IP/N/1/LVA/14  
IP/N/1/LVA/O/1  
 
14 December 2022  
(22-9294)  Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS  
UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT  
LATVIA : CUSTOMS LAW  
Notifying Member  LATVIA  
 
Details of the notified legal text  
 
Title Customs Law  
Subject matter  Other  
Nature of 
notification  [  ] Main dedicated intellectual property law or regulation  
[X] Other law or regulation  
Link to legal text* https://ip -documents.info/2022/IP/LVA/22_8411_00_e.pdf  
Notification status  [X] First notification  
[  ] Amendment or revision to notified legal text  
[  ] Replacement or consolidation of notified legal text(s)  
Previous 
notification(s) 
referred to  Not applicable  
Brief description of the notified legal text  
 
Taking into account the initiative of the industry associations and the call to evaluate the possibility 
of determining in the normative regulation that disputes regarding the violation of intellectual 
property rights are resolved in a civil procedure, the  Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the 
Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Transport, developed a Conceptual Report.  
 
The Cabinet of Ministers supported the solution included in the above -mentioned report to provide 
in the normative regulation that the State Revenue Service (hereinafter - SRS) initiates an 
administrative proceeding with respect to goods subject to customs control, which are suspected of 
infringing intellectual property rights. While in other cases, the dispute regarding the viol ation of 
intellectual property rights is resolved in a civil procedure.  
 
Taking the above -mentioned into account, amendments were made to the Customs Law, 
determining the competence of the SRS in the settlement of disputes on intellectual property rights 
in accordance with that which was mentioned in the Conceptual Report, as well as regulating customs 
control measures for the protection of intellectual property rights and actions of persons in cases 
when a statement of claim has been submitted to the cour t regarding the initiation of a court 
proceeding on counterfeit goods or an application regarding the determination of a provisional 
measure of protection before bringing a claim to the court for said goods.  
 IP/N/1/LVA/14 • IP/N/1/LVA/O/1  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Within the framework of the above -mentioned amendments, the Customs Law was supplemented 
with a new Section 14.2, which determines actions in cases where a statement of claim or an 
application regarding the determination of a provisional measure of protection has been submitted 
to the court. The above -mentioned provision of the law will apply to cases where the customs 
authority has suspicions that the goods subject to customs control, which are not covered by the 
provisions of Articles 135 to 141 and Article 144 of Regulation No. 201 5/2446, are counterfeit. In 
such cases, the fact of whether the intellectual property rights are violated, is determined by a court.  
 
In turn, Section 14.1 of the Customs Law established the competence of the SRS and customs 
control measures for the protec tion of intellectual property rights in relation to goods subject to 
customs control, which are subject to the provisions of Articles 135 to 141 and Article 144 of 
Regulation No. 2015/2446. According to Section 14.1 of the Customs Law, if the declarant or holder 
of goods subject to customs control, which are subject to the provisions of Articles 135 to 141 and 
Article 144 of Regulation No. 2015/2446, in accordance with Article 23(3) of the Regulation 
No. 608/2013 has submitted written objections to the SRS regarding destruction of the goods, the 
SRS, based on the confirmation provided by the recipient of the decision about the violation of 
intellectual property rights and other evidence in the case, evaluates the existence of the violation 
of intellectual pr operty rights in relation to the above -mentioned goods. If the SRS detects a violation 
of intellectual property rights, the SRS, in accordance with Article 198(1)(b)(iv) of Regulation 
No. 952/2013, makes a decision on the transfer of goods that infringe in tellectual property rights to 
the recipient of the decision for destruction.  
 
A new section 14.5 determined the procedure included in the Cabinet Regulation No. 468.  
 
Language(s) of 
notified legal text English  
Entry into force  5 July 2016  
Other date   
 
Notification details  
 
Submission date 
of notification  8 December 2022  
Other information  See also IP/N/1/LVA/E/2  
(Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers Nº 43 regarding "Customs Control 
Measures to Ensure Protection of Intellectual Property")  
 
https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/283024 -customs -law 
 
Agency or 
authority 
responsible  Customs  
Ministry of Finance  
 
Email:   marika.vibane@fm.gov.lv  
Telephone:   0037122013024  
 
 
 
* Links are provided to texts of laws and regulations notified under the TRIPS Agreement in the form 
supplied by the Member concerned; the WTO Secretariat does not endorse or revise their content.