be restricted only to importers but shall be extended to any other persons interested. 4. Standard National legislation shall provide for customs warehouses to be used solely by specified persons (private customs warehouses) when this is necessary to meet the special requirements of trade or industry. ESTABLISHMENT OF WAREHOUSES 5. Standard The requirements as regards the construction and layout of customs warehouses and the arrangements for customs control shall be laid down by the customs authorities. Note For the purpose of control, the customs authorities may, in particular: - require that customs warehouses be double-locked (secured by the lock of the person concerned and by the customs lock); - keep the premises under permanent or intermittent supervision; - keep, or require to be kept, accounts of goods warehoused (by using either special registers or the relevant declarations); - take stock of the goods in the warehouse from time to time. MANAGEMENT OF WAREHOUSES 6. Standard National legislation shall specify the person or persons held responsible for the payment of any import duties and taxes chargeable on goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure that are not accounted for to the satisfaction of the customs authorities. 7. Standard When security is required to ensure that the obligations arising from several operations will be fulfilled, the customs authorities shall accept a general security. 8. Recommended practice The amount of any security should be set as low as possible having regard to the import duties and taxes potentially chargeable. 9. Recommended practice The customs authorities should waive security where the warehouse is under adequate customs supervision, in particular where it is customs-locked. 10. Standard The customs authorities shall lay down the requirements as regards the management of customs warehouses, and arrangements for storage of goods in customs warehouses and for stock-keeping and accounting shall be subject to the approval of the customs authorities. GOODS ALLOWED TO BE WAREHOUSED 11. Recommended practice Storage in public customs warehouses should be allowed for all kinds of imported goods liable to import duties and taxes or to restrictions or prohibitions other than those imposed on grounds of public morality or order, public security, public hygiene or health, or for veterinary or phytopathological considerations, or relating to the protection of patents, trade marks and copyrights, irrespective of quantity, country of origin, country whence arrived or country of destination. Goods which constitute a hazard, which are likely to affect other goods or which require special installations should be accepted only by customs warehouses specially designed to receive them. 12. Standard The kinds of goods which may be stored in private customs warehouses shall be specified by the competent authorities in the authority granting the benefit of the customs warehousing procedure or in an appropriate provision. 13. Recommended practice Storage in customs warehouses should be allowed for goods which are entitled to repayment of import duties and taxes when exported, so that they may qualify for such repayment immediately, on condition that they are to be exported subsequently. 14. Recommended practice Storage in customs warehouses, with a view to subsequent exportation or other authorized disposal, should be allowed for goods under the temporary admission procedure, the obligations under that procedure thereby being discharged. 15. Recommended practice Storage in customs warehouses should be allowed for goods intended for exportation that are liable to, or have borne, internal duties or taxes, in order that they may qualify for exemption from, or repayment of, such internal duties and taxes, on condition that they are to be exported subsequently. ADMISSION INTO WAREHOUSES 16. Standard National legislation shall specify the conditions under which goods for warehousing shall be produced at the competent customs office and a goods declaration shall be lodged. AUTHORIZED OPERATIONS 17. Standard Any person entitled to dispose of the warehoused goods shall be allowed: (a) to inspect them; (b) to take samples, against payment of the import duties and taxes where appropriate; (c) to carry out operations necessary for their preservation. 18. Standard Warehoused goods shall be allowed to undergo usual forms of handling to improve their packaging or marketable quality or to prepare them for shipment, such as breaking bulk, grouping of packages, sorting and grading, and repacking. DURATION OF WAREHOUSING 19. Standard The authorized maximum duration of storage in a customs warehouse shall be fixed with due regard to the needs of trade and shall be not less than one year. TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP 20. Standard The transfer of ownership of warehoused goods shall