Proposal for a Council Directive on the exemption from taxes of imports of small consignments of goods of a non commercial character from third countries (Codified version)
Date: 2006-01-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: codification of EU law, postal service, tax-free allowance, third country

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.1.2006 
COM(2006) 12 final 

2006/0007 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

on the exemption from taxes of imports of small consignments of goods of a 
non-commercial character from third countries 

(presented by the Commission) 

(Codified version) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to 
simplifying  and  clarifying  Community  law  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more 
accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance 
to make use of the specific rights it gives him. 

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended 
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought 
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable 
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the 
current rules. 

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also 
essential if Community law is to be clear and transparent. 

On  1  April  1987  the  Commission  therefore  decided1  to  instruct  its  staff  that  all 
legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that 
this  is  a  minimum  requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at 
even  shorter  intervals  the  texts  for  which  they  are  responsible,  to  ensure  that  the 
Community rules are clear and readily understandable. 

The  Conclusions  of 
the  Edinburgh  European  Council 
(December 1992) confirmed this2, stressing the importance of codification as it offers 
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time. 

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  Community 
legislative procedure. 

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by 
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, 
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20  December  1994,  that  an  accelerated 
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments. 

is 

this  proposal 

to  undertake  a  codification  of  Council 
The  purpose  of 
Directive 78/1035/EEC  of  19  December  1978  on  the  exemption  from  taxes  of 
imports  of  small  consignments  of  goods  of  a  non-commercial  character  from  third 
countries3. The new Directive will supersede the various acts incorporated in it4; this 
proposal  fully  preserves  the  content  of  the  acts  being  codified  and  hence  does  no 
more than bring them together with only such formal amendments as are required by 
the codification exercise itself. 

COM(87) 868 PV. 
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions. 
Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the 
Council – Codification of the Acquis communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final. 
Annex I, Part A of this proposal. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

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2 
3 

4 

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5. 

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, 
in all official languages, of Directive 78/1035/EEC and the instruments amending it, 
carried out by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, by 
means  of  a  data-processing  system.  Where  the  Articles  have  been  given  new 
numbers,  the  correlation  between  the  old  and  the  new  numbers  is  shown  in  a  table 
contained in Annex II to the codified Directive. 

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(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC (adapted) 

2006/0007 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE  

on the exemption from taxes of imports of small consignments of goods of a 
non-commercial character from third countries 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article ⌦ 93 ⌫ thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament5, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee6, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

Council Directive 78/1035/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the exemption from taxes of 
imports  of  small  consignments  of  goods  of  a  non-commercial  character  from  third 
countries7 has been substantially amended several times8. In the interests of clarity and 
rationality, the said Directive should be codified. 

(cid:208) 

(2) 

Provision should be made for the exemption from turnover taxes and excise duties of 
imports of small consignments of a similar nature from third countries. 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC (adapted) 

5 
6 
7 

8 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 366, 28.12.1978, p. 34. Directive as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and 
Sweden. 
See Annex I, Part A. 

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(3) 

To  that  end  the  limits  within  which  such  exemption  is  to  be  applied  should,  for 
practical reasons, be as far as possible the same as those laid down for the Community 
arrangements  for  exemption  from  customs  duties  in  Council  Regulation  (EEC) 
No ⌦ 918/83 of 28 March 19839 ⌫. 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC (adapted) 

(4) 

Finally  it  appears  necessary  to  set  special  limits  for  certain  products  because  of  the 
high level of taxation to which they are at present subject in the Member States. 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC 

(5) 

This  Directive  should  be  without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  Member  States 
relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in 
Annex I, Part B, 

(cid:208) 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC 

Article 1 

1. 

2. 

Goods  in  small  consignments  of  a  non-commercial  character  sent  from  a  third 
country  by  private  persons  to  other  private  persons  in  a  Member  State  shall  be 
exempt on importation from turnover tax and excise duty. 

For  the  purposes  of  paragraph  1,  ‘small  consignments  of  a  non-commercial 
character’ shall mean consignments which: 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC (adapted) 
(cid:206)1 85/576/EEC Art. 1 (adapted) 

⌦ (a) ⌫ 

are of an occasional nature; 

⌦ (b) ⌫ 

contain  only  goods  intended  for  the  personal  or  family  use  of  the 
consignees, the nature and quantity of which do not indicate that they are being 
imported for any commercial purpose; 

⌦ (c) ⌫ 

contain goods with a total value not exceeding (cid:206)1 EUR 45 (cid:205); 

9 

⌦ OJ L 105, 23.4.1983, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) N°1671/2000 (OJ L 193, 
29.7.2000, p. 11) ⌫. 

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⌦ (d) ⌫ 

are sent by the sender to the consignee without payment of any kind. 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC 

Article 2 

1. 

Article  I  shall  apply  to the  goods  listed  below  subject  to  the  following  quantitative 
limits: 

(a) 

tobacco products 

(i) 

50 cigarettes, 

or 

(ii)  25 cigarillos (cigars of a maximum weight of three grams each), 

or 

(iii)  10 cigars, 

or 

(iv)  50 grams of smoking tobacco; 

(b)  alcohol and alcoholic beverages: 

(cid:208) 85/576/EEC Art. 2 

(i) 

distilled  beverages  and  spirits  of  an  alcoholic  strength  exceeding 
22% vol.; undenatured ethyl alcohol of 80% vol. and over: one standard 
bottle (up to 1 litre), 

or 

(ii)  distilled beverages and spirits, and aperitifs with a wine or alcohol base, 
tafia,  saké  or  similar  beverages  of  an  alcoholic  strength  of  22%  vol.  or 
less; sparkling wines, fortified wines: one standard bottle (up to 1 litre), 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC 

or 

(iii)  still wines: two litres; 

(c) 

perfumes: 50 grams, 

or 

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toilet waters: 0.25 litre or eight ounces; 

(d) 

coffee: 500 grams, 

or 

coffee extracts and essences: 200 grams; 

(e) 

tea: 100 grams, 

or 

tea extracts and essences: 40 grams. 

2. 

The  Member  States  shall  have  the  right  to  reduce  the  quantities  of  the  products 
referred to in paragraph 1 eligible for exemption from turnover tax and excise duties, 
or to abolish exemption for such products altogether. 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC 

Article 3 

Any  goods  listed  in  Article  2  which  are  contained  in  a  small  consignment  of  a 
non-commercial character in quantities exceeding those laid down in the said Article shall be 
excluded in their entirety from exemption. 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC (adapted) 

Article 4 

⌦1.⌫ The  ⌦ euro ⌫  equivalent  in  national  currency  which  shall  apply  for  the 
implementation of this Directive shall be fixed once a year. The rates applicable shall 
be those obtaining on the first working day of October with effect from 1 January of 
the following year. 

⌦2.⌫ Member  States  may  round  off  the  amounts  in  national  currency  resulting  from  the 
conversion  of  the  amounts  in  ⌦ euros ⌫  provided  for  in  Article  1(2),  provided 
such rounding-off does not exceed ⌦ EUR 2 ⌫ . 

⌦3.⌫ Member States may maintain the amount of the exemption in force at the time of the 
annual  adjustment  provided  for  in  paragraph  ⌦ 1 ⌫  if,  prior  to  the  rounding-off 
provided  for  in  paragraph  ⌦ 2 ⌫,  conversion  of  the  amount  of  the  exemption 
expressed in ⌦ euros ⌫ would result in a change of less than 5% in the exemption 
expressed in national currency. 

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Article 5 

Member  States  shall  communicate  to  the  Commission  the  text  of  the  main  provisions  of 
national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. The Commission shall 
inform the other Member States thereof. 

(cid:208) 

Article 6 

Directive 78/1035/EEC, as amended by the Directives listed in Annex I, Part A, is repealed, 
without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  Member  States  relating  to  the  time-limits  for 
transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part B. 

References  to  the  repealed  Directive  shall  be  construed  as  references  to  this  Directive  and 
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex II. 

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

Article 7 

(cid:208) 78/1035/EEC Art. 6 

Article 8 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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(cid:207) 

ANNEX I 

Part A 

Repealed Directive with its successive amendments 
(referred to in Article 6) 

Council Directive 78/1035/EEC10 
(OJ L 366, 28.12.1978, p. 34) 

Council Directive 81/933/EEC 
(OJ L 338, 25.11.1981, p. 24) 

Council Directive 85/576/EEC 
(OJ L 372, 31.12.1985, p. 30) 

only Article 2 

Part B 

Time-limits for transposition into national law 
(referred to in Article 6) 

Directive 

Time-limit for transposition 

78/1035/EEC 

81/933/EEC 

85/576/EEC 

1 January 1979 

1 January 1982 

1 July 1986 

____________________ 

10 

Directive 78/1035/EEC was also amended by the following act which is still in force: 
Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden. 

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ANNEX II 

CORRELATION TABLE 

Directive 78/1035/EEC 

This Directive 

Article 1(1) 

Article 1(2), first indent 

Article 1(2), second indent 

Article 1(2), third indent 

Article 1(2), fourth indent 

Article 1(1) 

Article 1(2)(a) 

Article 1(2)(b) 

Article 1(2)(c) 

Article 1(2)(d) 

Article 2(1)(a), from “50 cigarettes” to 
“50 grams of smoking tobacco” 

Article 2(1)(a)(i) to (iv) 

Article 2(1)(b) 

Article 2(1)(b) 

Article 2(1)(b), first indent 

Article 2(1)(b)(i) 

Article 2(1)(b), second indent 

Article 2(1)(b)(ii) 

Article 2(1)(b), third indent 

Article 2(1)(b)(iii) 

Article 2(1)(c), (d) and (e) 

Article 2(1)(c), (d) and (e) 

Article 2(2) 

Article 2(3) 

Article 3 

Article 4(1) 

Article 4(2) 

Article 4(3) 

Article 4(4) 

Article 5(1) 

Article 5(2) 

Article 2(2) 

- 

Article 3 

- 

Article 4(1) 

Article 4(2) 

Article 4(3) 

- 

Article 5 

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Directive 78/1035/EEC 

This Directive 

- 

- 

Article 6 

- 

- 

Article 6 

Article 7 

Article 8 

Annex I 

Annex II 

_____________________ 

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