No C 261/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 29.9. 84 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation on customs debt 
(COM(84) 395 final) 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 September 1984) 
(84/C 261/05) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Articles 43 and 235 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 Council Directive 79/623/EEC of 25 June 
1979 on the harmonization of provisions laid down 
by law, regulation or administrative action relating to 
customs debt (') defined the various situations giving 
rise to a customs debt on importation or exportation; 
whereas that Directive also determined the material 
time for assessing the amount of the customs debt 
and that at which the debt becomes payable, as well 
as specifying the circumstances in which a customs 
debt is extinguished; 
Whereas the rules governing the incurrence of a 
customs debt, the assessment of its amount, when it 
becomes due and its extinction are so important for 
the proper functioning of the customs union that it is 
essential to ensure that such rules are implemented as 
uniformly as possible in the Community; whereas, to 
this end, the present provisions of Directive 
79/623/EEC should be embodied in a Regulation; 
whereas this will lead to greater legal certainty for 
members of the public; 
Whereas all the principles embodied in Directive 
79/623/EEC should be incorporated in this Regu­
lation, together with further principles based on 
experience gained since the Directive was adopted; 
whereas it should be provided, in particular, that the 
de facto integration into the Community economy of 
goods the importation of which is subject to measures of prohibition or restriction of whatever kind causes a 
customs debt to be incurred; whereas, indeed, the 
economic and financial effect on the Community 
economy of such de facto integration is identical to 
that which would result from an importation carried 
out lawfully pursuant to an authorization granted by 
the competent authorities permitting a derogation 
from the import prohibition or restriction measure 
involved; whereas, moreover, the Common Customs 
Tariff makes no distinction, as regards application of 
the rates of duty set out therein, between goods 
which are integrated into the Community economy 
lawfully and those which are not; 
Whereas it should also be provided that a customs 
debt on exportation is incurred even if it concerns 
goods the exportation of which is subject to measures 
of prohibition of whatever kind, where, as a result of 
an unlawful act, those goods actually leave the 
customs territory of the Community; 
Whereas it is, on the other hand, justifiable to provide 
that the customs debt on importation is extinguished 
in respect of prohibited goods where they are seized 
by the customs authorities and confiscated; 
Whereas account should also be taken, when 
determining the situations in which a customs debt is 
incurred, of the provisions of Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 3599/82 of 21 December 1982 on 
temporary importation arrangements (2), which 
provide, in certain cases, for the use of such customs 
arrangements only with partial relief from import 
duties; 
Whereas it should also be made clear that the 
consumption of goods liable to import duties in a free 
zone within the meaning of Article 1 (2) of Council 
Directive 69/75/EEC of 4 March 1969 on the 
harmonization of provisions laid down by law, 
regulation or administrative action relating to free 
(») OJ No L 179, 17. 7. 1979, p. 31. (2) OJ No L 376, 31. 12. 1982, p. 1. 
29.9.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 261/5 
zones 0> as last amended by the Act of Accession of 
Greece, or their use in that free zone under any other 
conditions than those laid down by the regulations in 
force causes a customs debt to be incurred; 
Whereas the provisions of Article 10 of Directive 
79/623/EEC, which concern trade between Member 
States, should be supplemented by drawing up 
specific rules on the compensatory levy collected in 
certain circumstances on the dispatch from one 
Member State to another Member State of goods 
obtained under the inward processing procedure; 
whereas account should also be taken of the 
provisions applicable to trade between the 
Community and the non-member countries which 
constitute the European Free Trade Association; 
whereas the agreements concluded with those non-
member countries provide for the application of pref­
erential tariff treatment for goods originating in 
Member States; whereas, where compensating 
products obtained or produced in the Community 
under the inward processing arrangements are 
concerned, such preferential tariff treatment is 
conditional on payment of the import duties payable 
on goods from non-member countries contained in 
the said compensating products; 
Whereas it is deemed more appropriate to include the 
rules on liability for payment of the customs debt, 
which are.currently set out in Article 8 of Directive 
79/623/EEC, among the provisions concerning entry 
in the accounts and the terms of payment of customs 
debts; 
Whereas it is necessary to safeguard the uniform 
implementation of the provisions of this Regulation 
and to provide to that end for a Community 
procedure enabling the rules for their implementation 
to be adopted within an appropriate period; whereas 
the Committee on General Customs Rules, set up by 
Article 24 of Council Directive 79/695/EEC of 
24 July 1979 on the harmonization of procedures for 
the release of goods for free circulation (2), is the 
appropriate body to organize close and effective 
collaboration between the Member States and 
the Commission in this field; 
Whereas this Regulation concerns customs debt, 
whether it results from the implementation of the 
common agricultural policy or from the 
implementation of the Treaty provisions concerning 
the customs union; whereas this measure is necessary 
to attain, in the course of the operation of the 
common market, one of the objectives of the 
Community; whereas the Treaty has not provided, in 
the case of the customs union, the necessary powers 
for this purpose; whereas it is therefore necessary to 
base this Regulation also on Article 235 of the 
Treaty, 
(•) OJNoL56, 8. 3. 1969, p. 11. 
(2) OJ No L 205, 13. 8. 1979, p. 19. HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
1. This Regulation lays down the rules in respect 
of: 
(a) the incurrence of a customs debt; 
(b) the moment to be taken into consideration for the 
determination of the amount of a customs debt; 
(c) the extinction of a customs debt. 
2. For the purposes of this Regulation: 
(a) 'customs debt' means the obligation on a person 
to pay the amount of the import duties (customs 
debt on importation) or export duties (customs 
debt on exportation) which apply under the 
provisions in force to goods liable to such duties; 
(b) 'person' means 
— a natural person, or 
— a legal person, or 
— when this possibility is provided for in the 
rules in force, an association of persons 
recognized as having legal capacity but 
lacking the legal status of legal person; 
(c) 'Community goods' means goods: 
— entirely obtained or produced in the customs 
territory of the Community without including 
goods imported from countries or territories 
which are not part of that customs territory, 
— imported from countries or territories which 
are not part of the customs territory of the 
Community and which were placed in free 
circulation in a Member State in conformity 
with the Treaties, 
— obtained or produced in the customs territory 
of the Community either exclusively from 
goods referred to in the second indent or 
from goods referred to in the first and second 
indents; 
(d) 'import duties' means customs duties and charges 
having equivalent effect, and agricultural levies 
and other import charges laid down under the 
common agricultural policy or under the specific 
arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting 
from the processing of agricultural products; 
(e) 'export duties' means agricultural levies and other 
export charges laid down under the common 
agricultural policy or under the specific 
arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting 
from the processing of agricultural products. 
No C 261/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 29.9.84 
TITLE I 
INCURRENCE OF CUSTOMS DEBT 
A. Customs debt on importation 
Article 2 
1. A customs debt on importation shall be incurred 
by: 
(a) the placing of goods liable to import duties in free 
circulation or the placing of such goods under the 
temporary importation procedure with partial 
relief from import duties; 
(b) the unlawful introduction into the customs 
territory of the Community of goods liable to 
import duties. 
When goods liable to import duties coming from 
a free zone situated within the customs territory 
of the Communities are unlawfully introduced 
into another part of that territory, such intro­
duction shall be considered as an unlawful intro­
duction into the customs territory of the 
Community. 
For the purposes of this paragraph (b), unlawful 
introduction means any introduction in violation 
of the provisions adopted in implementation of 
Article 2 of Council Directive 68/312/EEC of 30 
July 1968 on the harmonization of the provisions 
laid down by law, regulation or administrative 
action relating to customs treatment of goods 
entering the customs territory of the Community 
and the temporary storage of such goods (1), as 
last amended by the Act of Accession of Greece; 
(c) the removal of goods liable to import duties from 
the customs supervision involved in the temporary 
storage of the goods or their being placed under 
a customs procedure which involves such 
supervision; 
(d) the non-fulfilment of one of the obligations 
arising, in respect of goods liable to import 
duties, from their temporary storage or from the 
use of the customs procedure under which they 
are placed, or non-compliance with a condition 
to which the placing of the goods under that 
procedure is subject, unless it is established that 
these failures have no significant effect on the 
correct operation of the temporary storage or 
customs procedure in question; 
(e) the consumption in a free zone of goods liable to 
import duties or their use in such free zone in any 
conditions other than those laid down by the 
regulations in force; (f) the failure to use for the stipulated purpose and if 
applicable, within the set time limit, goods put 
into free circulation with total or partial relief 
from import duties because of their intended use 
for a particular purpose, or their use for purposes 
other than those stipulated. 
The destruction of the goods without the prior 
authorization of the competent authorities before 
their actual use for the stipulated purpose shall be 
deemed to be a use for purposes other than those 
stipulated; 
(g) the definitive retention, in the customs territory 
of the Community, of waste or scrap liable to 
import duties which results from the destruction 
of goods with the prior authorization of the 
competent authorities, where such destruction has 
the effect: 
— in accordance with Article 4 (b), of not 
causing to be incurred in respect of the said 
goods the customs debt which should have 
been incurred pursuant to subparagraph (f), 
or 
— in accordance with the second subparagraph 
of Article 6 (1) or the second subparagraph of 
Article 11 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 1430/79 of 2 July 1979 on the repayment 
or remission of import or export duties (2) 
and, where appropriate, with the decisions 
taken under Article 13 of that Regulation, of 
permitting the repayment or remission of the 
import duties payable on the said goods. 
2. The customs debt on importation shall be 
incurred even if it relates to goods subject to 
measures of prohibition or restriction on importation 
of whatever kind. 
Article 3 
The moment when a customs debt on importation is 
incurred shall be deemed to be: 
(a) in the cases referred to in Article 2 (1) (a), the 
moment when the competent authorities accept 
the entry of the goods for free circulation or 
temporary importation or the time of any other 
act which, in accordance with the provisions in 
force, has the same effect in law as such 
acceptance; » 
(b) in the cases referred to in Article 2 (1) (b), the 
moment when the goods are unlawfully 
introduced into the customs territory of the 
Community; 
(c) in the cases referred to in Article 2 (1) (c), the 
moment when the goods are removed from 
customs supervision; 
0) OJ No L 194, 6. 8. 1968, p. 13. (') OJ No L 175, 12. 7. 1979, p. 1. 
27. 9. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 259/7 
The maximum quantities laid down may differ by 
region of production and by variety and may in no 
case exceed 300 kg per hectare.' 
6. The following Article 33a is inserted: 
'Article 33a 
1. In wine-growing regions where the addition 
of sucrose is authorized in accordance with 
Article 33, a tax shall be levied in respect of wines 
produced on holdings where the yield per hectare 
exceeds 80 hectolitres. The tax shall be levied 
when the wine is sold for the first time, including 
when it is delivered for the purpose of distillation. 
2. The amount of the tax shall be fixed in the 
light of the difference between the cost of 
enrichment by means of sucrose and that obtained 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 43 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 of 
5 February 1979 laying down special provisions 
relating to quality wines produced in specified 
regions ('), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 
3159/83 (2), sets out criteria for the recognition of 
wines by the Member States as quality wines 
produced in specified regions; whereas, in view of the 
growing surpluses on the wine market and the 
pressures exerted on the market by quality wines psr, 
the said criteria should be supplemented by 
the provision that only wines with 
O OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 48. 
O OJ No L 309, 10. 11. 1983, p. 21. by means of musts for which the aid referred to in 
Article 14 was paid. 
3. The proceeds of the tax referred to in 
paragraph 1 shall be used to finance Community 
expenditure in the wine sector. 
4. The amount of the tax referred to in 
paragraph 1 shall be fixed in accordance with the 
procedure laid down in Article 67. Detailed rules 
for the application of this Article shall be adopted 
in accordance with the same procedure.' 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 September 
1985. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States. 
lasting prospects of finding a market may be 
recognized as quality wines psr and by making 
recognition of such wines subject to a Community 
authorization procedure; 
Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 does not 
include rectified concentrated grape must among the 
products which may be used for sweetening quality 
wines psr; whereas the present state of scientific 
knowledge suggests that it can be used for this 
purpose; 
Whereas Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 
provides that Member States are to fix a maximum 
yield per hectare for quality wines psr and to 
determine the conditions on which these yields may 
be exceeded; whereas the application of this provision 
by some Member States has led to the yields 
compatible with a product of best quality being 
exceeded, with the attendant likelihood that such 
wines will be increasingly difficult to market; whereas 
these considerations make it essential to fix maximum 
yields per hectare applicable throughout the 
Community and to define precisely the conditions on 
which the designation of a quality wine psr can be 
recognized when the maximum yield is exceeded; Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 laying down 
special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions 
COM(84) 515 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 September 1984) 
(84/C 259/07) 
No C 261/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 9. 84 
with total or partial relief from export duties or, 
should the competent authorities be unable to 
determine that moment, the moment of expiry of the 
time limit set for the production of proof that the 
goods have actually been used for the purpose which 
entitled them to such relief. 
TITLE II 
MATERIAL TIME FOR ASSESSING THE AMOUNT 
OF CUSTOMS DEBT 
Article 7 
Subject to the special provisions adopted under 
specific customs or agricultural legislation: 
(a) the amount of the import or export duties payable 
on goods shall be determined on the basis of the 
rules of assessment applicable to the goods at the 
moment when the customs debt in respect of 
them is incurred; 
(b) where it is not possible to determine precisely 
when the customs debt is incurred, the material 
time for determining the rules of assessment 
applicable to the goods concerned shall be the 
moment when the competent authorities conclude 
that the goods are in a situation in which a 
customs debt is incurred. 
However, where the information available to the 
competent authorities enables them to establish 
that the customs debt was incurred at a moment 
prior to that at which they reached that 
conclusion, the amount of the import or export 
duties payable on the goods in question shall be 
determined on the basis of the rules of assessment 
applicable to the goods at the most distant 
moment in the past at which the existence of the 
customs debt arising from this situation may be 
established. 
TITLE III 
EXTINCTION OF CUSTOMS DEBT 
Article 8 
1. Customs debt shall be extinguished: 
(a) by payment of the amount of the import or 
export duties payable on the goods in question 
or, where appropriate, by remission of that 
amount pursuant to the Community provisions in 
force; 
(b) by confiscation of goods provided that the goods 
have not effectively been used into the customs 
territory of the Community; 
(c) by the operation of a time bar, in accordance 
with the provisions in force. 
The establishment by a judicial authority of the 
insolvency of the debtor shall also extinguish the customs debt for the part in excess of the sum 
specified by that judicial authority as having to be 
paid. 
When the payment of the customs debt is covered 
by a guarantee, the provisions of the preceding sub­
paragraph shall not apply. However, when such 
guarantee is only partial, the said provisions shall 
apply with regard to that part of the customs debt 
which is not covered by the guarantee. 
2. Customs debt on importation shall also be 
extinguished: 
(a) where, before they have been released, the entry 
of the goods for release for free circulation or for 
temporary importation with partial relief from 
import duties is, for a reason admissible under the 
rules in force, cancelled or rendered invalid by 
the competent authorities, or where the latter 
authorize the declarant to replace such 
declaration by an entry for another customs 
procedure; 
(b) where the goods entered for release for free circu­
lation or for temporary importation with partial 
relief from import duties are, before their release, 
destroyed on the order or with the authorization 
of the competent authorities or surrendered in the 
same state or after destruction, to the exchequer 
with the agreement of the said authorities; 
(c) where the person concerned proves that the 
goods entered for release for free circulation or 
for temporary importation with partial relief from 
import duties were destroyed or irretrievably lost 
before their release as a result of the actual nature 
of the goods or of unforeseeable circumstances or 
force majeure; 
(d) where the person concerned proves that the 
circumstances which caused the non-fulfilment of 
an obligation arising, in respect of goods liable to 
import duties, from their being kept in temporary 
storage or from the use of the customs procedure 
under which they were placed were due either to: 
— the exportation of the goods concerned out of 
the customs territory of the Community or 
their introduction into a free-zone, or 
— the consignment of the goods concerned to 
another Member State where they were 
treated in accordance with their legal status 
therein. 
3. Customs debt on exportation shall also be 
extinguished: 
(a) where the export declaration is, for a reason 
admissible under the rules in force, cancelled or 
rendered invalid by the competent authorities; 
(b) where the person concerned proves that it has not 
been possible for the goods declared for export to 
leave the customs territory of the Community. 
29.9.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 261/9 
TITLE IV 
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TRADE BETWEEN 
THE COMMUNITY AND CERTAIN NON-MEMBER 
COUNTRIES 
Article 9 
1. In so far as agreements concluded between the 
Community and certain non-member countries 
provide for the granting on importation into those 
countries of preferential tariff treatment for goods 
originating in the Community within the meaning of 
such agreements, on condition that, where they have 
been obtained or produced under the inward 
processing arrangements, products from non-member 
countries used in producing the said goods are 
subjected to payment of the import duties payable 
thereon, the completion of the formalities necessary 
for obtaining such preferential tariff treatment shall 
cause a customs debt on importation to be incurred. 
The moment when such customs debt is incurred shall 
be deemed to be the moment when the competent 
authorities accept the export declaration relating to 
the goods in question or any other act having the 
same legal effects as such acceptance. 
2. Article 8 (1), (2) (b) and (2) (c) shall apply 
mutatis mutandis to the extinction of the customs debt 
referred to in paragraph 1. The said customs debt 
shall also be extinguished when the formalities 
completed to obtain preferential tariff treatment are 
cancelled. 
TITLE V 
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TRADE BETWEEN 
MEMBER STATES 
Article 10 
1. To the extent that Community goods are liable 
to customs or agricultural charges when traded 
between Member States, Articles 2 to 8 shall apply 
mutatis mutandis, as regards the incurrence of the 
customs debt arising from this situation, to the 
material time for assessing the amount of the customs 
debt and its extinction. 
2. In so far as, during the transitional period laid 
down by the Acts of accession to the Community of 
new Member States, the placing in free circulation in 
the new Member States of goods obtained or produced under the inward processing procedure in 
other Member States, and vice versa, shall be subject 
to the charging of a compensatory levy, the 
completion of the formalities necessary to permit the 
placing in free circulation of the goods in question 
shall cause a customs debt on importation to be 
incurred. 
The moment when such customs debt is incurred shall 
be deemed to be the moment when the competent 
authorities accept the declaration for dispatch to the 
Member State of destination concerned, or any other 
act having the same legal effects as such acceptance. 
Article 8 (1), (2) (b) and (2) (c) shall apply mutatis 
mutandis to the extinction of such customs debt. The 
said customs debt shall also be extinguished when the 
formalities completed to place the goods in question 
in free circulation are cancelled. 
TITLE VI 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
Article 11 
This Regulation shall not constitute an impediment to 
the provisions in force in the Member States under 
which the goods themselves constitute security for the 
import or export duties to which they are liable and 
as such may be liable to seizure or confiscation. 
Article 12 
The measures necessary to implement this Regulation 
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in Article 26 (2) and (3) of Directive 
79/695/EEC. 
Article 13 
Directive 79/623/EEC is hereby repealed as from 
1 July 1985. 
Any references to that Directive shall be read as 
referring to this Regulation. 
Article 14 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1985. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.