WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3185/97 by Luigi CALIGARIS to the Commission. Applicability of the special customs arrangements at the free port of Trieste
Date: 1997-10-09
Institutions: CALIGARIS, European Parliament
Subjects: EU law, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, customs regulations, customs territory (EU), derogation from EU law, free zone, import tax, simplification of formalities

30. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134/109

(98/C 134/141)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3185/97

by Luigi Caligaris (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 October 1997)

Subject: Applicability of the special customs arrangements at the free port of Trieste

The Trieste court has recently confirmed the applicability of the special customs arrangements authorized for the
free port of Trieste by Annex VIII to the 1947 Paris peace treaty.

The judgment affirms that the provisions do not conflict with the Treaty of Rome establishing the European
Community  or  the  Community  customs  code  which  exclude  other  provisions  laid  down  in  international
conventions previously concluded.

According to some, the provisions apply not only to the free transit of totally customs-free goods (unloading,
loading, warehousing, trading, processing) but also to all operations concerning goods subject to quotas in the
EU, the importation and processing of heavily taxed products, the processing for export of goods and equipment
for  EU  stamping,  and  the  processing  of  extra-Community  products  subject  to  EU  protectionist  rules  and
readmitted to EU territory as approved finished products.

Is this interpretation consistent with European legislation?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(28 October 1997)

The basic rules governing free zones in Member States of the Community are set by the Community Customs
Code (1)  and  the  provisions  implementing  it (2).  They  lay  down  the  principle  that  European  free  zones  are
included in the customs territory, meaning that they are subject › with exceptions which are exhaustively laid
down › to general measures applying in the rest of the customs territory.

Exceptions are predominantly concerned with exemption from import duties and charges and from commercial
policy measures in respect of third-country products. And Community products in a free zone are allowed to
enjoy the tax benefits attaching to exportation.

The Community rules lay down very simple procedures for customs control of the transhipment and storage of
goods  in  free  zones  and  for  handling  carried  out  in  them.  They  provide  in  principle  for  declaration  and
presentation of goods to customs to be abolished and require stock records to be kept. Industrial processing may
also  be  carried  out  in  free  zones,  subject  to  the  rules  for  customs  procedures  with  economic  impact  and
processing traffic in particular.

According  to  the  Commission’s  information,  Italian  law  poses  a  problem  with  respect  to  Community  law
particularly as regards time to pay and industrial processing.

The 1947 Treaty of Paris (Annex VIII) and the 1975 Osimo bilateral agreement (between Italy and Yugoslavia)
do not seem to permit facilities not provided for in the abovementioned Community rules to be allowed in the
Trieste  free  zone.  The  Italian  authorities  have  been  approached  in  order  to  clarify  the  situation.  Should  it  be
confirmed that there is failure to comply with Community rules, the Italian authorities would not be authorised to
permit the derogations in question unless the Community Customs Code is amended.

(1)  Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 (OJ L 302, 19.10.1992).
(2)  Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 (OJ L 253, 11.10.1993).