VII.4.1.6. Customs' response to the notice of investigation

The final customs office of passage to which the TC20 form is sent will immediately begin searching for the TC10 notice of passage corresponding to the shipment.

After this search, the following cases may arise:

1. The shipment has been effectively presented at the last scheduled customs office and a clearance notice has been found.
   In this case, the transit customs office will return the TC20 along with a copy of the notice of passage directly to the competent authority of the country of departure.
2. No notice of passage is found at the last scheduled customs crossing (nor any other evidence of transit).
   In that case, the last scheduled customs office of transit will include this information in the TC20 and return it to the previous scheduled customs office of transit indicated in the transit declaration or, if there is no such customs office, to the competent authority of the country of departure.

As they successively receive the notice of investigation, the transit customs offices will proceed similarly, so that the TC20, duly endorsed, is forwarded without delay to the previous planned transit customs office indicated in the transit declaration or, if there is no such customs office, directly to the competent authority of the country of departure, which will draw the relevant conclusions from the information received.

When the transit customs office sends the TC20 to the previous planned transit customs office, it will also send a copy to the competent authority of the country of departure, in order to keep it informed of the status of the investigation procedure. The intended customs office of transit must also inform the competent authority of the country of departure whether, after having sent the notice of investigation to the previous intended customs office of transit, it has received the notice of passage from the actual customs office of transit (situation described in point 1).