8. 3. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 60/1 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) concerning the single administrative 
document (x) 
(91/C 60/01) 
On 4 September 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 100A of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the matter, adopted its Opinion on 5 December 1990. The 
Rapporteur was Mr Giacomelli. 
At its 282nd plenary session (meeting of 18 December 1990), the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion by with no votes against and 1 abstention. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The Committee welcomes the principle underly­
ing the new proposal since the recasting of the three 
existing Regulations on the single administrative docu­
ment reflects the Commission's intention of adjusting 
to the new situation which will arise after 31 December 
1992, i.e. the deadline laid down in Article 8A of the 
Treaty, as amended by the Single Act, for the introduc­
tion of the Single Market, with all that this implies in 
terms of the removal of intra-Community frontiers 
and the free movement of goods between the Member 
States. 
1.2. When this Single Market comes into existence, 
border controls and formalities will be abolished within 
the European Community and goods will be traded 
under the same conditions as in any single Member 
State. 
1.3. Whilst the move to recast the three existing 
Regulations is to be welcomed, it nonetheless raises 
various questions which will be looked at in Chapter 3 
of this Opinion. 
2. Background 
2.1. After protracted discussions at the time between 
representatives of the appropriate Member State 
departments, the Commission drew up a number of 
(*) OJ No C 214, 29. 8. 1990, p. 11. proposals aimed at simplifying formalities in trade 
within the Community. These proposals, which were 
adopted unanimously by the Council under Article 235 
of the Treaty, sought to achieve overall simplification 
of customs documents by using a single administrative 
document—instead of various Community or national 
forms—for dispatch, Community transit and Com­
munity goods' entry for home use or entry under any 
other procedure in the Member State of destination. In 
the views of the authors of the proposals, the introduc­
tion of a single administrative document could be 
regarded as an intermediate stage on the way towards 
the abolition of all administrative documentation in 
intra-Community trade. 
2.2. The single administrative document, which 
entailed a substantial easing of the administrative bur­
den on firms, particularly small and medium-sized 
firms, was introduced by Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 678/85 of 18 February 1985, accompanied by 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 679/85 of the same date 
on a specimen declaration form to be used in trade in 
goods within the Community. This simplified form was 
intended to lead to standardization of the information 
to be supplied in the context of intra-Community trade, 
it being understood that the form would be restricted 
to information which might justifiably be required for 
the purposes of such trade. 
No C 60/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 3. 91 
2.3. The third and last piece of the legislation on the 
single administrative document was finally put in place 
with the adoption on 8 July 1985 of Regulation (EEC) 
No 1900/85 introducing Community export and import 
declaration forms—a Regulation applicable to goods 
which, in trade with third countries or intra-Com-
munity trade, do not comply with the conditions laid 
down in Article 9(2) of the Treaty (products coming 
from third countries and products which are in free 
circulation in Member States). 
3. General comments 
3.1. When the Single Market starts operating on 1 
January 1993, the goods referred to in Article 9(2) 
of the Treaty will be able to move freely within the 
Community without being subject to checks or for­
malities of any kind. This means that the single adminis­
trative document will no longer be required for this 
type of trade. 
3.2. The document will then be used solely for (a) 
trade in non-Community goods not in free circulation 
in the Community, (b) import and export trade with 
non-Community countries, (c) trade between the Com­
munity of Ten and Spain or Portugal during the tran­
sitional period of Spanish and Portuguese accession 
to the Community, and (d) trade between Spain and 
Portugal in goods not yet totally exempt from customs 
duties and charges having equivalent effect. 
3.3. Moreover, since the provisions on the single 
administrative document have in the meantime been 
amended, notably by Commission Regulation (EEC) 
No 1062/87 of 27 March 1987 on provisions for the 
implementation of the Community transit procedure 
and for certain simplifications of that procedure, as 
well as by Regulation (EEC) No 1900/85 (referred to 
in paragraph 2.3 above) introducing Community export 
and import declaration forms, the Committee considers 
that it should support the Commission's efforts to recast 
existing texts because of the reforms connected with 
the Single Market, and to replace such texts by a new 
Regulation even though this implies a major change in 
scope. However, as has been made clear in point 1.3, 
the Committee's approval is tempered by certain reser­
vations spelt out in the following paragraphs. 
3.4. Article 10 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 
678/85 of 18 February 1985 simplifying formalities in 
trade in goods within the Community—a Regulation 
rescinded under Article 9 of the present draft Regu­
lation—contains highly detailed provisions governing 
the cancellation or correction of the declaration made 
by the declarant. These provisions, which reappear to 
some extent in the regulation on goods in free circu­lation as well as being referred to in Article 63 of 
the proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a 
Community Customs Code, should also be included in 
the present proposal for a Regulation. The Committee 
believes that their presence would help users and would 
make the proposed Regulation more complete, given 
that the single administrative document is still used in 
trade with non-Community countries and during the 
transitional period of Spanish and Portuguese accession, 
as laid down in Article 1 of the proposal for a Regu­
lation under discussion. 
3.5. The Committee approves in principle the pro­
visions permitting the 'use of simplified procedures, 
whether or not based on the use of computers', but 
regrets that the details have not been spelt out. The 
Committee therefore recommends that rather than leav­
ing the question of regulating such procedures to the 
Single Administrative Document Committee, as pro­
vided for under Article 6 of the proposal, key provisions 
already contained in Article 14 of the above-mentioned 
Regulation (EEC) No 678/85 should be explicitly incor­
porated in the new proposal for a Regulation. The 
key provisions to be taken over would include the 
possibility, on the authorization of the competent 
authorities, of attaching to the single document com­
mercial schedules describing the goods for the purpose 
of completing formalities, and the possibility that Mem­
ber States might dispense with the single document in 
the event of application of the special provisions laid 
down with regard to consignments by letter or parcel-
post etc. 
3.6. Article 7 deals with the powers and operation 
of the Single Administrative Document Committee, 
which is chaired by a representative of the Commission 
and composed of representatives of the Member States. 
Experience of committee procedures in other fields (e.g. 
statistics) reveals that there is a tendency to confer on 
such committees a purely consultative role although the 
Commission is expected to 'take the utmost account' 
of their opinions. 
Under the present proposal for a Regulation, however, 
the Commission plans to have as many detailed prob­
lems as possible dealt with under the Single Adminis­
trative Document Committee procedure. 
Without abandoning its preference for a more active 
participation of Member State representatives, the 
Committee considers that it should not in this case 
press for a Committee with the form and powers of a 
Management Committee. It does however believe that 
economic operators should be given the chance to offer 
the Committee in question (which is composed of 
officials) the benefit of their practical experience. It 
is therefore proposed that the Single Administrative 
Document Committee should consult economic oper­
ators before delivering its opinions. 
8. 3. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 60/3 
3.7. The Regulation in question will have a direct 
impact on employment, with an estimated 85 000 jobs 
axed in customs departments. The Committee is pleased 
with the Commission's decision to finance a special 
study on the matter but takes the view that it should 
also present a programme for the retraining and conver­
sion of customs officials so that they can satisfy new 
data-processing requirements and adjust to the needs 
of firms. Firms must be given adequate resources to 
deal with this problem. 
3.8. The authors cite Treaty Article 100A as the legal 
basis of the present proposal, presumably because they 
have in mind Article 100A(1) which allows the Council 
to act by a qualified majority, in cooperation with the 
European Parliament and after consulting the Economic 
and Social Committee. A priori there are no objections 
here since the proposal is merely concerned with the 
simplification of formalities and there are no fiscal 
implications. 
4. Specific comments 
Insertion of a new recital after the fourth recital 
The seventh recital of Regulation (EEC) No 679/85—a 
Regulation which will be rescinded by the proposed 
Regulation—makes it clear that, when filling in the 
single administrative document, the declarant must 
always strictly follow the instructions laid down in 
the relevant explanatory note. Unless this requirement, 
together with the explanatory note itself, appears in the 
implementing provisions to be drawn up by the Single 
Administrative Document Committee established under 
Article 6 of the present proposal, it is proposed to 
Done at Brussels, 18 December 1990. reintroduce it in the form of an additional recital word­
ed as follows: 
'Whereas after 1 January 1993, the single adminis­
trative document will continue to be used for third-
country goods not in free circulation within the 
Community, for all imports and exports in trade 
with non-Community countries, and finally, during 
the transitional period of Spanish and Portuguese 
accession to the Community, for trade between 
these two countries and the Community of Ten as 
well as for certain types of trade between Portugal 
and Spain, it is important, in the interests of stan­
dardizing the information to be provided, to retain 
the use of an explanatory note for the above-
mentioned trade which summarizes all the infor­
mation users need to complete the form easily; 
whereas this note must be readily available to users.' 
5. Conclusion 
5.1. Subject to the previous comments, the Commit­
tee approves the proposal for a Council Regulation 
(CEE) on the single administrative document since it is 
consistent with all the other provisions which will need 
to be adopted if the Single Market is to come into 
existence on 1 January 1993. 
5.2. Despite its agreement in principle, the Commit­
tee would reiterate its concern that the abolition of a 
document which has hitherto made it possible to moni­
tor the honesty of intra-Community trading practices, 
particularly with regard to the payment of taxes and 
duties, will considerably weaken the instruments of 
control. The Committee therefore trusts that the new 
mechanism, which will be based on cooperation and 
on the exchange of information between national 
government departments in the field of indirect tax­
ation, will close the loopholes. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN