The Convention establishes rules for sharing the cost of collecting funds for the EU budget. These rules are used when the 'centralised clearance' process, as described in Article 106 of the Modernised Customs Code, is at play. This process comes into effect when goods declared for free circulation in one Member State are physically presented to customs in another Member State.

The same rules for cost sharing apply when 'centralised clearance' is combined with other simplifications provided for in the Modernised Customs Code.

These cost-sharing rules also apply to the 'Single Authorisation' process as defined in Article 1(13) of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 2454/93. This is used for the release of goods for free circulation.