The interdependence between international law and European Community law, particularly in the area of customs, is very complex. The ways in which international customs law is incorporated into the Community’s legal system are many and varied, and there is a need to establish some standard mechanisms for the future in order to reduce the diversity of solutions that are found for problems that are similar. The introduction of the modernised Customs Code provides an opportunity to explore the application of a general model according to which international customs law may be made part of the Community’s legal system.