No C 31/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 8.2.80 
Proposal for a Council Directive on the Community value added tax and excise duty 
. procedure applicable to the stores of vessels, aircraft and international trains 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 23 January 1980) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Articles 99 and 100 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas Article 15 of the Sixth Council Directive 
77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonization 
of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover 
taxes — common system of value added tax: uniform 
basis of assessment (') contains provisions for 
exempting, subject to certain conditions, the supply of 
goods loaded as stores on board sea-going vessels and 
aircraft engaged in international traffic; 
Whereas, although the Directive referred to above 
does not contain any specific provisions for 
exemption in respect of the importation of stores on 
board sea-going vessels and aircraft engaged in inter­
national traffic, Member States were able to exempt 
importation of such stores on the basis of general 
provisions contained in the said Directive; 
Whereas the same is true of the provisioning of 
vessels to be used for international inland waterway 
transport and of international trains; 
Whereas, however, the general provisions in question 
are not suited to the requirements peculiar to the 
transactions concerned; whereas application thereof 
to the said transactions in any case necessitates an 
interpretation of the above Directive; whereas this 
may lead to the application of divergent provisions as 
between Member States and whereas such 
divergencies might distort the conditions of 
competition within the Community; 
Whereas, therefore, the stores referred to herein 
ought to be subject to a specific Community 
O OJNoL 145, 13.6. 1977, p. 1. procedure in the field of value added tax that must 
enter into force in its entirety upon or prior to the 
expiry of the transitional period provided for in the 
aforementioned Directive for the gradual adaptation 
of national laws; 
Whereas, having regard to the similarity of the 
problems arising in connection with value added tax 
and excise duties and in order to simplify the tax 
rules applicable to a given transaction, a single 
procedure should be adopted for all these charges; 
whereas the said single tax procedure must itself be as 
similar as possible to the Community provisions laid 
down in respect of customs duties, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
CHAPTER I 
General 
Article 1 
1. This Directive lays down the Community 
procedure for value added tax and excise duties 
applicable to goods intended for consumption on 
board vessels, aircraft and trains engaged in inter­
national transport, hereinafter call 'stores'. 
2. For the purposes of this Directive: 
(a) 'stores' means catering supplies, fuels, lubricants 
and other oils for technical use, and sundry 
stores; 
— 'catering supplies' means any products 
intended solely for consumption on board by 
crew members or passengers, 
— 'fuels, lubricants and other oils for technical 
use' means products intended for feeding the 
propulsion units and operating other 
machinery and equipment on board, 
— 'sundry stores' means any consumable care 
and maintenance products and any 
consumable products used for the on-board 
preservation, treatment or preparation of the 
8.2.80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 31/11 
goods carried or as feedingstuffs for animals 
carried; 
(b) Vessels' means any vessels within headings No 
89.01 and No 89.02 and subheading 89.03 A of 
the Common Customs Tariff; 
(c) 'pleasure vessels' or 'private aircraft' means vessels 
or aircraft used by the owner theroef or the 
natural or legal person who enjoys their use 
either through hire or through any other means, 
for purposes other than commercial purposes and 
in particular other than for the carriage of pass­
engers for payment, reward or any other material 
advantage and other than for the industrial or 
commercial carriage of goods, whether or not 
against payment; 
(d) 'ports' means both port installations proper and 
roadsteads or any other mooring points auth­
orized by the competent authorities; 
(e) 'aircraft' means power-driven heavier-than-air 
aircraft (including helicopters); 
(f) 'international sea transport' means transport 
carried out by sea by a vessel setting out from one 
Member State and bound for another Member 
State or for a non-member country, or vice versa, 
and transport carried out between French 
territory in Europe and the French overseas 
departments or between the Federal Republic of 
Germany and the Island of Heligoland or 
between Denmark and Greenland, or vice versa; 
a vessel engaged in navigation on the high seas in 
pursuance of a commercial, industrial or fishing 
activity other than a transport activity shall be 
treated as engaged in international sea transport, 
provided such vessel remains at sea for more than 
forty-eight hours; 
(g) 'international inland waterway transport' means 
transport carried out on a lake, river or canal by 
a vessel setting out from a Member State and 
bound for another Member State or non-member 
countries, or vice versa and transport carried out 
within the customs territory of the Community on 
the following waterways: 
— The Rhine and its tributaries and the other 
waterways referred to in Article 2 of the 
revised Mannheim Convention of 17 October 
1868 for the Navigation of the Rhine; 
— the Scheldt as far as Antwerp and the 
Terneuzen canal as far as Ghent; 
— the Moselle, from its confluence with the 
Rhine as far as Metz; 
— which are hereinafter referred to as 'inter­
national waterways'. 
(h) 'international air transport' means transport 
carried out by an aircraft taking off in one 
Member State and bound for another Member State or for a non-member country, or vice versa, 
and transport carried out between French 
territory in Europe and the French overseas 
departments or between the Federal Republic of 
Germany and the Island of Heligoland or 
between Denmark and Greenland, or vice versa; 
(i) 'international trains' means trains running from a 
point of departure in the Community to a 
destination in a non-member country, or vice 
versa, and trains running between two Member 
States, whether or not via a non-member country; 
(j) 'excise duties' means any charges other than 
turnover taxes levied on the production or 
consumption of goods. 
3. Fuels, lubricants and other oils for technical use 
are considered to be products intended for 
consumption on board where they are intended for 
use: 
— by aircraft on board vessels engaged in inter­
national navigation, for the purposes of their 
mission; 
— for in-flight provisioning of aircraft themselves 
engaged in international air transport. 
CHAPTER II 
Exemptions on importation 
Article 2 
Member States shall. not levy value added tax or 
excise duties in respect of the importation of stores on 
board: 
1. a vessel engaged in international sea transport 
which enters territorial waters bound for a port 
situated on their territory, until the vessel arrives in 
that port; 
2. a vessel engaged in international inland waterway 
transport which enters their territory: 
(a) for the whole duration of the voyage, if this 
takes place exclusively in waters having inter­
national status; 
(b) in all other cases, as far as the port of final 
destination situated in the inland waters of a 
Member State. 
3. an aircraft engaged in international air transport 
and bound for an airport situated on their 
territory, until the aircraft arrives at that airport. 
No C 31/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 2. 80 
Article 3 
Member States shall exempt from value added tax 
and excise duties supplies of stores consumed on 
board a means of transport referred to in Article 2: 
1. until it reaches 
Article 2; a destination referred to in 
during the journey between ports of call or stops 
situated on their territoiry, provided that: 
(a) these ports of call or stops are part of the 
normal itinerary to the final destination; 
(b) no passengers or freight are embarked at any 
of these ports of call or stops in order to be 
disembarked at another. 
However, where passengers or freight are 
embarked at any of these ports of call to be 
disembarked at another, fuel on board a means 
of transport in the normal tanks shall be 
exempt; 
during the entire period of stay in a port or 
shipyard or at an airport, provided that this period 
does not exceed the usual period necessary to 
achieve the purposes for which the said means of 
transport carries out the international transport 
operation which it has undertaken. 
Article 4 
Article 3 shall not apply to: 
(a) catering supplies on board: 
— a vessel whilst it is out of commission or 
whilst it is being used for purposes other than 
those for which it is normally engaged in inter­
national sea transport; 
— a vessel used as a floating residence or a 
floating restaurant, hotel or casino, or for 
similar purposes, during the entire period of 
its stay in a port or in the territorial or inland 
waters of a Member State; 
— a pleasure vessel during the entire period of its 
stay in a port or in the territorial or inland 
waters of a Member State where such supplies 
were not purchased in the country of 
provisioning in accordance with the general 
tax arrangements applicable on that country's 
domestic market; 
— a vessel belonging to the administrative 
services or a military vessel flying the flag of a Member State, during the entire period of its 
stay in a port or in the territorial or inland 
waters of that State; 
— a fishing vessel, save for a vessel engaged in 
high-sea fishing, registered in a Member State 
during the entire period of its stay in the 
territorial waters of that State; 
— a vessel engaged in international inland 
waterway transport in the customs territory of 
the Community where such supplies were not 
purchased in the country of provisioning in 
accordance with the general tax arrangements 
applicable on that country's domestic market; 
(b) fuels other than those contained in standard-size 
tanks directly connected to the propulsion units 
or other machinery or equipment on board to be 
fed therewith. 
Article 5 
Member States shall suspend the levying of value 
added tax and excise duties in respect of the impor­
tation of stores on board a means of transport 
referred to in Article 2 at the time of its arrival at its 
destination, provided that such stores are: 
(a) kept on board under customs or tax control; 
(b) transferred, under the control and with the auth­
orization of the competent authorities, to other 
means of transport situated in the same port or 
airport and intended for use in an international 
transport operation which confers entitlement to 
the exemption referred to in Articles 6 and 7; 
(c) placed under one of the rrangements provided for 
in Article 14 (1) (b) or (c) or in Article 16 (1) (A) 
of Directive 77/388/EEC. 
CHAPTER III 
Exemption on exportation 
Article 6 
Member States shall exempt from value added tax 
and excise duties the supply of stores loaded on 
board: 
1. a vessel engaged in international sea transport; 
2. a vessel engaged in international inland waterway 
transport, with the exception of catering supplies 
intended for consumption in the customs territory 
of the Community; 
8. 2. 80 Official Journal of the 
3. an aircraft engaged in international air transport. 
The exemption referred to in the preceding paragraph 
shall also be granted in respect of the supply of stores 
loaded on board such' means of transport during a 
stay or at a port of call or airport in a Member State, 
subject to the conditions and within the limits laid 
down in Article 3. 
Article 7 
1. Article 6 shall apply to the supply of stores, with 
the exception of catering supplies, loaded on board: 
— coastal fishing vessels, 
— vessels used for rescue and assistance at sea, 
even if these vessels do not sail outside territorial 
waters. 
However, catering supplies loaded on board vessels 
used for rescue and assistance at sea are exempt 
where the vessel remains at sea for more than 
48 hours. 
2. Article 6 shall not apply to the supply of stores 
loaded on board: 
(a) pleasure vessels; 
(b) fishing vessels operating in fresh water; 
(c) private aircraft. 
CHAPTER IV 
Stores for international trains 
Article 8 
1. Member States shall not levy value added tax or 
excise duties in respect of the importation of stores on 
board international trains where the following 
conditions are met: 
(a) the catering supplies: 
— do not exceed the quantities normally 
necessary for the needs of the persons carried 
during the journey to and from their 
destination; 
— have been purchased in the country of 
provisioning in accordance with the general 
tax arrangements applicable on that country's 
domestic market; 
(b) the fuels are contained in standard-size tanks 
directly connected to the plant to be fed 
therewith. European Communities No C 31/13 
2. The exemption shall not apply to: 
(a) alcoholic beverages and other products containing 
alcohol, with the exception of beer, still wine and 
sparkling wine; 
(b) tobacco and tobacco products. ( 
3. Stores on board international trains at the time 
of their arrival at the station of destination may: 
— be kept on board under customs or tax control, or 
— be transferred, under the supervision and with the 
authorization of the competent authorities, to 
other international trains at the same station. 
4. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, where stores 
are intended for consumption within the customs 
territory of the Community, only products purchased 
in accordance with the general tax arrangements 
applicable on the domestic market of the country of 
provisioning may be loaded on board international 
trains which are ready for departure. 
CHAPTER V 
Miscellaneous provisions 
Article 9 
Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations or 
administrative provisions necessary to prevent fraud 
and abuse. 
To this end, Member States may: 
1. by way of derogation from Articles 3 and 8 
— place under seal any stores in excess of those 
necessary for the proper operation of the 
means of transport and for the normal needs of 
crew members and passengers; 
2. by way of derogation from Article 6 
— refuse to authorize the loading of exempt 
stores where the conditions of a journey to be 
carried out by the means of transport do not 
justify consumption thereof; 
— determine the quantities of stores to be 
embarked and refuse to authorize the loading 
of stores in excess of those needed for the inter­
national journey in question, taking into 
account: 
NoC31/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 8.2.80 
(a) the means of transport and the nature and 
estimated duration of the journey; 
(b) the number of crew members and pass­
engers; 
(c) the quantity of stores already on board the 
means of transport. 
Article 10 
The provisions of this Directive shall not prevent the 
application of: 
(a) more restrictive measures in force in Member 
States under agreements to ensure reciprocity of 
treatment; 
(b) special measures laid down in respect of foreign 
armed forces stationed on Member States' 
territory in pursuance of international 
conventions; 
(c) special agreements already concluded by Member 
States authorizing aircraft of non- member 
countries or other Member States to operate 
freight or passenger services between two points 
in their territory; 
(d) a convention already concluded between a 
Member State and a non-member country or an international organization and containing 
provisions not consistent with this Directive. 
CHAPTER VI 
Final provisions 
Article 11 
1. Member States shall bring into force the 
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not 
later than 1 January 1981, and shall inform the 
Commission thereof. However, Member States which 
have availed themselves of the options referred to in 
Article 28 of Directive 77/338/EEC may retain the 
national provisions falling within the scope of this 
Directive until 1 January 1983. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the 
Commission the texts of the main provisions of 
national law which they subsequently adopt in the 
field governed by this Directive. 
Article 12 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.