Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:260
Date: 1998-05-28
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Fruit and vegetables;Free movement of goods;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgmen t 
1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Fruit and vegetables — Importation 
from non-Member States — Countervailing charge on the importation of cherries originating 
in Bulgaria — Scope 
(Commission Regulation No 1591/92) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-370/96 
2. Own resources of the European Communities — Post-clearance recovery of import or export 
duties — Conditions — Administration's error detectable by the trader — Definition — Error 
detectable by consulting Official Journal — Excluded — Repayment or remission of import or 
export duties — Conditions — No deception or obvious negligence on the part of the person 
concerned — Criteria 
(Council Regulations No 1430/79, Art. 13, and No 1697/79, Art. 5(2)) 
3. Own resources of the European Communities — Post-clearance recovery of import or export 
duties — Time-limit for recovery 
(Council Regulations No 1697/79, Art. 2(1), and No 1854/89, Arts 3 and 5) 
1. The countervailing charge introduced by 
Regulation N o 1591/92 introducing a 
countervailing charge on cherries origi­
nating in Bulgaria does not apply only to 
dessert cherries which are consumed fresh 
but also to cherries intended for industrial 
processing. 
2. A trader who has accumulated some expe­
rience of import and export transactions 
and who is aware, in particular, of the 
imminent risk of a countervailing charge 
being introduced cannot, if that charge is 
actually introduced, benefit from the pro­
visions of Article 5(2) of Regulation 
N o 1697/79 on the post-clearance recovery 
of import duties or export duties which 
have not been required of the person liable 
for payment on goods entered for a cus­
toms procedure involving the obligation 
to pay such duties or from Article 13 of 
Regulation N o 1430/79 on the repayment 
or remission of import or export duties 
since he could have informed himself as to 
the actual introduction of the charge by 
consulting the Official Journal of the Euro­
pean Communities and failed to do so. 
Article 5(2) of Regulation N o 1697/79, 
which makes any waiver of post-clearance 
recovery by the authorities subject to the 
condition that the error made by the com­
petent authorities should be such that it 
could not reasonably be detected by the 
person liable acting in good faith, despite 
his professional experience and the dili­
gence expected of him, is to be interpreted 
as meaning that, where a professional trader 
importing goods is aware of the imminent 
possibility that a countervailing charge 
might be introduced for certain goods, he 
must ascertain, by consulting the relevant 
issues of the Official Journal, the provi­
sions of Community law applicable to the 
transactions he is carrying out. To impose 
such an obligation on traders to inform 
themselves does not constitute a require­
ment that is disproportionate to the objec­
tive pursued by the introduction of a coun­
tervailing charge, which is to obviate 
disturbances on the Community market, 
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COVITA y GREEK STATE 
bearing in mind, moreover, the need to 
apply Community law uniformly. 
Furthermore, a trader who is aware of the 
imminent possibility that a countervailing 
charge might be introduced and who has 
not ascertained, by consulting the relevant 
issues of the Official Journal, the provi­
sions of Community law applicable to the 
transactions which he carries out is obvi­
ously negligent within the meaning of 
Article 13 of Regulation N o 1430/79 and 
does not therefore fulfil one of the condi­
tions to which that provision makes repay­
ment or remission of import duties sub­
ject. 
3. Failure on the part of the customs authori­
ties, when taking action for the post-
clearance recovery of the countervailing 
charge, to observe the time-limits laid 
down in Articles 3 and 5 of Regulation 
N o 1854/89 on the entry in the accounts 
and terms of payment of the amounts of 
the import duties or export duties resulting 
from a customs debt does not nullify the 
right of those authorities to proceed with 
such recovery, provided that it is carried 
out within the time-limit laid down in 
Article 2(1) of Regulation N o 1697/79. 
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