6.

Article 17 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 17 1. Member States may exempt exporters from furnishing the proof required pursuant to Article 16 other than the transport document or its electronic equivalent as referred to in Article 16(3), in case of an export declaration giving entitlement to a refund where: (a) the differentiated part of the refund is no more than: (i) EUR 2 400 where the third country or territory of destination is listed in Annex IV; (ii) EUR 12 000 where the third country or territory of destination is not listed in Annex IV; or (b) the port of destination is located in the remote refund zone for the product concerned. 2. The exemption referred to in paragraph 1(b) shall apply only where the following conditions are met: (a) the products are transported in containers and transport of the containers to the port of unloading is done by sea; (b) the transport document mentions as destination the country mentioned in the export declaration or a port normally used for unloading products destined for a hinterland country which is the country of destination mentioned in the export declaration; (c) the proof of unloading is provided pursuant to point (a), (b) or (c) of Article 16(2). At the request of the exporter, in the case of container transport by sea, a Member State may accept that the proof of unloading referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph is provided instead by information equivalent to that of the unloading document if it is generated by an information system managed by a third party responsible for the transport of the containers to and unloading of the containers at the place of destination, provided that the third party specialises in such operations and the information system security is approved by the Member State as meeting the criteria laid down in the version applicable to the period concerned of one of the internationally accepted standards set out in point 3(B) of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 885/2006. The proof of unloading may be provided pursuant to point (c) of the first subparagraph or pursuant to the second subparagraph without the exporter having to prove that he has taken the appropriate steps to obtain the document referred to in points (a) or (b) of Article 16(1). 3. Eligibility for the exemptions referred to in paragraph 1(a) shall be automatic except in case of application of paragraph 4. Eligibility for the exemption referred to in paragraph 1(b) shall be granted for three years, by means of a written authorisation, in advance of export, upon application by the exporter. Exporters using these authorisations shall refer to the number of the authorisation in the payment application. 4. If the Member State considers that products for which the exporter claims an exemption under this Article have been exported to a country other than that mentioned in the export declaration or, as the case may be, to a country outside the relevant remote refund zone for which the refund is fixed, or the exporter has artificially divided an export operation with the aim of benefiting from an exemption, the Member State shall immediately withdraw eligibility for any exemption under this Article from the exporter concerned. The exporter concerned shall not be eligible for any further exemption under this Article for two years from the date of withdrawal. In case of withdrawal of eligibility the entitlement to the export refund for the products concerned shall no longer exist and the refund shall be reimbursed, unless the exporter can provide the proof required under Article 16 for the products concerned. In addition, the entitlement to export refunds shall no longer exist for products covered by any export declaration made after the date of the act which led to the withdrawal of eligibility and the refunds shall be reimbursed, unless the exporter can provide the proof required under Article 16 for the products concerned.’