COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 3689/92 of 21 December 1992 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 719/91 on the use in the Community of TIR carnets and ATA carnets as transit documents and of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3599/82 on temporary importation arrangements
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 719/91 of 21 March 1991 on the use in the Community of TIR carnets and ATA carnets as transit documents (1), and in particular Article 12 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3599/82 of 21 December 1982 on temporary importation arrangements (2), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1620/85 (3), and in particular Article 33 thereof,
Whereas it is necessary to lay down the conditions for the operation of the system for guaranteeing payment of duties and taxes envisaged in the Customs Convention on the ATA Carnet for the Temporary Admission of Goods, hereinafter referred to as the 'ATA Convention';
Whereas with the removal of the internal frontiers of the Community and the abolition of formalities attending the crossing of those frontiers specific procedures have been laid down to determine which Member State has jurisdiction, in the event of an offence or irregularity, for the recovery of duties and other charges; whereas those procedures are laid down in Article 10 of Regulation (EEC) No 719/91 and Article 13 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2365/91 of 31 July 1991 laying down the conditions for use of the ATA carnet for the temporary importation of goods into the customs territory of the Community or their temporary exportation from that territory (4);
Whereas, however, the removal of internal frontiers leaves in existence the 12 guaranteeing associations in the Community, with each one still linked with the customs administration of the country in which it has its headquarters; whereas, consequently, the measures aimed at determining the place where an offence or irregularity occurred lead to the risk of multiple guarantee claims being made in respect of a consignment of goods covered by a single carnet; whereas it is necessary, accordingly, to make uniform arrangements for the provision of information and the transfer of proceedings between Member States;
Whereas to that end it is expedient to make provision for the establishment in each Member State of a coordinating office for proceedings on claims relating to ATA carnets;
Whereas the uniform and coordinated operation of all the time limits laid down in the ATA Convention requires that action for recovery should be commenced no sooner than three months after the date of expiry of an ATA carnet;
Whereas the risk of multiple claims in respect of the same goods covered by the same carnet can be diminished by the coordinating office which makes the claim sending an information memo to the coordinating office of the Member State of temporary admission, or whenever such information is necessary; whereas it is necessary to provide a model of this information memo;
Whereas it is also necessary, for the purposes of harmonizing procedures, to make provision for the introduction of a single taxation form for collecting the amount of duties and taxes due;
Whereas a procedure for transferring proceedings between Member States must be instituted for cases where the offence or irregularity is eventually found to have been committed in a Member State other than the one in which the recovery proceedings were originally initiated; whereas it is necessary to lay down the detailed rules applying according to the point in time at which the proceedings are transferred;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinions of the Committee for Customs Procedures with Economic Impact and the Committee on Community Transit,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Designation of a coordinating office
1. The customs authorities shall designate a coordinating office in each Member State for any action concerning infringements or irregularities relating to ATA carnets pursuant to Article 10 of Regulation (EEC) No 719/91 and Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 2365/91.
Those authorities shall inform the Commission of the designation of the coordinating offices together with their full address. A list of the offices shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, 'C' series.
2. Where an infringement or irregularity may be held under Article 10 of Regulation (EEC) No 719/91 or Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 2365/91 to have been committed in more than one Member State, the Member State where the goods were found or, where the goods have not been found, the Member State whose coordinating office holds the most recent voucher shall be competent to recover duties and taxes.
Article 2
Time of claim
Where the competent authorities of a Member State find that goods covered by an ATA carnet have not been re-exported or regularly discharged within the period laid down in the ATA Convention (5), a claim shall be sent to the guaranteeing association with which that Member State is linked at the earliest three months after the date of expiry of the carnet, whether it concerns non-discharge of a transit operation or of a temporary importation operation. If the competent authorities find another infringement or irregularity, the claim shall be sent as soon as possible to the guaranteeing association (6).
Article 3
Information memo
Where a claim is made in accordance with Article 2 the coordinating office making the claim shall at the same time, as far as possible, send to the coordinating office in the jurisdiction of which the office of temporary admission is situated, pursuant to the last part of Article 13 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2365/91, an information memo drawn up in accordance with the model shown in Annex I.
The information memo shall be accompanied by a copy of the undischarged voucher, if the coordinating office has it in its possession. The information memo may also be used whenever this is deemed necessary.
Article 4
Collection of duties and taxes - Taxation form
1. The amount of duties and taxes arising from the claim referred to in Article 2 shall be calculated by means of the model taxation form set out in Annex II, completed in accordance with the instructions attached to it.
The taxation form may be sent later than the claim, though not more than three months from the claim and in any event not more than six months from the date on which the customs authorities initiate the recovery proceedings.
2. In accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation and as provided therein, the sending of this form to a guaranteeing association by the customs administration with which that association is connected shall not release the other guaranteeing associations in the Community from an obligation to pay duties and taxes if it is found that the offence or irregularity was committed in a Member State other than the one in which the proceedings were initiated.
3. The taxation form shall be completed in duplicate or triplicate, as necessary. The first copy shall be for the guaranteeing association connected with the customs authority of the Member State in which the claim is made. The second copy shall be retained by the issuing coordinating office. Where necessary the issuing coordinating office shall send the third copy to the coordinating office in whose jurisdiction the office of temporary admission is situated pursuant to the final part of Article 13 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2365/91, or whenever such action is deemed necessary.
Article 5
Transfer of proceedings between Member States
1. Where it is established that the offence or irregularity was committed in a Member State other than the one in which the proceedings were initiated, the coordinating office of the first Member State shall close the file as far as it is concerned.
2. For the purposes of closure it shall send to the coordinating office of the second Member State the contents of the file in its possession and if necessary shall refund to the guaranteeing association with which it is connected any sums which that association may have deposited or provisionally paid.
However, the file shall be closed only if the coordinating office of the first Member State receives a discharge from the coordinating office of the second Member State indicating that claim proceedings have been initiated in the latter Member State, in accordance with the rules of the ATA Convention. This discharge shall be drawn up in accordance with the model in Annex III.
3. The coordinating office of the Member State where the offence or irregularity was committed shall take over the recovery proceedings and where necessary collect from the guaranteeing association with which it is connected the amount of duties and taxes due at the rates in force in the Member State where this office is situated.
4. The proceedings must be transferred within a period of one year counting from the expiry of the carnet on condition that payment has not become definitive pursuant to Article 7 (2) or (3) of the ATA Convention. Should this time limit be exceeded the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 10 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 719/91 and the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2365/91 shall apply.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply from 1 January 1993. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 December 1992.