WRITTEN QUESTION E-1021/04 by Paolo Bartolozzi (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Imported goods in transit held up by customs.
Date: 2004-04-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: customs formalities, customs inspection, customs transit, damages, merchant

C 88 E/560

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

The Commission also draws the Honourable Member’s attention to the Declaration issued by the
Presidency on behalf of
the EU concerning the Georgian parliamentary elections. His attention is
particularly drawn to the reference to the preliminary conclusions of the International Election Observation
Mission (IEOM) and the concern the IEOM had over the complete lack of commitment by the authorities
of Adjara to guarantee sufficient conditions for the conduct of a meaningful democratic election in that
region. In this Declaration, the Georgian authorities are also encouraged to work constructively with the
Organisation on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe, to further
democratisation.

The Commission continues to urge the central government in Tbilisi and the authorities in Batumi to work
towards finding a peaceful solution acceptable to all and in the interest of Georgia.

(2004/C 88 E/0571)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1012/04

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(1 April 2004)

Subject: Who is trying to block the investigations into fraud in Euroland?

The blitz by the Belgian police, who raided the offices of Hans Martin Tillack, the Brussels correspondent
of the German weekly Stern and author of a series of investigative articles on the Eurostat scandal and
other delicate issues connected with corruption in the European Union institutions,
is a serious and
unprecedented act, which constitutes a violation of the principle of press freedom.

Does the Commission consider that this police initiative, probably prompted by OLAF and targeting not
those guilty of corruption but someone reporting on corruption, shows that there are people at the highest
levels of the European institutions who fear light being shed by serious investigative journalists on
confidential and ignominious aspects of fraud and corruption in Euroland?

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

On the basis of the information supplied by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the Commission can
tell the Honourable Member that in February 2004 the Office sent the relevant judicial authorities a file
relating to suspected criminal offences.

Article 10(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 (1) provides for information about matters liable to
result in criminal proceedings to be forwarded to the judicial authorities of the Member State concerned.

The national judicial authorities are then fully independent in their handling of the files sent.

(1) Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning

investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), OJ L 136, 31.5.1999.

(2004/C 88 E/0572)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1021/04

by Paolo Bartolozzi (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Imported goods in transit held up by customs

(5 April 2004)

Is the Commission aware that goods imported from non-Community countries and in transit from

1.
one EU airport to another are held at customs (for controls) for as much as 30 days?

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/561

Is the customs office at one EU airport entitled to hold up goods in transit to another airport at the
2.
final destination, thereby pointlessly duplicating checks, with all the negative consequences this has for
international trade and for the importer?

Is there any Community legislation establishing a maximum number of days goods in transit may be
3.
held up, even when the merchandise is accompanied by all the necessary documentation (commercial
invoice and packing list), including a declaration by the vendor that the products are genuine and not
counterfeit?

Is the importer, who has already paid the supplier for the goods, entitled to damages to compensate

4.
for loss of revenue due to the delay in supplying his own customers?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The Commission is unaware of the problems to which the Honourable Member refers. In the absence of
details which would allow this matter to be more thoroughly examined, a specific reply cannot be given
on each of the questions raised. Nevertheless, whenever there are grounds for suspicion that goods are
counterfeit, long intensive searches are justified.

The Community legislation does not lay down exact time-limits for the checks to be carried out by the
customs authorities. Article 37 of the Community Customs Code (1) states that goods brought into the
customs territory of the Community are subject, from the time of their entry, to customs supervision. They
may be the subject of checks by the customs authorities in accordance with the provisions in force. The
goods remain under such supervision for as long as necessary to determine their customs status, and in the
case of non-Community goods, until their customs status is changed, they enter a free zone or free
warehouse or they are re-exported or destroyed.

The goods brought into the customs territory of the Community must be presented to customs and
assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use (e.g. entry for a customs procedure such as release for
free circulation, transit or customs warehousing). They need to be covered by a customs declaration for
this purpose.

To verify declarations in accordance with Article 68 of the Code, the customs authorities may:

(a) make documentary checks on the declaration and the documents accompanying it. The customs
authorities may require the declarant to present other documents for the purpose of verifying the
accuracy of the particulars contained in the declaration;

(b) examine the goods and take samples for analysis or for detailed examination.

Article 73 of the Code states that, where the conditions for placing the goods under the procedure in
question are fulfilled, and provided the goods are not subject to any prohibitive or restrictive measures, the
customs authorities must release the goods as soon as the particulars in the declaration have been verified
or accepted without verification. The same applies where the verification cannot be completed within a
reasonable period of time and the goods are no longer required to be present for verification purposes.

The Community customs legislation does not include any provisions on damages in the event of delayed
release of the goods.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ L 302,

19.10.1992), as last amended by the Act of Accession 2003.