Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1 Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Fruit and vegetables - Importation from non-Member States - Countervailing charge on the importation of cherries originating in Bulgaria - Scope

(Commission Regulation No 1591/92)

2 Own resources of the European Communities - Post-clearance recovery of import or export duties - Conditions - Administration's error detectable by the trader - Definition - Error detectable by consulting Official Journal - Excluded - Repayment or remission of import or export duties - Conditions - No deception or obvious negligence on the part of the person concerned - Criteria

(Council Regulations No 1430/79, Art. 13, and No 1697/79, Art. 5(2))

3 Own resources of the European Communities - Post-clearance recovery of import or export duties - Time-limit for recovery

(Council Regulations No 1697/79, Art. 2(1), and No 1854/89, Arts 3 and 5)

Summary

4 The countervailing charge introduced by Regulation No 1591/92 introducing a countervailing charge on cherries originating in Bulgaria does not apply only to dessert cherries which are consumed fresh but also to cherries intended for industrial processing.

5 A trader who has accumulated some experience of import and export transactions and who is aware, in particular, of the imminent risk of a countervailing charge being introduced cannot, if that charge is actually introduced, benefit from the provisions of Article 5(2) of Regulation No 1697/79 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 or from Article 13 of Regulation No 1430/79 on the repayment or remission of import or export duties since he could have informed himself as to the actual introduction of the charge by consulting the Official Journal of the European Communities and failed to do so.

Article 5(2) of Regulation No 1697/79, which makes any waiver of post-clearance recovery by the authorities subject to the condition that the error made by the competent authorities should be such that it could not reasonably be detected by the person liable acting in good faith, despite his professional experience and the diligence expected of him, is to be interpreted as meaning that, where a professional trader importing goods is aware of the imminent possibility that a countervailing charge might be introduced for certain goods, he must ascertain, by consulting the relevant issues of the Official Journal, the provisions of Community law applicable to the transactions he is carrying out. To impose such an obligation on traders to inform themselves does not constitute a requirement that is disproportionate to the objective pursued by the introduction of a countervailing charge, which is to obviate disturbances on the Community market, bearing in mind, moreover, the need to apply Community law uniformly.

Furthermore, a trader who is aware of the imminent possibility that a countervailing charge might be introduced and who has not ascertained, by consulting the relevant issues of the Official Journal, the provisions of Community law applicable to the transactions which he carries out is obviously negligent within the meaning of Article 13 of Regulation No 1430/79 and does not therefore fulfil one of the conditions to which that provision makes repayment or remission of import duties subject.

6 Failure on the part of the customs authorities, when taking action for the post-clearance recovery of the countervailing charge, to observe the time-limits laid down in Articles 3 and 5 of Regulation No 1854/89 on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the amounts of the import duties or export duties resulting from a customs debt does not nullify the right of those authorities to proceed with such recovery, provided that it is carried out within the time-limit laid down in Article 2(1) of Regulation No 1697/79.