DECISION No 1/2021 OF THE EU-SWITZERLAND JOINT COMMITTEE

of 12 March 2021

amending Chapter III of, and Annexes I and II to, the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the simplification of inspections and formalities in respect of the carriage of goods and on customs security measures [2021/714]

THE JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement of 25 June 2009 between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the simplification of inspections and formalities in respect of the carriage of goods and on customs security measures (1) (hereinafter ‘the Agreement’), and in particular Articles 21(2) and 22(4) thereof,

Whereas, by concluding the Agreement, the Contracting Parties undertook to guarantee on their respective territories an equivalent level of security through customs measures based on the relevant legislation in force in the European Union,

Whereas since the conclusion of the Agreement, the relevant provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 (2) establishing the Community Customs Code and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (3) laying down provisions for the implementation of the Community Customs Code have been replaced by the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) establishing the Union Customs Code, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 (5) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 (6),

Whereas further provisions relevant for the customs security measures have been adopted by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2151 (7),

Whereas since the conclusion of the Agreement, amendments concerning the customs security measures have been made to that legislation,

Whereas the amendments to Union legislation that are relevant for maintaining an equivalent level of security between the contracting parties should be reflected in the Agreement,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 Articles 9 to 14 of Chapter III of the Agreement are replaced by the following: ‘Article 9 General provisions concerning security and safety 1. The Contracting Parties undertake to set up and apply to the carriage of goods to and from third countries the customs security measures set out in this Chapter and thus to ensure an equivalent level of security and safety at their external borders. 2. The Contracting Parties shall refrain from applying the customs security measures set out in this Chapter to the carriage of goods between their customs territories. 3. The Contracting Parties shall consult prior to the conclusion of any agreement with a third country in the areas covered by this Chapter in order to ensure consistency with this Agreement, particularly if the proposed agreement includes provisions that derogate from the customs security measures set out in this Chapter. Article 10 Declarations prior to the entry and exit of goods 1. For the purposes of security and safety, goods brought into the customs territories of the Contracting Parties from third countries shall be covered by an entry summary declaration with the exception of goods carried on means of transport only passing through the territorial waters or the airspace of the customs territories without a stop within those territories. 2. For the purposes of security and safety, goods exiting the customs territories of the Contracting Parties that are destined for third countries shall be covered by an exit summary declaration with the exception of goods carried on means of transport only passing through the territorial waters or the airspace of the customs territories without a stop within those territories. 3. The entry or exit summary declaration shall be lodged before the goods are brought into or leave the customs territories of the Contracting Parties. 4. Where there is an obligation to lodge an entry or exit summary declaration for goods entering or exiting the customs territories of the Contracting Parties but this declaration has not been lodged, one of the persons referred to in paragraphs 5 or 6 shall immediately lodge such a declaration or, if permitted by the customs authorities, shall instead lodge a customs declaration or temporary storage declaration that shall contain at least the particulars required for an entry or exit summary declaration. In such circumstances, customs authorities shall carry out the risk analysis for security and safety purposes on those goods on the basis of the customs declaration or the temporary storage declaration. 5. Each Contracting Party shall determine the persons responsible for lodging exit summary declarations as well as specify the authorities competent to receive them. 6. The entry summary declaration shall be lodged by the carrier. Notwithstanding the obligations of the carrier, the entry summary declaration may be lodged instead by one of the following persons: (a) the importer or consignee or other person in whose name or on whose behalf the carrier acts; (b) any person who is able to present the goods in question or have them presented at the customs office of first entry. In specific cases, where all the particulars of the entry summary declaration necessary for risk analysis for security and safety purposes cannot be obtained from the persons referred to in the first sub-paragraph, other persons holding those particulars and the appropriate rights to provide them may be required to provide those particulars. Each person submitting the particulars of the entry summary declaration shall be responsible for the particulars that he/she has submitted. 7. By derogation from paragraph 6 of this Article, until the dates of the deployment of the electronic system referred to in Article 1(1) of Annex I, each Contracting Party shall determine the persons who are required to lodge the entry summary declaration, the means for lodging it, for exchanging information relating to it and for requesting its amendment and/or invalidation. 8. The customs authorities of the Contracting Parties may define the cases in which a customs declaration or temporary storage declaration can be used as an entry or an exit summary declaration, provided that: (a) the customs declaration or temporary storage declaration contains all the particulars required for an entry or exit summary declaration; and (b) the replacing declaration is lodged prior to the expiry of the time limit at the competent customs office for lodging the entry or exit summary declaration. 9. Annex I lays down: — the electronic system relating to the entry summary declaration, — the form and the particulars of the entry or exit summary declaration, — the exceptions from the obligation to lodge an entry or exit summary declaration, — the place where the entry or exit summary declaration shall be lodged, — the time limits for lodging the entry or exit summary declaration, — the technical arrangements for the electronic systems used to lodge the entry summary declaration, — the financing arrangement concerning the responsibilities, commitments and expectations upon the implementation and operation of the Import Control System 2, — any other provision necessary to ensure the application of this Article. Article 11 Authorised economic operator 1. A Contracting Party shall grant, subject to the criteria laid down in Annex II, the status of “authorised economic operator” for security purposes to any economic operator established in its customs territory and in the case of Switzerland its customs exclaves of Samnaun and Sampuoir. Authorised economic operators shall enjoy facilitations in respect of security-related customs controls. Subject to the rules and conditions set out in paragraph 2, the status of authorised economic operator granted by a Contracting Party shall be recognised by the other Contracting Party, without prejudice to customs inspections, particularly with a view to implementing agreements with third countries providing for arrangements for the mutual recognition of the status of authorised economic operator. 2. Annex II lays down: — the rules for granting the status of authorised economic operator, and in particular the criteria for granting this status and the conditions for applying them, — the type of facilitations that shall be accorded, — the rules on the suspension, annulment and revocation of the status of authorised economic operator, — the arrangements for exchanges of information between the Contracting Parties on their authorised economic operators, — any other measure necessary for the application of this Article. Article 12 Security and safety related customs controls and security and safety related risk management 1. Security and safety related customs controls other than random checks shall be primarily based on risk analysis using electronic data processing techniques with the purpose of identifying and evaluating the risks and developing the necessary counter-measures, on the basis of criteria developed by the Contracting Parties. 2. Security and safety related customs controls shall be performed within a common risk management framework, based upon the exchange of risk-related information and risk analysis results between the customs authorities of the Contracting Parties. The customs authority of Switzerland, through its participation in the Customs Code Committee referred to in Article 23, shall contribute to establishing common risk criteria and standards, control measures and priority control areas in relation to the particulars of the entry and exit summary declarations. Controls based upon such information and criteria shall be carried out without prejudice to other customs controls. 3. The Contracting Parties shall use a Common Risk Management System for exchanging risk-related information, information on the implementation of common risk criteria and standards, of common priority control areas and of customs crisis management, and on risk analysis results and control results. 4. The Contracting Parties shall recognise the equivalence of their risk management systems related to security and safety. 5. The Joint Committee shall adopt any other measure necessary for the application of this Article. Article 13 Monitoring the implementation of customs security measures 1. The Joint Committee shall determine how the Contracting Parties are to monitor the implementation of this Chapter and to verify compliance with its provisions and those of the Annexes to this Agreement. 2. The monitoring referred to in paragraph 1 may take the form of: — regular assessments of the implementation of this Chapter, and in particular of the equivalence of customs security measures, — a review to improve the way in which it is applied or to amend its provisions so that it better fulfils its objectives, — the organisation of thematic meetings between experts of both Contracting Parties and audits of administrative procedures, including on-the-spot visits. 3. The Joint Committee shall ensure that measures taken under this Article uphold the rights of economic operators. Article 14 Protection of professional secrecy and personal data The information exchanged by the Contracting Parties as part of the measures provided for in this Chapter shall enjoy the protection extended to professional secrecy and personal data as defined in the relevant laws applicable in the territory of the recipient Contracting Party. The transfer of personal data shall comply with the requirements of the applicable data protection laws of the transferring Contracting Party. In particular, this information may not be further transferred to persons other than the competent authorities in the recipient Contracting Party, nor may it be used by those authorities for purposes other than those provided for in this Agreement.’.

Article 2 Annexes I and II to the Agreement are replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 3 This Decision shall enter into force on the first day of the third month after the last Contracting Party has notified the other Contracting Party of the completion of its internal requirements. It shall be applied on a provisional basis from 15 March 2021.

Done at Brussels, 12 March 2021. For the EU-Switzerland Joint Committee The Chairman Sabine HENZLER

(1) OJ L 199, 31.7.2009, p. 24.

(2) Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1).

(3) 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).

(4) Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1).

(5) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed rules concerning certain provisions of the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 1), last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/234 of 7 December 2020 (OJ L 63, 23.2.2021, p. 1).

(6) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558), last amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/235 of 8 February 2021 (OJ L 63, 23.2.2021, p. 386).

(7) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2151 of 13 December 2019 establishing the work programme relating to the development and deployment of the electronic systems provided for in the Union Customs Code (OJ L 325, 16.12.2019, p. 168).