4. CUSTOMS UNION

Treaty establishing the European Community, Part Three, Title I, Free Movement of Goods, Chapter 1, The Customs Union

31992 R 2913: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1), as last amended by:

- 12003 T: Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties — Accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic (OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 33);

31993 R 2454: Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1), as last amended by:

- 32003 R 2286: Commission Regulation (EC) No 2286/2003 of 18.12.2003 (OJ L 343, 31.12.2003, p. 1).

Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

PROOF OF COMMUNITY STATUS (TRADE WITHIN THE ENLARGED COMMUNITY)

1. Notwithstanding Article 20 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92, goods which on the date of accession are in temporary storage or under one of the customs treatments and procedures referred to in Article 4(15)(b) and (16)(b) to (g) of that Regulation in the enlarged Community, or which are in transport after having been the subject of export formalities within the enlarged Community, shall be free of customs duties and other customs measures when declared for release for free circulation within the enlarged Community on condition that one of the following is presented:

(a) proof of preferential origin properly issued or made out prior to the date of accession under one of the Europe Agreements listed below or the equivalent preferential agreements concluded between the new Member States themselves, and which contains a prohibition of drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties on non-originating materials used in the manufacture of the products for which a proof of origin is issued or made out ("no-drawback" rule);

The Europe Agreements:

- 21994 A 1231 (24) Bulgaria: Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part — Protocol 4 concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation [6];

- 21994 A 1231 (20) Romania: Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Romania, of the other part — Protocol 4 concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation [7];

(b) any of the means of proof of Community status referred to in Article 314c of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93;

(c) an ATA carnet issued before the date of accession in a present Member State or in a new Member State.

2. For the purpose of issuing the proofs referred to in paragraph 1(b) above, with reference to the situation at the date of accession and in addition to the provisions of Article 4(7) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92, "Community goods" shall mean goods:

- wholly obtained in the territory of any of the new Member States under conditions identical to those of Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and not incorporating goods imported from other countries or territories; or

- imported from countries or territories other than the country concerned, and released for free circulation in that country; or

- obtained or produced in the country concerned, either from goods referred to in the second indent of this paragraph alone or from goods referred to in the first and second indent of this paragraph.

3. For the purpose of verifying the proofs referred to in paragraph 1(a) above, the provisions concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation under the respective Europe Agreements or the equivalent preferential agreements concluded between the new Member States themselves shall apply. Requests for subsequent verification of those proofs shall be accepted by the competent customs authorities of the present Member States and of the new Member States for a period of three years after the issue of the proof of origin concerned and may be made by those authorities for a period of three years after acceptance of the proof of origin in support of a declaration of free circulation.

PROOF OF PREFERENTIAL ORIGIN (TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES, INCLUDING TURKEY, IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PREFERENTIAL AGREEMENTS ON AGRICULTURE, COAL AND STEEL PRODUCTS)

4. Without prejudice to the application of any measure deriving from the common commercial policy, proof of origin properly issued by third countries or made out in the framework of preferential agreements concluded by the new Member States with those countries or issued or made out in the framework of unilateral national legislation of the new Member States shall be accepted in the respective new Member States, provided that:

(a) the acquisition of such origin confers preferential tariff treatment on the basis of the preferential tariff measures contained in agreements or arrangements which the Community has concluded with, or adopted in respect of those third countries or groups of countries, as referred to in Article 20(3)(d) and (e) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92; and

(b) the proof of origin and the transport documents were issued or made out no later than the day before the date of accession; and

(c) the proof of origin is submitted to the customs authorities within the period of four months from the date of accession.

Where goods were declared for release for free circulation in a new Member State prior to the date of accession, proof of origin issued or made out retrospectively under preferential agreements or arrangements in force in that new Member State at the date of the release for free circulation may also be accepted in the new Member State concerned, provided that it is submitted to the customs authorities within the period of four months from the date of accession.

5. Bulgaria and Romania are authorised to retain the authorisations with which the status of "approved exporters" has been granted in the framework of agreements concluded with third countries, provided that:

(a) such a provision is also provided for in the agreements concluded prior to the date of accession by those third countries with the Community; and

(b) the approved exporters apply the rules of origin provided for in those agreements.

These authorisations shall be replaced by the new Member States, no later than one year after the date of accession, by new authorisations issued under the conditions of Community legislation.

6. For the purpose of verifying the proofs referred to in paragraph 4, the provisions concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation of the relevant agreements or arrangements shall apply. Requests for subsequent verification of those proofs shall be accepted by the competent customs authorities of the present Member States and of the new Member States for a period of three years after the issue of the proof of origin concerned and may be made by those authorities for a period of three years after acceptance of the proof of origin in support of a declaration of free circulation.

7. Without prejudice to the application of any measure deriving from the common commercial policy, proof of origin issued retrospectively by third countries in the framework of preferential agreements concluded by the Community with those countries shall be accepted in the new Member States for the release for free circulation of goods which on the date of accession are either en route or in temporary storage, in a customs warehouse or in a free zone in one of these third countries or in that new Member State, provided that the new Member State where the release for free circulation takes place had no free trade agreement in force with the third country, for the products concerned, at the moment when the transport documents where issued, and provided that:

(a) the acquisition of such origin confers preferential tariff treatment on the basis of the preferential tariff measures contained in agreements or arrangements which the Community has concluded with, or adopted in respect of third countries or groups of countries, as referred to in Article 20(3)(d) and (e) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92; and

(b) the transport documents were issued no later than the day before the date of accession; and

(c) the proof of origin issued retrospectively is submitted to the customs authorities within four months of the date of accession.

8. For the purpose of verifying the proofs referred to in paragraph 7, the provisions concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation of the relevant agreements or arrangements shall apply.

PROOF OF STATUS UNDER THE PROVISIONS ON FREE CIRCULATION FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS WITHIN THE EC-TURKEY CUSTOMS UNION

9. Proofs of origin properly issued by either Turkey or a new Member State in the framework of preferential trade agreements applied between them and allowing with the Community a cumulation of origin based on identical rules of origin and a prohibition of any drawback or suspension from customs duties on the goods concerned, shall be accepted in the respective countries as a proof of status under the provisions on free circulation for industrial products, laid down in Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council [8], provided that:

(a) the proof of origin and the transport documents were issued no later than the day before the date of accession; and

(b) the proof of origin is submitted to the customs authorities within the period of four months from the date of accession.

Where goods were declared for release for free circulation in either Turkey or a new Member State, prior to the date of accession, in the framework of preferential trade agreements mentioned above, proof of origin issued retrospectively under those agreements may also be accepted provided that it is submitted to the customs authorities within the period of four months from the date of accession.

10. For the purpose of verifying the proofs referred to in paragraph 9, the provisions concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation of the relevant preferential agreements shall apply. Requests for subsequent verification of those proofs shall be accepted by the competent customs authorities of the present Member States and of the new Member States for a period of three years after the issue of the proof of origin concerned and may be made by those authorities for a period of three years after acceptance of the proof of origin in support of a declaration of free circulation.

11. Without prejudice to the application of any measure deriving from the common commercial policy, an A.TR movement certificate issued under the provisions on free circulation for industrial products, laid down in Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council of 22 December 1995, shall be accepted in the new Member States for the release for free circulation of goods which on the date of accession are either in transport after having been the subject of export formalities within the Community or Turkey or are in temporary storage or under a customs procedure referred to in Article 4(16)(b) to (h) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 in Turkey or in that new Member State, provided that:

(a) no proof of origin as referred to in paragraph 9 is submitted for the goods concerned; and

(b) the goods comply with the conditions for the implementation of the provisions on free circulation for industrial products; and

(c) the transport documents were issued no later than the day before the date of accession; and

(d) the A.TR movement certificate is submitted to the customs authorities within four months of the date of accession.

12. For the purpose of verifying the A.TR movement certificates referred to in paragraph 11 above, the provisions concerning the issue of A.TR movement certificates and methods of administrative cooperation under Decision No 1/2001 of the EC-Turkey Customs Cooperation Committee [9] shall apply.

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES

13. Temporary storage and customs procedures referred to in Article 4(16) (b) to (h) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 which have begun before accession shall be ended or discharged under the conditions of Community legislation.

Where the end or discharge gives rise to a customs debt, the amount of import duty to be paid shall be that in force at the time when the customs debt is incurred in accordance with the Common Customs Tariff and the amount paid shall be considered as own resources of the Community.

14. The procedures governing customs warehousing laid down in Articles 84 to 90 and 98 to 113 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 496 to 535 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

- where the amount of a customs debt is determined on the basis of the nature of the import goods, the value for customs purposes and the quantity of the import goods at the time of acceptance of the declaration of their placing under customs warehousing and that declaration was accepted prior to the date of accession, these elements shall result from the legislation applicable before the date of accession in the new Member State concerned.

15. The procedures governing inward processing laid down in Articles 84 to 90 and 114 to 129 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 496 to 523 and 536 to 550 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

- where the amount of a customs debt is determined on the basis of the nature of the import goods, their tariff classification, the quantity, the value for customs purposes and the origin of the import goods at the time they were placed under the procedure and where the declaration placing the goods under the procedure was accepted prior to the date of accession, these elements shall result from the legislation applicable before the date of accession in the new Member State concerned;

- where the discharge gives rise to a customs debt, in order to maintain the equity between the holders of authorisations established in the present Member States and those in the new Member States, compensatory interest shall be paid on the import duties due under the conditions of Community legislation from the date of accession;

- if the declaration for inward processing was accepted under a drawback system, the drawback shall be effected under the conditions of Community legislation, by and at the expense of the new Member State, where the customs debt in respect of which the drawback is requested was incurred before the date of accession.

16. The procedures governing temporary importation laid down in Articles 84 to 90 and 137 to 144 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 496 to 523 and 553 to 584 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

- where the amount of a customs debt is determined on the basis of the nature of the import goods, their tariff classification, the quantity, the value for customs purposes and the origin of the import goods at the time they were placed under the procedure and where the declaration placing the goods under the procedure was accepted prior to the date of accession, these elements shall result from the legislation applicable before the date of accession in the new Member State concerned;

- where the discharge gives rise to a customs debt, in order to maintain equity between the holders of authorisations established in the present Member States and those in the new Member States, compensatory interest shall be paid on the import duties due under the conditions of Community legislation from the date of accession.

17. The procedures governing outward processing laid down in Articles 84 to 90 and 145 to 160 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 496 to 523 and 585 to 592 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

- Article 591, second paragraph, of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply mutatis mutandis to temporary export goods which have been exported temporarily before the date of accession from the new Member States.

OTHER PROVISIONS

18. Authorisations which have been granted before the date of accession for the use of the customs procedures referred to in Article 4(16)(d), (e) and (g) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 shall be valid until the end of their validity or one year after the date of accession, whichever is the earlier.

19. The procedures governing incurrence of a customs debt, entry in the accounts and post-clearance recovery laid down in Articles 201 to 232 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 859 to 876a of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

- recovery shall be effected under the conditions of Community legislation. However, where the customs debt was incurred before the date of accession, recovery shall be effected under the conditions in force in the new Member State concerned before accession, by it and in its own favour.

20. The procedures governing repayment and remission of duty laid down in Articles 235 to 242 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 877 to 912 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply to the new Member States subject to the following specific provisions:

- repayment and remission of duties shall be effected under the conditions of Community legislation. However, where the duties of which repayment or remission is requested relate to a customs debt which was incurred before the date of accession, the repayment and remission of duties shall be effected under the conditions in force in the new Member State concerned before accession, by it and at its own expense.

[6] OJ L 358, 31.12.1994, p. 3. Protocol as last amended by Decision No 1/2003 of the EU/Bulgaria Association Council of 4.6.2003 (OJ L 191, 30.7.2003, p. 1).

[7] OJ L 357, 31.12.1994, p. 2. Protocol as last amended by Decision No 2/2003 of the EU/Romania Association Council of 25.9.2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

[8] Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council of 22.12.1995 on implementing the final phase of the Customs Union (OJ L 35, 13.2.1996, p. 1). Decision as last amended by Decision No 2/99 of the EC-Turkey Association Council (OJ L 72, 18.3.1999, p. 36).

[9] Decision No 1/2001 of the EC-Turkey Customs Cooperation Committee of 28.3.2001 amending Decision No 1/96 laying down detailed rules for the application of Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council (OJ L 98, 7.4.2001, p. 31). Decision as last amended by Decision No 1/2003 of the EC-Turkey Customs Cooperation Committee (OJ L 28, 4.2.2003, p. 51).

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