Case C‑613/12

Helm Düngemittel GmbH

v

Hauptzollamt Krefeld

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Customs union and Common Customs Tariff — Euro-Mediterranean Agreement with Egypt — Article 20 of Protocol 4 — Proof of origin — Movement certificate EUR.1 — Replacement movement certificate EUR.1 issued at a time when the goods were no longer under the control of the issuing customs authority — Refusal to apply preferential treatment’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 6 February 2014

International agreements — Euro-Mediterranean Agreement of the EU-Egypt Association — Preferential tariff arrangements granted for products originating in Egypt — Proof of origin by the EUR 1 certificate established by the authorities of the State of exportation — Division of the goods on their arrival in a first Member State for the purpose of sending a portion thereof to a second Member State — Replacement movement certificate issued by the customs authorities of the first Member State for the portion of the goods sent to the second Member State — Conditions

(Euro-Mediterranean Agreement of the EU-Egypt Association, Protocol 4, Art. 20)

The Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, of the other part, approved by Decision 2004/635, must be interpreted as meaning that the Egyptian origin of goods, within the meaning of the preferential customs arrangement established by that agreement, can be proved even in the case where the goods were divided up when they arrived in a first Member State in order that a portion of them could be sent to a second Member State and where the replacement movement certificate EUR.1 issued by the customs authorities of the first Member State for the portion of those goods sent to the second Member State does not satisfy the conditions for the issuance of such a certificate set out in Article 20 of Protocol 4 to that agreement concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation, as amended by Decision No 1/2006 of the EU‑Egypt Association Council.

The administration of such proof requires, however, first, that the preferential origin of the goods initially imported from Egypt be established by means of a movement certificate EUR.1 issued by the Egyptian customs authorities in accordance with that protocol and, second, that the importer prove that the portion of the goods divided up in that first Member State and dispatched to the second Member State corresponds to a portion of the goods imported from Egypt into the first Member State. It is for the referring court to determine whether those conditions are satisfied in the main proceedings.

(see paras 40, 41, operative part)

Case C‑613/12

Helm Düngemittel GmbH

v

Hauptzollamt Krefeld

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Customs union and Common Customs Tariff — Euro-Mediterranean Agreement with Egypt — Article 20 of Protocol 4 — Proof of origin — Movement certificate EUR.1 — Replacement movement certificate EUR.1 issued at a time when the goods were no longer under the control of the issuing customs authority — Refusal to apply preferential treatment’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 6 February 2014

International agreements — Euro-Mediterranean Agreement of the EU-Egypt Association — Preferential tariff arrangements granted for products originating in Egypt — Proof of origin by the EUR 1 certificate established by the authorities of the State of exportation — Division of the goods on their arrival in a first Member State for the purpose of sending a portion thereof to a second Member State — Replacement movement certificate issued by the customs authorities of the first Member State for the portion of the goods sent to the second Member State — Conditions

(Euro-Mediterranean Agreement of the EU-Egypt Association, Protocol 4, Art. 20)

The Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, of the other part, approved by Decision 2004/635, must be interpreted as meaning that the Egyptian origin of goods, within the meaning of the preferential customs arrangement established by that agreement, can be proved even in the case where the goods were divided up when they arrived in a first Member State in order that a portion of them could be sent to a second Member State and where the replacement movement certificate EUR.1 issued by the customs authorities of the first Member State for the portion of those goods sent to the second Member State does not satisfy the conditions for the issuance of such a certificate set out in Article 20 of Protocol 4 to that agreement concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation, as amended by Decision No 1/2006 of the EU‑Egypt Association Council.

The administration of such proof requires, however, first, that the preferential origin of the goods initially imported from Egypt be established by means of a movement certificate EUR.1 issued by the Egyptian customs authorities in accordance with that protocol and, second, that the importer prove that the portion of the goods divided up in that first Member State and dispatched to the second Member State corresponds to a portion of the goods imported from Egypt into the first Member State. It is for the referring court to determine whether those conditions are satisfied in the main proceedings.

(see paras 40, 41, operative part)