Council Regulation (EC) No 2302/2001 of 15 November 2001 on the detailed rules for applying Article 12(2) of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Economic Community and the Principality of Andorra
Date: 2001-11-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Andorra, customs duties, export licence, tariff preference, tobacco, trade agreement (EU)

28.11.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2302/2001

of 15 November 2001

on the detailed rules for applying Article 12(2) of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of
Letters between the European Economic Community and the Principality of Andorra

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of
Letters between the European Economic Community and the
Principality of Andorra (1), and in particular Article 12(2)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

In accordance with Article 12(2) of the said Agreement,
products covered by heading Nos 2402 and 2403 of the
Harmonised System which are manufactured in the
Community from raw tobacco and which meet
the
conditions of Article 3(1) of the said Agreement are
eligible, when imported into the Principality of Andorra,
for a preferential rate corresponding to 60 % of the rate
applied,
in the Principality of Andorra, for the same
products vis-à-vis third countries.

(2)

Detailed rules for the application of Article 12(2) should
be laid down in order to ensure uniform interpretation
and application of that Article,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Scope

The products referred to in Article 12(2) of the Agreement in
the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European
Economic Community and the Principality of Andorra, herein-
after referred to as the ‘Agreement’, shall be eligible for the
preferential
rate when imported into the Principality of
Andorra on presentation of the certificate set out in the Annex.

ised representative. For this purpose,
authorised representative
specimen of which appears in the Annex,
languages in which the Agreement is drawn up.

the exporter or his
certificate, a
the

in one of

fill out

shall

the

2.
A certificate shall be issued by the customs authorities of
a Community Member State if the products covered by heading
Nos 2402 and 2403 of the Harmonised System are manufac-
tured in the Community from raw tobacco in free circulation
in the Community.

The issuing customs authorities shall take all steps neces-
3.
sary to verify compliance with the requirements. For this
purpose, they shall have the right to call for any evidence and
to make any check considered appropriate. The issuing
customs authorities shall also ensure that the form is duly
completed.

4.
The exporter applying for the issue of a certificate must
be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the
customs authorities of the exporting state where the certificate
is issued, all appropriate documents proving the necessary
working and the Community status of the goods as required by
Article 12(2) of the Agreement.

5.
The certificate shall be issued by the customs authorities
and made available to the exporter as soon as actual exporta-
tion has been effected or ensured. The issuing authority shall
keep a copy of the certificate.

6.
The issuing customs authorities shall give a number to
each certificate. Copies shall bear the same number as the
original.

Article 3

Article 2

General conditions for issue

Prohibition of drawback of, or exemption from, customs
duties

The certificate shall be issued by the customs authorities
1.
of the exporting state on application having been made by the
exporter or, under the exporter's responsibility, by his author-

(1) OJ L 374, 31.12.1990, p. 14. Agreement amended by the 1994

Act of Accession.

1.
Raw tobacco in free circulation used in the manufacture
of goods for which a certificate is issued or drawn up in
accordance with Article 2 shall not be subject
in the
Community to drawback of, or exemption from, customs
duties of whatever kind.

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The exporter of products covered by a certificate must be
2.
prepared to submit at any time, at
the
Community customs authorities concerned, all appropriate
documents proving that no drawback has been obtained in
respect of the imported raw tobacco used in the manufacture
the products concerned and that all customs duties or
of
charges having equivalent effect applicable to the raw tobacco
have actually been paid.

the request of

12(2) of the Agreement where the failure to comply with the
time limit is due to exceptional circumstances or where the
products were submitted to them before the expiry of the said
time limit.

Article 7

Production of certificate

Article 4

Certificates issued retroactively

Notwithstanding Article 2(5), a certificate may in excep-
1.
tional circumstances be issued after exportation of the products
to which it relates within a maximum of three months from
the date of export.

1.
Application of the preferential rate must be requested by
the importer at the time when the customs debt is incurred.

the Principality of Andorra in support of

2.
Certificates shall be submitted to the customs authorities
the customs
of
declaration giving rise to the customs debt. The authorities
shall have the right to request a translation of a certificate.

For the purposes of

2.
the
exporter shall indicate in his application the place and date of
export of the products to which his application relates together
with the reasons for his application.

implementing paragraph 1,

Certificates issued retroactively must bear one of

3.
following endorsements in Box 8:

the

ESPEDIDO A POSTERIORI, UDSTEDT EFTERFØLGENDE, NACHTRÄ-
GLICH AUSGESTELLT, ΕΚ∆ΟΘΕΝ ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΥΣΤΕΡΩΝ, ISSUED RETRO-
ACTIVELY, DÉLIVRÉ A POSTERIORI, RILASCIATO A POSTERIORI,
ACHTERAF AFGEGEVEN, EMITIDO A POSTERIORI, ANNETTU JÄLKI-
KÄTEEN, UTFÄRDAT I EFTERHAND, EMES A POSTERIORI.

Article 5

Issue of a duplicate of the certificate

1.
In the event of the theft, loss or destruction of a certifi-
cate, the exporter may apply to the customs authorities which
issued it for a duplicate to be made on the basis of the export
documents in their possession.

The duplicate shall bear one of the following endorse-

2.
ments in Box 8 of the duplicate:

DUPLICADO, DUPLIKAT, DUPLICATE, DUPLICATA, DUPLICATO,
DUPLICAAT, SEGUNDA VIA, KAKSOISKAPPALE, DUPLICAT.

The duplicate, which shall bear the date of the original

3.
certificate, shall take effect on that date.

Article 6

Validity of certificate

1.
A certificate shall be valid for four months from the date
of issue in the exporting country and must be submitted within
the said period to the customs authorities of the importing
country.

2.
Certificates submitted to the customs authorities of the
Principality of Andorra after the expiry of the time limit for
presentation specified in paragraph 1 may be accepted for the
purpose of applying the preference provided for in Article

Article 8

Supporting documents

The documents referred to in Article 2(4) intended to establish
that the products covered by the certificate are eligible for the
preferential rate provided for in Article 12(2) of the Agreement
and meet
this Regulation may be
the other conditions of
submitted in the following forms:

(a) proof of the Community status of the raw tobacco used,
established in accordance with the relevant Community
provisions;

(b) direct evidence of the processes carried out by the exporter
or the supplier to obtain the products concerned, contained
for example in his accounts or internal bookkeeping.

Article 9

Preservation of certificates and supporting documents

An exporter applying for the issue of a certificate shall
1.
keep for at least three years the documents referred to in
Article 2(4).

The customs authorities of the Principality of Andorra
2.
shall keep for at least three years the certificates submitted to
them.

Article 10

Mutual assistance

The customs authorities of the Member States of the
1.
Community shall communicate, via the Commission, speci-
mens of the stamps used in their offices for the issue of
certificates and the addresses of the customs authorities respon-
sible for verifying the certificates.

2.
In order to ensure the proper application of this Regula-
tion, the customs authorities of the Member States of the
Community and Andorra shall mutually assist one another in
checking the authenticity and accuracy of the documents and
the regularity of the procedures set out in the previous Articles.

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Article 11

Subsequent verification

1.
The subsequent verification of the certificates shall be
carried out at random or whenever the customs authorities of
the Principality of Andorra have reasonable doubts as to the
authenticity of the documents, the working required and the
Community status of the goods concerned or the fulfilment of
the other requirements of this Regulation.

For the purposes of implementing the provisions of para-
2.
graph 1, the customs authorities of the Principality of Andorra
shall return the certificate to the customs authorities of the
exporting state, where appropriate giving the reasons of form
or substance for an inquiry. In support of their request for
subsequent verification, they shall provide all the documents or
all the information obtained suggesting that the particulars
given on the certificate are inaccurate.

3.
The verification shall be carried out by the customs
authorities of the exporting country. For this purpose they shall
have the right to call for any evidence and to carry out any
inspection of the exporter's accounts or any other check they
consider appropriate.

4.
The customs authorities requesting the verification shall
the verification as soon as
be informed of
possible. These results shall indicate clearly whether the docu-

the results of

ments are authentic and whether the products concerned fulfil
the requirements of Article 12(2).

5.
In cases of reasonable doubt where there is no reply
within 10 months of the date of the verification request or
where the reply does not contain sufficient information to
determine the authenticity of the document in question, the
working required or the Community status of the raw tobacco
used, the customs authorities of the Principality of Andorra
shall refuse entitlement to the preferences.

Article 12

Penalties

Penalties shall be imposed on any person who draws up, or
causes to be drawn up, a document which contains incorrect
information for the purpose of obtaining a preferential rate for
a product as provided for in Article 12(2) of the Agreement.

Article 13

Final provisions

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that
the European
of
Communities.

its publication in the Official

Journal of

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 15 November 2001.

For the Council

The President

M. AELVOET

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