European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1979
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1979.
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paragraphs: These Regulations shall come into operation on the 28th day of May, 1979.
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations—
"authorisation" means a general or special authorisation granted by the Revenue Commissioners to natural or legal persons established within the Community in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 7 of these Regulations, under which standard exchange arrangements may be availed of in respect of export goods and replacement products;
"Community" means the European Economic Community;
"compensating products" means products which would be produced or manufactured from export goods following a repair operation, including restoring them to their original condition and putting them in order;
"export goods" means goods of whatever kind or origin (other than those excluded by Regulation 4 of these Regulations) which are exported from the State outside the Community for repair, including restoring them to their original condition and putting them in order, under either standard exchange arrangements or an outward processing arrangement;
"import duties" means customs duties, or charges having equivalent effect, chargeable in the State, but does not include value-added tax or excise duties chargeable on goods imported into the State;
"outside the Community" means outside the customs territory of the Community;
"outward processing arrangement" means an arrangement whereby goods are exported from the State outside the Community for the purpose of being processed and subsequently reimported into the State in the form of compensating products under total or partial relief from import duties in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1977 ( S.I. No. 216 of 1977 );
"replacement products" means products which replace compensating products;
1 O.J No. L349, 13.12.1978, p. 33.
"standard exchange arrangements" means the customs arrangements whereby replacement products may be imported into the State under total or partial relief from import duties in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 76/119/EEC of 18 December, 1975;
"tariff heading" includes tariff subheading;
"the Treaty" means the Treaty establishing the Community.
(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in a Directive of the Community referred to in these Regulations shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Directive.
(3) A reference in these Regulations to a Directive or Regulation of the Community that was amended before the commencement of these Regulations is a reference to that Directive or Regulation, as the case may be, as so amended.
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paragraphs: Standard exchange arrangements shall apply to export goods other than—
( a ) goods which are not in free circulation in the Community, and
( b ) goods falling under the common agricultural policy of the Community or the specific arrangements applicable, pursuant to Article 235 of the Treaty, to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products.
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paragraphs: (1) Any import duties which apart from these Regulations would be chargeable on replacement products on their importation into the State shall be reduced by an amount determined in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 11 of these Regulations.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall apply only if—
( a ) the export goods, when exported are the subject of an authorisation and satisfy the conditions of Article 9 (2) of the Treaty without the exportation having given or giving rise to any remission or repayment of import duties or any payment of Community export refunds, and
( b ) where prior importation of replacement products is required, their importation is authorised in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 10 of these Regulations.
(3) Notwithstanding the definition of "standard exchange arrangements" in these Regulations, the Revenue Commissioners may, in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, allow the reduction of import duties provided for in paragraph (1) of this Regulation in respect of the import duty on export goods which are imported into the State in the same state as they were in when exported, without replacement, as if they were replacement products and, unless the context otherwise requires, references in these Regulations to replacement products shall be read as including references to export goods mentioned in this paragraph.
2OJ No. L24, 30.1.1976, p. 58.
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paragraphs: (1) The tariff heading of the Common Customs Tariff (as set out in the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 950/68 of 28 June, 19683) within which the replacement products fall to be classified at importation, their commercial quality and their technical characteristics shall correspond with the tariff classification, commercial quality and technical characteristics which the export goods would have, if and when they had undergone the repair operation authorised by these Regulations or by the European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1977 ( S.I. No. 216 of 1977 ).
(2) Where export goods have been used before exportation, the replacements must also have been used and may not be new products.
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paragraphs: (1) An application for the grant of an authorisation shall be made to the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy and, if that Minister so recommends, the Revenue Commissioners shall grant the authorisation subject to such conditions as the Minister may specify.
(2) An application under paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be in such form and contain such information as the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy shall require and shall be made to that Minister before the exportation of the export goods, except as provided in paragraph (3) of this Regulation.
(3) An application under paragraph (1) of this Regulation in respect of goods already exported under an outward processing authorisation shall be made before the date of importation of the replacement products.
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paragraphs: The Revenue Commissioners may specify in an authorisation such conditions as they think necessary, in addition to such conditions as may be required by Regulation 7 (1) of these Regulations and, in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, shall specify—
( a ) the quantity of replacement products allowed to be imported under the arrangement,
( b ) the period within which importation of the replacement products shall be effected,
and the replacement products shall not be granted relief from import duties unless the person to whom the authorisation is granted complies with the conditions so specified.
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paragraphs: (1) The importation of replacement products may be carried out only by the holder of the authorisation.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Regulation the Revenue Commissioners may authorise the importation of the replacement products by another person on behalf of and with the consent of the holder of the authorisation if he produces evidence of that consent and undertakes to comply with the conditions of the authorisation.
3O.J No. L172, 22.7.1968, p. 1.
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paragraphs: (1) Where circumstances so warrant, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to the receipt of a recommendation under Regulation 7 (1) of these Regulations and to such conditions as they think necessary, authorise replacement products to be imported before the export goods are exported.
(2) The grant of an authorisation under paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be conditional on the provision, at the time of presentation of the relevant entry for home use, of a deposit or other guarantee to cover the amount of import duties chargeable on the replacement products.
(3) Where prior importation of replacement products is authorised in accordance with this Regulation, the conditions of the authorisation shall specify the period within which the export goods must be exported.
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paragraphs: (1) Subject to this Regulation the amount of the reduction of import duties referred to in Regulation 5 of these Regulations shall be the amount that would be chargeable on importation into the State of—
( a ) the export goods, or
( b ) the goods exported from the State under an outward processing arrangement,
as the case may be, if the goods were imported from the country in which the replacement products underwent their last processing operation.
(2) The reduction referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be calculated according to the quantity and nature of the goods mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Regulation at the time of exportation, but on the basis of the value and at the rate of import duty applicable to them on the date of acceptance by customs of the entry for home use of the replacement products.
(3) Where export goods or goods exported under an outward processing arrangement could, on importation into the State, have been classified in a particular tariff heading by reason of a specified end use, the amount of the reduction of import duties referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be calculated at the rate applicable to corresponding goods in that tariff heading to the extent that these goods were so used in the production of the replacement products in the country in which the last processing operation thereon took place.
(4) Where compensating products produced or manufactured in the country in which the related replacement products are obtained would qualify on importation for any preferential rate of import duty, the amount of the reduction of import duties referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be calculated as if the goods mentioned therein qualified for a similar preferential rate of import duty.
(5) Where prior importation of replacement products is authorised in accordance with Regulation 10 (1) of these Regulations the reduction referred to in paragraphs (1) to (4) of this Regulation shall be calculated on the basis of the value and according to the quantity and nature of the export goods on the date of acceptance by customs of the relevant export entry.
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paragraphs: (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation, where export goods have been exported in pursuance of a guarantee or other agreement or legal requirement to effect their repair or to rectify manufacturing faults in them free of charge, the importation of the relevant replacement products into the State shall be allowed without payment of import duties if the conditions attached to the relevant authorisation are complied with.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall not apply if, at the time when the export goods were first taken into home use in the State, the defective state of the goods was taken into account in determining their value for the purposes of assessment of import duties.
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paragraphs: (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Regulation 6 of these Regulations, the Revenue Commissioners may, after consultation with the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy, authorise the importation of a new replacement where it has been supplied free of charge in pursuance of a guarantee imposed by contract or by statute or because of a manufacturing defect.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3) of this Regulation, the importation of a new replacement product authorised to be imported under the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be allowed without payment of import duty if the conditions attached to the relevant authorisation are complied with.
(3) Paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall not apply if, at the time when the goods referred to in Regulation 11 (1) of these Regulations were first taken into home use, their defective state was taken into account in determining their value for customs purposes.
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paragraphs: The Revenue Commissioners may, if they consider that the circumstances so warrant, amend, vary or revoke the conditions specified in any authorisation granted by them under these Regulations where such amendment, variation or revocation is necessary to enable the relevant replacement products to qualify for relief under these Regulations.
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paragraphs: These Regulations, so far as they relate to duties of customs and to the management of those duties, shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and any instrument relating to the customs made under statute.