Commission Regulation (EC) No 444/2002 of 11 March 2002 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code and Regulations (EC) No 2787/2000 and (EC) No 993/2001 (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2002-03-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU customs procedure, EU law, customs regulations, customs territory (EU), customs union, legal code

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 444/2002

of 11 March 2002

amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code and Regulations (EC) No
2787/2000 and (EC) No 993/2001

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12
October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1),
as last amended by European Parliament and Council Regula-
tion (EC) No 2700/2000 (2)
‘the Code’), and in
particular Article 247 thereof,

(hereinafter:

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

Certain definitions set out in Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 2454/93 (3), as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 993/2001 (4), require updating.

Under the common commercial policy it is frequently
necessary to amend the list of countries and territories
qualifying for autonomous Community tariff preferences
and consequently to amend the list in Section 2 of Part I,
Title IV, Chapter 2, of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93.

The heading and wording of Section 2 should therefore
be based not on an exhaustive list of those countries and
territories, but on a general reference to ‘beneficiary
countries or territories’, since the latter are duly listed in
the Council regulations granting the preferences.

In certain circumstances it is possible to have defective
goods repaired outside the customs territory of
the
Community without incurring a customs debt on reim-
portation.

release for

the price agreed
free circulation,
After
between buyer and seller can be subject in certain cases
to modification in order to take account of the defective
nature of goods.

Consequently, the rules in force should expressly allow a
transaction value under Article 29 of the Code to take
account of those special circumstances, with appropriate
safeguards and subject to the application of reasonable
time limits.

The purpose of Article 167(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
2454/93 was to avoid the levying of customs duties on
software imported on carrier media. That objective has
since been achieved by the Agreement on trade in infor-

(1) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 311, 12.12.2000, p. 17.
(3) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 141, 28.5.2001, p. 1.

mation technology products (ITA), approved by Council
Decision 97/359/EC (5). Without prejudice
to the
application of GATT Decision 4.1 of 12 May 1995, it is
therefore no longer necessary to provide special imple-
menting provisions for the determination of the customs
value of carrier media.

The threshold limit, specified in Article 179(1)(a) of
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, for presentation of the
declaration of particulars relating to customs value
(value declaration) should be raised to EUR 10 000 to
take into account monetary changes and to simplify
import formalities.

Certain adjustments and corrections are required to the
provisions on end-use, in particular to clarify them and
to align them with the rules for the customs procedures
with economic impact.

laid down in
The provisions on Community transit
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 have been the subject of a
complete and thorough review that has led to the revi-
sion of a substantial part of the provisions. Since then, it
has been found that the amended provisions contain
certain inadequacies and inaccuracies, which need to be
remedied.

For the protection of the financial interests of the other
Contracting Parties to the Convention on a common
transit procedure, approved by Council Decision 87/
415/EEC (6),
it should be ensured that an appropriate
guarantee
transit operation
a
concerning Community goods involves their territory.
The guarantee should be calculated as if the goods were
non-Community goods.

furnished where

is

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12) Where the principal wishes to use the comprehensive
guarantee certificate for all goods, the criteria concerning
the use of
the comprehensive guarantee for goods
involving higher risk of fraud should apply to all goods.

(13)

In order to ensure the uniform application of
the
customs rules within the Community, provisions should
be inserted concerning the import duties to be charged
on import goods which receive a favourable tariff treat-
ment by reason of their end-use. This should be done for
clarification reasons. The insertion should have retroac-
tive effect because similar provisions already existed

(5) OJ L 155, 12.6.1997, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 226, 13.8.1987, p. 1.

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until 30 June 2001, notably in Article 52 of Commis-
sion Regulation (EEC) No 2228/91 (1), which was
repealed by Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, and in Article
585a of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, before it was
amended by Regulation (EC) No 993/2001.

(14) Article 859 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 contains a
list of cases in which no customs debt is incurred, even
in one of the situations referred to in Article 204(1)(a) or
(b) of the Code.

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

That list should be adapted so that it covers cases of
non-compliance with certain obligations applicable to
goods under a Community transit procedure, where
those goods are presented intact at the office of destina-
tion.

The list should also cover cases of non-compliance with
certain rules on transfers, applicable to goods placed
under a suspensive procedure or to goods benefiting
from a favourable treatment on account of their end-use,
where those goods arrive at the specified destination.

Since the amendment of Article 859 is linked to the
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 993/2001, which has
applied since 1 July 2001, it is appropriate to make that
amendment applicable from the same date.

In order to rationalise management of the deadlines for
examining applications for waiver of post-clearance
entry in the accounts under Article 220(2)(b) of the
Code or for repayment or remission of duty under
Article 239 thereof, the suspension of the period for
person
examining
concerned is consulted in accordance with Articles 872a
or 906a of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should be
fixed at one month in all cases.

applications where

such

the

In order to ensure a consistent interpretation of the
provisions concerning the designation of the office of
destination for the control of the use and/or destination
of goods, it is necessary to specify the office at which
the goods should be presented for the control of the exit
of goods from the customs territory of the Community.

set out

The standard rates of yield should be calculated for
certain main compensating products on the basis of the
corresponding coefficients
in Annex E to
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1520/2000 of 13 July
the
2000 laying down common detailed rules for
application of the system of granting export refunds on
certain agricultural products exported in the form of
goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty, and the
criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds (2) as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1563/2001 (3) Corol-
lary changes should be made for certain secondary
compensating products.

(1) OJ L 210, 31.7.1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 177, 15.7.2000, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 208, 1.8.2001, p. 8.

(21) Annex 111 to Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should be
amended to take account of the introduction of the
single currency from 1 January 2002.

(22)

(23)

(24)

The transitional provisions on the computerised transit
system, laid down in Article 4 of Commission Regula-
tion (EC) No 2787/2000 (4) and in Article 2 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 993/2001, should not apply to author-
isations granting the status of authorised consignor or
authorised consignee in connection with simplifications
for certain modes of transport.

Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 as well as Regulations
(EC) No 2787/2000 and (EC) No 993/2001 should
therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Customs Code
Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is amended as follows:

1. Article 1 is amended as follows:

(a) Point 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. Committee means:

the Customs Code Committee established by
Articles 247a and 248a of the Code;’

(b) Point 10 is replaced by the following:

‘10. Treaty means:

the
Treaty
Community;’.

establishing

the

European

2. The heading of Section 2 of Part I, Title IV, Chapter 2, is

replaced by the following:

‘Beneficiary countries or territories to which preferential
tariff measures adopted unilaterally by the Community for
certain countries or territories apply’.

3. The introductory part of Article 98(1) is replaced by the

following:

tariff measures

For the purposes of the provisions concerning pref-
‘1.
erential
adopted unilaterally by the
Community for certain countries, groups of countries or
territories (hereinafter referred to as “beneficiary countries
or territories”), with the exception of those referred to in
Section 1 of this Chapter and the overseas countries and
territories associated with the Community, the following
products shall be considered as products originating in a
beneficiary country or territory:’.

4. In Articles 98 to 123, ‘beneficiary republic’ or ‘beneficiary
republics’ are replaced, as appropriate, by ‘beneficiary
country or territory’ or ‘beneficiary countries or territories’.

(4) OJ L 330, 27.12.2000, p. 1.

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5. The introductory part of Article 110(1) is replaced by the

following:

That period shall not apply in the case of a single author-
isation unless it is issued under paragraph 6.’

Originating products within the meaning of

this
‘1.
eligible, on importation into the
section shall be
Community, to benefit from the tariff preferences referred
to in Article 98, provided that they have been transported
direct to the Community within the meaning of Article
107, on submission of an EUR.1 movement certificate
issued by the customs or other competent governmental
authorities of a beneficiary country or territory, on condi-
tion 87 beneficiary country or territory:’.

6. Article 145 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 145

1. Where goods declared for free circulation are part of
a larger quantity of the same goods purchased in one
transaction,
the price actually paid or payable for the
purposes of Article 29(1) of the Code shall be that price
represented by the proportion of the total price which the
quantity so declared bears to the total quantity purchased.

Apportioning the price actually paid or payable shall also
apply in the case of the loss of part of a consignment or
when the goods being valued have been damaged before
entry into free circulation.

2.
After release of the goods for free circulation, an
adjustment made by the seller, to the benefit of the buyer,
of the price actually paid or payable for the goods may be
taken into consideration for the determination of
the
customs value in accordance with Article 29 of the Code,
if it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs
authorities that:

(a) the goods were defective at the moment referred to by

Article 67 of the Code;

(b) the seller made the adjustment in performance of a
warranty obligation provided for in the contract of
sale, concluded before release for free circulation of the
goods;

10. Article 293 is amended as follows:

(a) Paragraph 3 is amended as follows:

(i) Point (c) is replaced by the following:

‘(c) means and methods of identification and of
including arrangements

customs supervision,
for:

— common storage, for which Article 534(2)
and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis,

— mixed storage of products

to
end-use supervision falling within Chapters
27 and 29 of the Combined Nomenclature
or of such products with crude petroleum
oils falling within CN code 2709 00.’

subject

(ii) The following second subparagraph is added:

‘Where the goods referred to in the second indent
of point (c) of the first subparagraph do not share
the same eight-digit CN code, the same commercial
quality and the same technical and physical charac-
teristics, mixed storage may be allowed only where
the whole mixture is to undergo one of the treat-
ments referred to in Additional Notes 4 and 5 to
Chapter 27 of the Combined Nomenclature.’

(b) In paragraph 4, the following second subparagraph is

added:

‘The period of validity shall not exceed three years
from the date on which the authorisation takes effect,
except where
there are duly substantiated good
reasons.’

11. Article 296(2) is amended as follows:

(a) In point (a), the second sentence is deleted.

(b) In point (b), the first subindent of the ninth indent is

replaced by the following:

(c) the defective nature of the goods has not already been
taken into account in the relevant sales contract.

‘— the taxation elements of the goods, save where that
requirement is waived by the customs authorities,’.

3.
The price actually paid or payable for the goods,
adjusted in accordance with paragraph 2, may be taken
into account only if that adjustment was made within a
period of 12 months following the date of acceptance of
the declaration for entry to free circulation of the goods.’

12. In Article 314c(1)(f), the words ‘Article 816’ are replaced

by the words ‘Article 812’.

13. In Article 317b, the words ‘in Articles 444 and 448’ are
replaced by the words ‘in Articles 445 and 448’.

7. Chapter 5 of Title V of Part I is deleted.

8. In Article 179(1)(a), the words ‘EUR 5 000’ are replaced

by the words ‘EUR 10 000’.

9. In Article 292, the following paragraph 7 is added:

The applicant shall be informed of the decision to
‘7.
issue an authorisation, or of the reasons why the applica-
tion was rejected, within thirty days of the date on which
the application was lodged or of the date on which any
information requested was
outstanding or additional
received by the customs authorities.

14. In Article 324e(5), the words ‘Article 448(4)’ are replaced

by the words ‘Article 448(5)’.

15. In Article 345(1), the first subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

‘1.
The individual guarantee shall cover the full amount
of customs debt liable to be incurred, calculated on the
basis of the highest rates applicable to goods of the same
kind in the Member State of departure. For the purposes of
that calculation, Community goods carried in accordance
with the Convention on a common transit procedure shall
be treated as non-Community goods.’

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16. In Article 359, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. Where goods are carried via an office of transit other
than that mentioned in Copies No 4 and No 5 of the
transit declaration, the office of transit used shall send the
transit advice note without delay to the office of transit
initially specified, or notify the passage to the office of
departure in the cases and according to the procedure
mutually agreed by the customs authorities.’

favourable tariff treatment by reason of their end-use shall
be calculated at the rate corresponding to such end-use.
This shall be allowed only if an authorisation for such
end-use could have been granted and if the conditions
attaching to the granting of favourable tariff treatment
would have been fulfilled.’

22. Article 859 is amended as follows:

17. In Article 379(2),
sentence is added:

third subparagraph,

the following

(a) Point 2 is replaced by the following:

‘Community goods carried or to be carried in accordance
with the Convention on a common transit procedure shall
be treated as non-Community goods.’

18. In Article 381, the following paragraph 3a is inserted:

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 also apply where an applica-
‘3a.
tion explicitly concerns the use of the comprehensive guar-
antee for both the types of goods referred to in Annex 44c
and those not
listed in that Annex under the same
comprehensive guarantee certificate.’

19. In Article 423(3), the following tenth and eleventh indents

are added:

‘— Tulliselvitetty,

— Tullklarerat.’

20. Article 450c is amended as follows:

(a) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Where the procedure has not been discharged,
the customs authorities of the Member State of depar-
ture shall, within 12 months of the date of acceptance
of the transit declaration, notify the guarantor that the
procedure has not been discharged.’

(b) The following paragraph 1a is inserted:

‘1a. Where the procedure has not been discharged,
the customs authorities, determined in accordance
with Article 215 of the Code, shall, within three years
of the date of acceptance of the transit declaration,
notify the guarantor that he is or might be required to
pay the debt for which he is liable in respect of the
Community transit operation in question; the noti-
fication shall state the number and date of the declara-
tion, the name of the office of departure, the name of
the principal and the amount involved.’

(c) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.
The guarantor shall be released from his obliga-
tions if either of the notifications provided for in para-
graphs 1 and 1a have not been issued to him before
the expiry of the time limit.’

‘2.

in the case of goods placed under a transit proce-
dure, failure to fulfil one of the obligations entailed
by the use of that procedure, where the following
conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the goods entered for

the procedure were
actually presented intact at the office of destina-
tion;

(b) the office of destination has been able to ensure
the goods were assigned a customs-
that
approved treatment or use or were placed in
temporary storage at the end of the transit
operation;

(c) where the time limit set under Article 356 has
not been complied with and paragraph 3 of
that Article does not apply, the goods have
the office of
nevertheless been presented at
destination within a reasonable time.’

(b) Point 7 is replaced by the following:

‘7.

in the case of goods or products physically trans-
ferred within the meaning of Articles 296, 297 or
511, failure to fulfil one of the conditions under
which the transfer takes place, where the following
conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the person concerned can demonstrate, to the
satisfaction of the customs authorities, that the
the specified
goods or products arrived at
premises or destination and, in cases of transfer
based on Articles 296, 297, 512(2) or 513,
that
the goods or products have been duly
entered in the records of the specified premises
or destination, where those Articles require
such entry in the records;

(b) where a time limit set in the authorisation was
not observed, the goods or products neverthe-
less arrived at the specified premises or destina-
tion within a reasonable time.’

21. The following Article 547a is inserted:

‘Article 547a

23. In Article 873, the third paragraph is replaced by the

following:

The import duties to be charged under Article 121(1) of
the Code on import goods eligible, at the time when the
declaration of entry for the arrangements was accepted, for

‘Where the Commission has notified the person concerned
its objections in accordance with Article 872a, the
of
period of nine months shall be extended by one month.’

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24. In Article 907, the third paragraph is replaced by the

‘— EUR: euro

following:

‘Where the Commission has notified the person applying
for repayment or remission of its objections, in accordance
with Article 906a, the period of nine months shall be
extended by one month.’

25. In Article 912a(3), the words ‘Article 347(2)’ are replaced

by the words ‘Article 349(1)’.

26. Article 912b is amended as follows:

(a) In paragraph 7, the words ‘Article 349’ are replaced by

the words ‘Article 357’.

(b) Paragraph 9 is replaced by the following:

‘9.

Article 360 shall apply mutatis mutandis.’

27. In Article 912c(2), the third indent is replaced by the

following:

‘— for goods leaving by any other modes of transport, the
office of destination shall be the office of exit referred
to in Article 793(2).’

28. Annex 37 is amended in accordance with Annex I to this

Regulation.

29. Annex 44a is amended in accordance with Annex II to this

Regulation.

30. Annex 69 is amended in accordance with Annex III to this

Regulation.

— DKK: Danish kroner

— SEK: Swedish kronor

— GBP: Pound sterling’.

Article 2

In Article 4(5), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No
2787/2000, the following sentence is added:

‘This subparagraph does not apply to transit operations
carried out by the authorised consignor using simplified
procedures referred to in Article 372(1)(g).’

Article 3

In Article 2(3), first subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 993/
2001, the following sentence is added:

‘This subparagraph does not apply to transit operations
where the authorised consignee receives goods using
simplified procedures referred to in Article 372(1)(g).’

Article 4

1.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

Points 21 and 22 of Article 1 shall apply with effect from

2.
1 July 2001.

Points 12 to 20 and 25 to 29 of Article 1 and Articles 2

3.
and 3 shall apply from 1 April 2002.

31. In Annex 111, point B.12 of the Notes on the back of the
‘Application for repayment/remission’, the symbols and
national currencies shall be replaced by the following:

The provisions referred to in the first subparagraph shall not
apply to Community transit operations for which the transit
declaration has been presented before 1 April 2002.

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

Done at Brussels, 11 March 2002.

For the Commission

Frederik BOLKESTEIN

Member of the Commission

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Annex 37 is amended as follows:

1. In Title I, section A, the following subparagraph is added:

ANNEX I

‘Where a transit declaration is processed at an office of departure by a computerised system, one copy of the
declaration must be lodged at that office.’

2. In Title III, section C, the second indent is replaced by the following:

‘— when the third subdivision of box 1 contains the symbol “T”, boxes 32 (Item number), 33 (Commodity code), 35
(Gross mass (kg)), 38 (Net mass (kg)), 40 (Summary declaration/previous document) and 44 (Additional informa-
tion, documents produced, certificates and authorisations) of the first item of goods of the transit declaration used
must be struck through and the first box 31 (Packages and description of goods) of this document may not be
used to enter the marks, numbers, number and kind of packages or goods description. In the first box 31 of this
document, reference will be made, as appropriate, to the number of continuation sheets bearing the respective
symbols T1bis, T2bis or T2Fbis.’

ANNEX II

Annex 44a is amended as follows:

1. In Title II, point 2.2., the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘Where a loading list accompanies a transit declaration, the list must include the information entered in boxes 31
(Packages and description of goods), 40 (Summary declaration/previous document) 44 (Additional
information,
documents produced, certificates and authorisations) and, where appropriate, 33 (Commodity code) and 38 (Net mass
(kg)) of the transit declaration.’

2. In Title III, point 2, the first sentence is replaced by the following:

‘Where a loading list is used, boxes 15 (Country of dispatch/export), 32 (Item number), 33 (Commodity code), 35
(Gross mass (kg)), 38 (Net mass (kg)), 40 (Summary declaration/previous document) and, where appropriate, 44
(Additional information, documents produced, certificates and authorisations) of the transit declaration form must be
struck through and box 31 (Packages and description of goods) may not be used to enter the marks, numbers, number
and kind of packages or goods description.’

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ANNEX III

Annex 69 to Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is amended as follows:

1. the standard rates of yield ‘1,00’ and ‘3,50’ in column 5, numerical order 15, are replaced by ‘0,95’ and ‘3,33’

respectively;

2. the standard rates of yield ‘1,00’ and ‘3,50’ in column 5, numerical order 37, are replaced by ‘0,98’ and ‘3,42’

respectively;

3. the standard rates of yield ‘1,00’ and ‘3,50’ in column 5, numerical order 38, are replaced by ‘0,96’ and ‘3,36’

respectively;

4. the standard rates of yield ‘62,11’ and ‘30,10’ in column 5, numerical order 56, are replaced by the footnote reference

‘(*)’ and ‘29,91’ respectively;

5. the standard rates of yield ‘47,62’, ‘30,10’ and ‘10,00’ in column 5, numerical order 57, are replaced by the footnote

reference ‘(*)’,

‘29,91’ and ‘9,95’ respectively;

6. the standard rates of yield ‘62,11’ and ‘30,10’ in column 5, numerical order 58, are replaced by the footnote reference

‘(*)’ and ‘29,91’ respectively;

7. the standard rates of yield in column 5, numerical order 62, are replaced as follows: ‘6,10’ by ‘6,06’; ‘2,90’ by ‘2,88’;
‘4,50’ by ‘4,47’; ‘24,00’ by ‘23,85’; ‘19,50’ by ‘19,38’; ‘22,70’ by ‘22,56’; ‘27,20’ by ‘27,03’; ‘3,20’ by ‘3,18’ and ‘30,10’
by ‘29,91’;

8. the standard rates of yield ‘99,00’ in column 5, numerical order 128, 129 and 130, are replaced each by the footnote

reference ‘(*)’;

9. the wording ‘ex 2302 30 or’

in column 3, numerical order 14 and 15,

is deleted;

10. the wording ‘ex 2302 40 or’

in column 3, numerical order 36, 37 and 38,

is deleted.