Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2010:352
Date: 2010-06-17
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment Customs union – Incurring and recovery of a customs debt – Communication to the debtor of the amount of duty within a period of three years from the date on which the customs debt was incurred (Council Regulation No 2913/92, Art. 221(3) and (4) Article 221(3) and (4) of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation No 2700/2000, must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation under which, when the failure to pay customs duty has its origins in a criminal offence, time for the purposes of the limitation period for recovery of the customs debt is to run from the date on which the order or judgment in the criminal proceedings becomes final. Indeed, first, Article 221(4) of the Customs Code does not itself lay down any limitation period or grounds for the suspension or interruption of the limitation period applicable. Secondly, by merely referring to ‘the conditions set out in the provisions in force’, Article 221(4) of the Customs Code makes a renvoi to national law with regard to the rules governing extinction of the customs debt through the passage of time, when that debt arises as a result of an act that, at the time it was committed, was liable to give rise to criminal court proceedings. (see paras 33-36, operative part)