Article 15 Non-alteration

Products declared for release for free circulation in one party shall be the same products as exported from the other party in which they are considered to originate. They shall not have been altered or transformed in any way or subjected to operations other than operations to preserve them in good condition or to add or affix marks, labels, seals or any other documentation to ensure compliance with the national requirements of the importing party, prior to being declared for release for free circulation.

Storage of products or consignments may take place when they remain under customs supervision in the country or countries of transit.

Without prejudice to Title V, consignments may be split when this is done by the exporter or under the exporter's responsibility, and the products remain under customs supervision in the country or countries of transit.

Compliance with paragraphs 1 to 3 shall be assumed unless the customs authorities have reason to believe otherwise; in such cases, the customs authorities may ask the declarant to provide evidence of compliance with those paragraphs, which may be given by any means, including contractual transport documents such as bills of lading or factual evidence based on the marking or numbering of packages or any evidence related to the goods themselves.