Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 setting up a Community system of relief from customs duty
Date: 2007-10-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: CCT duties, exemption from customs duties, import (EU)

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 17.10.2007 
COM(2007) 614 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 setting up a Community system of relief from 
customs duty 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1) CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Grounds for and objectives of the proposal 

With  the  adoption  of  Council  Directive  2007/  /EC  of  on  the  exemption  from  value 
added  tax  and  excise  duty  of  goods  imported  by  persons  travelling  from  third 
countries  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  918/83  setting  up  a  Community  system  of 
reliefs from customs duty has to be amended in order to ensure a certain parallelism 
between  the  exemption  from  VAT  and  the  relief  from  import  duty.  Since  Council 
Regulation  (EEC)  No  918/83  has  not  been  significantly  changed  since  more  than 
fifteen years the requirement to change the provision concerning the import of goods 
contained  in  travellers'  personal  luggage  is  a  good  opportunity  to  amend  some 
provisions. These changes 
- improve the clarity and the transparency of this Regulation,  
- improve the parallelism between the exemption from VAT and duty relief, 
- harmonise the application of customs provisions in the Member States, and 
- simplify the customs clearance for certain goods. 

•  General context 

The review of these provisions has to be seen in the context of Commission's efforts 
to  improve  the  clarity  and  transparency  of  Community  legislation  as  well  as  to 
facilitate the trade with third countries and to simplify customs controls. 

•  Existing provisions in the area of the proposal 

Council  Directive  2007/  /EC  of  on  the  exemption  from  value  added  tax  and  excise 
duty of goods imported by persons travelling from third countries 

Council Directive 83/181/EEC of 28 March 1983 determining the scope of Article 14 
(1)  (d)  of  Directive  77/388/EEC  as  regards  exemption  from  value  added  tax  on  the 
final importation of certain goods 

•  Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union 

The  proposed  amendment  is  in  line  with  the  Commission's  aims  in  respect  of  trade 
facilitation and simplification of customs controls. 

2) CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

•  Consultation of interested parties 

Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents 

The  members  of  the  Customs  Code  Committee  –  General  Legislation  have  been 
consulted in writing. 

Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account 

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No objections were raised by the members of the Committee 

•  Collection and use of expertise 

Scientific/expertise domains concerned 

n. a. 

Methodology used 

n. a. 

Main organisations/experts consulted 

n. a. 

Summary of advice received and used 

n. a. 

Means used to make the expert advice publicly available 

n. a. 

•  Impact assessment 

1.  The  proposed  amendments  will  eliminate  a  number  of  uncertainties  in  the 
application of the duty relief provisions. This concerns the aspect that these provisions 
can only apply to imported goods which are subject to import duties other than "free". 
It also clarifies that imported goods benefiting from duty relief in accordance with the 
provisions  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  918/83  should  not  be  subject  to  trade 
defence measures imposed on the basis of Article 133 of the Treaty. 

2.  The  duty  relief  for  household  effects  for  furnishing  a  secondary  residence  is  not 
replicated in the provisions for VAT exemptions. The elimination of these provisions 
will  not  only  improve  the  parallelism  between  duty  relief  and  VAT  exemption  but 
also simplify the customs clearance and controls of goods which are imported due to 
the  transfer  of  residence  of  a  natural  person  to  the  Community  as  the  customs 
authorities can concentrate their controls of ownership to those cases where customs 
duties and VAT are at stake. 

3.  The  proposed  amendment  to  replace  the  duty  relief  provisions  for  commercial 
imports of goods of negligible value with a provision determining a negligible amount 
of customs duty which need not to be collected will have a significant simplification 
effect  on  the  customs  clearance  of  small  consignments.  Until  now  given  the 
commercial nature of these imports small consignments of an intrinsic value of more 
than € 22 would have to be classified in accordance with the provisions of the CCT. In 
view of the fact that this value limit has not been modified since more than 15 years 
and due to the increased use of purchases via mail order houses in combination with 
the  increased  use  of  the  internet  the  economic  operators  as  well  as  the  customs 
authorities  in  charge  of  clearing  these  items  have  reached  their  capacity  limit  to 

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comply with tasks required by the customs legislation. 

The  proposed  solution,  however,  will  have  the  effect  that  a  high  number  of  small 
consignments, i.e. up to a value of about € 60, containing goods not falling within the 
scope of the CAP would not have to be classified due the fact that the maximum rate 
of duty for these goods would not exceed 16 % and thus significantly increasing the 
efficiency of the customs clearance for these consignments. 

Furthermore, the proposed amendment will lead to a harmonisation of the application 
of  customs  legislation  as  some  Member  States  have  already  now  replaced  the 
application of Article 27 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 by the de minimis 
solution  for  the  collection  of  customs  duties  set  out  in  Article  868  of  Commission 
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93. 

3) LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Summary of the proposed action 

Proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  amending  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  918/83 
setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty 

•  Legal basis 

Art 26 

•  Subsidiarity principle 

The  proposal  falls  under  the  exclusive  competence  of  the  Community.  The 
subsidiarity principle therefore does not apply. 

•  Proportionality principle 

n. a. 

•  Choice of instruments 

Proposed instruments: Regulation. 

Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s). 

By virtue of Article 26 of the EC Treaty Common Customs Tariff duties are approved 
by the Council acting on a qualified majority on the basis of a Commission proposal. 

4) BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

Uncollected customs duties of an estimated amount of € 286.1 mio 

5) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

•  Simplification 

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The  proposal  also  provides  for  the  simplification  of  the  customs  clearance  of  goods 
imported 

- in the context of the transfer of the normal residence for natural persons, and 

- in small consignments of negligible value. 

It also eliminates the need for end use controls for goods which are only subject to the 
CCT duty rate "free". 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 setting up a Community system of relief from 
customs duty 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Goods imported under relief from Common Customs Tariff (CCT) duties as provided 
for by Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 of 28 March 1983 setting up a Community system 
of  reliefs  from  customs  duty2,  are  normally  subject  to  restrictions  concerning  their 
usage  and/or  to  post  import  customs  controls.  Those  restrictions  and  controls  are 
intended  to  prevent  imported  goods  that  benefit  from  duty  relief  from  having  a 
negative  economic  impact  on  the  Community  market.  It  is  therefore  appropriate  to 
provide  that  this  Regulation  applies  only  to  importations  of  goods  for  which  the 
conventional  or  autonomous  rate  of  duty,  set  out  in  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No 
2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common 
Customs  Tariff3,  is  not  indicated  as  "free"  and  to  delete  provisions  of  Regulation 
(EEC) No 918/83 which refer to specific products in respect of which the conventional 
rate of CCT duty is "free". 

Imports  of  household  effects  for  furnishing  a  secondary  residence  are  subject  to  the 
same  restrictions  and  controls  as  the  same  goods  imported  by  natural  persons 
transferring their normal place of residence from a third country. Although creating the 
same administrative burden for the importing persons and the customs administrations 
in the Member States, the former types of importations do not benefit from exemption 
from  value  added  tax  (VAT)  whereas  the  latter  ones  do.  Furthermore,  the  economic 
benefits  of  a  duty  relief  for  imports  of  household  effects  for  furnishing  a  secondary 
residence  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  supplementary  costs  of  controls.  It  is 
therefore  appropriate  to  delete  the  provisions  concerning  the  customs  duty  relief  for 
those goods. 

1 
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3 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 105, 23. 4. 1983, p. 1, Regulation as last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession. 
OJ  L  256,  7.9.1987,  p.1.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  733/2007  (OJ  L  169, 
29.6.2007, p.1.) 

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(3) 

(4) 

Rules  relating  to  de  minimis  cases  are  contained  both  in  Article  868  of  Commission 
Regulation  (EEC)  No  2454/93  of  2  July  1993  laying  down  provisions  for  the 
implementing of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community 
Customs Code4 and in Article 27 and 28 of Regulation (EEC) No 918/83. The criteria 
of  these  rules  differ,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  complications  and  ensuing  inconsistencies. 
Accordingly, it is appropriate to replace Articles 27 and 28 of Regulation (EEC) No 
918/83 by a provision whose criteria are aligned to those of the said Article 868 and 
that establishes a de minimis amount for customs duty which need not be collected on 
the importation of goods. 

In order to ensure that no importations of VAT exempt goods which are contained in 
travellers'  personal  luggage  are  subject  to  customs  duties,  the  provisions  for  such 
imports  of  Regulation  (EEC)  918/83  should  be  amended  to  take  account  of  Council 
Directive 2007/ /EC of [ ] on the exemption from value added tax and excise duty of 
goods imported by persons travelling from third countries5. It is therefore appropriate 
to  grant  relief  from  customs  duties  where  national  VAT  law  implemented  in 
accordance with Directive 2007/…./…, provides for an exemption from VAT. In this 
context it is necessary to ensure that the same provisions for duty relief apply in the 
territories set out in Article 6 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 
on the common system of value added tax6. 

(5) 

The importation  of goods under duty relief is not likely to have significant  injurious 
effects on Community industry. It is therefore appropriate to exclude importations of 
goods which benefit from duty relief from the application of trade defence measures 
imposed on the basis of Article 133 of the Treaty. 

(6) 

Council Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

In Article 1, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: 

"1. 

This Regulation sets out those cases in which, owing to special circumstances, relief 
from import duties, export duties and measures adopted on the basis of Article 133 of 
the Treaty shall be granted respectively when goods are put into free circulation or 
are exported from the customs territory of the Community.  

It shall not apply to goods for which the conventional or autonomous rate of duty set 
out in Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is indicated as "free". It shall, however, apply to 
goods indicated in that Regulation as "free" where those goods are subject to import 

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OJ  L253  11.10.1993,  p.1.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  214/2007  (OJ  L  62 
1.3.2007, p.6.) 
OJ L [ ], [ ], p. [ ]. 
OJ  L  347,  11.12.2006,  p.  1.  Directive  as  last  amended  by  Directive  2006/138/EC  (OJ  L  384, 
29.12.2006, p.92) 

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duties  or  quantitative  restrictions  pursuant  to  measures  adopted  on  the  basis  of 
Article 133 of the Treaty." 

(2) 

In Chapter I, Title IV is deleted; 

(3) 

In Chapter I, the heading of Title VI is replaced by the following: 

"NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNTS OF CUSTOMS DUTY" 

(4) 

Article 27 is replaced by the following:  

"Article 27 

Relief from customs duty shall be granted where the amount of the duty is less than EUR 10." 

(5) 

Article 28 is deleted; 

(6) 

Article 45 is replaced by the following: 

"Article 45 

Goods  contained  in  the  personal  luggage  of  travellers  coming  from  a  third  country  shall  be 
admitted free of import duties, provided such imports are exempt from value added tax (VAT) 
under  provisions  of  national  law  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Council 
Directive 2007/ /EC (*).  

Goods imported into territories listed in Article 6 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC (**) shall 
be subject to the same provisions on duty relief as goods imported into any other parts of the 
territory of the Member State concerned."  

(*) 

OJ L [ ], [ ], p. [ ]. 

(**)  OJ  L  347,  11.12.2006,  p.  1.  Directive  as  amended  by  Directive  2006/138/EC  (OJ  L 
384, 29.12.2006, p.92) 

(7) 

Articles 46 to 49, 70, 92 and 93 are deleted; 

(8). 

In Chapter I, Title XXIII is deleted; 

(9) 

Article 109 is replaced by the following:  

The following shall be admitted free of import duties: 

" Article 109 

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objects  to  be  submitted  as  evidence  or  for  like  purposes  to  the  courts  or  official 

(a) 
agencies of the Member States; 

(b) 
recorded media, including punched cards, sound recordings and microfilms, used for 
the  transmission  of  information  sent  free  of  charge  to  the  addressee,  in  so  far  as  duty-free 
admission does not give rise to abuses or to major distortions of competition." 

(10) 

In Article 127, the following paragraph 3 is added: 

"3. 
Goods  which  may  be  imported  under  relief  from  duties  in  accordance  with  this 
Regulation shall also not be subject to quantitative restrictions applied pursuant to measures 
adopted on the basis of Article 133 of the Treaty."  

(11)  Annex I is replaced by the text set out in Annex I to this Regulation;. 

(12)  Annex II is replaced by the text set out in Annex II to this Regulation. 

(13)  Annex III is deleted; 

(14)  Annex IV is replaced by the text set out in Annex III to this Regulation 

Article 2 

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2008. 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX I 

"ANNEX I 

Educational, scientific or cultural materials referred to in Article 50 

CN code 

3705 

Description 

Photographic  plates  and  film,  exposed  and  developed,  other  than  cinematographic 
film: 

ex 3705 10 00 

Offset reproduction films for the production of books 

ex 3705 90 10 

Microfilms of books, children’s picture books and drawing or painting books, school 
exercise  books  (workbooks),  crossword-puzzle  books,  newspapers  and  periodicals, 
printed documents or reports of a non-commercial character, and of loose illustrations, 
printed pages and reproduction proofs for the production of books 

ex 3705 90 90 

Other reproduction films for the production of books 

9023 

Instruments, apparatus or models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, 
in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses: 

ex 9023 00 80 

Maps  and  charts  in  relief  of  interest  in  scientific  fields  such  as  geology,  zoology, 
botany,  mineralogy,  paleontology,  archaeology,  ethnology,  meteorology,  climatology 
and geophysics 

CN  codes  of 
Annex II 

Articles  listed  in  Annex  II  produced  by  the  United  Nations  or  any  of  its  specialized 
agencies" 

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ANNEX II 

"ANNEX II 

Educational, scientific or cultural materials referred to in Article 51 

CN code 

3705 

ex 3705 10 00 

ex 3705 90 10 

ex 3705 90 90 

Description 

Photographic  plates  and  film,  exposed  and  developed,  other  than  cinematographic 
film: 
For offset reproduction of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 
Microfilms of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

Other  photographic  plates  and  film,  exposed  and  developed  of  an  educational, 
scientific or cultural nature (1) 

3706 

Cinematographic  film,  exposed  and  developed,  whether  or  not  incorporating 
soundtrack or consisting only of soundtrack: 

ex 3706 10 99 
ex 3706 90 99 

Other cinematographic film positives, exposed and developed, of a width of 10 mm or 
more of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

8523 

ex 8523 21 00 
ex 8523 29 39 
ex 8523 29 90 

ex 8523 40 31 
ex 8523 40 39 
ex 8523 40 51 
ex 8523 40 59 
ex 8523 40 99 

ex 8523 51 99 
ex 8523 52 10 
ex 8523 59 99 

Discs, tapes, solid-state non-volatile storage devices, 'smart cards' and other media for 
the  recording  of  sound  or  of  other  phenomena,  whether  or  not  recorded,  including 
matrices and masters for the production of discs, but excluding products of Chapter 37: 
Recorded magnetic media of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

Recorded optical media of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

Recorded semiconductor media of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

ex 8523 80 99 

Gramophone records of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

9023 

Instruments, apparatus or models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, 
in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses: 

ex 9023 00 10 
ex 9023 00 80 

Patterns,  models  and  wall  charts  of  an  educational,  scientific  or  cultural  nature, 
designed solely for demonstration and education, (1) 

ex 9023 00 10 
ex 9023 00 80 

Mock-ups  or  visualizations  of  abstract  concepts  such  as  molecular  structures  or 
mathematical formulae of an educational, scientific or cultural nature (1) 

(1) 

The  application  of  duty  relief  for  this  good  is  subject  to  the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  relevant 
Community provisions (see Articles 291 to 300 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (OJ 
L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1) " 

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ANNEX III 

"ANNEX IV 

Articles specially designed for the educational, scientific or cultural advancement of 
blind persons as referred to in Article 71 

CN code 

ex 6602 00 00 

Description 

Walking sticks, seat-sticks, whips, riding-crops and the like: 
- White canes for the blind and partially sighted 

ex 8469 00 91 
ex 8469 00 99 

Typewriters: 
- adapted for the use by the blind and partially sighted 

ex 8519 

ex 8523 

9013 

ex 9013 80 90 

9023 

ex 9023 00 80 

ex 9102 

Various 

Sound recording or sound reproducing apparatus: 
- Record-players and cassette players specially designed or adapted for the blind and 
partially sighted 

Discs, tapes, solid-state non-volatile storage devices, 'smart cards' and other media for 
the recording of sound or of other phenomena, whether or not recorded, including 
matrices and masters for the production of discs, but excluding products of Chapter 37:
- Talking books 
- Magnetic tapes and cassettes for the production of Braille and Talking books 

Liquid crystal devices not constituting articles provided for more specifically in other 
headings; lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not 
specified or included elsewhere in this chapter: 

- Other devices, appliances and instruments: 
- Television enlargers for the blind and partially sighted 

Instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for 
example, in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses: 

- Other: 
- Teaching aids and apparatus specifically designed for the use of the blind and 
partially sighted 

Wristwatches, pocket-watches and other watches, including stopwatches, other than 
those of heading 9101: 
- Braille watches with cases other than of precious metals 

All  other  articles  specially  designed  for  the  education,  scientific  or  cultural 
advancement of the blind and partially sighted" 

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS HAVING A 
BUDGETARY IMPACT EXCLUSIVELY LIMITED TO THE REVENUE SIDE 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  amending  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  918/83 
setting up a Community system of relief from customs duty 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: Chap. 12 art. 120 

The  loss  for  the  following  years  mentioned  in  the  column  "validity  period"  will  be 
calculated separately by the following regulations. 

Amount budgeted for the year 2008: €

 16 431 900 000 

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial implications 

Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure but has a financial impact on 

X 
revenue – the effect is as follows: 

(€ million to one decimal place)  

Budget line 

Revenue7 

12 month period, 
starting dd/mm/aaaa

[Year 2008] 

Article 120 

Impact on own resources 

1/01/2008 

- 286.1 

4. 

5. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES 

OTHER REMARKS  

Estimated cost of this operation 

For the calculation of the estimated loss of revenue it was assumed that 30 mio air 
and sea travellers would make use of the additional duty free amount of € 155  per 
person and 50 mio other travellers of the additional duty free amount of € 125  per 
person which results in a duty free amount of € 10,900 mio  * 3.5% of standard rate 
.  
of duty for travellers = € 381.5 mio customs duty – 25% fee for MS = € 286.1 mio

7 

Regarding  traditional  own  resources  (agricultural  duties,  sugar  levies,  customs  duties)  the  amounts 
indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25% of collection costs. 

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Impact of the operation 

The  proposed  amendments  will  eliminate  a  number  of  uncertainties  in  the 

1. 
application of the duty relief provisions. 

The  amendment  will  improve  the  parallelism  between  duty  relief  and  VAT 
2. 
exemption  and  simplify  the  customs  clearance  and  controls  of  goods  which  are 
imported due to the transfer of residence of a natural person to the Community. 

The  amendment  will  significantly  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  customs 

3. 
clearance for small consignments of negligible value. 

The  amendment  will  lead  to  a  better  harmonisation  of  the  application  of 

4. 
customs legislation by the customs authorities of the Member States. 

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