Customs operators get ten new standard guarantee deeds for 2026

Customs operators in the clearance and transit sectors must lodge their guarantees on the new standard formsLegifrance: the deed of the principal obligor and the guarantor, or the deed assigning a sum of money as securityLegifrance, now covers both deferred payment and suspended payment of all sums for which a guarantee is required under Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of 9 October 2013 or the code des douanesLegifrance. The guarantee is lodged by the debtor or the person liable to become so, or by a third party with the status of registered customs representative standing in for the debtorLegifrance.

The isolated guarantee, open to every operatorLegifrance, covers a single clearance, temporary-storage or transit operationLegifrance. As a guarantor's undertaking, the applicant sends the deed of the principal obligor and the guarantor to the recette des douanes et droits indirects of the office where the declaration is lodged, for registration, on the annex 1 formLegifrance; as an assignment of money, the deed of assignment goes to the same recette on the annex 2 formLegifrance. Operators may instead seek a comprehensive guarantee covering several clearance, temporary-storage or transit operations that have generated or may generate customs or tax debtsLegifrance: they apply to the competent customs service for a CGU authorisation — comprehensive guarantee, with possible reduction or waiver — under articles 22, 89 and 95 of Regulation 952/2013Legifrance. The undertaking then goes to the recette of their choice on the annex 3 form, or the assignment of money on the annex 4 formLegifrance, while applicants dispensed from lodging security use the annex 5 formLegifrance; the amounts entered are assessed on the annex 6 evaluation sheetLegifrance, which with the CGU authorisation is appended to the deed and sent to the recetteLegifrance. Signing a guarantor's undertaking means unreserved acceptance of the suretyship rules in annex 7Legifrance; signing an assignment of money means unrestricted, unreserved acceptance of articles 2374 to 2374-6 of the code civilLegifrance, the assigned sum bearing neither fruits nor interestLegifrance.

Three further specific undertakings each go to a designated recette for registrationLegifrance: the removal-credit (crédit d'enlèvement) guarantee backing a pooling and deferred-payment convention, on the annex 8 form to the recette of the office where the convention was signedLegifrance; the guarantee for a contested debt backing a stay of payment after challenging a recovery notice, on the annex 9 form to the recette that issued the noticeLegifrance; and the payment-facilities guarantee backing a request for time to pay, on the annex 10 form to that same recetteLegifrance.

The arrêté du 12 mars 2024 is repealedLegifrance: compared with it, coverage widens from clearance-only operators to the transit sectorLegifrance, the transit-by-voucher references disappear into the single-operation isolated guarantee, and the removal-credit, contested-debt and payment-facility deeds become three separately numbered forms. Undertakings lodged under the repealed text remain valid without time limitLegifrance, so no operator re-lodges an existing guaranteeLegifrance.

Legal basis: arrêté du 10 septembre 2026 prescrivant la souscription d'un acte de garantie en matière de douane, de transit, de globalisation, de sursis et de facilités de paiementLegifrance.