Commission Regulation (EC) No 456/2003 of 12 March 2003 laying down special rules on the prefinancing of export refunds for certain beef and veal products placed under a customs-warehousing or free-zone procedure
Date: 2003-03-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: beef, customs inspection, customs warehouse, database, export refund, free zone, storage

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 456/2003

of 12 March 2003

laying down special rules on the prefinancing of export refunds for certain beef and veal products
placed under a customs-warehousing or free-zone procedure

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of 17
May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef
and veal (1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC)
No 2345/2001 (2), and in particular Article 33(12) thereof,

Whereas:

detected between the actual stocks and the database
should be laid down. In addition, a derogation should be
made from Article 26(7) of Regulation (EC) No 800/
1999.

(6)

The Management Committee for Beef and Veal has not
delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its
Chair,

Chapter 3 of Title II of Commission Regulation (EC) No
800/1999 of 15 April 1999 laying down common
detailed rules for the application of the system of export
refunds on agricultural products (3), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 253/2002 (4), lays down the rules for
advance payment of the refund for products and goods
placed under a customs-warehousing or free-zone proce-
dure.

Taking account of the conditions for the production of
certain cuts of boned beef and veal and for placing them
in storage, thus making them eligible under the arrange-
ments for the advance payment of the refund, and also
of the way in which those products are exported, the
control provisions laid down in Article 27 of Regulation
(EC) No 800/1999 should be supplemented with specific
provisions. Those additional provisions concern, in parti-
cular, the creation of a computerised database by those
operators who wish to participate in these arrangements,
approved by the customs authorities responsible for
control and to which the latter must have direct access.

A derogation should be made for some beef and veal
products from the maximum period for which products
may remain under a customs-warehousing or free-zone
procedure provided for in Article 29(5) of Regulation
(EC) No 800/1999. In order for these arrangements to
function, in view of the special conditions prevailing in
the beef and veal sector, that period should be four
months.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

codes

falling within

for
Without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No 800/1999,
products
and
0201 30 00 9120 of the agricultural product nomenclature for
export refunds introduced by Commission Regulation (EEC) No
3846/87 (5) placed under a customs-warehousing or free-zone
procedure, the prefinancing of export refunds shall be subject
to the rules set out in this Regulation.

0201 30 00 9100

Article 2

1.
Eligibility for prefinancing of the refund for the products
referred to in Article 1 under the storage scheme shall be
conditional on the issue of written authorisation by the
customs authority responsible for the management and control
of the scheme.

The authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
2.
issued only to operators giving a written undertaking to main-
tain a computerised database of products to be placed under
the prefinancing arrangements (hereinafter called ‘the database’).
Where the products are stored in several places, authorisation
may be granted for a database for each warehouse.

In order
to make operations more transparent and
checks quicker and more effective, the number of opera-
tions to be subject to either phase of the procedure
should be restricted.

Where all or part of the goods are stored by a third party
acting on behalf of the operator, the database may be main-
tained by that third party on the responsibility of the operator,
who shall be answerable for its accuracy.

to ensure the smooth operation of

In order
these
arrangements, the control criteria and frequency and the
to be drawn where a discrepancy is
consequences

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21.
(2) OJ L 315, 1.12.2001, p. 29.
(3) OJ L 102, 17.4.1999, p. 11.
(4) OJ L 183, 12.7.2002, p. 12.

The competent customs authorities shall make prior checks to
ensure that the database, to which they must have direct access
without any need for prior notification, has been set up and is
operational. The authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 shall
lay down the procedure for accessing the database.

(5) OJ L 366, 24.12.1987, p. 1.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

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Article 3

The database must:

database. The customs authorities may thus postpone and
group these checks but must carry them out at least once in
each period of two calendar months.

(a) permit the meat covered by the arrangements to be traced

administratively throughout the period of storage;

(b) provide an up-to-date report in real time of the quantities
of meat in storage, which must be available on the basis of
each of the criteria referred to in the third subparagraph.

Traceability as referred to at (a) above shall be based on a
unique identification reference assigned to meat
from one
boning operation carried out before the products concerned
are placed under the prefinancing arrangements. One boning
operation means the meat boned on a single day or part of a
day.

The unique identification reference referred to in the second
subparagraph shall comprise:

— a unique number,

— the date of production of the boned meat,

— the number of the boned meat certificate referred to in
Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1964/82 (1),

— the number of boxes per type of cut obtained and the net

weight before freezing.

Article 4

1.
The database shall be kept up-to-date and shall indicate
the entry into and the removal from storage of products up to
the day of presentation of:

(a) the payment declaration referred to in Article 26(1) of

Regulation (EC) No 800/1999;

(b) the export declaration referred to in Article 32 of Regula-

tion (EC) No 800/1999.

2.
Storage in a Member State other than the one in which
the payment declaration is accepted must be indicated in the
database. Operators intending to use such storage arrangements
shall inform the customs authorities thereof. Those authorities
shall approve, inter alia, the procedure for tracking the products
concerned in the database.

Article 5

The customs authorities shall accept the declarations referred to
in Article 4 only after verifying that the operation for which
the declaration has been issued is entered in the database as an
‘entry’ or a ‘removal’.

However, the customs authority may accept declarations as
referred to in Article 4 before making the check referred to in
the first paragraph. In such cases, the operator must confirm to
the authorities that the relevant entry has been made in the

(1) OJ L 212, 21.7.1982, p. 48.

Article 6

Where Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 800/1999 is applied,
acceptance by the authority of the Member State of storage of
the control copy T5 and the export declaration shall be subject
to confirmation by the exporter that the relevant entry has
been made in the database.

In such cases, the customs authority of the Member State in
which the payment declaration has been accepted shall satisfy
itself, in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 5,
that the database mentions the operation.

Article 7

A maximum of two payment declarations may be accepted for
each boning operation. A payment declaration may refer to a
maximum of two boned meat certificates as referred to in
Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 1964/82.

Article 8

Notwithstanding Article 29(5) of Regulation (EC) No 800/
1999, products may remain under a customs-warehousing or
free-zone procedure for four months from the date of accep-
tance of the payment declaration.

Article 9

1.
The customs authorities shall carry out at least two unan-
nounced checks per calendar year on the operation and content
of the database.

Checks shall cover a total of at least 5 % of the total quantities
of products that, according to the database, are in storage on
the day checks begin. These checks shall ensure that the meat
located in the storage premises is entered in the database and
that, conversely, the meat entered in the database can be identi-
fied in the storage premises.

A report shall be drawn up for each check.

Where the sample of products to be checked includes meat
stored in warehouses in other Member States, the customs
authorities
arrangements
referred to in Article 4(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 515/
97 (2).

the mutual-assistance

shall use

The customs authorities shall inform the agency respon-

2.
sible for paying the export refund of:

(a) all authorisations issued or withdrawn;

(b) all checks carried out.

(2) OJ L 82, 22.3.1997, p. 1.

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Where there is presumed to be a risk of an irregularity, paying
agencies may request the customs authorities to carry out a
check.

3.
Article 26(7) of Regulation (EC) No 800/1999 shall not
apply to products subject to the checks provided for in this
Regulation.

Authorisation shall also not be withdrawn where the quantities
missing or not entered in the database are less than 1 % of the
total weight of products selected for the check and are due to
omissions or simple administrative errors, provided that correc-
tive measures are taken to ensure that similar errors do not
recur. If they recur, the customs authorities may then withdraw
authorisation.

Article 10

Where the customs authorities find a discrepancy between the
physical stock and the stock recorded in the database or that
Article 4(2) has been infringed, the authorisation referred to in
Article 2(1) shall be withdrawn for a period to be determined
by the Member States, which may not be less than three
months from the date on which the problem is detected.

Authorisation shall not be withdrawn where the infringement
of Article 4(2) or the discrepancy between the physical stock
and the stock registered in the database is the result of force
majeure.

Article 11

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

It shall apply to payment declarations accepted from 1 October
2003.

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

Done at Brussels, 12 March 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission