# C_2007315EN.01001401.xml

| 22.12.2007 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 315/14 |
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22.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 315/14

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Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 18 October 2007 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Commissione tributaria regionale di Genova (Italy)) — Agrover Srl v Agenzia Dogane Circoscrizione Doganale di Genova

(Case C-173/06) (1)

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(Community Customs Code - Inward processing - Association agreement - Prior exportation of rice to a non-member country bound by a preferential customs agreement - Article 216 of the Customs Code - Subsequent recovery of import duties - Article 220(2)(b) of the Customs Code)

(2007/C 315/22)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Commissione tributaria regionale di Genova

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Agrover Srl

Applicant:

Defendant: Agenzia Dogane Circoscrizione Doganale di Genova

Defendant:

Re:

Preliminary ruling — Commissione tributaria regionale di Genova — Interpretation of Articles 216 and 220 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1) — Rice exported under the inward processing procedure to a non-member country with which an agreement on preferential tariff treatment is in force — Application of customs duties at the time of importation of the compensating product from a non-member country with which no agreement on preferential tariff treatment is in force

Operative part of the judgment

| 1) | Article 216 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2700/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000, applies to the inward processing operations referred to in Article 115(1)(b) of that regulation in which the compensating products have been exported outside the European Community prior to importation of import goods; |
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1)

Article 216 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2700/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000, applies to the inward processing operations referred to in Article 115(1)(b) of that regulation in which the compensating products have been exported outside the European Community prior to importation of import goods;

| 2) | Where, at the time of discharge of an inward processing operation (suspension system) with equivalent compensation and prior exportation, the competent authorities have not contested, on the basis of Article 216 of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 2700/2000, the exemption from import duties of the goods of non-member country origin, they must waive subsequent entry in the accounts of those import duties, pursuant to Article 220(2)(b) of that regulation, if three cumulative conditions are fulfilled. First, it is necessary that those duties were not levied as a result of an error on the part of the competent authorities themselves, secondly, that that error was such that it could not reasonably have been detected by a person liable for payment acting in good faith and, finally, that that person complied with all the provisions laid down by the legislation in force as regards the customs declaration. It is for the national court to assess whether that is the case in the circumstances in the main proceedings, on the basis of all the concrete aspects of the case before it, and in particular the evidence adduced for that purpose by the applicant in the main proceedings. |
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2)

Where, at the time of discharge of an inward processing operation (suspension system) with equivalent compensation and prior exportation, the competent authorities have not contested, on the basis of Article 216 of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 2700/2000, the exemption from import duties of the goods of non-member country origin, they must waive subsequent entry in the accounts of those import duties, pursuant to Article 220(2)(b) of that regulation, if three cumulative conditions are fulfilled. First, it is necessary that those duties were not levied as a result of an error on the part of the competent authorities themselves, secondly, that that error was such that it could not reasonably have been detected by a person liable for payment acting in good faith and, finally, that that person complied with all the provisions laid down by the legislation in force as regards the customs declaration. It is for the national court to assess whether that is the case in the circumstances in the main proceedings, on the basis of all the concrete aspects of the case before it, and in particular the evidence adduced for that purpose by the applicant in the main proceedings.

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(1)  OJ C 143, 17.6.2006.

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