2000/789/EC: Commission Recommendation of 29 November 2000 setting out guidelines for the authorisation of warehousekeepers under Council Directive 92/12/EEC in relation to products subject to excise duty (notified under document number C(2000) 3355)
Date: 2000-11-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU control, alcoholic beverage, excise duty, storage, tax collection, tobacco

14.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 314/29

COMMISSION

COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

of 29 November 2000

setting out guidelines for the authorisation of warehousekeepers under Council Directive
92/12/EEC in relation to products subject to excise duty

(notified under document number C(2000) 3355)

(2000/789/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular the second indent of Article 211
thereof,

Whereas:

Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on
the general arrangements for products subject to excise
duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of
such products (1), as last amended by Directive 2000/
47/EC (2), requires warehouses and warehousekeepers
handling manufactured tobacco,
alcoholic
beverages and mineral oils to be authorised by the
Member States.

alcohol,

from the authorised warehousekeeper to cover the risk
inherent in the intra-Community movement of goods.

(7)

(8)

(9)

According to point (a) of Article 13 of Directive 92/
12/EEC, national authorities may require authorised
warehousekeepers to provide a guarantee to cover the
risk inherent in the production, processing and holding
of goods.

According to point (a) of the second subparagraph of
Article 16(2) of Directive 92/12/EEC, national authori-
ties must obtain a guarantee from registered traders.

Member States should be free to determine how guaran-
tees are provided.

The report of the High Level Group on fraud in the
tobacco and alcohol sectors, which was endorsed by the
Directors-General of Customs and of Indirect Taxation
on 24 April 1998, contains recommendations on tack-
ling fraud.

(10) According to Article 15a(1) of Directive 92/12/EEC,
Member States have to maintain an electronic database
of authorised warehousekeepers or traders registered for
excise purposes, and premises authorised as tax ware-
houses.

The Commission, in its communication to the Council
on efforts to tackle fraud in the field of excise duties,
fully endorses the High Level Group's analysis of the
causes of the problem and agrees with the recommenda-
tions of the Group (3).

The Ecofin Council endorsed the management summary
of the High Level Group's report on 19 May 1998 and
gave a political commitment to tackle fraud.

(11)

The High Level Group recommended that the Commis-
sion and the Member States should consider common
principles for the authorisation of warehouses and ware-
housekeepers.

(12) A Fiscalis seminar was held in Luxembourg at the begin-
ning of October 1998 to establish a guide for granting
and withdrawing warehousekeepers' authorisations and
for controlling goods in warehouses.

The Group's work showed that Member States used
differing criteria for granting or withdrawing author-
isation as warehousekeeper.

(13) Discussions have taken place at the meetings of the
Excise Committee, and Member States have been invited
to make proposals concerning the content of provisions.

According to point (a) of Article 13 of Directive 92/
12/EEC, national authorities must obtain a guarantee

(14)

(1) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 197, 29.7.2000, p. 73.
(3) SEC(1998) 732 final, 29.4.1998.

to ensure more uniform procedures

In order
for
granting and withdrawing authorisation, the representa-
tives of the Member States in the Excise Committee have
unanimously agreed on the provisions contained in this
Recommendation,

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

L 314/30

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Official Journal of the European Communities

14.12.2000

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

SCOPE

Article 1

1. Member States are invited to apply the provisions of this
Recommendation when authorising a natural or legal person
keeping a warehouse:

(a) to produce, process, hold, receive and dispatch products
subject to excise duty in the course of his business, excise
duty being suspended;

(b) to receive, hold and dispatch products subject to excise

duty under suspension of the duty.

2.
This Recommendation should also be broadly applicable
when authorising a registered trader, namely a natural or legal
person without authorised-warehousekeeper status, to receive,
in the course of his business, products subject to excise duty
from another Member State under duty suspension arrange-
ments.

CRITERIA FOR GRANTING AUTHORISATION

Article 2

1.
Although Member States are invited to apply strict
criteria when granting authorisation to the persons specified in
Article 1, a balance should be achieved between facilitating
trade and exercising effective control.

For the purposes of reaching an informed decision and
2.
evaluating the potential risk to revenue of granting author-
isation, the following information should be obtained from the
applicant, prior to authorisation:

— the applicant's name and address,

— the type of activity,

— a plan of the premises and their location and a description

of the activity and the plant,

— a written application supported by commercial records and

company register information,

— the VAT number,

— an extract of the registration in the commercial register or
an equivalent database, where such registration is required
by the Member State concerned,

— the names of the company's officers, their position and

their powers in the company,

— details of

the company's accounting system,

internal

— details of

its revenue
the company's financial position,
history and its compliance with other fiscal obligations
(customs, VAT, direct taxation),

— the level of storage, estimate of goods to be produced, held

or moved in a given period,

— details of past and present warehousekeeping authorisations

held by the applicant in other Member States.

information may be obtained by means of a special

That
application form.

3. Member States may request intending warehousekeepers
to provide a list of the Member States to which they plan to
dispatch excise goods under excise duty suspension arrange-
ments. This list may be freely transmitted to the Member States
of destination concerned.

Article 3

1.
In order to form a clear view of the existence and struc-
ture of the premises and the warehouse, Member States may
carry out a pre-authorisation visit. Member States should
obtain, where possible, a detailed plan of the proposed ware-
house for facilitating checks and audits, especially in the case of
larger premises, and for defining clearly the boundaries of the
duty-suspended area.

2.
Adequate stock control measures by both the authorised
persons and national administrations should be an important
element of any warehousing system. It is also important to
check the origin of excise products and the entire production
process from the receipt of raw materials up to the dispatch of
the finished product. This may involve coding and marking
products.

INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED TO THOSE APPLYING FOR
AUTHORISATION

Article 4

1. Member States are invited to inform the applicant ware-
housekeepers and registered traders about national obligations
in the matter of bookkeeping in order to provide a clear audit
trail of all products received, manufactured, processed, held and
dispatched.

2.
Applicant warehousekeepers should be informed of the
need to reveal in their bookkeeping all information necessary
for the correct operation and control of the tax warehouse.
Depending on the legislation of
these
include in particular:

the Member States,

— raw material stock sheets,

— manufacturing register,

— stock sheets for all products,

control measures and methods of audit,

— sheets for received and dispatched goods.

14.12.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 314/31

In particular,

the information contained in the ware-
3.
housekeeper's books should include a description of the goods,
their tax category, a reference to the accompanying adminis-
trative document (AAD) as described in Regulation (EEC) No
2719/92 (1) (national number of the AAD, the date of depar-
ture of the goods and a note of the date on which the third
copy is received by the consignor for discharge).

An authorisation may, for instance, be cancelled or with-

2.
drawn in the following cases:

— non-fulfilment of the obligations inherent in the author-

isation,

— insufficient cover for the requisite guarantee,

— repeated non-compliance with the legal provisions in force,

4.
Stock records, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets
and audit reports should be available to the competent authori-
ties.

— involvement in criminal activities,

— tax evasion or fraud.

5.
the
Occasional checks to follow up the activity of
company should be carried out by the competent authorities of
the Member States.

Article 5

The Member States are invited to inform warehousekeepers of
their obligations concerning the application of national excise
legislation, and especially:

— the obligation to provide the competent authorities with
the information necessary for the operation of the excise
early-warning system,

— the obligation to use an AAD for all intra-Community and
export consignments and to complete that document accu-
rately before goods are dispatched,

— the obligation to use the national numbering system for the

AAD,

— the obligation to specify the time intended for the journey
if required, details of a reasonable route.

and,

GUARANTEES

Article 6

The amount of

the risk
1.
inherent in the activities of the warehousekeeper or the regis-
tered trader.

the guarantee should reflect

The amount of

2.
the guarantee should be regularly
reviewed to reflect any changes in the volume of trade, the
activities of the warehousekeeper or the rates of excise duties
applicable in the Member States.

CANCELLATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF AN AUTHORISATION

MISCELLANEOUS

Article 8

1.
The regular updates of the electronic database (SEED:
system for exchange of excise data), provided in Article 15a(1)
of Directive 92/12/EEC should include any new authorisations
granted or modifications in the data contained, such as an
expansion in activities, change of address or withdrawal of the
authorisation.

2.
If national legislation so permits, information on appli-
cants who already have a trading history in one Member State
may be disclosed at the request of another.

3.
The Member States are invited to take appropriate meas-
ures to control the production, processing, holding, receipt and
dispatch of goods at warehouses and movements of excisable
goods under the excise-duty suspension arrangements. If neces-
sary, Member States may assist each other in performing these
tasks in accordance with the provisions on administrative
cooperation and mutual assistance.

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 9

Member States are invited to communicate to the Commission
by 31 December 2001 the texts of the main laws, regulations
and administrative provisions adopted pursuant to this Recom-
mendation, and to notify the Commission of any subsequent
changes thereto.

This Recommendation is addressed to the Member States.

Article 10

Article 7

Done at Brussels, 29 November 2000.

1.
An authorisation should in principle only be cancelled or
withdrawn on serious grounds, and after a Member State's
competent authorities have carefully examined the warehouse-
keeper's situation.

For the Commission

Frederik BOLKESTEIN

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 276, 19.9.1992, p. 1.