REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the application of the Airworthiness Regulation (period 2014-2016)
Date: 2018-01-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission
Subjects: CCT duties, EU Member State, aircraft, application of EU law, data collection, import (EU), simplification of formalities, spare part, suspension of customs duties, technical standard

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 26.1.2018  COM(2018) 45 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the application of the Airworthiness Regulation (period 2014-2016)  
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 2 

1.1 

1.2 

General .................................................................................................................................................. 2 

Questionnaire ........................................................................................................................................ 2 

2 

Report on findings ........................................................................................................................................... 3 

2.1 

2.2 

2.3 

Relevance of the Regulation .................................................................................................................. 3 

Effectiveness .......................................................................................................................................... 4 

Efficiency ................................................................................................................................................ 5 

2.3.1 

Value of imports ................................................................................................................................ 5 

2.3.2  Gains from reducing administrative burden ..................................................................................... 8 

2.4 

2.5 

Coherence .............................................................................................................................................. 8 

Control activities .................................................................................................................................. 10 

3 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................... 11 

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1 

1.1 

Introduction 

General 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1147/2002  (‘the  Airworthiness  Regulation’)  provides  for  the 
temporary suspension of the autonomous common customs tariff duties on certain goods 
imported  with  airworthiness  certificates1.  It  enables  simplified  customs  procedures  for 
duty-free  imports  of  parts,  components  and  other  goods  from  non-EU  countries  that  are 
used to manufacture, repair, maintain, rebuild, modify or convert aircraft. In the past, these 
were  imported  under  special  customs  procedures  such  as  end-use,  inward  processing, 
customs  or  warehousing.  Importing  under  the  special  customs  procedures  required  prior 
and/or  subsequent  authorisation  or  supervision  by  customs,  whereas  under  the 
Airworthiness  Regulation  authorisation  can  be  granted  upon  presentation  of  a  specific 
‘airworthiness certificate’. This procedure is less burdensome than the previous suspensive 
ones. 

Under  Article  4  of  the  Airworthiness  Regulation,  a  report  on  the  application  of  the 
Regulation must be submitted to the Council based on the information received from the 
Member  States.  The  purpose  of  this  report  is  to  present  findings  and  conclusions  on  the 
implementation  of  the  Airworthiness  Regulation  based  on  the  information  received  from 
Member States for the 3-year period 2014 to 2016 (‘period considered’). 

1.2 

Questionnaire 

In  order  to  collect  the  necessary  information,  on  29  June  2017  the  Commission  sent  a 
questionnaire  to  all  Member  States.  The  questionnaire  consisted  of  11  questions  which 
were divided into four areas:  

1.  effectiveness;  
2.  efficiency;  
3.  coherence; and  
4.  control activity.  

The  data  Member  States  submit  to  the  Surveillance  database  has  also  been  used  when 
assessing ‘effectiveness’ in this report. 

Questionnaire  replies  were  received  from  21  Member  States  representing  93.1 %  of 
imports  under  the  Airworthiness  Regulation  in  the  period  considered.  Certain  Member 
States provided answers and figures to all questions, whereas others were not always able 
to answer, in particular where quantifiable information was requested.   

A  fifth  area,  the  ‘relevance’  of  the  Airworthiness  Regulation,  was  assessed  using 
information  received  from  Member  States 
in  response  to  a  survey  on  possible 
improvements of the Airworthiness Regulation that was conducted in June 2014.   

1  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1147/2002  of  25  June  2002  temporarily  suspending  the  autonomous 
Common Customs Tariff duties on certain goods imported with airworthiness certificates (OJ L170, 
29.6.2002, p. 8.). 

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2 

Report on findings 

This  section  of  the  report  presents  the  findings  regarding  the  relevance,  effectiveness, 
efficiency, coherence and control activities of the Airworthiness Regulation. These findings 
were derived from the information received from the Member States. 

2.1 

Relevance of the Regulation 

As it stated in section 1.3, a survey of the Member States was conducted in 2014 to identify 
possible improvements to the Airworthiness Regulation. Their feedback provided important 
information on the implementation of the Regulation and useful guidance on certain areas 
that needed to be improved to take account of either legal or technological developments. 

In responding to the survey, Member States pointed to the significance of the Regulation, 
as  it  reduces  the  administrative  burden  for  customs  officials  by  allowing  them  to  use 
alternative  customs  procedures,  than  the  granting  of  end-use  authorisations  and  the 
following up and supervising of other special customs procedures (e.g. inward processing, 
warehousing). 

However, a number of Member States pointed out that the Airworthiness Regulation needs 
further  clarification  with  regard  to  the  eligible  authorised  certificates  for  granting 
suspension of autonomous common customs tariff duties. In their view, clarity in this area 
would  eliminate  uncertainties  as  to  which  certificates  are  required  and  would  encourage 
aircraft operators to make use of the possibilities under the Airworthiness Regulation. They 
also requested further improvements to the procedures for goods to be repaired. 

Member States were also open to the possibility of further simplifying matters for aircraft 
operators by allowing duty-free imports on the basis of certificates for military aircraft too. 
This is because very often parts can be used for both types of aircraft and the end-use is not 
always  known  upon  importation.  This  would  also  be  consistent  with  Article  324(1)(c)  of 
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447, which does not distinguish between 
civil  and  non-civil  aircraft  in  respect  of  the  simplified  discharge  of  the  inward  processing 
procedure.  Also,  it  is  also  in  line  with  and  complements  Regulation  (EC)  No 150/2003 
suspending import duties on certain weapons and military equipment. 

Responses  were  mixed  regarding  the  listing  of  goods  eligible  for  a  suspension  under  the 
Airworthiness  Regulation.  Some  Member  State  preferred  the  status  quo,  whereas  others 
were  in  favour  of  a  detailed  list  at  CN  heading  or  subheading  level,  provided  it  could  be 
amended  swiftly.  It  must  also  be  recalled,  in  this  respect,  that  the  integration  of  the 
Airworthiness Regulation in TARIC has not been done for all CN codes of Chapters 25 to 97 
of  the  CN,  but  that  the  list  of  codes  was  reduced  during  the  discussions  of  the  Customs 
Expert Group for TARIC matters. 

In response to these concerns, the Commission is in the process of preparing a proposal 
to the Council that will replace the Airworthiness Regulation and update, streamline and 
further  simplify  the  procedures  for  duty-free  imports  of  certain  goods  that  may  be 
incorporated in or used for aircraft. This process is expected to be finalised by the end of 
2017. 

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2.2 

Effectiveness 

In  assessing  the  effectiveness  of  the  Airworthiness  Regulation,  three  questions  were 
addressed to Member States to identify the extent to which simplifying customs procedures 
for the economic operators and for customs authorities has helped achieve the objective of 
the Regulation. The responses are presented in the following graphs: 

in  simplifying  customs 
Q1.  The  Airworthiness  Regulation  achieved 
procedures  for  duty  free  imports  of  parts,  components  and  other  goods  used  for  the 
manufacture, repair, maintenance rebuilding, modification or conversion of aircraft? 

its  objective 

Table 1 

38,10% 

47,62% 

9,52%  4,76% 

To a large extent

To some extent

To a small extent

Not at all

Do not know

Source: Member States’ responses to the questionnaire 

Q2: To what extent do you feel that the administrative burden for economic operators in 
the aircraft sector was alleviated by the Airworthiness Regulation in so far as it reduced 
the  need  for  them  to  use  suspensive  customs  procedures  (e.g.  end-use,  inward 
processing, customs warehousing)? 

Table 2 

42,86% 

47,62% 

9,52% 

To a large extent

To some extent

To a small extent

Not at all

Do not know

Source: Member States’ responses to the questionnaire 

Q3: To what extent was the administrative burden for customs authorities alleviated by 
the Airworthiness Regulation in so far as it reduced the need for economic operators to 
inward  processing,  customs 
use  suspensive  customs  procedures 
warehousing)? 

(e.g.  end-use, 

Table 3 

42,86% 

47,62% 

4,76% 

To a large extent

To some extent

To a small extent

Not at all

Do not know

Source: Member States’ responses to the questionnaire 

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The Member States’ replies show that the vast majority of administrations (more than 85 % 
of respondents) consider that the Airworthiness Regulation has achieved its aim of alleviating 
the  administrative  burden  on  economic  operators  in  the  aircraft  sector.  The  vast  majority 
also  consider  that  the  Regulation  has  helped  reduce  the  administrative  burden  for  the 
national customs authorities. 

The cost savings for EU businesses importing parts, components and other goods under the 
suspension scheme can have wider benefits, such as boosting the competitiveness of the EU 
aeronautics  industry,  making  production  methods  more  efficient,  and  creating  or  keeping 
jobs in the EU. 

However, two Member States reported there are still cases where economic operators insist 
on the inward processing procedure and do not use the simplified procedures offered by the 
Airworthiness Regulation.   

2.3 

Efficiency 

Data from the Surveillance database were used to quantify the value of imports under the 
Regulation in the period considered. This information is given in section 2.3.1, broken down 
by origin of imports, importing Member State and by CN subheading. 

2.3.1  Value of imports 

2014 

2015 

Table 4: Import value in EUR for 2014-2016, by country of origin 
Import values 
per country of 
origin 
United States of 
America 
Canada 
Singapore 
Japan 
Turkey 
China 
Mexico 
Switzerland 
Philippines 
Taiwan 
Grand total of 
top 10 
countries 
Grand total of 
all countries 

11 112 281 769 
822 536 320 
252 674 439 
242 008 025 
173 137 100 
172 631 537 
155 400 109 
97 256 260 
63 139 468 
76 550 593 

8 658 536 103 
630 774 271 
253 882 594 
184 631 396 
85 705 800 
111 280 770 
72 617 669 
135 621 526 
47 909 481 
50 860 474 

10 231 820 084 

11 289 774 034 

13 167 615 619 

14 906 427 347 

2016 

Grand total for  
2014-2016 

14 010 541 826 
960 885 100 
255 790 579 
278 012 288 
233 401 407 
168 208 313 
205 357 625 
103 608 054 
164 470 527 
66 832 444 

33 781 359 698 
2 414 195 690 
762 347 612 
704 651 709 
492 244 307 
452 120 619 
433 375 404 
336 485 840 
275 519 476 
194 243 511 

16 447 108 162 

39 846 543 865 

18 522 590 954 

44 718 792 334 

Source: Surveillance database 

The  total  value  of  all  imports  into  the  EU  for  the  period  considered,  amounted  to 
EUR 44 718 792 334.  The  top  10  countries  of  origin  by  the  volume  of  imports  make  up 
EUR 39 846 543 865  (89.1 %)  of  the  grand  total  amount.  The  table  above  shows  a  steady 
increase in import values in the period considered. 

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The table clearly shows that the United States of America was by far the main country of 
origin  in  EUR  trade  value  for  the  entire  period  considered.  Canada  recorded  the  second 
highest  trade  value  with  rising  trends  in  the  period  considered.  Singapore  had  the  third 
highest trade value, with a value of exported goods remaining rather stable over the period 
considered. The value of imports increased significantly for Japan (+51 %), Turkey (+172 %), 
Mexico (+182 %) and the Philippines (+243 %). 

Table 5: The first and last column of Table 4, transposed into chart format showing the percentage of 
the  values  of  imports  (top  10  countries  of  origin  and  the  grand  total  of  all  countries  of  origin  for 
2014-2016) 

Import value (%) per country of origin  
for 2014-2016  

Canada - 5.4%

10.9% 

5,4% 

1.6% 1% 

1% 

0.6% 

1.7%  0.8% 

0.4% 

1.1% 

75.5% 

China - 1%

Japan - 1.6%

Mexico - 1%

Philippines - 0.6%

Singapore - 1.7%

Switzerland - 0.8%

Taiwan - 0.4%

Turkey - 1.1%

United States of
America 75.5%
Grand total of all other
origins - 10.9%

Table 6: Value of imports in EUR by Member State for 2014-2016 
Import values per 
Member State 

2014 

2015 

Germany  
United Kingdom  
France  
The Netherlands  
Spain 
Italy 
Luxembourg 
Poland 
Czech Republic 
Belgium  

Grand total of 
top 10 Member 
State importers 
Grand total of all 
Member States  

Source: Surveillance database 

3 953 545 804 
3 067 202 607 
2 283 119 979 
577 602 997 
406 207 547 
142 749 661 
204 498 753 
131 030 197 
81 283 683 
76 789 159 

4 888 963 973 
4 112 329 609 
3 402 016 736 
717 607 299 
391 394 246 
269 796 330 
210 331 595 
168 749 737 
153 500 591 
80 363 341 

2016 

5 801 425 448 
5 302 307 837 
4 453 822 183 
865 998 485 
432 677 834 
361 276 115 
225 266 316 
214 885 793 
114 602 786 
120 178 533 

Grand total 
14 643 935 225 
12 481 840 053 
10 138 958 898 
2 161 208 781 
1 230 279 626 
773 822 106 
640 096 664 
514 665 727 
349 387 060 
277 331 033 

10 924 030 386 

14 395 053 456 

17 892 441 331 

43 211 525 173 

11 289 774 034 

14 906 427 347 

18 522 590 954 

44 718 792 334 

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Table 7: The first and last column of Table 6, transposed into a chart format showing the percentage 
of the values of imports per Member State for 2014-2016 

Germany (DE)

United Kingdom (UK)

Import value (%) per Member State 
 for 2014-2016 

France (FR)

Netherlands (NL)

Spain (ES)

Italy (IT)

LU - 1.4%  PL - 1.2% 

ES - 2.8%  IT - 1.7% 

CZ - 0.8% 
BE - 0.6% 

Other Member 
State - 3.4% 

NL - 4.8% 

 DE - 32.7% 

Luxembourg (LU)

FR - 22.7% 

Poland (PL)

Czech Republic (CZ)

Belgium (BE)

Grand Total for the other MS
importers

 UK - 27.9% 

Three  Member  States  [DE,  UK  and  FR]  have  the  highest  import  values  for  the  period 
considered, which can be explained by the fact that the largest aviation manufacturer in the 
EU has production facilities there. Their imports constitute EUR 37 264 734 176 (83.3 %) of 
the  total  value of  EUR 44 718 792 334  for  this  period.  However,  the import  values  for  the 
other Member States (notably NL, IT and PL) also increased over the period considered. 

Table 8: 15 most used CN subheadings in EUR for 2014-2016 

15 most used 
CN subheadings  
8411 91 
8803 30 
8411 12 

9014 20 
8803 20 

8537 10 
8411 22 

8481 80 

Description 

Parts of turbojets or turbopropellers 
Other parts of aeroplanes or helicopters 
Turbojets of a thrust exceeding 25 kN 
Instruments  and  appliances  for  aeronautical  or 
space navigation (other than compasses) 
Undercarriages and parts thereof 
Boards,  panels,  consoles,  desks,  cabinets  and  other 
bases,  equipped  with  two  or  more  apparatus  of 
heading  8535  or  8536,  for  electric  control  or  the 
distribution 
those 
electricity, 
incorporating  instruments  or  apparatus  of  Chapter 
90,  and  numerical  control  apparatus,  other  than 
switching apparatus of heading 8517 — for a voltage 
not exceeding 1.000 V 
Turbopropellers of a power exceeding 1.100 kW 
Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances for pipes, 
boiler shells, tanks, 
vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves 

including 

of 

Grand total  
for 2014-2016  
in EUR 

19 384 532 811 
3 383 005 487 
3 329 771 994 

1 200 399 757 
840 848 278 

734 716 410 
673 655 101 

516 308 529 

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and thermostatically 
controlled valves 

8411 99 

Parts of other gas turbines 

8411 21 

9032 89 

8544 30 
8411 11 
8526 91 

9031 80 

Turbopropellers of a power not exceeding 1.100 kW 
Automatic regulating or controlling instruments and 
apparatus: (other than manostats and thermostats) 
Ignition  wiring  sets  and  other  wiring  sets  of  a  kind 
used in vehicles, aircraft or ships 
Turbojets of a thrust not exceeding 25 kN 
Radio navigational aid apparatus 

Measuring or checking instruments, appliances and 
machines, not specified or included elsewhere 

Source: Surveillance database 

508 717 133 

472 935 098 

448 780 830 

354 191 153 
350 993 592 
334 871 961 

324 608 356 

The  goods  with  the  highest  trade  volume  for  the  period  considered  are  under  the 
subheading 8411 91 — Parts of turbojets and turbopropellers (2.7 % duty rate), and 8803 
30 — Parts of aeroplanes or helicopters (2.7 % duty rate). Subheading 8411 91 accounts for 
43.3 % of the total import value. 

2.3.2  Gains from reducing administrative burden 

Information that makes it possible to quantify the gains from any reported reduction in the 
administrative burden on customs authorities is very valuable in assessing efficiency. 

To further assess efficiency, Member States were asked the following question: 

Q4: What are the estimated gains in terms of full time equivalents by the reduction of the 
administrative burden that this Regulation has achieved for your administration? 

Member States indicated that using the simplified customs procedure under the Regulation 
has a significant impact both for their customs administrations and for economic operators. 
However,  they  cannot  quantify  the  estimated  gains  in  terms  of  full  time  equivalents 
brought by the reduction in administrative burden, either because they have not estimated 
the statistics or because they are impossible to determine. 

Member  States  were  of  the  opinion  that  using  airworthiness  certificates  —  for  which  no 
customs  authorisation  or  supervision 
is  required  —  had  significantly  reduced  the 
administrative burden because it saved time which would otherwise be needed to grant the 
end-use authorisation or supervise the inward processing or warehousing procedures. 

The  significant  value  of  goods  imported  under  the  Airworthiness  Regulation  shows  the 
magnitude of efficiency gains for operators that this Regulation has generated. 

2.4 

Coherence 

Under  Article  2(3)  of  the  Airworthiness  Regulation,  simplified  procedures  can  be  applied 
when goods are released for free circulation. The questionnaire included two questions on 

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this, aiming to measure the complementarity and coherence of the Regulation with other 
areas of customs legislation: 

Q5 and Q6: Which is the number of cases in the period considered where the goods under 
suspension were released for free circulation under simplified procedures (field 44 of the 
Single  Administrative  Document  was  filled  in)  and  what  is  the  percentage  of  simplified 
procedures in relation to the total of cases where suspension was granted? 

Table  9:  The  percentage  of  simplified  procedures  in  relation  to  the  total  number  of  cases  where 
suspension was granted 

Percentage of cases under simplified 
procedures submitted for the period 
between 2014 - 2016 

EU 12
UK
SI
SK
PT
PL
IT
FR
FI
ES
DE
CZ
BE

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

BE

UK EU 12
2016 0% 42% 72% 67% 90% 93% 21% 86% 8% 62% 31% 75% 54%

DE

FR

PT

CZ

SK

ES

PL

IT

FI

SI

2015 2% 37% 69% 54% 86% 93% 77% 72% 8% 64% 20% 67% 54%

2014 4% 22% 58% 57% 87% 94% 75% 69% 9% 42% 20% 67% 50%

Source: Member States’ responses to the questionnaire 

The chart shows that the number of cases submitted under simplified procedures remained 
steady in relation to the total number of cases where suspension was granted. The figures 
on  import  values  for  2014-2016  show  that  cases  under  simplified  procedures  account  for 
slightly over 50 % of the total number of cases where suspension was granted. 

The  above  reporting  by  Member  States  shows  that  the  Airworthiness  Regulation  is 
complementary with customs legislation regarding simplified import procedures. 

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2.5 

Control activities 

In addition to normal customs controls based on risk analysis, the Airworthiness Regulation 
acknowledges  the  risk  of  falsified  airworthiness  certificates  and  provides  for  recourse  to 
expert opinions from representatives of the national aviation authorities. 

The  questionnaire  therefore 
administrations carry out to implement the Regulation. 

included  questions  regarding  the  controls  customs 

Q7:  In  the  period  considered  how  many  customs  controls  have  your  administration 
carried out on goods imported under this Regulation? 

Member States pointed out that economic operators are expected to provide the customs 
authorities with all relevant information for the customs control. If they wish to apply the 
simplified  customs  procedures  under  the  Regulation,  economic  operators  are  required  to 
present  an  airworthiness  certificate.  This  is  a  condition  for  granting  favourable  tariff 
treatment for release for free circulation. The customs authorities therefore have to carry 
out the requisite checks and verify whether the airworthiness certificate corresponds to the 
model of the certificate. 

Member States provided different answers regarding the number of controls carried out. In 
addition  to  the  total  number  of  customs  controls,  some  Member  States  also  provided 
numbers  on  control  activities  such  as  documentary  checks,  physical  checks  and  post-
clearance audits. 

Table  10:  Customs  controls  carried  out  on  goods  imported  under  the  Airworthiness  Regulation  for 
the period 2014-2016 
Question 7: 

Number of controls  

Physical checks 

Documentary checks 

Certificate checks 

Post clearance audits 

Customs controls (not specified) 

Total  
Source: Member States’ responses to the questionnaire 

 97 

 13 981 

142  

7 

6 705  

20 932 

Q8:  In  the  period  considered  what  is  the  total  amount  of  duties  collected  in  view  of 
irregular behaviour or operators? 

Most  Member  States  did  not  have  statistics  on  this,  nor  have  they  detected  any  serious 
irregularities  regarding  the  use  of  the  Airworthiness  Regulation.  The  majority  of  Member 
States  reported  that  they  carry  out  post-clearance  audits  to  check  the  validity  of  the 
procedure.  The  highest  amount  of  duties  collected  by  a  Member  State  after  detecting 
irregularities  was  EUR 21 681.  It  is  noteworthy  that  there  were  cases  where  declarations 

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with preference code 119 were refused by the Member States' customs authorities because 
airworthiness  certificates  were  in  fact  certificates  of  conformity,  which  are  clearly  not 
covered  by  the  Airworthiness  Regulation.  Some  Member  States  also  responded  that  their 
customs  authorities  always  request  a  certification  of  consignment  in  addition  to  the 
customs  controls  (documentary  or  physical).  This  is  to  ensure  that  the  components 
accompanied by the airworthiness certificate have indeed been incorporated or used in the 
aircraft. If a certificate of consignment is not provided, Member States reported that they 
would initiate the procedure to recover the relevant duties. 

Q9: In the period considered on how many occasions has your administration requested 
an expert opinion from a representative of the national services of your national aviation 
authorities (Article 3)? 

The  Member  States’  replies  showed  that  if  they  have  good  reason  to  suspect  that 
airworthiness  certificates  have  been  falsified,  they  do  request  an  expert  opinion  from  a 
representative of the national aviation authorities. Furthermore, in several cases, Member 
States  proceeded  to  informal  consultations  with  the  national  civil  aviation  authorities  to 
validate the authenticity and accuracy of the certificates. 

Q10: What is the total number of falsified certificates detected by application of Article 3 
in the period considered? 

None  of  the  Member  States  had  detected  falsified  certificates  in  the  period  considered. 
However, most of them had received a copy of the certificate with a ‘TRUE COPY’ stamp on 
it. 

Q11: From the application of Article 3 of the Regulation what has been the average cost 
of procuring the expert opinion from your national aviation authorities? 

Most Member States did not provided any statistics for this question because they had not 
requested formal expert opinions. Member States that had requested expert opinions had 
received them free of charge, in most cases as an ‘informal consultation’. 

Member States’ checks of imports under the Airworthiness Regulation revealed only few 
cases of irregular behaviour. 

3 

Conclusions 

For the 2014-2016 period, Council Regulation (EC) No 1147/2002 was assessed in terms of 
relevance,  effectiveness,  efficiency,  coherence and  control  activities.  Measured against all 
these factors, the Regulation had a significant, positive impact on economic operators and 
customs administrations alike. 

The  Regulation  provides  for  the  temporary  suspension  of  the  autonomous  common 
customs  tariff  duties  on  certain  goods  imported  with  airworthiness  certificates.  It  has 
simplified customs procedures for duty-free imports of parts, components and other goods 
used  to  manufacture,  repair,  maintain,  rebuild,  modify  or  convert  aircraft,  previously 
imported under the inward processing procedures. 

In  addition,  the  cost  savings  for  EU  businesses  importing  parts,  components  and  other 
goods  under  the  suspension  scheme  can  have  wider  benefits,  such  as  boosting  the 

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competitiveness of the EU aeronautics industry, making production methods more efficient, 
and creating and keeping jobs in the EU. 

The information received from the Member States clearly shows that the core rationale for 
simplifying customs procedures and suspending the common customs tariff remains valid. 
The  Regulation  ensures  clarity,  simplifies  procedures,  reduces  administrative  burden  for 
economic  operators  and  customs  administrations  and  helps  boost  the  competitiveness  of 
the EU aeronautics industry. 

In  response  to  concerns  expressed  by  Member  States,  the  Commission  has  submitted  a 
proposal  to  the  Council  to  replace  the  Airworthiness  Regulation  in  order  to  update, 
streamline and further simplify the procedures for duty-free imports of goods incorporated 
in or used for aircraft. This process is expected to be finalised by the end of March 2018. 

            Report on the application of the Airworthiness Regulation 

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