G/VAL/N/1/BOL/2   
26 October 2023  
(23-7239) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: Spanish  
 
  
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF THE AGREEMENT  ON 
THE IMPLEMENTATION  OF ARTICLE VII OF THE  GENERAL  
AGREEMENT  ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994  
PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA  
The following communication, dated 26 October 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Plurinational State of Bolivia . 
 
_______________  
 
 
Pursuant to Article 22.2 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agr eement 
on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the Permanent Mission of Bolivia has the honour to notify herewith the 
codified  text of Law No. 1990, of 28 July 1999  (General Customs Law ) and Supreme 
Decree  No. 25870, of 11 August 2000 , for the implementation of the Gen eral Customs Law (compiled 
text updated in April 2020) . 
 
The official version is available in Spanish at the following address:  
(a) General Customs Law in force  
https://www.aduana.gob.bo/aduana7/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/legislacion/LEY%20GENERAL
.pdf 
Article 145 of this Law includes a third paragraph.  
Note:  The article includes  the amendment, made pursuant to Article 3 of Law No.  549 of 
21 July 2014, regarding the inclusion of the third paragraph.  
Articles 188 - 241 (repealed)  
Title 11 was repealed by the Eleventh Final Provision of Law No. 2492 of 2 August 2003 (Bolivian 
Tax Code ); the content of these articles is set forth in Articles 182 -188, 190, 191 and 192 of the 
Code.  
(b) General Customs Law regulations in force  
https://www.aduana.gob.bo/aduana7/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/legislacion/REGLAMENTO%2
0A%20LA%20LEY%20GENERAL%20DE%20ADUANAS.pdf  G/VAL/N/1/BOL/2  
 
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  General Customs Law No. 1990 of 28 July 1999  
Article 145. The Customs Administration, in case of reasonable doubt, with respect to the value 
declared in commercial transactions between related enterprises, may carry out and/ or require the 
importer to carry out transfer pricing studies, in order to verify whether or not the relationship 
between the buyer and the seller has influenced the price, for the purposes of applying the 
transaction value.  
Note: The article includes  the amendment, made pursuant to Article 3 of Law No.  549 of 
21 July 2014, regarding the inclusion of the third paragraph.  
Articles 188 - 241 (repealed)  
Title 11 was repealed by the Eleventh Final Provision of Law No. 2492 of 2 August 2003 (Bolivian 
Tax Code ); the content of these articles is set forth in Articles 182 -188, 190, 191 and 192 of the 
Code (Law No. 2492, Bolivian Tax Code ). 
Law No. 2492, Bolivian Tax Code  
Section I: GENERAL PROVISIONS  
ARTICLE 182  (Applicable Regulations). The administration of criminal proceedings for tax offences 
shall be governed by the regulations laid down in  the Code of Criminal Procedure, subject to the 
exceptions provided for in th e present  Code.  
Section II: SPECIFICITIES IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ON TAX M ATTERS  
ARTICLE 183  (Criminal Proceedings for Tax Offences) . Criminal proceedings on tax matters are a 
question of public order and shall be brought ex officio  by the Office of the Public Prosecutor, with 
the involvement, as accorded by this Code, of the Ta x Administration holder of the tax debt as the 
injured party, which may become the plaintiff. Criminal proceedings on tax matters may not be 
suspended, interrupted or brought to an end, except in the instances provided for in the Code of 
Criminal Procedure . 
ARTICLE 184  (Tax Criminal Jurisdiction). Pursuant to Article 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 
the Sentencing Courts in tax matters shall be composed of two technical judges specialized in tax 
matters and three lay judges. Both the Sentencing Courts in tax matters and the investigating judges 
in criminal tax matters shall have jurisdiction in the department and shall sit in the department 
capitals.  
ARTICLE 185  (Investigation Directorate and Technical Body) . The Office of the Public Prosecutor 
shall co nduct investigations into tax offences and bring criminal proceedings on tax matters before 
judicial bodies, with the assistance of multidisciplinary investigation teams from the Tax 
Administration, in accordance the powers, functions and responsibilities laid down in this Code, the 
Code of Criminal Procedure and the Organic Law of the Office of the Public Prosecutor. The Tax 
Administration multidisciplinary investigation teams are the technical bod ies for investigating tax 
offences, and shall act directly or at the direction of the Office of the Public Prosecutor. In order to 
perform its functions, the Tax Administration may request assistance from the National Police and 
the Forensic Investigation Institute.  
ARTICLE 186 (Preventive Action). I. When the Cus toms Tax Administration becomes aware, by any 
means, of the commission of the offence of smuggling or another customs tax offence, it shall 
proceed directly or at the direction of the prosecutor to arrest those present at the place of 
commission, to appreh end the alleged perpetrators or participants and to carry out preventive 
seizures of the goods, means and instrumentalities of the crime, it shall gather and secure the 
evidence, carry out the procedures and actions that shall be ordered by the prosecutor conducting 
the investigation, and it shall exercise broad investigative powers in the preventive action and  during 
the preparatory stage, and may request the assistance of the law enforcement agencies for this 
purpose. When the prosecutor has not participa ted in the operation, the apprehended persons shall 
be made available to him/her within the following eight hours, and he/she shall also be informed of 
the goods and conveyances seized preventively, so that he/she can assume the functional direction 
of the  investigation and request the appropriate interim measure from the Criminal Investigation 
Judge. When the arrest is made in places that are far from the headquarters of the prosecutor or G/VAL/N/1/BOL/2  
 
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  the competent judicial authority, the time limits shall be calculate d by applying the distance 
conditions provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure. In the case of other Tax Administrations, 
preventive action shall be taken only in the event of in flagrante delicto  crimes. II. When at the 
investigation stage there is evi dence to suggest that accused may be a flight risk and if the 
precautionary measures adopted do not guarantee that the accused is made available for the 
purposes of the investigation or will attend the criminal trial, the Office of the Public Prosecutor or  
the Tax Administration shall request the competent judicial authority to order the preventive 
detention of the accused, with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies, without this implying 
prejudgement.  
ARTICLE 187 (Operation Record for Customs Tax Offences) . The Customs Tax Administration shall 
document its operation in a record that shall: (a) identify the administrative authority that carried 
out the operation and the prosecutor, if he/she intervened; (b) give a detailed account of the facts, 
specifying the time and place; (c) identify the persons apprehended , the accused as the authors, 
accomplices or accessories to the customs crime, if possible; (d) identify the evidence secured and, 
where appropriate, the means used in the commission of the cri me; (e) detail the goods and 
instrumentalities seized; and (f) include other relevant background details, factors and means. 
Within 48 hours, the Customs Tax Administration and the Prosecutor shall inform the competent 
Judge of the goods, conveyances seize d and the persons apprehended, without this meaning that 
the impartiality of the judicial authority has been compromised.  
ARTICLE 188 (Precautionary Measures). Precautionary measures of a personal nature shall be 
subject to the provisions and rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The following substantive 
precautionary measures may be applied: 1. the preventive seizure of the goods, conveyances and 
instrumentalities used in the commission of the offence or linked to the object of the tax, which is 
part o f the tax debt being enforced; 2. the withholding of tax refunds or other payments that must 
be made by the State and private third parties, in the amount necessary to ensure the recovery of 
the tax debt; 3. the entry of a caveat in the public records on t he property, rights and shares of the 
perpetrators of or participants in the tax offence, and of the person with civil liability; 4. the freezing 
of the accused's assets; 5. the withholding of deposits of money or securities made with financial 
intermediar ies; 6. the seizure of the accused's assets; 7. the assuming of control of the accused's 
business, to an extent proportional to the tax debt; 8. the closure of the debtor's establishment(s) 
or premises until the tax debt is settled  in full; 9. a prohibitio n on concluding acts or contracts to 
transfer or dispose of certain assets; 10. a judicial mortgage; 11. the renewal of guarantees, if any, 
for the estimated duration of the proceeding s, subject to alternative enforcement of the guarantees; 
and 12. other measure s as provided for by law. Precautionary measures shall be applied, with 
exemption from the payment of securities, duties and storage costs that are listed in the respective 
records and held by public institutions, and with deferred payment in the cas e of private institutions.  
ARTICLE 189 (Conciliation). Conciliation proceedings in criminal tax matters shall be conducted in 
accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Organic Law of the Office 
of the Public Prosecutor. In c ases of smuggling, conciliation proceedings shall be instituted if the 
accused forfeits the goods and accepts their definitive confiscation and auction in favour of the Tax 
Administration upon payment of  the customs liabilities. In the event that the goods  have not been 
seized, conciliation proceedings shall be instituted upon payment of an amount equivalent to 100% 
of the value of the goods. With regard to conveyances, conciliation proceedings shall be instituted if 
the transporter has paid the fine equiva lent to 50% of the value of the goods in lieu of the seizure 
of the conveyance, except as provided for in international agreements signed by the State. In cases 
of tax fraud or customs fraud, conciliation proceedings shall be instituted if the accused has paid the 
tax debt and the fine laid down for the corresponding crime. The Tax Administration shall participate 
in the conciliation hearing as the injured party .  
ARTICLE 190 (Conditional Suspension of Proceedings) . In criminal tax matters, the conditional 
suspension of proceedings shall be initiated under the terms set out in the Code of Criminal 
Procedure with the following specificities: 1. For the offences of tax fraud, customs fraud or the 
falsification of customs documents, full reparation of the harm suffered shall be understood to mean 
the payment of the tax debt and the fine laid down for the corresponding crime. 2.  For the offences 
of smuggling or of stealing a customs bond, reparation of the harm suffered shall be understood to 
mean the forfeiture in favour of the Tax Administration of all of the smuggled or stolen goods or, in 
the event that the goods have not been seized, the payment of 100% of their value. With regard to 
conveyance used, the payment by the transporter of 50% of the value of the g oods in lieu of the 
seizure of the conveyance, except as provided for in international agreements signed by the State.  G/VAL/N/1/BOL/2  
 
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  ARTICLE 191 (Text of the Sentence Handed Down) . When handing down the sentence, the 
Sentencing Court shall impose, where applicable: (a) a prison term; (b) the definitive confiscation 
of goods in favour of the State, where applicable; (c) the definitive confiscation of conveyances, 
where applicable; (d ) a fine; (e) other accompanying sanctions; (f) the obligation to pay the final 
tax debt due; (g) compensation for civil damage caused to the Tax Administration for the use of 
customs warehouses and other expenses, as well as legal costs. Substantive preca utionary measures 
shall remain in force until the taxes and eligible civil damages have been settled.  
ARTICLE 192 (Auction and Administration of Assets) . When substantive precautionary measures are 
imposed on goods that are difficult to maintain, are subje ct to rapid technological depreciation, or 
become outdated due to fashion or season, are consumables or perishable, in the preparatory or 
trial stage, the Investigating Judge or the Sentencing Court in tax matters, respectively, at the 
request of a party, shall arrange for the immediate sale of the goods at public auction within 
24 hours , even without the owner's consent. With respect to other goods, after 90 days have elapsed 
without an enforceable judgement, in order to avoid the further depreciation in t he value of the 
goods due to the passing of time, the Investigating Judge, the Sentencing Court in tax matters or 
the relevant Court of Appeals shall arrange for the immediate sale of the goods at public auction , at 
the request of a party. The proceeds of the auction  and deposits or resources withheld as a result of 
the enforcement of guarantees shall be used to pay the tax debt. To this end, these proceeds shall 
be deposited in tax accounts. In the event that  the State has not been fully reimbursed, the 
Sentencing Court shall order the seizure of more of the debtor's assets. The procedure for 
registering, administering and controlling goods that have been seized, frozen, confiscated or 
forfeited in relation to tax and customs matter s shall be the responsibi lity of the relevant Tax 
Administration, with the same obligations and powers set forth in the Code of Criminal Procedure 
for the Directorate for the Registration, Control and Administration of Seized Assets, except as 
provided for in the present Code. The  arrangements, requirements, conditions and timeline for the 
auction and the distribution of the proceeds of the auction, shall be established in the Regulations.  
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