WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
20 April 2004 
 (04-1761) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English/ 
 anglais/  inglés 
 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
ROMANIA 
 
 The present document reproduces the text
1 of Law No. 202/2000 of 13 November 2000 on 
Specific Measures for the Enforcement of Intellectua l Property Rights in Customs Clearance Operations, 
published in Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei (t he Official Gazette of Romania) No. 588 
of 21 December 2000, notified by Romania under Ar ticle 63.2 of the Agreement in a communication 
from its Delegation dated 14 May 2001.  
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA 
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
 
ROUMANIE 
 
 Le présent document contient le texte1 de la Loi n° 202/2000 du 13 novembre 2000 sur les 
mesures spécifiques visant à faire respecter les droits  de propriété intellectuelle lors des opérations de 
dédouanement, publiée dans le Monitoru l Oficial al Romaniei (Journal offi ciel de la Roumanie) n° 588 du 
21 décembre 2000, notifiée par la Roumanie au titre de  l'article 63:2 de l'Acco rd dans une communication 
de sa délégation datée du 14 mai 2001.    
 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio  
  
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
 
RUMANIA 
  En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de la Ley Nº 202/2000, de 13 de noviembre 
de 2000, sobre medidas específicas pa ra la observancia de los derechos de propiedad intelectual en las 
operaciones de despacho de aduanas,  publicada en el Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei (Gaceta Oficial de 
Rumania) N° 588, de 21 de diciembre de 2000, que Rumania ha notificado en virtud del párrafo 2 del 
artículo 63 del Acuerdo en una comunicación de su  Delegación de fecha 14 de mayo de 2001.   
                                                      
 1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
Page 2  
Unofficial Translation 
 
“Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei” 
(The Official Gazette of Romania) 
Part One, No. 588 of December 21, 2000 
  
 
  
 
Law No. 202/2000 
 
on 
Specific Measures for the Enforcement 
of 
Intellectual Property Rights 
in 
Customs Clearance Operations 
 
   
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
   
 
  
 
  
 
 IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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CONTENTS  
 
1. Chapter I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS       1 
  2. Chapter II  
CONDITIONS FOR FILING A REQUEST  
FOR CUSTOMS AUTHORIT IES INTERVENTION  
FOR THE DEFENCE OF AN INTELLECTUAL  
P R O P E R T Y  R I G H T         4  
  
3. Chapter III 
MEASURES WITHIN THE COMPETENCE OF  THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES      6 
 
 4. Chapter IV 
EX OFFICIO ACTIONS OF THE CUSTOMS  
A U T H O R I T I E S          7  
  
5. Chapter V 
DESTINATION OF COUNTERFEIT OR P I R A T E  G O O D S          8  
 
 6. Chapter VI 
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION      9 
  
7. Chapter VII 
S A N C T I O N S          9  
  
8. Chapter VIII  
FINAL PROVISIONS        10 
 IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 Law  
on Specific Measures for the Enforcement of Intellectual  
Property Rights in Customs Clearance Operations 
 
The Parliament of Romania adopts this law.  
 
 
Chapter I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 Article 1  —   (1) For the purpose of th is law the terms are defined as follows: 
1. intellectual property right — c opyright, neighbouring rights, right 
in registered trade marks or service mark s, right in industrial designs, right in 
geographical indications, right in patents for invention; 
2. copyright  — intellectual proper ty right recognised for the natural 
person(s) who created an original work of intellectual creation in the literary, 
artistic or scientific domain regardless of the mode of  creation, of the mode or 
concrete form of expression,  independent of their valu e and destination, or for 
other legal holders, lega l or natural persons; 
3. neighbouring rights — intellect ual property rights, other than 
copyright, benefiting performers for their own performances, producers of 
phonograms for their own sound recordings, radio and television broadcasting 
organisations for their own broadcasts; 
4. trade or service mark — a si gn which is capable of graphic 
representation and which serves to distin guish the goods or services of a natural 
or legal person from those belonging to ot her persons. Distinctive signs such as 
words, personal names included, dr awings, letters, numbers, figurative 
elements, three-dimensional forms, na mely the form of the product or its 
package, combinations of colours as well as any combination of those signs 
may be marks; 
5. industrial design — the new a ppearance of a product having a 
utilitarian function; 
6. geographical indication — th e name identifying a product 
originating  in a country, region or loca lity of a state whenev er a feature, its  IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 reputation or other determining features may be essentially attributed to that 
geographical origin; 
7. patent for invention — title of protection that may be granted for 
any invention having a product, proce ss or method as subject-matter in any 
technical field if the claimed invention is  new, involves an inventive step and is 
capable of industrial application; 
8. additional certificate of protect ion — title of protection which may 
be  granted for any product patent ed as medicine or phytogenous 
pharmaceutical product in Roma nia, according to the law; 
9. right holder — holder of an in tellectual property right as well as 
any  other person authorised to make use of  this right or his legal representative; 
10. registered mark — any mark re gistered in the National Trademark 
Register; 
11. authorised person — the person w hom the right holder allowed to 
use the intellectual property right; 
12. legal representative — the pe rson mandated by the holder of the 
intellectual property right to act on his behalf in the territory of Romania; 
13. counterfeit goods:  a)  any goods, the package included,  bearing without authorisation a 
trade or service mark identi cal to a trade or service ma rk legally registered for 
the said goods or which cannot be distinguished by its features from a legally registered trade or service mark and wh ich consequently infringe the rights of 
the trademark owner; 
b)  any trade or service mark entr usted without aut horisation to be 
affixed onto goods even if it is displayed separately and is in the same situation 
as the goods mentioned under item a); 
c)  any goods bearing a mark which is  identical to a protected trade or 
service mark or which is not substantia lly distinguishable from it and which is 
susceptible of infringement by use for goods or services different from those for which there is a registered trade  or se rvice mark thereby cr eating confusion as 
to source or origin; 
d) any package bearing marks of counterfeit goods, displayed 
separately, under the same conditions as  the goods defined under paragraph a). 
14. pirate goods — all the copies ma nufactured without the consent  of 
the right holder or of the person who was legally authorised by him in the IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 manufacturing country and which are made directly or indirectly by copying an 
article protected by copyright or neighb ouring rights or by industrial design if 
the manufacturing of such copies w ould infringe the specific intellectual 
property right according to the law of the importing country; 
15. goods infringing an intellectual property right : 
a) counterfeit goods; 
b) pirate goods; c) goods infringing a patent for invention or an additional certificate 
of protection;  
d) goods infringing the right in a geographical indication; 
16. detention of goods  — maki ng goods unavailable by means of 
required storage ordered by custom s authorities, under custom-house 
supervision, with customs commission agents  or with the holder of suspensive 
customs regime under the conditions provi ded by the customs law for a period 
decided by the customs authorities; 
17. customs declarant — the pers ons who draws up and files the 
declaration of duty  in his own name  or the person in whose name the 
declaration of duty  is drawn up by the re presentative or the commission agent. 
(2)  Where appropriate, any design or  die made for or adapted to the 
manufacturing of a counterfeit mark, of good s attached such a mark or to the 
manufacturing of goods infringing a pa tent for invention, an additional 
certificate of protection or a geographical indication if the use of such designs 
or dies causes damage to the right hol der shall be assimilated to the goods 
mentioned in item 15. 
 Article 2 — The provisions of this Law shall be applied over the whole customs 
area to: 
a) goods meant to be subject to final import or export customs 
regimes; 
b) goods meant to be subject to susp ensive customs regime or in free 
trade areas except for the goods in external customs transit. 
 
Article 3  —  (1) The exceptions from the provisions of this Law shall refer to 
goods bearing a trade or service mark w ith the consent of the owner of this 
mark or geographical indication which are protected by a patent for invention or 
additional certificate of protection, by copyright or neighb ouring right, by a  IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 right related to industrial design, and which have been  manufactured with the 
consent of the legal ow ner but have been sold  without his consent. 
(2) Exceptions from the provisions of this Law shall also include the 
following cases: 
a) goods which were manufacture d or which bear a mark or 
geographical indication under conditions that differ from those agreed upon 
with the right holder; 
b) goods in the travellers’ luggage  or in parcels subject to the 
conditions applicable to trave llers and other natural persons. 
 
  
Chapter II 
CONDITIONS FOR FILING A REQUEST  FOR CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES 
INTERVENTION FOR THE ENFORCEMENT 
OF AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT 
 
Article 4  —  (1) The intervention of th e customs authorities shall be requested 
by the right holder by filing a request w ith the General Customs Directorate 
mentioning his capacity in relation to the intellectual property right, thereby 
requesting the suspension of the custom s clearance and the detention of the 
goods liable to infringe the protected right. (2) The right holder shall be obliged  to inform the General Customs 
Directorate of the lapse of protection of the said intellectual property right in the 
territory of Romania.  Article 5  —  Requests shall be file d for each kind of contested product 
infringing an intellectual property right.  Article 6  —  The request for the interv ention of the customs authorities for the 
enforcement  of an intell ectual property right shall be  written and shall comprise 
the following elements identifying the genuine goods subject to the intellectual property right and the elements identifying the contested goods: 1. Information concerning the requestor
: 
a) the name and place of business of the legal person; 
b) the full name and addre ss of the natural persons; 
c) mention of the power of attorney , whenever the request is filed by 
a representative; IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 d) registration number a nd date of the document issued by the State 
Office for Inventions and Trademarks or  by any other authorised institution 
whereby the capacity of a holder of a right protected in the territory of Romania 
is confirmed; 
e) designation of the authorised pers ons to be contacted in case of 
goods detention, also mentioni ng a telephone or fax number; 
f) signature and where appropr iate, stamp of the requestor. 
2. Information concerning the identif ication of genuine goods vesting an 
intellectual property right : 
a) detailed description of the genuine goods; b) photos of the product and/or any other graphic representation of the 
specific emblem, where appropriate; 
c) a sample of the product, where appropriate; d) indication of the places wh ere the goods were manufactured, 
specifying the name of the pr oducers and the headquarters; 
e) name and place of business of the legal persons authorised to 
import or export those goods, where appropriate; 
f) any other elements identifying genuine goods. 
3. Information concerning the id entification of contested goods
: 
a) a sufficiently clear description of the contested goods enabling the 
customs authorities to recognise them; 
b) submission of photos or any ot her graphic representations,  if 
possible; 
c) submission of samples of the product, if possible; d) indication of the countries of origin and/or source, if possible; 
e) mention of the name and main  place of business of the company 
and/or persons involved in the importa tion or exportation of the contested 
goods, if possible; 
f) mode of transport and menti on of the involved transportation 
company, specifying the name a nd the address, if possible; 
g) custom-houses where the contested goods might arrive; 
h) the time period when the contested goods might arrive. 
4. The length of the period for which the intervention of the customs 
authorities is requested for the defence of an intellectual property right shall be 
at most one year from the date on whic h the request has become effective. 
  
    IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 Chapter III 
MEASURES WITHIN THE COMPETENCE 
OF THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES 
 Article 7  —  (1) Within 10 days fr om registering the request, the General 
Customs Directorate shall notify the requ estor in writing, the approval or, where 
appropriate, the necessity of submitting additional documents and information. 
(2) The refusal of a request for the in tervention of the customs authorities for 
the defence of an intellectual property  right shall be communicated to the 
requestor in writing also mentioning its reasons. 
(3) The refusal of the request may be appealed by the requestor by complaint 
lodged with the competent law court.  Article 8  —  Where the request is accep ted, it shall become effective as from 
the date on which the requestor has file d with the General Customs Directorate 
the receipt of payment to the account of the said  directorate of the equivalent in 
local currency of the tariff of 500 Euro at  the exchange rate set according to the 
provisions of the Customs Code of Romania.  Article 9  —  The sums of money collect ed as a result of the application of 
Article 8 shall be deemed  as revenues of the customs authority which are 
administered and used outside the budget, according to the legislation establishing fees for customs operations. 
 
Article 10  —  On account of the effectiv e request the customs authorities shall 
suspend the customs clearance operation and shall detain the goods liable to 
infringe an intellectual property right, and shall communicate this measure to 
both the requestor and the declarant, in writing.  Article 11  —  (1)  Where, within 10 days from the date on which the requestor 
was communicated the measur e of suspending the customs clearance operation 
and of detaining the goods, the request or does not prove having lodged a 
complaint with the law court and having  deposited a guaranty in favour of the 
General Customs Directorate equivalent to the customs value of the detained 
goods, the customs authorities shall not comply with the request and shall 
proceed to customs clearance. (2) The guaranty deposited according to paragraph (1) is an assuring measure 
meant to recover possible damage asse ssed by final decree and caused to the IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 importer or, where appropriate, to the ow ner or addressee of the goods, and to 
ensure the payment of the costs incurr ed by keeping the goods under customs 
control. (3) This guaranty may be deposited in  local currency (lei) by means of a 
bank deposit or letter of guaranty accepted by the customs authority. 
(4) In well-grounded cases, the Genera l Customs Directorate may extend the 
period with 10 days at most, upon the request of the applicant. 
 
Article 12  —  Where the conditions provi ded by Article 11 are satisfied, the 
customs authorities shall have the power to prolong the detention of the goods 
until the case is settled by the law court. 
 
Article 13  — Without a breach of confid entiality of the data  and information, 
the customs authorities may allow the di sputing parties to check the detained 
goods and to take samples in order to find out, by mean s of analysis or tests, 
whether the goods infringe an intellectual property right.  
Article 14  —  Where the expert author ised by the law court has found that the 
goods infringe an intellectual property ri ght, the customs authorities may supply 
the right holder copies of the documents accompanying the goods. 
 
Article 15  —  Where the customs authori ties have taken all the steps provided 
by the customs regulations but have not been able to identify the contested goods, the General  Customs Directorate shall not be held responsible for the 
requests that have been approved  and have became effective. 
  
Chapter IV 
EX OFFICIO ACTIONS OF THE 
CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES 
 
Article 16  —  On the basis of the curre nt documents of the State Office  for 
Inventions and Trademarks and of th e bodies of joint administration  of 
copyright and neigh bouring rights sent to the cust oms authorities, the General 
Customs Directorate may undertake ex o fficio actions suspending the customs 
clearance operation and th e detention of goods if said goods are liable to 
infringe an intellectual property right. 
Article 17  —  (1)  The General Custom s Directorate shall inform the right 
holder and the declarant, in writing, i mmediately, on the suspension of the 
customs clearance operation and detenti on, on the date and the custom-house 
detaining said goods.  IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 (2) The right holder may check with  his own means the goods liable to 
infringe an intellectual property right. 
 
Article 18  —  Where the right holder fa ils to file with the General Customs 
Directorate a request for the interven tion of the customs authorities for the 
defence of the intellectual property right s and the receipt of payment for the 
sum provided in Article 8, within 3 wor kdays from receiving the notification of 
the detention of goods, the customs au thorities shall cancel the measure of the 
suspension of the customs  clearanc e operation and detention of the goods. 
  
Chapter V 
PLACE OF DESTINATIO N OF COUNTERFEIT 
OR PIRATE GOODS 
 Article 19  —  (1) Where the action of the right holder is refused by a final 
decree of the law court, the custom s authorities shall proceed to customs 
clearance of the goods. 
(2) The importer, the owner or the addressee of the goods may lodge a complaint with the law court against the right holder requestin g the recovery of 
the damage from the guaranty deposited acco rding to the provisions of Article 
11(1). On the basis of the final decree, the General Customs Directorate shall 
execute this guaranty acco rding to the sentence. 
 Article 20  —  (1)  Where the action of the holder of the right exercised by the 
requestor is admitted by a final decree of the law court, the customs  authorities 
shall proceed according to Article 25(a). 
(2) In the case provided in paragraph (1 ) the customs authorities shall refund 
the whole guaranty deposited by the requ estor; the customs authorities shall 
owe no interest. Article 21  —  The goods seized accord ing to Article 25(a) may have the 
following destination: 
a) destruction, according to the legal standards in force; 
b) where there is the written consent of the requestor, according to  the 
provisions of Article 4 or 8, and where the goods are fit for the consumption or 
use of the natural persons, the seized goods may be handed over, free of charge, 
depending on the nature of the goods,  to institutions i nvolved in social 
protection, non-profit charitable organisati ons or associations, sports clubs or 
associations or educational institutions . Then, the institu tion which is handed IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 over goods for consumption or use shall bi nd itself not to sell or transfer said 
goods.  Article 22  —  The customs authorities shall not allow the re-exportation of 
goods capable of infringing an intellectua l property right and shall not subject 
them to another customs regime until the law court pronounces its final verdict. 
  
Chapter VI 
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 
 
Article 23  —  The customs authorities shall enforce this Law taking into  
consideration the specific international conventions where Ro mania is a party. 
 
Article 24  —  The General Customs Directorate shall be authorised to 
exchange information and to  cooperate  with other cu stoms authorities as far as 
the infringement of intellectual property rights is concerned.   
Chapter VII 
SANCTIONS 
 
Article 25  —  The following actions shall be deemed c ontravention provided 
they are not deemed offences according to the penal law and shall be punished 
by a) fine of 30,000,000 to  50,000,000 lei for the acti on of the importer, owner 
or where appropriate, addressee of the go ods of bringing into the country or of 
taking out of the country goods that were found to be goods infringing an 
intellectual property right according to th e final decree of the law court. Where 
the goods have been sold, the sums collect ed as a result of the sale shall be 
confiscated; 
b) fine of 30,000,000 to  50,000,000 lei for failure of the right holder 
to fulfil the obligation provided in Article  4(2) within 15 days from the date the 
protection of the intellectual property ri ght claimed in the request has ceased; 
c) fine of 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 fo r failure to fulfil the obligation 
of not selling or transferring the goods taken over under Article 21(b). 
 
Article 26  —  (1)  The contraventions sp ecified in this Chapter shall be applied 
the standards and general provisions on a ttesting and sanctioni ng contraventions  IP/N/1/ROM/E/1 
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 except for those on reducing fines paid on the spot or within a certain period of 
time. 
(2) Customs contraventions shall be a ttested in contrave ntion reports drawn 
up according to the provisions of Article 185 in the Customs Code of Romania. 
The sanctions shall be applied by   the cu stoms staff that draws up contravention 
reports in virtue of their professional duties. 
 
 
Chapter VIII 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 27  —  The provisions of this Law shall be completed by the provisions 
of the Customs Code of Romania and of the Rules Implementing the Customs 
Code. 
 
Article 28  —  The request and any co rrespondence or documents concerning 
the intervention of the customs author ities shall be filed with the General 
Customs Directorate.  Article 29  —  (1)  All the measures  meant to avoid any damages during the 
period of suspension of the customs clearance operation and detention of goods 
shall concern the holder of the import, export operation or suspensive customs 
regime and cannot be imputed to the cu stoms authorities if there are no proofs 
of damages imputable to those authorities. (2) All the costs incurred by the deten tion of the goods liable to infringe an 
intellectual property right sha ll be paid by the requestor. 
 Article 30  —  (1)  The State Office fo r Inventions and Trademarks and the 
bodies of joint administration of copyri ght and neighbouring rights shall  make 
the list of the registered intellectual pr operty right holders and the information 
required for the identification of the pr otected items as well as their updates 
available to the General Customs Directorate. (2) The State Office for Inventions a nd Trademarks, the Romanian Copyright 
Office and other institutions in charge of intellectual property protection shall 
exchange information with the Ge neral Customs Directorate for the 
enforcement of this law.  
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 Article 31  —  The government shall upda te the amount of the fines depending 
on the inflation rate. 
 
Article 32  —  (1)  This Law shall ente r into force within 30 days from its 
publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. (2) During the same period, the Genera l Customs Directorate shall work out 
the regulations implementing this Law to  be approved by government decision. 
 
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