Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) on transit statistics and storage statistics relating to the trading og goods between Member States
Date: 1992-03-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Union transit, customs document, customs warehouse, statistics, trading operation

COMMISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

C0M(92)97 

final-SYN 407 

Brussels,30  March  1992 

iW-

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EEC) 

on transit  statistics and storage statistics relating  to the trading 
of goods between Member States 

(presented  by  the  Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1.  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3330/91  of  7  November  1991, on  the  statistics  relating  to 
the  trading  of  goods  between  Member  States,  lays  down  in  Article  4  that  transit  or 
storag  statistics  shall  be  compiled  on  certain  goods  moving  from  one  Member  State  to 
another 
d  in  Article  31 that  the  provisions  necessary  for  these statistics  to be  compiled 
must  be  adopted  by  the Council  on  a  proposal  from  the  Commission.  The  present  draft 
Regulation  is designed  to satisfy  these  requirements. 

2. 

It  has  been  established  that  in  the  present  circumstances  the  Community  as  such  has  no 
need of  these statistics; on the other  hand,  several  Member  States do compile, or  intend to 
compile,  transit  and  storage  statistics.  From  1993,  the  absence  of  legislation  would 
prevent  them  from  obtaining  information  in  these  two  fields;  it  is  therefore  necessary  to 
define  the  framework  within  which  the  Member  States  will  be  able  to  collect  the 
information  necessary  for  producing  these statistics. 

3.  With  the  same  general  aim  as  Regulation  No  3330/91  referred  to  above,  the  present 
Regulation,  while  taking  account  of  the  elimination  of  formalities  at  the  Community's 
internal  borders,  sets  up  the  new  system  of  collection  on  the  basis  of  direct  contact  with 
the  parties  responsible  for  providing  information  and  lays  down  the  methodology  to  be 
followed.  This methodology  imposes  certain  limits so that  the burden on  the  respondents 
is  not  generally  increased  and  does  not  vary  excessively  from  one  Member  State  to 
another;  it  is thus  mainly  concerned  with  the data media  and classifications  to be used  and 
the information  to be declared. 

Nevertheless,  this  proposal  allows  the  Member  States  a  certain  degree  of  freedom,  in 
view  of  their  differing  situations  in  certain  respects,  without  jeopardizing  the  intended 
lessening of the burden. 

4. 

It  is  also  in  order  to  alleviate  burdens  that  thresholds  are  laid  down  below  which  the 
parties responsible  are not  required  to  make declarations  for  statistical  purposes;  these are 
in fact  minimum  thresholds  which  the Member  States will  be obliged  to adhere to. 

5.  As  regards  the trading  of  goods  between  Member  States,  the  adoption  of  this  Regulation 
will  complete  the  legislation  to  be  adopted  by  the  Council  in  order  to  meet  statistical 
requirements  after  1992. 

Council Regulation  (EEC) No 

/92 of 

on transit  statistics and storage statistics  relating  to the trading 
of goods between Member  States 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES, 

Having  regard  to the Treaty establishing  the European  Economic Community,  and 
in particular Article  100A thereof. 

Having  regard  to Council Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91 of  7 November  1991 on 
the statistics  relating to the trading of goods between Member  Statest1), 
and  in particular Articles 4 and 31 thereof, 

Having  regard to the proposal  from the  Commission, 

In cooperation with the European  Parliament, 

Having  regard  to the opinion of the Economic  and Social  Committee, 

Whereas  abolishing customs  formalities, controls and documentation  for any 
movement  of goods across internal  frontiers  is necessary  for the  completion 
of the  internal market; 

Whereas,  in the Member States, statistics may nevertheless  still be  required 
on the trading of goods between Member States that  results  from  transit 
movements and movements  into and out of warehouses; 

Whereas  the framework in which the Member States are authorized  to organize 
their statistical  surveys on these movements must be determined  in order to 
prevent  the burden on the information  respondents varying excessively  from 
one Member  State to another; 

Whereas, within that  framework, it is necessary to determine the purpose of 
transit  and storage statistics and its consequences  for the collection of 
information, to ensure that responsibility  for collecting  this data  is 
directed  towards existing administrative  sources and to refer to the 
competent  administrative  services to fill any gaps, without  increasing  the 
burden on the information respondents; 

Whereas  this burden must  not exceed certain  limits, as regards  either 
classifications, the data to be declared  or the  information media; 

Whereas  it is important  that the burden of transit and  storage  statistics be 
alleviated, particularly  for small and medium-sized  enterprises; whereas this 
should  be effected by means of statistical thresholds; 

Whereas  the Commission must not only adopt provisions  implementing  this 
Regulation but must also ensure that other  implementing  provisions  adopted by 
the Member  States do not compromise the alleviation of the burden on the 
information  respondents; whereas the Commission  should  be assisted  in this 
task by the Committee on the statistics  relating  to the trading  of goods 
between Member States, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

(1) OJ  No L 316 of 16.11.1991, p. 1 

Article  1 

1.  With a view to drawing up transit  statistics and storage statistics, the 
Member States may collect data on the trading of goods between  Member 
States, acting  in conformity with the rules laid down  in this Regulation. 

2.  The Member States which exercise this option shall so inform the 

Commission. 

Article 2 

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions given in Regulation 
(EEC) No 3330/91, Article 2 a ), b ), c ), d ), e) and  f) shall apply. 

For the purposes of this Regulation: 

a)  transit means the crossing of a given Member State by goods which are 
being transported between two places situated outside that  Member 
State; 

b)  interrupted transit means transit during which a break in transport 

occurs; this also includes transshipment. 

c)  customs warehousing procedure means the procedure of the customs 

warehouses as defined  in Articles 1 and 2 of Council Regulation  (EEC) 
No 2503/88 of 25 July  1988 on customs warehouses1) 

d)  competent  statistical services means those services  in each Member 

State which are responsible  for drawing up statistics on the trading 
of goods between Member States. 

Article 3 

Of the goods referred to in Article 3 of Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91, those 
on which data are to be collected  for drawing up statistics of transit 
through a given Member State are goods which are in interrupted  transit  in 
that Member State, except goods which, having entered  the said Member  State 
as non-Community  goods, have subsequently been put  into free circulation 
there. 

1)  O J  No L 22S of 15.8.1988, p.l l 

! 

U 

Article 4 

Of  the goods referred  to in Article  3 of Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91, the 
following  are those on which data are to be collected  for drawing  up  storage 
ntatistics in a given Member State: 

a)  those which, though the customs warehousing procedure has not terminated, 

are transferred, within the meaning of Article 20 of Regulation  (EEC) No 
2503/88,  from a customs warehouse  situated  in that  same Member  State to 
one situated  in another Member State; 

b)  those which, though the customs warehousing  procedure has not been 

terminated,  are transferred, within the meaning of Article 20 of 
Regulation  (EEC) No 2503/88,to a customs warehouse  situated  in that 
Member State from a customs warehouse  situated  in another Member  State; 

c)  those which are subject to the customs warehousing  procedure  in that 
Member State and are sent to another Member  State under the external 
Community  transit  procedure; 

d)  those which are subject to customs warehousing procedure  in that  Member 

State, having come from another Member  State under the Community  external 
transit procedure. 

Article 5 

The Member States shall authorise, under the conditions which they 
themselves determine, those responsible  for providing  statistical 
information  to use administrative or commercial documents  already 
required  for other purposes as the statistical  information  medium. 

Nevertheless, with a view to the standardization of their basic 
documentation, the Member States may establish exclusively  statistical 
media provided that those required to provide the statistical  information 
are  free to choose which of these media they will use. 

The Member States shall  inform the Commission of the media which  they 
authorize or establish. 

s 

Article  6 

1.  In a given Member State, the person responsible  for providing  the 

statistical  information referred  to in Article 8 of Regulation  (EEC) No 
3330/91 is the natural or  legal person who, engaged  in that Member State 
in the trading of goods between Member States, draws up the 
administrative or commercial document designated  as the  statistical 
information medium pursuant to Article 5(1),  1st indent-

In the absence of such a person and by way of derogation to Article 8 of 
Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91, each Member State shall nominate, from 
within t  n administrative services to which the document referred to in 
the first  aragraph is made available, one service which shall provide 
the information. 

2.  The Member States, may, if they wish, proceed  in accordance with the 
second paragraph of Article 6.1.  in order to relieve the persons 
responsible for supplying information of their obligations, in whole or 
in part. 

3.  The person or service referred to in Article 6  (1) shall conform with the 

provisions of this Regulation, the provisions laid down by the 
Commission shall lay down pursuant to Article 30 of Regulation  (EEC) 
No 3330/91 and the measures taken by the Member States to implement these 
provisions. 

Article 7 

1.  In the statistical  information medium to be sent to the competent 

services: 

without prejudice to Article 34 of Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91, the 
goods shall be designated according to their usual trade description 
in sufficiently precise terms to permit their identification and 
their immediate and unequivocal classification  in the most detailed 
relevant subdivision of the applicable version, i.e. the 
classification of the Harmonized System for transit statistics and 
the Combined Nomenclature  for storage statistics, irrespective of th< 
level at which these classifications are applied; however, this 
provision shall not prevent the Member States applying the Standard 
Goods Nomenclature  for Transport Statistics - revised  (NST/R) insteac 
of the above-mentioned classifications where this  is permissible 
under the legislation governing the medium used; 

- 

the code number corresponding to the above-mentioned  subdivision may 
also be required by type of goods. 

2.  In the statistical information medium, the countries shall be designated 

by an alphabetic or numerical code, as laid down  in 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(*). 

In order to apply the first paragraph above, those responsible  for 
providing information shall comply with the instructions of  tfee competent 
national departments in drawing up the statistics covered by this 
Regulation. 

(1) O J  No L 183 of  14.7.197S, p. 3 

Article 8 

Member States which establish transit  statistics shall determine which 
data  from the following  list are to be included on the  statistical 
information medium by type of goods: 

a)  the country of consignment within the meaning of Article  9; 
b)  the country of destination within the meaning of Article  9; 
c)  the quantity of goods  in gross weight within the meaning of 

Article 9; 

d)  the mode of transport, pursuant to Article  9(f)(1); 
e)  the place where the interruption  in transit took place, pursuant to 

Article 9. 

Those Member States which establish storage statistics shall determine 
which data from the following list shall be included on the  statistical 
information medium, by type of goods: 

a)  the Member State of consignment, in the Member State which the the 

goods enter within the meaning of Article  9; 

b)  the Member State of destination, in the case of the Member State 

which goods enter within the meaning of Article  9; 

c)  the country of origin within the meaning of Article 9; this item of 

information  is, however, only required within the limits of Community 
law; 

d)  the quantity of goods expressed  in gross mass or net mass pursuant to 
Article 9 and, if the Combined Nomenclature  is used, in  supplementary 
units in accordance with the CN, in application of Article 7(1); 

e)  the customs value; 
f)  the presumed mode of transport, pursuant to Article  9(f)(2). 

Where not covered elsewhere in this Regulation, the definition of the 
data referred to in 1 and 2, and the ways in which these shall be 
indicated listed on the statistical  information medium, shall be 
determined by the Commission pursuant to the procedure laid down in 
Article 30 of Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91. 

Article 9 

With a view to the application of Article 8: 

a)  country/Member State of consignment means the last country/Member State 
in which the goods have been held up or subjected to legal procedures n 
inherent  in the transport process; 

b)  country  'ember State of destination means the last country/Member State 
known at  -he moment the statistical  information medium  is drawn up, as 
the one towards which the goods must be sent; 

c)  country of origin means the country  in which the goods originate within 
the meaning of Council Regulation  (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on th< 
common definition of the concept of origin of goods(x); 

d)  gross mass means the cumulated mass of the goods and all their packaging 
with the exclusion of the transport equipment, and particularly of 
containers; 

e)  net mass means the weight of the goods proper excluding any packaging; 

f)  mode of transport means that actually used 

1) before or after the interruption of transit; 
2) on entry to or exit  from the warehouse. 

Modes of transport  are as follows: 

Code 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
7 
8 
9 

Designation 
Sea transport 
Rail transport 
Road transport 
Air transport 
Postal  shipments 
Fixed transport  installations 
Inland waterway transport 
Self-propelled 

If the mode of transport  is given as one of those listed under Codes  1, 2, 3, 
4 or 8, it must also be stated whether the goods are transported  in 
containers within the meaning of Article 15(3) of 
Regulation No  1736/75. 

g)  Place of interruption of transit means the port, airport or any other 

place where transit  is interrupted within the meaning of Article  2(2)(b). 

(1) OJ No L 148 of 28.6.1968, p. 1 

i 

Article  10 

1.  When  the data referred  to  in Article 7 and 8 do not  need  to be given on 
the administrative  or commercial  document  referred  to  in the  first 
paragraph of Article 5(1) for the purposes  for which  this document  is 
required,  the Member States shall  instruct  the administrative  service 
referred  to in the second paragraph of Article 6(1) to collect  them and 
forward  them to the competent  statistical  services  in accordance with 
procedures which they shall  lay down. 

2.  Without  prejudice the second paragraph of Article  5(1), the Member  States 

shall establish the media to be used by the  above-mentioned 
administrative  service  for forwarding these data. 

Article 11 

1.  For the purposes of this Regulation, the statistical  thresholds  are 

defined as limits - expressed  in gross mass for transit  statistics  and as 
values or in mass for storage statistics - below which  respondents  are 
not required to submit  information. 

2.  The threshold  for transit  statistics  is fixed per type of goods at at 

least: 

50 kg in the case of air  transport; 
1 000 kg for other modes of  transport. 

- 

3.  The threshold  for storage statistics is fixed at at  least ECU 800 per 

type of goods, irrespective of the mass of the goods, or at  at  least 
1 000 kg per type of goods, irrespective of the value of the goods. 

1 

Article 12 

1-  Information which  is communicated  in application of this Regulation and 
which  is confidential or is covered by professional  secrecy shall be 
subject to the protection accorded to information of the same type under 
the national law of the Member State which receives  it and under the 
corresponding provisions applicable to Community bodies. 

Information referred to in the above paragraph may not be communicated  to 
persons other than those in the Member States or the Community 
institutions whose official duties require them to have knowledge of it. 
Neither may  it be used  for purposes other than those laid down in this 
Regulation, unless the authority which supplied  it has expressly agreed 
and as long as such communication or use is not  forbidden by the 
provisions  in force in the Member State or authority which has recieved 
it. 

2.  Paragraph  1 above shall not preclude the use of the  information obtained 

in application of this Regulation for the purposes of subsequent  legal 
proceedings or prosecutions. 

If the information is used for such purposes, the competent authority of 
the Member State which supplied it shall be immediately  informed. 

Article 13 

1-  The provisions necessary  for implementing this Regulation  shall be laid 
down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30 of 
Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91. 

2.  The Member States may lay down the provisions required  for collecting 

information in order to draw up transit and storage statistics when such 
provisions are not contained  in this Regulation or  laid down by the 
Commission in accordance with paragraph 1. 

Nevertheless, if the effect of these national arrangements  is to 
compromise the alleviation of the burden on the information respondents, 
the Commission shall lay down, in conformity with the  above-mentioned 
Article, the arrangements which reestablish the conditions  for 
alleviating this burden. 

Av 

Article  14 

The Member  States shall communicate  to the Commission  the measures which  they 
take to  implement  this  Regulation. 

Article 15 

The Committee on the  statistics  relating  to the trading of goods between 
Member  States, instituted  by Article 29 of Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91, may 
examine any question  relating  to the  implementation  of this Regulation  raised 
by  its Chairman, either on his own  initiative or at the request of the 
representative of a Member  State. 

Article 16 

This Regulation  shall enter  into force on the third day  following  its 
publication  in the Official Journal of the European  Communities. 

It shall be applicable  from the date given  in the  second  paragraph of Article 
35 of Regulation  (EEC) No 3330/91. 

//M 

IMPACT ON THE  SME  AND  EMPLOYMENT 

Administrative obligations  resulting  from  the application  of the legislation  for  enterprises 

The  regulation  does  not  define  new  obligations  to  declare  information;  it  does,  however, 
recommend  the  use  of  documents,  which  are  already  required  for  other  purposes,  as  statistical 
information  media.  One should  point  out  that  the regulation  is designed  to  meet the needs of  the 
Member  States  whereas  the  Community  as  such  has  not  yet  identified  any  similar  requirements 
for  information. 

2.  Advantages  for  the  enterprise 

The  regulation  aims  to  standardise  procedures  and 
limits  for  statistical 
requirements.  Stress  is  also  laid  on  reducing  the  burden  on  respondents  as  the  Regulation 
determines  the thresholds  which  enterprises  are not obliged  to declare  information. 

lays  down 

it 

It  is  obvious  that  in  general,  having  statistics  is  advantageous  for  the  enterprises,  directly  or 
indirectly,  if they  are both  suppliers  and users of the  information. 

3.  Disadvantages  for  the  enterprise 

An  obligation  to  declare,  whatever  its  nature,  can  always  be  considered  as  a  burden  on 
enterprises;  nevertheless,  the  regulation  attempts  to  reduce  this  burden  and  also  introduces 
simplified  procedures. 

4.  Effects  on  employment 

The Regulation  should  have  neither  a  negative  nor  a positive  effect  on  employment;  in  general, 
its  aim  is  to  maintain  the  data  collection  necessary  for  drawing  up  the  statistics  which  are 
currently  prepared  by  certain  Member  States;  it  does  this  by  adapting  the  framework  and 
methodology  of these  statistics  to  the special  situation  created  by  the  introduction  of the  internal 
market. 

5.  Was there  a prior  consultation  with  the social  partners? 

As regards  transiting  and  warehousing  movements,  this  Regulation does derive from  an obligation 
laid  down  in  Council  Regulation  No  3330/91  on  the  statistics  relating  to  the  trading  of  goods 
between  Member  States.  This  regulation,  including  the  particular  aspect  in  question,  was 
preceded  by  opinions  of  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  under  went  the  cooperation 
procedure  with  the  European  Parliament  after  it had  been  carefully  prepared  by  the  Commission 
which  kept  the  main professional  organisations  concerned  informed  during  the whole process. 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(92) 97 

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Catalogue number: CB-CO-92-108-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-42067-7 

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