6.11.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 2 8 3 /9 
Article 31 
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 
1986. 
2. Directive 69/74/EEC and the Directives adopted 
for its implementation are hereby repealed. References to 
those Directives shall be deemed to be references to this 
Regulation. 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community, and in particular Articles 43 and 113 
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 free zones and free warehouses are parts of or 
premises in the Community customs territory separate 
from the rest of that territory in which there is generally 
a concentration of external trade-related activities; 
whereas the customs facilities available in such zones or 
warehouses help foster the said activities, in particular 
the distribution of goods within the Community and 
elsewhere; 
Whereas Council Directive 69/75/EEC (') laid down the 
rules to be incorporated in Member States' own 
provisions governing free zones; whereas the importance 
of these zones in the context of the customs union means 
that provisions relating to them must be applied 
uniformly throughout the Community; whereas the rules 
currently in force should therefore be supplemented and 
enacted in a form directly applicable in the Member 
States, thus strengthening the legal rights of individuals; 
Whereas free zones and free warehouses should not be 
given any competitive advantage where application of 
import duties is concerned; whereas, on the other hand, 
the customs formalities in such zones or warehouses 
should, in view of the special circumstances, be simpler 
than those applying in the rest of the Community 
customs territory; 3. Authorizations granted by the customs authorities 
regarding the operation of customs warehouses shall be 
revoked when their substance conflicts with the 
provisions of this Regulation. They shall continue 
unchanged in all other cases. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States. 
Whereas non-Community goods placed in free zones or 
warehouses should be allowed to remain there for an 
unlimited period without payment of import duties or 
application of commercial policy measures; whereas for 
the purposes of the application of these duties and 
measures the presence of such goods in free zones or 
warehouses should, therefore, continue to be considered 
as not being in the customs territory of the Community; 
Whereas it should be borne in mind that Community 
goods placed in free zones or free warehouses qualify 
for certain benefits normally attaching to their exports; 
whereas it is also necessary to determine the 
consequences of placing in a free zone or free warehouse 
Community goods which are subject in intra-Community 
trade to charges imposed under the common agricultural 
policy for such time as such charges are applied; whereas 
it should also be possible to place other Community 
goods in a free zone or free warehouse; whereas where 
i such goods are liable to domestic taxes it falls to the 
Member States to decide on the consequences of placing 
them in free zones or free warehouses; 
Whereas it is necessary to lay down certain rules for the 
charging of duties where a customs debt arises in respect 
of goods placed in a free zone or free warehouse; 
whereas in particular it should be provided that in 
certain circumstances value added within the customs 
territory of the Community is not to be included in the 
customs value of such goods; 
Whereas the term 'import duties' has been defined in 
Council Directive 79/623/EEC (2) and other acts of 
Community customs legislation; whereas it has become 
necessary to specify what charges are covered by that 
term; Proposal for a Council Regulation on free zones and free warehouses 
COM(85) 468 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 10 October 1985) 
(85/C 283/05) 
(») OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 11. (») OJ No L 179, 17. 7. 1979, p. 31. 
No C 2 8 3 /10 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.11.85 
Whereas to ensure uniform application of this Regu­
lation a Community procedure for the enactment of 
implementing rules should be established; whereas close 
and effective cooperation between the Member States 
and the Commission should take place through the 
Committee on Customs Warehouses and Free Zones 
established under Council Regulation (EEC) No ... of 
... on customs warehouses; 
Whereas the provisions relating to free zones and free 
warehouses form an essential instrument of the 
Community's trade policy; whereas the provisions of this 
Regulation also derive from the implementation of the 
common agricultural policy, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
TITLE I 
General provisions 
Article 1 
1. This Regulation lays down the rules governing free 
zones and free warehouses. 
2. In a free zone or free warehouse: 
(a) non-Community goods shall not be subject to import 
duties or commercial policy measures; 
(b) Community goods subject to specific Community 
rules as a result of being placed in a free zone shall 
qualify for the application of measures which, under 
the said rules, would normally attach to export of 
such goods; 
(c) no customs formalities or controls shall apply to the 
entry, holding or removal of goods other than as 
provided in this Regulation. 
3. For such time as Community goods are subject in 
intra-Community trade to charges imposed under the 
common agricultural policy, such charges shall not apply 
in a free zone or free warehouse. 
4. For the purposes of this Regulation: 
(a) Community goods means goods: 
— wholly obtained in the customs territory of the 
Community without the addition of goods from 
countries or territories which do not form part of 
the customs territory of the Community, 
— imported from countries or territories not 
forming part of the customs territory of the 
Community which are in free circulation in a 
Member State, 
— obtained, in the customs territory of the 
Community, either from goods referred to in the 
second indent alone or from goods referred to in 
the first and second indents; (b) non-Community goods means goods other than those 
referred to in (a). 
Without prejudice to agreements concluded with 
non-member countries for the purposes of the 
Community transit procedure, goods which, while 
satisfying the conditions laid down in (a), are 
reimported into the customs territory of the 
Community after having been exported from that 
territory, shall also be deemed to be non-Community 
goods; 
(c) import duties means: 
— customs duties, 
— anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties 
introduced under Article VI of the General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, as well as other 
charges having an effect equivalent to that of 
customs duties, 
— 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; 
(d) export duties means agricultural levies and other 
export charges laid down under the common agri­
cultural policy or under the specific arrangements 
applicable to certain goods resulting from the 
processing of agricultural products; 
(e) customs authority means any authority competent for 
the application of customs rules, even if it is not part 
of the customs administration; 
(f) person means: 
— a natural person, 
— a legal person, 
— an association of persons recognized as having 
the capacity to perform legal acts but without the 
status of a legal person. 
Article 2 
1. Member States may designate parts of the customs 
territory of the Community as free zones or authorize 
the establishment of free warehouses. 
2. Member States shall determine the area covered by 
each free zone. Premises which are to be designated as 
free warehouses must be approved by Member States. 
Member States shall take the necessary steps to prevent 
goods being illicitly brought into or taken out of free 
zones or free warehouses. 
3. Member States shall determine the entry and exit 
points of free zones and free warehouses. 
6.11. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 283/11 
4. The construction of any building in a free zone 
shall require the prior approval of the customs authority. 
Article 3 
1. The perimeter and the entry and exit points of free 
zones and free warehouses shall be subject to the 
supervision of the customs authorities. Access to free 
warehouses shall be possible only in the presence of the 
customs authority. 
2. Persons and means of transport entering or leaving 
a free zone or a free warehouse may be subjected to a 
customs check. 
3. Access to a free zone or a free warehouse may be 
denied to persons who it is considered may not comply 
with the rules provided for in this Regulation. 
4. The customs authority may check goods entering, 
leaving or remaining in a free zone or free warehouse. 
To enable such checks to be carried out a copy of the 
transport document must be handed to or kept at the 
disposal of the customs authority. 
TITLE II 
Placing of goods in free zones or free warehouses 
Article 4 
1. Free zones and free warehouses shall be open to all 
goods irrespective of their nature, quantity and country 
of origin, consignment or destination. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall not preclude: 
(a) the imposition of prohibitions or restrictions justified 
on grounds of public morality, public policy or 
public security; the protection of health and life of 
humans, animals or plants; the protection of national 
treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaelogical 
value, or the protection of industrial and commercial 
property; 
(b) the right of the customs authority to restrict access 
to some free zones or parts of free zones or free 
warehouses to certain types of goods on technical or 
administrative grounds. 
Article 5 
1. Goods entering a free zone or free warehouse need 
not be presented to the customs authority, nor need a 
customs declaration be lodged. 
2. Without prejudice to Article 18, goods need be 
presented to the customs authority only where: (a) they have been placed under a customs procedure 
which is discharged when they enter a free zone or 
free warehouse; however, where the procedure in 
question provides that such presentation is 
unnecessary, it shall not be required; 
(b) they have been placed in a free zone or free 
warehouse on the authority of a decision to grant 
repayment or remission of import duties; 
(c) a request has been made for advance payment of 
export refunds on the goods under the common 
agricultural policy. 
3. At the request of the party concerned the customs 
authority shall issue a certificate to the effect that the 
goods placed in a free zone or free warehouse are 
Community goods or non-Community goods, as the case 
may be. 
TITLE III 
Operation of a free zone or free warehouse 
Article 6 
1. There shall be no limit on the length of time goods 
may stay in free zones or free warehouses. 
2. Specific time-limits imposed in accordance with 
Article 15 (2) of Council Regulation (ECC) No ... (on 
customs warehouses) shall apply to certain goods. 
Article 7 
1. Subject to Articles 8 and 9, any industrial, 
commercial or service activity may be carried on in a free 
zone or free warehouse on the conditions laid down in 
this Regulation. 
2. However, the customs authority may impose 
certain prohibitions or restrictions on activity, having 
regard to the nature of the goods concerned or the 
requirements of customs supervision. 
3. The customs authority may prohibit persons not 
considered likely to comply with the provisions of this 
Regulation from carrying on an activity in a free zone or 
free warehouse. 
Article 8 
Where an activity referred to in Article 7 involves the 
working of non-Community goods, the following 
provisions shall apply: 
(a) Without prejudice to Article 13 (2), no authorization 
shall be required for the usual forms of handling 
within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Council 
Regulation (EEC) No ... (on customs warehouses). 
No C 283/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.11. 85 
(b) Processing operations other than the usual forms of 
handling shall be carried out in accordance with 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1999/85 of 16 July 
1985 on inward processing relief arrangements ('). 
Member States may, however, in so far as is 
necessary, adopt methods of control to take into 
account conditions of operation and customs 
supervision in free zones or free warehouses. 
By way of derogation from the first paragraph of 
this indent, processing operations in the territory of 
the Old Free Port of Hamburg shall not be subject 
to conditions of an economic nature. 
However, if conditions of competition in a specific 
economic sector in the Community are affected as a 
result of this derogation, the Council, acting by a 
qualified majority on a proposal from the 
Commission, shall decide that the economic 
conditions laid down for the Community with regard 
to inward processing shall apply to the cor­
responding economic activity within the territory of 
the Old Free Port of Hamburg. 
(c) Processing under customs control shall be carried 
out in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 2763/83 of 26 September 1983 on arrangements 
permitting goods to be processed under customs 
control before being put into free circulation (2). 
Member States may, however, in so far as is 
necessary, adapt the relevant methods of control to 
take into account conditions of operation and 
customs supervision in free zones and free 
warehouses. 
(d) The destruction of goods shall be permitted provided 
that the person concerned provides such information 
as the customs authority considers necessary. 
Article 9 
Where an activity referred to in Article 7 involves the 
working of Community goods, the following provisions 
shall apply: 
(a) Community goods referred to in Article 1 (2) (b) 
which are covered by the common agricultural policy 
may undergo only the forms of handling expressly 
referred to in Article 16 (2) of Council Regulation 
(EEC) No... (on customs warehouses). Such 
handling may be undertaken without authorization. (b) The Community goods referred to in Article 1 (3) 
may undergo without authorization the usual forms 
of handling referred to in Article 16 (1) of Council 
Regulation (EEC) No ... (on customs warehouses) 
or be destroyed in accordance with Article 8 (d). 
(c) Community goods other than those referred to in (a) 
and (b) may undergo any form of handling, working 
or processing. At the request of the person 
concerned, the customs authority shall take the 
necessary steps to identify goods after handling, 
working or processing. 
Article 10 
1. Without prejudice to Article 8 and Article 9 (a) and 
(b), non-Community goods and the Community goods 
referred to in Article 1 (2) (b) and Article 1 (3) may not 
be consumed or used in free zones or free warehouses. 
2. Where the procedure concerned so provides, 
paragraph 1 shall not preclude the use or consumption 
of: 
— goods whose release for free circulation or home use 
would not entail application of import duties, 
measures under the common agricultural policy or 
the common commercial policy or the charges 
referred to in Article 1 (3). In this case no declaration 
of release for free circulation or home use shall be 
required, 
— goods which constitute stores, or 
— goods which qualify for the temporary importation 
arrangements in accordance with Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 3599/82 (3). 
Member States may, however, in so far as is necessary, 
adapt the methods of control to take into account 
conditions of operation and customs supervision in free 
zones and free warehouses. 
Article 11 
1. Persons carrying on an activity involving the 
storage, working or processing, or sale or purchase, of 
goods in a free zone or free warehouse must keep 
accounts in a form approved by the customs authority. 
Goods must be entered in the accounts immediately they 
are brought on to the consignee's premises. The accounts 
must enable the customs authority to identify the goods, 
and must record their movements. 
(') OJN0LI88, 20. 7. 1985, p. 1. 
O OJ No L 272, 5. 10. 1983, p. 1. O OJ No L 376, 31. 12. 1982, p. 1. 
6.11.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 283/13 
The accounts must be held at the disposal of the customs 
authority to enable it to carry out such controls as it 
considers necessary. 
2. Where goods are transhipped in a free zone the 
documents relating to the operation must be held at the 
disposal of the customs authority. Short-term ware­
housing of goods in connection with such transhipment 
shall be deemed to be an integral part of the operation. 
TITLE IV 
Removal of goods from a free zone or free warehouse 
Article 12 
Without prejudice to special provisions adopted under 
specific customs arrangements, non-Community goods 
placed in a free zone or free warehouse may be: 
— released for free circulation or placed under another 
customs procedure, or 
— re-exported or sent to another Member State, or 
— surrendered to the exchequer, if such a possibility is 
provided for under national regulations, or 
— destroyed under the supervision of the customs 
authority; waste and scrap resulting from the de­
struction may be dealt with as provided under one 
of the above indents. 
Article 13 
1. Where a customs debt arises in respect of non-
Community goods, the customs value of such goods shall 
be determined in accordance with Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 1224/80 (*). 
Where the customs value is based on a price actually 
paid or payable which includes the cost of warehousing 
or of preserving goods while they remain in the free 
zone or free warehouse, such costs need not be included 
in the customs value if they are distinguished from the 
price actually paid or payable for the goods. 
2. Where the said goods have undergone in the free 
zone or free warehouse one of the usual forms of 
handling within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Regu­
lation (EEC) No ... (on customs warehouses), other 
than action taken to ensure their preservation, then the 
description of the goods, their customs value and the 
O OJ No L 134, 31. 5. 1980, p. 1. quantity to be taken into account for the purposes of 
calculating import duties shall, at the declarant's request 
and provided such handling was covered by an author­
ization issued in accordance with Article 16 (3) of the 
said Regulation, be those which would be taken into 
account if the goods concerned had not undergone such 
handling. 
Article 14 
1. Community goods covered by the common agri­
cultural policy which are referred to in Article 1 (2) (b) 
must be dealt with, when placed in a free zone or free 
warehouse, in one of the ways provided for by the rules 
under which they were placed in the zone or warehouse. 
2. Should such goods be returned to another part of 
the customs territory of the Community or leave the free 
warehouse, or should no application to have them dealt 
with in one of the ways provided for in paragraph 1 have 
been made by the expiry of a time limit set pursuant to 
Article 6 (2), the customs authority shall take such 
measures as are prescribed by the specific rules 
concerned in the event of failure to deal with the goods 
in the specified way. 
Article 15 
Community goods referred to in Article 1 (3) which have 
been placed in a free zone or a free warehouse may be: 
— released for home use, or 
— placed under the customs warehousing procedure or 
a transit procedure, orr 
— exported or sent to another Member State, or 
— placed under the outward processing arrangements, 
or 
— surrendered to the exchequer if such a possibility is 
provided for under national regulations, or 
— destroyed under the supervision of the customs 
authority; waste and scrap resulting from the de­
struction may be dealt with as provided under one of 
the above indents. 
Article 16 
Community goods placed in a free zone or a free 
warehouse other than goods referred to in Article 
1 (2) (b) or Article 1 (3) may be: 
— declared for export or placed under a transit 
procedure or the outward processing arrangements, 
or 
—• returned to another part of the customs territory of 
the Community, or removed from the free 
warehouse. 
No C 283/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.11. 85 
Article 17 
1. Where goods are to be returned to another part of 
the customs territory of the Community, removed from 
the free warehouse or placed under a customs procedure, 
the certificate referred to in Article 5 (3) may be used as 
proof of the Community or non-Community status of 
the goods, as the case may be. 
2. Where no such certificate or other evidence of the 
Community or non-Community status of the goods is 
available, the goods shall be deemed to be: 
— Community goods, for the purposes of applying 
export duties and export certificates or export 
measures laid down under the common commercial 
policy, 
— non-Community goods in all other case. 
Article 18 
The customs authority shall ensure that rules governing 
the export or consignment of goods from free zones or 
free warehouses are complied with. 
TITLE V 
Final provisions 
Article 19 
The Committee on Customs Warehouses and Free Zones 
set up under Article 27 of Council Regulation (EEC) 
No... (on customs warehouses) shall examine any 
matter concerning the implementation of this Regulation 
raised by its chairman either on his own initiative or at 
the request of a representative of a Member State. 
Article 20 
The provisions required to implement this Regulation 
shall be adopted in accordance with Article 29 of Council Regulation (EEC) No... (on customs 
warehouses). 
Article 21 
This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the 
adoption of special provisions relating to the common 
agricultural policy, which remain subject to the rules 
governing the establishment of that policy. 
Article 22 
Where specific Community rules refer to free zones, that 
reference shall be taken to include a reference to free 
warehouses. 
Article 23 
This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 1736/75 of 24 June 1975 on the 
external trade statistics of the Community and statistics 
of trade between Member States (*). 
Article 24 
Nothing in this Regulation shall affect the provisions of 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 353/79 of 5 February 
1979 laying down the conditions for coupage and wine 
making in the free zones on Community territory for 
wine products originating in third countries (2). 
Article 25 
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 
1986. 
2. Directive 69/75/EEC and the Directives adopted 
for its implementation are hereby repealed. References to 
those Directives shall be deemed to be references to this 
Regulation. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States. 
C) OJ No L 183, 14. 7. 1975, p. 3. 
(*) OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 94.