No C 245/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 9. 89 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 222/77 in respect of 
the abolition of lodgement of the transit advice note on crossing an internal frontier of the 
Community 
COM(89) 331 final — SYN 205 
(Submitted by the Commission on 10 July 1989) 
(89/C245/05) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 222/77 of 
13 December 1976 on Community transit ('), as last 
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1674/87 (2), provides 
inter alia that the carrier is obliged to present a transit 
advice note to the customs office at the point of entry 
into each Member State through the territory of which 
goods pass in the course of a Community transit 
operation; whereas that same Regulation lays down that 
the purpose of the transit advice note is to make it 
possible, in cases where goods are not produced at the 
office of destination, to substantiate the presumption as 
to the Member State where the irregularity took place 
and where any charges payable are to be collected; 
Whereas, at the meeting of the European Council held 
on 28 and 29 June 1985 in Milan, the Commission 
presented a White Paper on completing the internal 
market of the Community which set the end of 1992 as 
the deadline for achieving that goal; whereas the 
European Council endorsed that objective; 
Whereas the White Paper provided in particular that, at 
an intermediate stage further measures should be 
(») OJ No L 38, 9. 2. 1977, p. 1. 
(2) OJ No L 157, 17. 6. 1987, p. 1. introduced to simplify formalities at the internal frontiers 
of the Community and, in this connection, listed discon­
tinuing presentation of the transit advice note as the first 
item in its timetable for completing the internal market 
by 1992; 
Whereas abolition of the transit advice note necessitates 
the introduction of a substitute legal framework so that 
the amount of charges payable in cases where goods fail 
to be produced at the office of destination and the 
Member State empowered to collect such charges may 
be determined, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Regulation (EEC) No 222/77 is hereby amended as 
follows: 
1. Article 22 (1) is replaced by the following: 
' 1. The carrier shall give a transit advice note: 
(a) to each office of transit within the meaning of the 
second indent of Article 11 (d); 
(b) to each office of transit at the point of entry into 
the Community, where the goods have passed 
through the territory of a third country. 
The specimen transit advice note shall be determined 
in accordance with the procedure laid down in 
Article 57.'; 
2. in Article 36: 
(a) in paragraph 2, subparagraph (d) is deleted; 
(b) the following new paragraph 3 is added: 
'3. When the consignment has not been 
produced at the office of destination and the 
place of the offence or irregularity is not known, 
such offence or irregularity shall be deemed to 
have been committed: 
26. 9. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 245/5 
— in the Member State to which the office of 
departure belongs, 
or 
— in the Member State to which the office of 
transit at the point of entry into the 
Community belongs and to which a transit 
advice note has been given, 
unless the principal furnishes proof to the 
competent authorities of the regularity of the 
transit operation or of the place where the offence 
or irregularity has been committed. 
If, in the absence of such proof, the said offence 
or irregularity remains deemed to have been 
committed in the Member State of departure or in 
the Member State of point of entry, the duties 
and other taxes shall be levied by that Member 
State at the highest rates applicable in the 
Community to the goods involved in the transit in 
question. 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 99 
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 8 a of the Treaty defines the internal 
market as an area without internal frontiers in which the 
free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is 
ensured and states that this market should be 
progressively established over a period expiring on 
31 December 1992; 
Whereas the system of travellers' allowances applies to 
goods which move about tax paid and in this respect If, subsequently, the Member State where the said 
offence or irregularity has been committed is 
determined, the taxes (with the exception of 
import duties) to which the goods are liable in 
that Member State shall be reimbursed to it by the 
Member State which had originally recovered 
them. In that case, any overpayment shall be 
reimbursed to the person who had originally paid 
the charges.'; 
3. Article 42 (3) is replaced by the following: 
'3. For the purposes of applying Article 22, the 
records kept by the railway authorities shall be 
substituted for transit advice notes.' 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1990. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States. 
anticipates the mode of movement of goods which will 
apply in the internal market; 
Whereas, taking into account the progressive nature of 
the creation of the internal market as stated in Article 8 a 
of the Treaty, graduated increases are necessary both for 
this market and for achieving the aim of Council 
Directive 69/169/EEC (x), as last amended by Directive 
89/194/EEC (2), as set out in the second recital thereto; 
whereas establishing the market means that goods 
bought tax paid will be able to be taken across internal 
frontiers without any liability to pay further tax and that 
the existing allowances for travellers will cease to exist, 
because they would have no meaning; 
Whereas it is necessary in the same way to phase out all 
differences in the treatment of travellers entering various 
Member States, 
(') OJ No L 133, 4. 6. 1969, p. 6. 
(2) OJ No L 73, 17. 3. 1989, p. 47. Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 69/169/EEC to increase in real terms the 
tax paid allowances in intra-Community travel 
COM(89) 331 final — SYN 205 
(Submitted by the Commission on 10 July 1989) 
(89/C 245/06)