Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 laying down the Union Customs Code
Date: 2018-05-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission
Subjects: EU customs procedure, Italy, Lombardy, Switzerland, customs formalities, customs territory (EU), lake, municipality, tariff exemption

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.5.2018 COM(2018) 259 final 2018/0123 (COD)  Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 laying down the Union Customs Code   
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Following  the  entry  into  force  of  the  new  substantial  provisions  of  the  Regulation  (EU)  No 
952/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down Union 
Customs Code1 (UCC) in May 2016, the process of regular consultation with Member States 
and business has resulted in the identification of errors and technical anomalies that need to be 
corrected  in  order  to  ensure legal  certainty  and  consistency.  The  European  Commission  has 
therefore prepared this proposal to amend the UCC with a view to correcting these technical 
errors  and  omissions,  including  the  alignment  of  the  UCC  with  an  international  agreement 
that  was  not  in  force  at  the  time  of  adoption  of  the  UCC,  namely,  the  Canada-EU 
Comprehensive  Economic  and  Trade  Agreement  (CETA).  The  proposal  also  aims  at 
addressing a request from Italy to include the municipality of Campione d'Italia and the Italian 
waters of Lake Lugano in the EU customs territory. 

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

The proposal aims at ensuring the proper application of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, which 
is fully in line with existing policies and objectives relevant to the trade of goods brought into 
and out of the customs territory of the Union  

• 

Consistency with other Union policies 

The proposal aims at ensuring that the UCC is aligned with the international trade agreements 
signed by the EU. The element of the proposal that concerns the inclusion of the municipality 
of  Campione  d'Italia  and  the  Italian  waters  of  Lake  Lugano  in  the  customs  territory  of  the 
Union is  linked to the parallel amendments to Directives 2008/118/EC (the Excise Directive) 
and 2006/112/EC (the VAT Directive). These amendments should all apply as from the same 
date of 1 January 2019. 

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The legal basis is Articles 33, 114 and 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union (TFEU). 

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The proposal falls under the exclusive competence of the EU according to Article 3(1)(a) and 
(e) TFEU. Member States cannot act individually in this area. 

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal does not entail any new policy developments compared to the legislative act it 
intends  to  amend;  it  modifies  a  few  provisions  of  that  legislative  act  in  order  to  ensure  the 
proper application of other provisions of the same Regulation, to align the Regulation with an 
international  agreement  that  entered  into  force  after  the  adoption  of  the  Regulation  and  to 
respond to a particular request of a Member State that has a limited effect.  

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OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p.1. 

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• 

Choice of the instrument 

As the Code is a legal act of the EU, it can only be amended by way of an equivalent legal act.  

3. 

• 

RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

Stakeholder consultations 

This  amendment  does  not  alter  the  substance  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  952/2013  so  the 
consultation of interested parties held before the adoption of that Regulation is still valid. 

Furthermore, the relevant amendments have been discussed with the Member States and with 
trade  representatives  in  joint  meetings  of  the  Customs  Expert  Group  and  the  Trade  Contact 
Group, where consensus was reached on the substance of the present text. The Commission 
consulted  the  general  public  on  the  proposal  via  a  Roadmap  published  on  the  Better 
Regulation portal "Have Your Say" and has noted the feedback received.  

• 

Impact assessment 

This  initiative  does  not  require  an  impact  assessment  because  it  does  not  concern  a  policy 
choice. It simply involves making corrections to the UCC to i) amend some technical issues 
and  anomalies  that  have  arisen  in  the  first  two  years  of  its  application  and  ii)  respond  to  a 
request by one Member State that two parts of its territory hitherto excluded should now be 
brought within the scope of the EU customs territory. Furthermore, it ensures coherence with 
other provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, which is itself a recast of Regulation (EC) 
N° 450/2008 for which the Commission conducted an impact assessment.  

• 

Regulatory fitness and simplification 

The proposal assists in the achievement of the objectives of the UCC. It makes some technical 
amendments  to  the  Code  so  as  to  ensure  that  the  Code  successfully  meets  its  objectives  of 
improving  the  competitiveness  of  European  businesses  while  also  better  protecting  the 
financial  and  economic  interests  of  the  Union  and  the  Member  States  and  the  safety  and 
security of EU consumers.  

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The  amendments  proposed  do  not  have  any  direct  budgetary  implications  but  will  facilitate 
the  achievement  of  the  Union  customs  objectives  including  the  collection  of  own  resources 
and trade facilitation. 

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

The Commission will, by 2021, carry out an interim evaluation of the UCC legal framework 
and  the  electronic  systems  implemented  by  that  date.  It  will  launch  a  more  comprehensive 
fitness check after 2025, once all the UCC electronic systems are in place, so as to determine 
whether  there  are  gaps  or  errors  in  the  Code  that  need  to  be  addressed  by  a  more 
comprehensive proposal for amendment. Given the current transitional phase of the UCC and 
these  plans  for  future  evaluations,  no  evaluation  is  deemed  necessary  in  respect  of  this 
specific proposal. 

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• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

The proposal includes amendments to the following UCC provisions: 

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Article  4,  providing  the  definition  of  the  customs  territory  of  the  EU,  should  be 
amended  following  a  request  from  Italy  to  include  the  Italian  municipality  of 
Campione  d'Italia  and  the  Italian  waters  of  Lake  Lugano  within  its  scope.  The 
geographic  location  of  the  two  territories  as  Italian  exclaves  within  the  territory  of 
Switzerland  has  historically  justified  their  exclusion  from  the  EU  customs  territory 
but  Italy  considers  this  exclusion  to  be  no  longer  necessary,  in  particular  because 
otherwise Switzerland now wishes to include them within its customs territory. It is 
proposed that this amendment should apply from 1 January 2019. 

Article  34(9),  which,  under  certain  conditions  allows  the  extended  use  of  Binding 
Tariff  Information  (BTI)  decisions  that  cease  to  be  valid  or  are  revoked,  should  be 
amended so that the possibility of extended use is also given in additional situations 
covered  by  Article  34(5)  UCC,  i.e.  in  situations  where  the  BTI  decision  has  been 
revoked because it does not conform to customs legislation or because the conditions 
laid down for the issuing of the BTI decision were not or are no longer fulfilled (e.g. 
as  a  result  of  bilateral  negotiations  between  two  Member  States  or  of  guidance  on 
classification adopted at Union level). 

Article  124(h)(i)  should  be  amended  to  add  temporary  storage  to  the  list  of  cases 
where  a  customs  debt  (that  arises  due  to  not  having  complied  with  customs 
formalities)  may  be  extinguished  if  there  was  no  significant  negative  effect,  no 
attempt  at  deception  and  the  situation  was  subsequently  regularised.  The  current 
exclusion of temporary storage is a mere oversight caused by the fact that temporary 
storage  is  not  considered  a  customs  procedure.  The  corresponding  delegation  of 
power  to  the  Commission  to  supplement  the  provision  should  also  be  amended  to 
include temporary storage. 

Article  129(2)(b)  should  be  amended  to  clarify  that,  in  cases  where  customs 
authorities  have  to  invalidate  an  entry  summary  declaration  because  the  non-Union 
goods  covered  by  the  declaration  are  not  brought  into  the  customs  territory,  the 
invalidation  must  happen  once  200  days  have  elapsed  since  the  declaration  was 
lodged rather than "within" the period of 200 days. The 200 days was designed as the 
period  of  time  that  declarants  have  to  present  the  goods  to  customs  following  the 
lodging of the declaration.  

Article  139(5)  should  be  amended  to  clarify  that,  in  all  cases  where  economic 
operators or carriers of goods have not submitted pre-arrival information concerning 
non-Union  goods  (in  the  form  of  "entry  summary  declarations")  before  the  actual 
arrival  of  the  goods  and  their  presentation  to  customs,  a  customs  declarations  or 
temporary  storage  declarations  must  contain  the  particulars  that  would  have  been 
included in entry summary declarations. 

Article  146(2)(b)  should  be  amended  to  clarify  that,  in  cases  where  customs 
authorities have to invalidate a temporary storage declaration due to non-presentation 
of the relevant goods, the invalidation must happen once 30 days have elapsed since 
the declaration was lodged rather than "within" the period of 30 days. The 30 days 
was designed as period of time that declarants have to present the goods to customs 
following the lodging of the declaration.  

A new Article 260a should be proposed to provide total relief from import duty for 
goods that cannot benefit from the total relief laid down in Article 260 but have been 

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 

repaired or altered under the outward processing procedure in a country with which 
the  Union  has  concluded  a  preferential  agreement  (like  CETA  with  Canada) 
providing for such relief. 

Article 272 (2)(b) and Article 275 (2)(b) should be amended to clarify that, in cases 
where  customs  authorities  have  to  invalidate  an  exit  summary  declaration  or  re-
export notification due to the non-export of the relevant goods, the invalidation must 
happen once 150 days have elapsed since the declaration or notification was lodged 
rather than "within" the period of 150 days. The 150 days period was designed as the 
period of time that declarants have to bring the goods out of the EU customs territory 
before the declaration or notification is invalidated. 

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2018/0123 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 laying down the Union Customs Code  

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Articles 33, 114 and 207 thereof,  

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 

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

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Regulation  (EU)  No  952/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council2 
establishes  the  Union  Customs  Code  (the  Code)  and  lays  down  general  rules  and 
procedures applicable to goods brought into or taken out of the customs territory of the 
Union. 

The  Italian  municipality  of  Campione  d'Italia,  an  Italian  exclave  in  the  territory  of 
Switzerland, and the Italian waters of Lake Lugano should be included in the customs 
territory of the Union because the historical reasons justifying the exclusion of these 
territories,  such  as  their  isolation  and  economic  disadvantages,  no  longer  apply.  For 
the same reasons these territories should be included in  the general arrangements for 
excise duty while continuing to be excluded from the common system of value added 
tax.  In  order  to  ensure  that  all  those  changes  apply  consistently  at  the  same  point  in 
time,  the  inclusion  of  those  territories  in  the  customs  territory  of  the  Union  should 
apply from 1 January 2019.  

The  Code  should  be  amended  in  order  to  clarify  that  a  holder  of  a  Binding  Tariff 
Information  (BTI)  decision  can  use  that  decision  for  up  to  six  months  after  the 
decision has been revoked if the revocation results from the fact that the decision does 
not conform with customs legislation or that the conditions laid down for issuing the 
decision were not or are no longer fulfilled.  

Temporary storage should be added to the list of customs formalities covered by the 
provision that extinguishes a debt due to non-compliance in cases where there was no 
significant negative effect, no attempt at deception and the situation was subsequently 
regularised.  For  the  purposes  of  extinguishment  of  debt  in  those  cases,  temporary 
storage  should  not  be  treated  any  different  than  a  customs  procedure.  The 

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Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying 
down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1). 

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corresponding  delegation  of  power  to  the  Commission  to  supplement  the  provision 
should also be amended to include temporary storage. 

(5)  Where  customs  authorities  must  invalidate  an  entry  summary  declaration  due  to  the 
fact that the goods covered by the declaration have not been brought into the customs 
territory  of  the  Union,  the  entry  summary  declaration  should  be  invalidated  without 
delay 200 days after the declaration was lodged rather than within 200 days as that is 
the  period  within  which  the  goods  must  be  brought  into  the  customs  territory  of  the 
Union. 

(6) 

(7) 

In  order  to  enable  the  customs  authorities  to  carry  out  proper  risk  analysis  and 
appropriate  risk-based  controls,  it  is  necessary  to  ensure  that  economic  operators 
provide  them  with  pre-arrival  data  concerning  non-Union  goods  in  the  form  of  an 
entry summary declaration. Where an entry summary declaration has not been lodged 
before  the  arrival  of  the  goods  and  the  obligation  to  lodge  it  has  not  been  waived, 
economic  operators  should  submit  the  data  normally  included  in  entry  summary 
declarations in their customs declarations or temporary storage declarations. For these 
purposes,  the  possibility  to  lodge  a  customs  declaration  or  a  temporary  storage 
declaration  instead  of  an  entry  summary  declaration  should  be  available  only  if  the 
customs  authorities  where  the  goods  are  being  presented  so  allow.  Where  customs 
authorities  must  invalidate  a  temporary  storage  declaration  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
goods covered by the declaration have not been presented to customs, the declaration 
should  be  invalidated  without  delay  30  days  after  the  declaration  was  lodged  rather 
than within 30 days as that is the period within which the goods must be presented to 
customs. 

Total relief from import duty should be provided for goods that have been repaired or 
altered under the outward processing procedure in a country or territory with which the 
Union has concluded a preferential agreement providing for such relief, so as to ensure 
that  the  Union  fulfils  its  international  commitments  in  this  respect.  The  preferential 
agreements providing for the relief do not require that the relief applies to the import 
of  repaired  or  altered  products  obtained  from  equivalent  goods  or  of  replacement 
products  under  the  standard  exchange  system.  The  duty  relief  should  therefore  not 
apply to those goods and products.   

(8)  Where customs authorities must invalidate an exit summary declaration or a re-export 
notification  due  to  the  fact  that  the  relevant  goods  have  not  been  taken  out  of  the 
customs  territory  of  the  Union,  the  declaration  or  notification  should  be  invalidated 
without delay 150 days after it was lodged rather than within 150 days as that is the 
period within which the goods must be taken out of the customs territory of the Union. 

(9) 

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is necessary and appropriate, for 
the  achievement  of  the  basic  objectives  of  enabling  the  customs  union  to  function 
effectively and of implementing the common commercial policy, to address a number 
of technical issues that have been detected in the implementation of the Code, to bring 
two  territories  of  a  Member  State  within  the  scope  of  the  customs  territory  of  the 
Union and to align the Code with an international agreement that was not in force at 
the  time  of  its  adoption.  This  Regulation  does  not  go  beyond  what  is  necessary  in 
order to achieve the objectives pursued in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Treaty 
on European Union. 

(10) 

 Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 is amended as follows:  

(1) 

in Article 4(1) the twelfth indent of is replaced by the following: 

"— the territory of the Italian Republic, except the municipality of Livigno,"; 

(2) 

in Article 34(9) the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:  

"9.  Where  a  BTI  or  BOI  decision ceases  to  be valid  in  accordance  with  point (b) of 
paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, or is revoked in accordance with paragraph 5, 7 or 8, the 
BTI  or  BOI  decision  may  still  be  used  in  respect  of  binding  contracts  which  were 
based  upon  that  decision  and  were  concluded  before  it  ceased  to  be  valid  or  was 
revoked. That extended use shall not apply where a BOI decision is taken for goods to 
be exported."; 

(3) 

in Article 124(1)(h), point (i) is replaced by the following: 

"(i) the failure which led to the incurrence of a customs debt had no significant effect 
on  the  correct  operation  of  the  temporary  storage  or  of  the  customs  procedure 
concerned and did not constitute an attempt at deception;"; 

(4) 

Article 126 is replaced by the following:  

"Article 126 

Delegation of power 

The  Commission  shall  be  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts,  in  accordance  with 
Article 284, in order to determine the list of failures with no significant effect on the 
correct operation of the temporary storage or of the customs procedure concerned and 
to supplement point (i) of Article 124(1)(h)."; 

(5) 

in Article 129, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Where the goods for which an entry summary declaration has been lodged are not 
brought into the customs territory of the Union, the customs authorities shall invalidate 
that declaration without delay in either of the following cases:  

(a) upon application by the declarant;  

(b) if 200 days have elapsed since the declaration was lodged."; 

(6) 

in Article 139, paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: 

"5.  Where  non-Union  goods  presented  to  customs  are  not  covered  by  an  entry 
summary  declaration,  and  except  where  the  obligation  to  lodge  such  declaration  is 
waived,  one  of  the  persons  referred  to  in  Article  127(4)  shall,  without  prejudice  to 
Article  127(6),  lodge  immediately  such  declaration  or  if  allowed  by  the  customs 
authorities shall instead lodge a customs declaration or temporary storage declaration. 
Where in these circumstances a customs declaration or a temporary storage declaration 
is  lodged,  it  shall  contain  at  least  the  particulars  necessary  for  the  entry  summary 
declaration."; 

(7) 

in Article 146, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

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"2.  Where  the  goods  for  which  a  temporary  storage  declaration  has  been  lodged  are 
not  presented  to  customs,  the  customs  authorities  shall  invalidate  that  declaration 
without delay in either of the following cases:  

(a) upon application by the declarant;  

(b) if 30 days have elapsed since the declaration was lodged."; 

(8) 

the following Article is inserted: 

“Article 260a 

Goods repaired or altered in the context of agreements between the Union and 

third countries 

Total relief from import duty shall be granted to processed products resulting 
1. 
from goods placed under the outward processing procedure where it is established to 
the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:  

(a)  the  goods  have  been  repaired  or  altered  in  a  country  or  territory  outside  the 
customs  territory  of  the  Union  with  which  the  Union  has  concluded  an  agreement 
providing for such relief, and  

(b) the conditions for the relief laid down in the agreement referred to in point (a) are 
fulfilled. 

2. 
Paragraph  1  shall  not  apply  to  processed  products  resulting  from  equivalent 
goods  as  referred  to  in  Article  223  and  to  replacement  products  as  referred  to  in 
Articles 261 and 262.”; 

(9) 

in Article 272, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Where the goods for which an exit summary declaration has been lodged are not 
taken out of the customs territory of the Union, the customs authorities shall invalidate 
that declaration without delay in either of the following cases:  

(a) upon application by the declarant;  

(b) if 150 days have elapsed since the declaration was lodged."; 

(10) 

in Article 275, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

"2. Where the goods for which a re-export notification has been lodged are not taken 
out of the customs territory of the Union, the customs authorities shall invalidate that 
notification without delay in either of the following cases:  

(a) upon application by the declarant;  

(b) if 150 days have elapsed since the notification was lodged.". 

Article 2 

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

Article 1(1) shall apply from 1 January 2019. 

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

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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