarantee 1. The guarantee may be required at the time of the declaration of the goods for the customs procedure. 2. The amount of the guarantee to be constituted shall be equal to the amount of the debt incurred or to be incurred. 3. Where the amount of the debt to be incurred has not been set, the customs authorities shall require the guarantee by the highest amount they calculate as being susceptible of being incurred. Article 160 72 Modalities of Guarantee The guarantee may be constituted either by a deposit in cash or by a personal security. Article 161 Guarantee by Personal Security 1. Where the debtor opts for this modality of guarantee, the creditor shall have to undertake himself or herself in writing to be held jointly and severally liable for payment of the amount guaranteed at the first request to do so. 2. The customs authorities may refuse the proposed creditor when they consider that the proposed creditor does not have sufficient credibility. 3. Whenever the customs authorities notice that the guarantee provided does not cover or has ceased to cover safely and entirely the payment of the customs debt within the time limits set, they shall require the debtor or his or her creditor to provide a supplementary guarantee. 4. The guarantee shall not be cancelled until the respective customs debt has been settled. 5. The creditor shall be jointly and severally a debtor, and the customs authorities may sue the principal debtor, the creditor, or both simultaneously.

CHAPTER V Extinction of Customs Debt