2001/472/EC: Decision No 1/2001 of the EC-EFTA Joint Committee on Common Transit of 7 June 2001 amending the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure
Date: 2001-06-07
Institutions: EC–EFTA Joint Committee
Subjects: EFTA countries, European convention, customs document, customs transit, form, guarantee

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Official Journal of the European Communities

21.6.2001

DECISION No 1/2001 OF THE EC-EFTA JOINT COMMITTEE ON COMMON TRANSIT

amending the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure

of 7 June 2001

(2001/472/EC)

THE JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a
common transit procedure (1), and in particular Article 15(3)(a)
thereof,

(8)

Access to the electronic transit data will be facillitated by
printing the movement reference number (MRN) in a
standard bar code mode on the transit accompanying
document, making the procedure quicker and more effi-
cient,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

The legal framework of the computerised transit system
has to be further developed and completed and where
necessary updated to ensure the homogenous and reli-
able operation of the full computerised procedure.

The exchange of information between the competent
authorities at offices of departure and offices of transit
using information technology and computer networks
will grant the possibility of a more effective control on
the transit operations, whilst at the same time relieving
carriers from the formality of presenting the transit
advice note to each office of transit.

For the monitoring of the use of the comprehensive
guarantee and guarantee waiver it is necessary to estab-
lish a presumed amount of duties and other charges
involved in each transit operation in the cases where the
data needed for this calculation is not available; however
the competent authorities may assess a different figure
on the basis of other information that may be known to
them.

For guarantees monitored by the computerised transit
system the presentation of paper guarantee documents
to the office of departure may be dispensed with.

For the computerised control of the individual guarantee
by means of vouchers it is appropriate to establish the
obligation for the guarantor to provide the office of
guarantee with any required information on vouchers
issued.

To maximise the benefits attainable from the computer-
ised transit system by the competent authorities and
economic operators it is appropriate to extend also to
the authorised consignee the obligation to exchange
information with the office of destination using a data
processing technique.

The computerised environment will allow a considerable
shortening of
in launching the
enquiry procedure.

the current delays

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Appendix I shall be amended in accordance with Annex A to
this Decision.

Article 2

Appendix III shall be amended in accordance with Annex B to
this Decision.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its

1.
adoption.

2.

It shall be applicable from 1 July 2001.

3.
Each authorisation granting the status of authorised
consignee must comply with Article 74a of Appendix I by a
date decided by the competent authorities, and at the latest by
31 March 2004.

Before 1 January 2004, the Joint Committee shall evaluate the
implementation of Article 74a in relation with Chapter VII of
Title II of Appendix I. This evaluation will be based on a report
of the Commission, drawn up from contributions of the coun-
tries. The Joint Committee may decide on this basis if and
subject to what conditions a deferral of the date mentiond in
the first subparagraph is necessary.

Done at Senohraby, 7 June 2001.

For the Joint Committee

The Chairman

Vendulka HOLÁ

(1) OJ L 226, 13.8.1987, p. 2.

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ANNEX A

Appendix I is amended as follows.

1. In Article 13(1), a third subparagraph is added as follows:

‘However, where guarantee data are exchanged between the office of guarantee and the office of departure using
information technology and computer networks, the original of the guarantee instrument shall be retained at the
office of guarantee and no paper copy is presented to the office of departure.’

2. In Article 14, a new paragraph is inserted as follows:

‘3a. Where the office of guarantee exchanges guarantee data with the offices of departure using information
technology and computer networks, the guarantor shall furnish this office with any required details about the
individual guarantee vouchers that he has issued, according to the modalities decided by the competent authorities.’

3. Article 32(2) is replaced by the following:

‘2.
The carrier shall present a transit advice note made out on a form corresponding to the specimen in Appendix
III to each office of transit, which shall retain it. However, when the transit data are exchanged between the office of
departure and the office of transit using information technology and computer networks the transit advice note shall
not be presented.’

4. In Article 39, a new paragraph 1 is inserted as follows:

‘1a. Where the provisions of Chapter VII of Title II apply and the competent authorities of the country of
departure have not received the “arrival advance” message by the time limit within which the goods must be
presented at the office of destination those authorities shall inform the principal and ask him to furnish proof that
the procedure has ended.’

5. In Article 40(1), the following subparagraph is added:

‘Where the provisions of Chapter VII of Title II apply the competent authorities shall also initiate the enquiry
procedure forthwith each time they have not received the “arrival advice” message by the time limit wihtin which the
goods must be presented at the office of destination or the “control results” message within six days after having
received the “arrival advice” message.’

6. The following Article is inserted as follows:

‘Guarantee

Article 44a

Where the office of guarantee and the office of departure are located in different countries the messages to be used
for the exchange of guarantee data shall conform to the structure and particulars defined by the Contracting Parties in
agreement with each other.’

7. Article 45 is replaced by the following:

‘Anticipated arrival record and anticipated transit record

Article 45

On release of the goods, the office of departure shall transmit details for the common transit operation to the
declared office of destination using the “anticipated arrival record” message and to each declared office of transit using
the “anticipated transit record” message. These messages shall be based on data derived from the transit declaration,
where the case occurs amended, and completed as appropriate. These messages shall conform to the structure and
particulars defined by the Contracting Parties in agreement with each other.’

8. The following Article is inserted:

‘Notification crossing frontier

Article 45a

The office of transit records the passage against the “anticipated transit record” message received from the office of
departure. Any inspection of the goods shall be carried out using the “Anticipated transit record” message as a basis
for such inspection. The passage shall be notified to the office of departure using the “notification crossing frontier”
message. This message shall conform to the structure and particulars defined by the Contracting Parties in agreement
with each other.’

9. In Article 56(1), the following is added:

‘For the application of the first subparagraph a calculation is made of the amount of the debt which may be incurred
for each transit operation. When the necessary data are not available the amount is presumed to be EUR 7 000
unless other information known to the competent authorities leads to a different figure.’

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10. In Article 60(2), the following subparagraph is added:

‘However, where guarantee data are exchanged between the office of guarantee and the office of departure using
information technology and computer networks, not certificate is presented to the office of departure.’

11. Article 74(1)(b) is replaced by the following:

‘(b) without delay, send to the office of destination copies No 4 and No 5 of the transit declaration which
accompanied the goods, indicating, except where communicated using a data-processing technique, the data of
arrival and the conditions of any seals affixed.’

12. The following Article is inserted:

‘Authorised consignees where Chapter VII of Title II applies

Article 74a

1. Where the office of destination applies the provisions of Chapter VII of Title II, persons may be granted the
status of authorised consignee if, as well as complying with the conditions set out in Article 49, they use a
data-processing technique to communicate with the competent authorities.

2.

The authorised consignee shall inform the office of destination of the arrival of the goods before the unloading.

The authorisation shall indicate in particular, how and when the authorised consignee receives the “anticipated

3.
arrival record” data from the office of destination for the purpose of applying mutatis mutandis, Article 47.’

13. In Annex IV, point 3, the second indent is replaced by the following:

‘— except where guarantee data are exchanged between the office of guarantee and the office of departure using
information technology and computer networks, this individual guarantee may be used only at the office of
departure identified in the guarantee document;’

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ANNEX B

Appendix III is amended as follows:

1. In Annex A9, box 52, under ‘other entries’ for code 2 the following is inserted:

‘— reference for the guarantee undertaking

— office of guarantee’.

2. In Annex D1, Title II, paragraph B, in the data group ‘GUARANTEE REFERENCE’ under attribute ‘GRN’, at the end of the

explanatory text, the following is inserted:

‘The “guarantee reference number” (GRN) is allocated by the office of guarantee to identify each single guarantee and it
is structured as follows:

Field

Content

Field type

Examples

1

2

3

4

5

Last two digits of the year at which the guarantee was
accepted (YY)

Numeric 2

Identifier of the country where the guarantee is lodged (ISO
alpha 2 country code)

Alphabetic 2

97

IT

Unique identifier for the acceptance given by the office of
guarantee per year and country

Alphanumeric 12

1234AB788966

Check digit

Alphanumeric 1

8

Identifier of the individual guarantee by means of voucher
(1 letter + 6 digits) or NULL for other guarantee types

Alphanumeric 7

A001017

Field 1 and 2 as explained above.

Field 3 has to be filled with a unique identifier per year and country for the acceptance of the guarantee given by the
office of guarantee. National administrations which want to have the customs office reference number of the office of
guarantee included in the GRN, could use up to the first six characters to insert the national number of the office of
guarantee.

Field 4 has to be filled with a value that is a check digit for the fields 1 to 3 of the GRN. This field allows the detection
of an error when capturing the first fields of the GRN.

Field 5 is only used when the GRN is related to an individual guarantee by means of vouchers registered in the
computerised transit system. In that case, this field has to be filled with the identifier of the voucher.’

3. In Annex D1, Title II, paragraph B, the explanatory text of the data group ‘GUARANTEE REFERENCE’ is replaced by the

following:

‘Number: 99

The data group shall be used if the attribute “Guarantee type” contains the code “0”, “1”, “2”, “4” or “9”.’

4. In Annex D1, Title II, paragraph B, the explanatory text of the data attribute ‘GRN’ is replaced by the following:

‘Type/length: an24

The attribute shall be used to insert the guarantee reference number (GRN) if the attribute “Guarantee type” contains
the code “0”, “1”, “2”, “4” or “9”. In this case the attribute “Other guarantee reference” is not used.’

5. In Annex D1, Title II, paragraph B, the explanatory text of the data attribute ‘Other guarantee reference’ is replaced by

the following:

‘Type/length: an35

This attribute shall be used if the attribute “Guarantee type” contains other codes than “0”, “1”, “2”, “4” or “9”. In this
case the attribute “GRN” is not used.’

6. In Annex D1, Title II, paragraph B, under the data group ‘GUARANTEE REFERENCE’, the explanatory text under the

attribute ‘Access code’

is replaced by the following:

‘Type/length: an4

The attribute shall be used when the attribute “GRN” is used; otherwise this attribute is optional for the countries.
Depending on the type of guarantee, it is issued by the office of guarantee, the guarantor or the principal and used to
secure a specific guarantee.’

7. In Annex D4, paragraph A, subparagraph 1, the following last sentence is inserted:

‘The “MRN” shall also be printed in bar code mode using the standard “code 128” character set “B”.’