Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council adopting an action programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2007)
Date: 2002-01-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, action programme, customs

C 126 E/268

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.5.2002

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council adopting an action
programme for customs in the Community (Customs 2007)

(2002/C 126 E/04)

COM(2002) 26 final — 2002/0029(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 23 January 2002)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

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

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) The experience gained from previous programmes in the
customs field,
in particular Customs 2002, set out in
Decision No 210/97/EC of the European Parliament and
the Council of 19 December 1996 adopting an action
programme for customs in the Community (1), indicates
that
to
there would be a strong Community interest
continue, and even to enlarge this programme. The new
programme should be built on the achievements of the
previous programmes. The need for more focused and
measurable objectives has been established as a result of
the previous programmes. Decision No 210/97/EC should
accordingly be repealed.

customs

in the Community

(2) Customs administrations have a vital role to protect the
Community's interests, particularly its financial interests,
level of protection to the
to provide an equivalent
Community's citizens and economic operators, at any
point
territory where
customs clearance formalities are carried out, and to
global
ensure
marketplace. In this context, the strategic policy defined
by the Customs Policy Group, made up of heads of
Customs Administrations from the Commission and the
Member States, or their representatives, should ensure
that national customs administrations may operate as
efficiently and effectively as would one single adminis-
tration.

that business

can compete

in the

(3) This Decision establishes the principles by which the
customs policy will be guided over the next five years

(1) OJ L 33, 4.2.1997, p. 24, as amended by Decision 105/2000/EC

(OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 1).

and supports and complements actions undertaken by
Member States in the customs field. The implementation
of this programme is coordinated and organised in part-
nership between the Commission and the Member States
within the strategic policy defined by the Customs Policy
Group.

(4) The Community commitment to the process of accession
by applicant countries, requires the provision of practical
these
means whereby the customs administrations of
countries are able to undertake the full range of tasks
required under Community legislation from the date of
their accession, including the management of the future
external border. In order to achieve this, the programme
should be opened to the applicant countries.

(5) A range of instruments can be used in order to achieve
including communi-
the objectives of this programme,
cation and information exchange systems, management
groups, project groups, benchmarking, exchanges of
officials, seminars, workshops, training activities, moni-
toring, and external actions.

(6) There is a need for customs action to give priority to
improving anti-fraud controls, minimising the cost of
economic
compliance with customs
The
preparing
and
operators
Community must
the
framework of its own powers, to support the action of
Member
full
advantage should be taken of every possibility for admin-
istrative cooperation that Community rules provide.

enlargement.
able, within

administrations

legislation for

therefore

customs

for
be

States'

and

(7) Increasing globalisation of trade, the development of new
markets, and changes in the methods and speed of the
movement of goods, require customs administrations to
strengthen relations between the Community's customs
administrations, business, legal and scientific circles, and
operators engaged in foreign trade.

(8) The desirability of an efficient system of evaluation of the
programme necessitates the establishment of a set of
indicators in order to measure the effective and efficient
management of the programme.

a

financial

(9) This decision lays down, for the entire duration of the
framework constituting the
programme,
principal point of
reference, within the meaning of
point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May
the Council
1999 between the European Parliament,
and the Commission on budgetary discipline
and
improvement of the budgetary procedure.

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(10) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Decision are management measures within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
conferred on the
exercise of
Commission (1), they should be adopted by use of the
management procedure provided for in Article 4 of that
Decision,

implementing powers

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

CHAPTER I

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

Article 1

Establishment of the programme

A multiannual Community action programme (Customs 2007)
hereinafter referred to as ‘the programme’, is hereby established
for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2007 to
support and complement the action undertaken by Member
States in the customs field.

Article 2

Participation of candidate countries

1.

The Programme shall be open to the participation of:

(a) the candidate countries of central and eastern Europe, in
accordance with the conditions laid down in the Europe
Agreements, in the additional protocols thereto and in the
decisions of the respective Association Councils.

(b) Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, on the basis of bilateral
agreements on this matter concluded with these countries.

(c) other countries when agreements and procedures so allow.

2.
For the purposes of this Decision ‘participating countries’
means the Member States and the countries referred to in
paragraph 1.

Article 3

Overall objectives

(b) are making the necessary preparations for enlargement,
including the sharing of experience and knowledge with
the customs administrations of the applicant countries.

A Customs Policy Group, composed of the heads of the
2.
customs administrations of the Commission and the Member
States or their representatives shall be established which shall
develop a strategic common policy on which the overall
based. The
objectives
Commission shall keep the Customs Policy Group regularly
informed of measures relating to the implementation of the
programme.

this programme

should

be

of

Article 4

Specific objectives

The programme

1.
objectives:

establishes

the

following

specific

(a)

to reduce the cost of compliance with customs legislation
on economic operators through improved standardisation,
particularly for data input and risk management;

(b) to identify, develop and apply best working practices,
especially in the areas of post-clearance audit control, risk
analysis and simplified procedures;

(c)

to establish a system of the measurement of Member States'
performance
and setting
in customs
standards for different types of control;

administrations

(d) to support actions to prevent irregularities by providing
control
information rapidly to front line customs posts
and to improve the standardisation and simplification of
customs systems and controls;

(e)

to support the creation of e-customs via the development
of communication systems coupled with the necessary
legislative and administrative changes;

(f)

to maintain existing communication and information
systems and, where appropriate, to develop new systems;

(g) to undertake actions which will provide support to the
customs services of the applicant countries in their prep-
aration for accession;

(h) to contribute to the establishment of high quality customs

services in third countries;

In the framework of the management of the customs
1.
union, the overall objectives of the programme shall be to
ensure that Member States' customs administrations:

(i)

to develop and reinforce common training;

(a)

interact and perform their duties as efficiently as though
they were one administration and achieve equivalent results
at every point of the Community customs territory;

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(j)

to seek to develop a managed training infrastructure to
coordinate the provision of training to the Community's
customs officials.

Further specific objectives may be fixed in accordance

2.
with the procedure referred to in Article 17(2).

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Article 5

Fixing objectives and indicators

designated sub-contractor. The Commission shall conclude the
necessary contracts to assure the operational nature of these
components in the name of the Community.

All actions proposed in order to achieve the objectives outlined
in this programme shall have defined objectives, measurable
indicators to ensure suitable evaluation, a clear indication of
the anticipated costs and should be constructed so that the
results achieved the expected impact of the action.

CHAPTER II

PROGRAMME ACTIONS

Article 6

Communication and Information exchange systems

The Commission and the participating countries shall
1.
the following communication and information
ensure that
exchange systems, together with manuals and guides, are oper-
ational,
their operation is necessary under
in so far as
Community legislation:

(a)

the Common Communications Network/Common Systems
Interface (CCN/CSI) to the extent necessary to support the
functioning of the systems set out in this paragraph;

(b) the Data Dissemination System (DDS);

(c)

the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS/NSTI);

(d) the Information system on the Integrated Tariff of

the

Community (TARIC);

these

systems,

forming part of

4.
The non-Community components of the communication
and information-exchange systems shall comprise the national
databases
the network
connections between the Community and non-Community
components and such software and hardware as each partici-
pating country shall deem appropriate for the full operation of
those systems throughout its administration. The participating
countries will ensure that the non-Community components are
kept operational and will assure the interoperability of these
components with the Community components.

The Commission shall coordinate,

in cooperation with
5.
the participating countries, those aspects of the establishment
and functioning of
the Community and non-Community
elements of the systems and infrastructure referred to in the
first paragraph.

Article 7

Benchmarking

Benchmarking activities may be organised involving one or
more participating
countries,
particularly the Community's main trading partners, in order
to improve the performance of their customs administration.

countries or other

third

(e)

the information system for Transfer of Origin Stamps and
the transmission of Transit Stamps (TCO/TCT);

(f)

the European Customs Inventory of Chemical Substances
(ECICS);

For the purposes of this Decision,
‘benchmarking’ means the
use of agreed, common indicators to measure performance
which are used to identify differences in performance and
the processes involved in order share experiences and learn
from good practice in order to improve efficiency and effec-
tiveness.

(g) the European Binding Tariff

Information System (EBTI/

RTCE);

(h) the Tariff Quota Surveillance management system (TQS);

(i)

the Inward Processing Relief system (IPR);

(k) the UNIT VALUES system;

(l)

the SUSPENSIONS information system.

2.
New communication and information-exchange systems
may be established in accordance with the procedure referred
to in Article 17(2).

3.
The Community components of the communication and
information-exchange systems shall be the hardware, software
and network connections, which must be common to all
participating countries so as to ensure the inter-connection
and interoperability of the systems, whether they be installed
at
a designated
sub-contractor or at premises of participating countries or a

the Commission or

the premises of

Article 8

Exchanges of officials

1.
The Commission and the participating countries shall
organise exchanges of officials from customs administrations
in support of
specific objectives. Each
exchange shall focus on a specific aspect of customs work
and shall be thoroughly prepared and subsequently evaluated
by the officials and authorities concerned. Exchanges may be
operational or targeted on specific priority activities.

the programme's

2. Where appropriate, participating countries shall take the
necessary steps to enable exchange officials to be operational in
the host service. To this end, exchange officials shall be auth-
the formalities relating to the duties
orised to carry out
entrusted to them.
in
If circumstances
particular, in order to take account of the specific requirements
of
the
competent authorities in the participating countries may limit
the said authorisation.

each participating country,

so require, and,

system of

legal

the

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For the duration of the exchange, the official shall, in the
3.
exercise of his duties, bear the same civil liability as national
officials of the host authorities. Officials taking part
in an
exchange shall be subject to the same rules on professional
confidentiality as the national officials of the host country.

4.
The Commission and the participating countries may also
organise exchanges with other third countries in support of the
objectives of this programme.

5.
Participating countries shall provide periodic evaluations
of the exchanges, including the impact on their administration,
as required by the Commission.

Article 9

Seminars, workshops and project groups

The Commission and the participating countries shall organise
seminars, workshops and conferences to be attended by partici-
pating country and Commission officials and, where appro-
priate, other experts in the field. Seminars, workshops and
conferences may also be attended by officials from other
administrations where this is appropriate to the objectives of
the activity.

Project Groups may be established to carry out specific tasks to
be completed within a specified time-scale.

Article 10

Training activities

1.
In order to encourage structured cooperation between
national training bodies and officials responsible for customs
training in administrations, participating countries shall,
in
cooperation with the Commission:

(a) set

existing

develop

training

standards,

training
programmes and, where necessary, devise new programmes
to provide a common core of training for officials relating
to the full range of customs rules and procedures so as to
enable them to acquire the necessary common professional
skills and knowledge;

training necessary for those officials to attain a sufficient
standard of linguistic competence.

Article 11

Monitoring actions

The Commission shall decide,

1.
in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 17(2), which specific sectors
of Community customs legislation will be subject to moni-
toring.

regional approach, visit different points

2.
Such monitoring shall be carried out by joint teams made
up of customs officials from the Member States and the
Commission. These teams shall, on the basis of a theme-
by-theme or
in
Community customs territory where customs administrations
carry out their duties. At the end of these visits, they shall draw
up a report identifying and analysing the best working methods
as well as any difficulties in implementing the rules observed
including suggestions for the adap-
and, where appropriate,
tation of both Community rules and working methods in
order
to improve the efficiency of customs actions as a
whole. These experts' reports shall be communicated to the
Member States and the Commission.

Article 12

External actions in the form of technical assistance and
training

1.
The Commission shall ensure the coordination of the
training and technical assistance and cooperation actions
carried out by the Community and the Member States with
third countries' administrations, to ensure the consistency of
Community actions, both external and internal.

2.
The Commission shall also ensure the implementation of
training and technical assistance and cooperation actions for
the benefit of:

(a) the applicant countries to enable them to comply with
Community
attention
legislation.
should be paid to the inter-connectivity of customs
information and technology systems;

Particular

customs

(b) where appropriate, open customs training courses provided
by each participating country for its own officials to
officials from all participating countries;

(c) develop the necessary infrastructure and common tools for
customs training and customs training management.

2.
Participating countries shall also ensure that their officials
receive the initial and continuous training necessary to acquire
the common professional skills and knowledge in accordance
with the common training programmes and the linguistic

(b) third-country administrations

to support

them in the

modernisation of their administrations.

Article 13

Other actions

The Commission may,
in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 17(2) develop and use any other tools
necessary to meet the objectives of the programme.

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CHAPTER III

FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 14

Financial framework

1.
The financial framework for the implementation of the
programme for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December
2007 is hereby set at EUR 133 million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
financial

authority within the

limits of

the

2.
budgetary
perspective.

Article 15

Expenditure

The expenditure necessary for the implementation of the
1.
programme shall be divided between the Community and the
participating countries
in accordance with the following
paragraphs.

2.

The Community shall bear expenditure as follows:

(a) the cost of

exchange

the development, purchase,

the Community components of

installation and
the
maintenance of
systems
information
described in Article 6 and the cost of
the day-to-day
operation of the Community components installed at the
premises of
the Commission or those of a designated
sub-contractor;

communication

and

countries

(b) the travel and subsistence expenses incurred by partici-
pating
activities,
exchanges of officials, seminars, workshops and project
training and monitoring actions referred to in
groups,
Articles 7 to 11;

to benchmarking

relating

(c) the organisational costs of seminars and workshops;

(d) the costs relating to the actions referred to in Articles 12

and 13.

Article 16

Financial control

Financing decisions and any agreements or contracts resulting
from this Decision shall be subject to financial control, and if
necessary, on-the-spot audits by the Commission, including the
European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) and by the European Court
of Auditors. Any grants made pursuant to this Decision will be
subject to agreement in writing in advance by the beneficiaries.
This agreement shall contain the acceptance by the bene-
ficiaries to an audit by the European Court of Auditors into
the use made of the financing granted.

CHAPTER IV

OTHER PROVISIONS

Article 17

Committee

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by a committee, called
the ‘Customs 2007 Committee’, composed of the represen-
tatives of the Member States and chaired by the representatives
of the Commission.

reference

2. Where
the
management procedure laid down in Article 4 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance of Articles 7 and 8
thereof.

to this paragraph,

is made

The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be three months.

Article 18

Evaluation and reports

shall

This programme

1.
to continuous
evaluation, carried out in partnership between the Commission
and the participating countries. The evaluation shall be pursued
by means of the reports referred to in paragraph 2 and by
means of specific activities.

subject

be

The Commission shall, in accordance with the Financial Regu-
the European
lation applicable to the general budget of
Communities, determine the rules relating to the payment of
expense
them to participating
countries.

communicate

and shall

2.

Participating countries shall forward to the Commission:

(a) by 31 December 2004 at the latest, an interim report on
the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme, and

3.

Participating countries shall bear expenditure as follows:

(b) by 31 December 2007 at the latest, a final report on the

effectiveness and efficiency of the programme.

(a) the difference between the

expenditure paid by the
Community in accordance with paragraph 2 above, and
the actual cost of the activity;

(b) the costs relating to the initial and continuing training,

including the linguistic training, of their officials;

(c) the costs relating to the establishment and functioning of
the non-Community components of the communication
and information-exchange systems provided for in Article
4 and the cost of
the
Community components of
installed at
their premises or those of a designated sub-contractor.

the day-to-day operation of
those systems

3.

The Commission shall submit:

(a) to the Customs 2007 Committee, by 30 June 2005 at the
latest, an interim report evaluating the efficiency and effec-
tiveness of the programme;

(b) to the European Parliament and to the Council, by 30 June
2008 at the latest, a final report establishing the impact
achieved by the programme. The final report shall also be
forwarded to the Economic and Social Committee for
information.

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The final report referred to in paragraph 3 shall analyse
4.
all the progress achieved in the case of each measure in the
programme and shall include an analysis of the strengths and
weaknesses of any kind of customs computerisation systems
involved in the implementation of the internal market. The
report shall set out any useful proposals for ensuring that
identical treatment is reserved for operators throughout the
Community customs
the gathering of
information serves the proper protection of the Community's
financial interests.

territory and that

Article 20

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

It shall apply from 1 January 2003.

Article 19

Repeal

Article 21

Addressees

Decision No 210/97/EC is hereby repealed.

This Decision is addressed to Member States.