13.2.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 41/5 
s 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of 
the amounts of the import duties or export duties or export duties resulting from a 
customs debt 
COM(84) 739final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 11 January 1985) 
(85/C 41/05) 
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 the entry in the accounts of import duties or 
export duties is of decisive importance for the 
implementation of customs legislation governing 
specific fields; whereas the conditions under which 
such entry in the accounts must take place are 
currently defined only in Council Directive 
78/453/EEC of 22 May 1978 on the harmonization 
of provisions laid down by law, regulation or 
administrative action concerning deferred payment of 
import duties or export duties ('); whereas in other 
cases the conditions under which the amounts of 
import duties or export duties are entered in the 
accounts are determined by the Member States; 
whereas this results in divergences in the application 
of customs legislation governing specific fields, 
leading to inequalities in the treatment accorded to 
traders in the Community depending on the Member 
State in which they carry on their business; 
Whereas it is therefore necessary to determine 
generally at Community level the conditions under 
which such entry in the accounts must take place; 
Whereas it can be left to the Member States to 
determine the practical procedures for the entry in 
the accounts of amounts of import duties or export 
duties; whereas, essentially, the important thing is to 
fix the periods within which such entry in the 
accounts must take place; 
O OJ No L 146, 2. 6. 1978, p. 19. Whereas, in order to ensure real equality of treatment 
between traders, it is advisable to fix also the periods 
within which the amounts of import duties or export 
duties entered in the accounts must be paid; whereas 
the payment facilities which are granted in the 
Member States, other than deferment of payment, 
ought to be maintained in a harmonized form; 
whereas, in the interests of clarity, it is appropriate to 
incorporate in a single text all the measures 
concerning the payment of import duties or export 
duties, including those relating to deferment of 
payment currently contained in Directive 78/453/ 
EEC; 
Whereas, where the customs authorities grant 
payment facilities other than deferment of payment, 
credit interest must be charged in addition to the 
amount of import duties or export duties; whereas, 
where the person liable for payment of such amount 
has not discharged his obligation by the time limit set, 
interest on arrears must be charged in addition to 
such amount of duty; 
Whereas, having regard for the constant growth in 
trade and the need to release goods as quickly as 
possible, methods of control used by the customs 
authority have been adjusted so that this authority 
only examines goods before release in a very small 
number of cases; whereas checks on compliance with 
the rules of imports and exports are thus deferred and 
consist mainly of bookkeeping checks, which may 
entail post-clearance recovery of an additional 
amount of duties; whereas the person liable for 
payment of this amount should not have to bear the 
consequences of these customs methods of control 
and such post-clearance recovery should therefore 
not give rise to the payment of interest to the customs 
authority; whereas such post-clearance checks may 
similarly give rise to repayment of an overpaid 
amount; whereas the amount of duty charged will 
have been caculated on the basis of elements of 
charge declared by the person concerned and the 
latter has had access to his goods far more rapidly 
than if they had been examined before release was 
No C 41 /6 Official Journal of the European Communities 13.2.85 
granted; whereas such repayment must therefore not 
give rise to interest payments by the customs 
authority either; 
Whereas when goods are released for free circulation 
after being under the inward processing 
arrangements, the customs debt arises at the time 
when the entry for free circulation is accepted and 
not when the goods are put under such arrangements; 
whereas there is thus no reason to provide that such 
release for free circulation must entail payment of 
interest; 
Whereas, in view of the current conditions under 
which credit policy is determined in the various 
Member States, it is not possible to fix a rate of credit 
interest and a rate of interest on arrears applicable 
throughout the Community; whereas it is essential, 
however, to avoid, within a Member State, excessive 
disparities of treatment between persons liable for 
payment of credit interest pursuant to this Regulation 
and those who contract loans with credit institutions; 
whereas to that end, the rate of credit interest must 
be fixed by the Member States on the basis of the rate 
ruling on their financial markets but may not be 
lower than the discount rate applied by the central 
bank of the Member State concerned; whereas, in 
view of its purpose, the rate of interest on arrears 
must not be lower than the rate of credit interest; 
Whereas, in the context of transit operations 
guarantors enjoy more generous facilities as regards 
time limits for payment and payment of interest than 
those provided for in this Regulation; whereas those 
more favourable provisions appear in certain inter­
national conventions and cannot be affected by the 
introduction of Community rules on the subject; 
whereas the same must apply to the Community 
transit procedure in so far as that procedure is 
applicable, under agreements concluded with 
Switzerland and Austria, to goods moving between 
two points in the customs territory of the Community 
through the territory of those two non-member 
countries; whereas the same must also apply to the 
temporary importation of goods effected under the 
conditions provided for in the Convention concluded 
at Brussels on 6 December 1961 (ATA Convention). 
Whereas Directive 78/453/EEC, the provisions of 
which are incorporated in this Regulation, should be 
repealed; whereas, to take account of the above cases 
in which it is provided that no interest has to be paid 
by the persons liable for payment or the customs 
authority, as the case may be, Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 1430/79 of 2 July 1979 on the repayment or remission of import or export duties (') as last 
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1672/82 (2) 
should contain an additional provision to this effect 
and, on the other hand, the provisions concerning the 
charging of interest must be deleted from Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 1697/79 of 24 July 1979 on 
the post-clearance recovery of import duties or export 
duties which have not been required of the person 
liable for payment on goods entered for a customs 
procedure involving the obligation to pay such duties 
(3) and also from Council Directive 69/73/EEC of 4 
March 1969 on the harmonization of provisions laid 
down by law, regulation or administrative action in 
respect of inward processing (4), as last amended by 
Directive 83/89/EEC (5); 
Whereas this Regulation concerns the entry in the 
accounts and terms of payment of import duties and 
export duties, whether they result from the 
implementation of the common agricultural policy or 
from that of the provisions of the Treaty concerning 
the customs union; whereas, as regards the latter 
aspect, the provisions of the Treaty do not confer on 
the Community institutions the power to adopt 
binding rules on the entry in the accounts and terms 
of payment of import duties or export duties; whereas 
it is therefore necessary to base the provisions of this 
Regulation also on Article 235 of the Treaty. 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
1. This Regulation lays down the rules governing 
the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the 
amounts of the import duties or export duties 
resulting from a customs debt incurred under the 
conditions laid down in 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 (6). 
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; 
(') OJ No L 175, 12. 7. 1979, p. 1. 
(2) OJNoL 186, 30.6. 1982, p. 1. 
C) OJNoL 197, 3. 8. 1979, p. 1. 
(4) OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 1. 
C) OJ No L 59, 5. 3. 1983, p. 1. 
C) OJ No L 179, 17. 3. 1979, p. 31. 
13.2.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 41/7 
(b) 'person' means: 
— a natural person, or 
— a legal person, or 
— an association of persons recognized as having 
a certain legal capacity but without the full 
legal status of a legal person; 
(c) 'entry in the accounts' means the official act by 
which the amount of import duties or export 
duties to be collected by the customs authorities is 
duly determined; 
(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; 
(f) 'customs authorities' means any authority 
empowered to apply customs legislation, even if 
that authority does not form part of the customs 
administration. 
TITLE I 
ENTRY IN THE ACCOUNTS OF THE AMOUNTS OF 
IMPORT DUTIES OR EXPORT DUTIES 
Article 2 
1. All amounts of import duties or export duties 
resulting from a customs debt — hereinafter called 
'amounts of duty' — shall be entered in the accounts 
by the customs authorities. 
2. The Member States shall determine the practical 
procedures for the entry in the accounts of the 
amounts of duty. These procedures may differ 
according to whether or not, in view of the circum­
stances in which the customs debt was incurred, the 
customs authorities are satisfied that the said amounts 
will be paid. 
Within thirty days of the entry into force of this 
Regulation, the Commission shall be notified of the 
procedures by which the customs authorities will 
enter amounts of duty in the accounts in the various 
possible situations. 
Article 3 
1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, where a 
customs debt arises as a result of the acceptance of 
the declaration of goods for a customs procedure 
other than temporary importation with partial relief 
from import duties or from any other act having the same legal effect as such acceptance the amount 
corresponding to such customs debt shall be entered 
in the accounts within two days of the date on which 
the customs authorities granted release of the goods. 
However, the total amount of duty relating to all the 
goods released to one and the same person during 
the course of a period laid down by the customs 
authorities, which may not exceed 31 days, may be 
entered in the accounts in a single operation at the 
end of the period. Such entry in the accounts shall 
occur within five days of the expiry date of the period 
in question. 
2. Where the amount of duty resulting from a 
customs debt arising under the conditions referred to 
in paragraph 1 has been calculated at a level lower 
than the amount legally owed, the entry in the 
accounts of the amount of duty remaining to be 
recovered, in accordance with the provisions of Regu­
lation (EEC) No 1697/79, must occur within two 
days of the date on which the amount legally owed 
was determined by the customs authorities. 
3. In cases other than those referred to in 
paragraph 1, entry in the accounts must occur within 
two days of the date on which the customs authorities 
have the information necessary to 
(a) calculate the amount of duty in question, and 
(b) determine the person liable for payment of that 
amount. 
Article 4 
The time limits for entry in the accounts referred to 
in Article 3 (1), (2) and (3) may be extended up to a 
maximum of 14 days: 
(a) either for reasons to do with the administrative 
organization of the Member States, and in 
particular where the accounts are centralized; 
(b) or where special circumstances prevent the 
customs authorities from abserving the said time 
limits. 
Article 5 
As soon as it has been entered in the accounts, the 
amount of duty shall be communicated to the person 
liable for payment thereof, in accordance with 
appropriate procedures. 
Where the amount of duty payable has been entered, 
for guidance, in the customs declaration, the customs 
authorities may specify that it shall not be 
communicated in accordance with the first paragraph 
unless the amount of duty stated does not correspond 
to the amount determined by the authorities. 
No C 41/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 13.2.85 
Without prejudice to the application of the second 
subparagraph of Article 3 (1) where use is made 
of the possibility provided for in the second 
subparagraph, release of the goods by the customs 
authorities shall be equivalent to communication of 
the amount of duty entered in the accounts to the 
person liable for payment thereof. 
TITLE II 
TIME LIMIT AND PROCEDURES FOR PAYMENT OF 
THE AMOUNTS OF IMPORT DUTIES OR EXPORT 
DUTIES 
CHAPTER A 
Principle 
Article 6 
All amounts of duty communicated in accordance 
with Article 5 shall be paid by the person liable for 
payment within the following time limits: 
(a) if the person is not entitled to any of the payment 
facilities laid down in Chapter B, payment shall 
be made within the period prescribed. This period 
shall not exceed ten days following the date of 
entry in the accounts. It may be made generally 
applicable to the payment of duty resulting from 
a customs debt incurred in given circumstances. 
Where the person concerned receives the 
communication after the expiry of the time limit 
set for payment such payment shall be made 
within two days of receipt of the communication 
by such person. 
(b) if the person is entitled to any of the payment 
facilities laid down in Chapter B, payment shall 
be made before expiry of the time limit(s) set in 
connection with those facilities. 
Article 7 
Except where derogations are granted by the customs 
authorities under specific provisions, payment shall be 
made in a currency which is legal tender in the 
Member State in which the amount of duty is to be 
paid. Payment may be made by means of set-off 
where the rules in force so provide. 
CHAPTER B 
Payment facilities 
Section 1 
Deferred payment 
Article 8 
In so far as the amount of duty payable by the person 
concerned relates to goods entered for a customs 
procedure which entails the obligation to pay such duty, the customs authorities shall, at that person's 
request, grant deferment of payment of that amount 
under the conditions laid down in Articles 9 to 12. 
Article 9 
The grant of deferment of payment shall be made 
conditional on the giving of security by the applicant. 
Article 10 
The competent customs authorities shall grant 
deferment of payment on the basis of one of the 
following procedures: 
(a) either separately in respect of each amount of 
duty entered in the accounts under the conditions 
laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 
3 (1), 
(b) or generally in respect of the total amounts of 
duty entered in the accounts under the conditions 
laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 3 
(1) during a period not exceeding 31 days to be 
fixed by the customs authorities, 
(c) or generally in respect of the total amounts of 
duty entered in the accounts in a single operation 
pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 3 
(1). 
Article 11 
1. The period of deferment shall be 30 days. 
2. The period referred to in paragraph 1 shall be 
calculated as follows: 
(a) Where payment is deferred in accordance with 
Article 10 (a), the period shall be calculated from 
the date on which the amount of duties is entered 
in the accounts by the customs authorities. 
Where Article 4 is applied, the period of 30 days 
calculated in accordance with the first subpara­
graph shall be reduced by the number of days 
corresponding to the period in excess of two days 
used to enter the amount in the accounts. 
(b) Where payment is deferred in accordance with 
Article 10 (b), the period shall be calculated from 
the date on which the period covered by the 
deferment expires. It shall be reduced by the 
number of days corresponding to half the number 
of days in the period concerned. 
(c) Where payment is deferred in accordance with 
Article 10 (c), the period shall be calculated from 
the expiry date of the period during which the 
goods in question were released. It shall be 
reduced by the number of days corresponding to 
half the number of days in the period concerned. 
3. Where the number of days in the periods 
referred to in paragraph 2 (b) and (c) is an odd 
number, the number of days to be deducted from the 
13.2.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 41/9 
thirty-day period pursuant to the provisions of those 
subparagraphs shall be equal to half the next lowest 
even number. 
4. Where the periods referred to in paragraph 2 (b) 
and (c) are a calendar week or month, the amount of 
duties in respect of which payment has been deferred 
shall be paid: 
(a) where the period is a calendar week, on the 
Friday of the fourth week following that calendar 
week; 
(b) where the period is a calendar month, on the 
fifteenth day of the month following that 
calendar month. 
Article 12 
1. Deferment of payment may not be granted in 
respect of amounts of duty which, although relating 
to goods entered for a customs procedure which 
entails the obligation to pay such duty, are entered in 
the accounts: 
(a) either in accordance with the provisions in force 
concerning acceptance of incomplete declarations, 
because the declarant has not, by the time limit 
set, provided the information necessary for the 
definitive valuation of the goods for customs 
purposes or has not supplied the particular or the 
document missing when the incomplete 
declaration was accepted: 
(b) or for the purposes of post-clearance recovery. 
2. However, deferment of payment may be granted 
in the cases referred to in paragraph 1 where the 
amount of duty to be recovered is entered in the 
accounts before the expiry of a period of 30 days 
from the date on which the amount originally 
charged was entered in the accounts or, if it was not 
entered in the accounts, from the date on which the 
declaration relating to the goods in question was 
accepted. The duration of the deferment of payment 
granted in such circumstances may not extend beyond 
the date of expiry of the period which, pursuant to 
Article 11, was granted in respect of the amount of 
duty originally set, or which would have been granted 
if the amount of duty lawfully due had been entered 
in the accounts when the goods in question were 
declared. 
Section 2 
Other payment facilities 
Article 13 
1. The Member States may grant the person liable 
for payment of an amount of duty credit in addition 
to that resulting from the deferment of payment referred to in Section 1. The granting of such 
additional credit shall be made conditional on the 
giving of security. 
2. Apart from the case referred to in paragraph 1 
the customs authorities may, where they consider it 
justified, grant payment facilities either in the form of 
a period for payment, the length of which they shall 
determine in the light of the circumstances, or in the 
form of payment by instalments. 
Such payment facilities may be granted only where no 
security has been given in respect of payment of the 
amount of duty in question. The granting of such 
facilities shall itself be conditional on the giving of 
security. 
Section 3 
Payment before the expiry of the time limits 
Article 14 
Whatever the payment facilities granted to the person 
liable for payment of an amount of duty, that person 
may in any case pay all or part of the amount without 
awaiting expiry of the period for payment which has 
been granted him. 
Section 4 
Payment by a third party 
Article 15 
Any amount of duty may be paid by a third party 
instead of the person liable for payment. 
CHAPTER C 
Enforcement 
Article 16 
Where the person liable for payment of an amount of 
duty has not discharged his obligation within the 
period prescribed, the customs authority shall, 
without prejudice to the possibilities that may be open 
to it for ensuring payment of the amount by calling in 
a security or by sale of the goods in accordance with 
the provisions in force, initiate against that person the 
procedure laid down by the rules on the enforcement 
of public claims. 
TITLE III 
PAYMENT OF INTEREST 
Article 17 
Where the customs authorities grant any of the 
payment facilities provided for in Article 13, credit 
interest shall be charged on the amount of duty. 
NoC41/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 13.2.85 
Article 18 
Where the person liable for payment of an amount of 
duty has not discharged his obligation within the 
period prescribed, interest on arrears shall be charged 
on such amount. 
The same rule shall apply where the amount of duty 
payable is guaranteed by a guarantor who fails to 
make payment by the time limit. 
Article 19 
The rate of credit interest shall be fixed by the 
Member States or the basis of the rate ruling on their 
financial markets. It may not be lower than the 
discount rate applied by the central bank of the 
Member State concerned. The rate of interest on 
arrears may not be lower than the rate of credit 
interest. 
TITLE IV 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
Article 20 
1. Without prejudice to the possible 
implementation of any measures associated with 
offences against the customs rules, no interest on 
amounts of duty payable by a person liable for 
payment shall be charged in cases other than those 
referred to in this Regulation. 
2. The provisions of this Regulation shall not 
prevent the granting of damages to the person liable 
for payment where it is established that the customs 
authorities were responsible for charging an amount 
greater than the amount of duty legally owed. 
Article 21 
This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to any 
provisions providing that the customs authorities need 
not enter in the accounts amount of duty of less than 
2 ECU. Article 22 
This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to the 
more favourable provisions laid down with regard to 
guarantors under the transit procedure and the 
Convention for the temporary admission of goods 
concluded at Brussels on 6 December 1961 (ATA 
Convention). 
Article 23 
1. Directive 78/453/EEC is hereby repealed. 
References to that Directive shall be construed as 
references to this Regulation. 
2. Articles 6 and 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 
1697/79 are hereby repealed. 
3. The following Article 17a is hereby added to 
Regulation (EEC) No 1430/79: 
Article 17a 
Repayment by the competent authorities, pursuant 
to this Regulation, of amounts of import duties or 
export duties shall not give rise to the payment of 
interest by those authorities.' 
4. Directive 69/73/EEC is hereby amended as 
follows: 
(a) in Article 15 (2), the phrase 'and the payment 
of any outstanding arrears of interest due' is 
deleted; 
(b) in Article 16, the phrase 'without prejudice to 
any outstanding arrears of interest due' is 
deleted. 
Article 24 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 
1986. 
It shall apply to amounts of duty entered in the 
accounts on and after that date. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.