2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 1
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►B DECISION No 253/2003/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of►C1 6 February 2003 ◄
adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2007)
(OJ L 36, 12.2.2003, p. 1)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 51, 26.2.2003, p. 23 (2003/253/EC)
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DECISION No 253/2003/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIA-
MENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of►C1 6 February 2003 ◄
adopting an action programme for customs in the Community
(Customs 2007)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 95 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social
Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of
the Treaty (3),
Whereas:
(1)The experience gained from previous programmes in the
customs field, in particular Customs 2002, set out in DecisionNo 210/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customsin the Community (Customs 2000)(
4), indicates that there would
be a strong Community interest to continue, and even to enlarge,
this programme. The new programme should be built on the
achievements of the previous programmes. The need for morefocused and measurable objectives has been established as aresult of the previous programmes.
(2)The new programme should take into account the Commission
communication and the Council resolution of 30 May 2001 on
a strategy for the customs union (5).
(3)Customs administrations have a vital role to protect the Commu-nity's interests, particularly its financial interests, to provide anequivalent level of protection to the Community's citizens and
economic operators, at any point in the Community customs
territory where customs clearance formalities are carried out,and to contribute towards the ability of European Union businessto compete in the global marketplace. In this context, thecustoms policy should be continuously adapted to developments
by the Customs Policy Groupto ensure that national customs
administrations operate as efficiently and effectively as wouldone single administration.
(4)It is necessary for this Decision to establish the objectives for theimplementation of the programme, as well as the priorities by
which it will be guided over the next five years and supports
and complements actions undertaken by Member States in thecustoms field. The implementation of this programme will becoordinated and organised in partnership between the Commis-sion and the Member States within the common policydeveloped by the Customs Policy Group.
(5)The Community commitment to the process of accession bycandidate countries requires the provision of practical meanswhereby the customs administrations of these countries are ableto undertake the full range of tasks required under Communitylegislation from the date of their accession, including the2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 2
(1) OJ C 126 E, 28.5.2002, p. 268.
(2) OJ C 241, 7.10.2002, p. 8.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 3 September 2002 (not yet published
in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 16 December 2002.
(4) OJ L 33, 4.2.1997, p. 24. Decision as amended by Decision 105/2000/EC
(OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 1).
(5) OJ C 171, 15.6.2001, p. 1.
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management of the future external border. In order to achieve
this, the programme should be open to the candidate countries.
(6)A range of instruments can be used in order to achieve theobjectives of this programme, including communication andinformation exchange systems, management groups, projectgroups, benchmarking, exchanges of officials, seminars, work-shops, monitoring, external actions and training activities. In the
case of vocational training, Article 150 of the Treaty makes it
clear that Community action should fully respect the responsi-bility of the Member States for the content and organisation ofvocational training.
(7)There is a need for customs action to give priority to improvinganti-fraud controls, minimising the cost of compliance withcustoms legislation for economic operators and preparing forenlargement. The Community must therefore be able, within theframework of its own powers, to support the action of MemberStates' customs administrations, and full advantage should be
taken of every possibility for administrative cooperation that
Community rules provide.
(8)Increasing globalisation of trade, the development of newmarkets, and changes in the methods and speed of the movement
of goods, require customs administrations to strengthen relations
between themselves and with the Community's business, legaland scientific circles, and operators engaged in foreign trade.
(9)Indicators should be defined at an early stage in the programmein order to ensure an efficient system for the overall evaluation
of the programme. In order to measure the effective and efficient
management of the programme, indicators should be establishedfor each action.
(10)It is essential that customs administrations continue to make use
of the potential for development of information and communica-
tions technology to deliver more efficient and accessibleelectronic services that will reduce costs for economic operatorsand promote European competitiveness and a more efficientsingle market.
(11)This Decision lays down, for the entire duration of theprogramme, a financial framework constituting the prime refer-ence, within the meaning of point 33 of the InterinstitutionalAgreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament,the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and
improvement of the budgetary procedure (
1), for the budgetary
authority, during the annual budgetary procedure.
(12)The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decisionshould be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/
468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commis-sion(
2),
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
CHAPTER I
SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
Article 1
Establishment of the programme
A multiannual Community action programme (Customs 2007) herein-
after referred to as ‘the programme’, is hereby established for theperiod 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2007 to support and comple-2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 3
(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
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ment the action undertaken by Member States to guarantee the effec-
tive functioning of the internal market in the customs field.
Article 2
Participation in the programme
1. Participating countries are the Member States and those countries
referred to in paragraph 2 which in fact participate in the programme.
2. The programme shall be open to the participation of any country
which has been recognised as a candidate country for accession to theEuropean Union, in accordance with the appropriate terms and condi-
tions for such participation.
Article 3
Objectives
1. In the framework of the management of the customs union, the
objectives of the programme shall be to ensure that Member States'customs administrations:
(a) carry out coordinated action to ensure that customs activity
matches the needs of the Community's internal market throughimplementing the strategy set out in the aforementioned Commis-sion communication and Council resolution on a strategy for thecustoms union;
(b) interact and perform their duties as efficiently as though they were
one administration and achieve equivalent results at every point of
the Community customs territory;
(c) meet the demands placed on them by globalisation and increasing
volumes of trade and contribute towards strengthening the competi-tive environment of the European Union;
(d) provide the necessary protection of the financial interests of the
European Union and provide a secure and safe environment for its
citizens;
(e) take the necessary steps to prepare for enlargement and to support
the integration of new Member States.
2. The common approach regarding the customs policy shall
continuously be adapted to new developments in partnership betweenthe Commission and the Member States in the Customs Policy Group,composed of the heads of customs administrations from the Commis-sion and the Member States or their representatives. The Commission
shall keepthe Customs Policy Groupregularly informed of measures
relating to the implementation of the programme.
Article 4
Programme priorities
For the implementation of the programme, the following priorities shall
be established:
(a) to reduce the cost of compliance with customs legislation on
economic operators through measures such as improved standardi-sation, and to develop increasingly open and transparentcooperation with trade;
(b) to identify, develop and apply best working practices, especially in
the areas of post-clearance audit control, risk analysis and simpli-
fied procedures;
(c) to establish a system of the measurement of Member States' perfor-
mance in customs administrations;
(d) to support actions to prevent irregularities, for example by
providing control information rapidly to front-line customs posts;
(e) to improve the standardisation and simplification of customs proce-
dures, systems and controls;2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 4
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(f) to improve the coordination of and cooperation between labora-
tories carrying out analysis for customs purposes in order toensure, in particular, a uniform and unambiguous tariff classifica-
tion throughout the European Union;
(g) to support the creation of an electronic customs environment with
paperless customs procedures and continuous access from
economic operators to customs via the development of communica-
tion systems coupled with the necessary legislative andadministrative changes;
(h) to ensure the functioning of existing communication and informa-
tion systems and, where appropriate, to develop and establish new
systems;
(i) to undertake actions which will provide support to the customs
services of the candidate countries in their preparation for acces-
sion;
(j) to assist third countries in the modernisation of customs services
and procedures;
(k) to developcommon training measures and the organisational
framework for customs training that would respond to the needsarising from programme actions.
CHAPTER II
PROGRAMME ACTIONS
Article 5
Communication and information exchange systems
1. The Commission and the participating countries shall ensure that
the following communication and information exchange systems,together with manuals and guides, are operational, in so far as theiroperation is necessary under Community legislation:
(a) the common communications network/common systems interface
(CCN/CSI) to the extent necessary to support the functioning of
the systems set out in this paragraph;
(b) the data dissemination system (DDS);
(c) the new computerised transit system (NCTS/NSTI);
(d) the information system on the integrated tariff of the Community
(TARIC);
(e) the information system for transfer of origin stamps and the trans-
mission of transit stamps (TCO/TCT);
(f) the European customs inventory of chemical substances (ECICS);
(g) the European binding tariff information system (EBTI/RTCE);
(h) the tariff quota surveillance management system (TQS);
(i) the inward-processing relief system (IPR);(j) the Unit values system;
(k) the Suspensions information system;
(l) other existing IT Community systems in the customs area to ensure
their continuity.
2. The Commission, in partnership with the Member States, may
establish additional communication and information-exchange systemsas they consider necessary.
3. The Community components of the communication and informa-
tion exchange systems shall be the hardware, software and network
connections, which must be common to all participating countries so
as to ensure the interconnection and interoperability of the systems,whether they be installed at the premises of the Commission or of adesignated subcontractor or at premises of participating countries or ofa designated subcontractor. The Commission shall conclude the neces-sary contracts to ensure the operational nature of these components.2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 5
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4. The non-Community components of the communication and
information exchange systems shall comprise the national databasesforming part of these systems, the network connections between the
Community and non-Community components and such software and
hardware as each participating country shall deem appropriate for thefull operation of those systems throughout its administration. The parti-cipating countries will ensure that the non-Community components arekept operational and will assure the interoperability of these compo-
nents with the Community components.
5. The Commission shall coordinate, in cooperation with the partici-
pating countries, those aspects of the establishment and functioning ofthe Community and non-Community components of the systems andinfrastructure referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 6
Benchmarking
Benchmarking activities may be organised involving one or more parti-
cipating countries or other third countries, particularly the Community'smain trading partners, in order to improve the performance of their
customs administration in specific areas.
For the purposes of this Decision, ‘benchmarking’ means comparisons
of working methods or the use of agreed, common indicators tomeasure performance which are used to identify differences in perfor-mance, and the processes involved in order to share experiences andlearn from good practice in order to improve efficiency and effective-ness.
Article 7
Exchanges of officials
1. The Commission and the participating countries shall organise
exchanges of officials from customs administrations in support of the
programme's objectives. Each exchange shall focus on a specific aspectof customs work and shall be thoroughly prepared and subsequentlyevaluated by the officials and authorities concerned. Exchanges maybe operational or targeted on specific priority activities.
2. Where appropriate, participating countries shall take the necessary
steps to enable exchange officials to be operational in the host service.
To this end, exchange officials shall be authorised to carry out the
formalities relating to the duties entrusted to them. If circumstances sorequire, and, in particular, in order to take account of the specificrequirements of the legal system of each participating country, thecompetent authorities in the participating countries may limit the said
authorisation.
3. For the duration of the exchange, officials shall, in the exercise of
their duties, bear the same civil liability as national officials of the hostauthorities. Officials taking part in an exchange shall be subject to thesame rules on professional confidentiality as the national officials ofthe host country.
4. The Commission and the participating countries may also orga-
nise exchanges with other third countries in support of the objectives
of this programme.
5. Participating countries shall provide periodic evaluations of the
exchanges, including the impact on their administration, as requiredby the Commission.
Article 8
Seminars, workshops and project groups
The Commission and the participating countries shall organise semi-
nars, workshops and conferences to be attended by participatingcountry and Commission officials and, where appropriate, other expertsin the field. Seminars, workshops and conferences may also be2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 6
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attended by officials from other administrations where this is appro-
priate to the objectives of the activity.
The Commission, in partnership with Member States, may establish
project groups to carry out specific tasks to be completed within aspecified time scale.
Article 9
Training activities
1. In order to encourage structured cooperation between national
training bodies and officials responsible for customs training in admin-istrations, participating countries shall, in cooperation with theCommission:
(a) set training standards, developexisting training p rogrammes and,
where necessary, devise new programmes to provide a commoncore of training for officials relating to the full range of Commu-nity customs rules and procedures so as to enable them to acquirethe necessary common professional skills and knowledge;
(b) where appropriate, open customs training courses provided by each
participating country for its own officials to officials from all parti-cipating countries;
(c) developthe necessary common tools for customs training and
customs training management, including the development of anorganisational framework.
2. Participating countries shall also ensure that their officials receive
the initial and continuing training necessary to acquire the commonprofessional skills and knowledge in accordance with the commontraining programmes and the linguistic training necessary for thoseofficials to attain a sufficient standard of linguistic competence.
Article 10
Monitoring actions
1. The Commission, in partnership with the Member States and,
where appropriate, in close consultation with the economic operators,shall arrange for the monitoring of specific sectors of Community
customs rules and procedures.
2. Such monitoring shall be carried out by joint teams made upof
customs officials from the Member States and the Commission. Theseteams shall, on the basis of a theme-by-theme or regional approach,visit different points in the Community customs territory where
customs administrations carry out their duties. At the end of these
visits, they shall draw upa rep ort identifying and analysing the bestworking methods as well as any difficulties in implementing the rulesobserved and, where appropriate, including suggestions for the adapta-tion of both Community rules and working methods in order to
improve the efficiency of customs actions as a whole. These experts'
reports shall be communicated to the Member States and the Commis-sion.
Article 11
External actions in the form of technical assistance and training
1. The Commission shall ensure the coordination of the training and
technical assistance and cooperation actions carried out by the Commu-nity and the Member States with third countries' administrations, toensure the consistency of Community actions, both external andinternal.
2. The Commission shall also ensure the implementation of training
and technical assistance and cooperation actions for the benefit of:
(a) the candidate countries to enable them to comply with Community
customs legislation. Particular attention shall be paid to the inter-connectivity of customs information and technology systems;2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 7
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(b) third countries to support them in the modernisation of their
customs administrations in order to improve both the conditionsfor the development of legitimate trade and the cooperation with
customs administrations in the European Union.
Article 12
Other actions
The Commission may, in partnership with the Member States, develop
and use any other actions necessary to meet the objectives of the
programme.
Article 13
Fixing objectives and indicators
All actions to be taken under this programme shall have defined objec-
tives, measurable indicators to ensure suitable evaluation and a clear
indication of the anticipated costs and shall be constructed so that theresults achieve the expected impact of the action.
CHAPTER III
FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Article 14
Financial framework
1. The financial framework for the implementation of this
programme for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2007 ishereby set at EUR 133 million.
2. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary
authority within the limits of the financial perspective.
Article 15
Expenditure
1. The expenditure necessary for the implementation of the
programme shall be divided between the Community and the partici-
pating countries in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3.
2. The Community shall bear expenditure as follows:
(a) the cost of the development, purchase, installation and maintenance
of the Community components of the communication and informa-tion exchange systems provided for in Article 5 and the cost of the
day-to-day operation of the Community components installed at the
premises of the Commission or those of a designated subcontractor;
(b) the travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participating coun-
tries relating to benchmarking activities, exchanges of officials,seminars, workshops and project groups, training and monitoringactions referred to in Articles 6 to 10;
(c) the organisational costs of seminars and workshops;
(d) the costs relating to the actions referred to in Articles 11 and 12.
The Commission shall, in accordance with Council Regulation (EC,
Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulationapplicable to the general budget of the European Communities (
1),
determine the rules relating to the payment of expense and shallcommunicate them to participating countries.
3. Participating countries shall bear expenditure as follows:
(a) all costs other than those mentioned in 2(a) relating to the estab-
lishment and functioning of the non-Community components ofthe communication and information-exchange systems provided2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 8
(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
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for in Article 5 and the cost of the day-to-day operation of the
Community components of those systems installed at their premisesor those of a designated subcontractor;
(b) the difference between the expenditure paid by the Community in
accordance with 2(b), 2(c) and 2(d), and the actual cost of theactivity;
(c) the costs relating to the initial and continuing training, including
the linguistic training, of their officials as specified in Article 9(2).
Article 16
Financial Control
Financing decisions and any agreements or contracts resulting from this
Decision shall be subject to financial control, and if necessary, on thespot audits by the Commission, including the European Anti-fraudOffice (OLAF), and by the Court of Auditors. Any grants made
pursuant to this Decision shall be subject to agreement in writing in
advance by the beneficiaries. That agreement shall contain the accep-tance by the beneficiaries of an audit by the Court of Auditors intothe use made of the financing granted.
CHAPTER IV
OTHER PROVISIONS
Article 17
Implementation
The measures necessary for the implementation of this programme
shall be adopted in accordance with the management procedurereferred to in Article 18(2).
Article 18
Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Customs 2007
Committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Committee’).
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions ofArticle 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Article 19
Evaluation and reports
1. This programme shall be subject to continuous evaluation, carried
out by the Commission in collaboration with the participating coun-
tries. The evaluation shall be pursued by means of the reports referred
to in paragraph 2 and by means of specific activities and shall be basedon a format, criteria and indicators established during the first year ofthe programme.
2. Participating countries shall forward to the Commission:
(a) by 30 June 2005 at the latest, an interim report on the effectiveness
and efficiency of the programme, and
(b) by 31 December 2007 at the latest, a final report on the effective-
ness and efficiency of the programme.
3. The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to
the Council:
(a) by 31 December 2005 at the latest, an interim report evaluating the
efficiency and effectiveness of the programme;2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 9
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(b) by 30 June 2008 at the latest, a final report establishing the impact
achieved by the programme.
These reports shall also be forwarded to the European Economic and
Social Committee for information.
4. The final report referred to in paragraph 3 shall analyse all the
progress achieved in the case of each measure in the programme andshall include an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of any kindof customs computerisation systems involved in the functioning of theinternal market. The report shall set out any useful proposals forensuring that identical treatment is reserved for economic operators
throughout the Community customs territory and that the gathering of
information serves the proper protection of the Community's financialinterests.
Article 20
Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
It shall apply from 1 January 2003.
Article 21
Addressees
This Decision is addressed to Member States.
This Decision shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.2003D0253 — EN — 01.01.2003 — 000.001 — 10