Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community customs code (transit) (97/C 337/11) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(97) 472 final - 97/0242 (COD)

(submitted by the Commission on 28 September 1997)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 28, 100a and 113 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty,

(1) Whereas the external transit procedure is primarily designed to facilitate trade in non-Community goods in the customs territory; whereas the need for recourse to that procedure for the export of Community goods appears relatively limited and should be assessed in terms of the wide variety of circumstances covered; whereas, without ruling out all use of the external transit procedure in such cases, its definition should be a matter for the committee procedure;

(2) Whereas the concept of discharge of the transit procedure should be defined, as it is essential to proper administration of the procedure, to a clear definition of the liabilities of the principal and the guarantor, and to the instigation of any investigation or recovery procedures required;

(3) Whereas, in the light of amendments to the scope of transit by sea, this opportunity should be taken to delete journeys by sea from Article 94 (2) (a), so that guarantees are no longer the exception and maritime transport via a shipping line is treated on a par with, for example, road transport;

(4) Whereas Article 95 should be redrafted to enable the individual guarantee waiver to be included in the implementing provisions as one of the options available when determining the comprehensive guarantee, via the committee procedure, contingent upon recognition of the highest standards of reliability on the part of the trader;

(5) Whereas Article 96 (2), which lays down that carriers or consignees who accept goods knowing that they are moving under Community transit have a duty to produce the goods at the customs office of destination with due observance of the measures adopted by the customs authorities for their identification, notwithstanding the principal's own obligations, creates confusion between the responsibilities imposed on the relevant parties by the transit regulations proper and their existing obligations under the general code provisions on the introduction of goods into the Community customs territory; whereas, moreover, it adds nothing to the relevant code provisions on the incurrence of and liability for customs debt; whereas, therefore, it may be deleted;

(6) Whereas the simplified domestic, bilateral or multilateral procedures introduced by the Member States under Article 97 (2) vary greatly and may in some cases conflict with the need to apply Community transit rules properly and to guarantee traders equal treatment; whereas they should therefore be reincorporated into the Community framework, especially since the new customs code implementing provisions on transit will in future offer customs authorities and operators a wide range of opportunities for simplifying formalities and considerable freedom in applying them; whereas this will render Article 97 (2) superfluous;

(7) Whereas guarantee systems for Community transit cover both customs debt and other charges which may be incurred in respect of the goods, and constitute a special case because the arrangements are international and the sum required needs to be tailored to the actual risks inherent in the operation and the principal's trustworthiness; whereas, therefore, there is a need to insert a proviso with regard to transit guarantees in Article 192;

(8) Whereas under the current Article 215 rule it is possible to establish where the customs debt is incurred, but not to link this with the customs authority responsible for its recovery; whereas, moreover, where a customs procedure is not discharged, the rule for establishing the place where the customs debt is incurred should be amended to reflect the need to determine, as far as possible, the place where the taxable events actually occurred;

(9) Whereas simplification and clarification of the rules for the benefit of both operators and customs officials form an essential part of the action plan for customs transit in Europe,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 91 (1) (b) is replaced by the following:

'(b) Community goods, in cases and upon conditions determined in accordance with the committee procedure.`

2. Article 92 is replaced by the following:

'Article 92

The external transit procedure shall be discharged where the goods entered for the procedure are produced at the customs office of destination with the corresponding documents, in accordance with the provisions of the procedure in question.`

3. Article 94 (2), point (a) is replaced by the following:

'(a) journeys by air;`

4. Article 95 is replaced by the following:

'Article 95

The cases in which and the conditions upon which a person may obtain from the customs authorities a guarantee waiver for Community transit operations carried out by him shall be determined in accordance with the committee procedure.`

5. Article 96 (2) is deleted; Article 96 (1) stands alone.

6. Article 97 (2) is deleted; Article 97 (1) stands alone.

7. Article 192 (1) is replaced by the following:

'1. Where customs legislation makes it compulsory for security to be provided, and subject to the specific provisions laid down for transit in accordance with the committee procedure, the customs authorities shall fix the amount of such security at a level equal to:` (the rest is unchanged)

8. Article 215 (1) to (3) is replaced by the following new paragraph (1):

'1. For the purpose of determining the authority competent for entry in the accounts, a customs debt shall be incurred:

- at the place where the events from which it arises occur,

- if it is not possible to determine that place, at the place where the customs authorities conclude that the goods are in a situation in which a customs debt is incurred,

- if the goods have been entered for a customs procedure which has not been discharged, and the place cannot be determined pursuant to the first or second indent within a period of time determined, if appropriate, in accordance with the committee procedure, at the place where the goods were either entered for the procedure or were introduced into the Community customs territory under that procedure.`9. Article 215 (4) is renumbered paragraph (2).

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 . . . 199 . . .

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.