MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES ARE SUBJECT , BY DEFINITION , TO A TOTAL PROHIBITION OF IMPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN ALL THE MEMBER STATES .
11 IN PRACTICE , AS SOON AS SUCH DRUGS ARE DISCOVERED THEY ARE SEIZED AND DESTROYED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NATIONAL DRUGS LAWS , EXCEPT IN A NUMBER OF RARE CASES WHERE THE PRODUCT SEIZED LENDS ITSELF TO MEDICAL OR SCIENTIFIC USE AND IS RELEASED INTO CONTROLLED CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION , WHEREUPON IT BECOMES SUBJECT TO CUSTOMS DUTIES .
12 ON THE OTHER HAND , DRUGS DISTRIBUTED THROUGH ILLEGAL CHANNELS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO CUSTOMS DUTIES WHEN THEY REMAIN WITHIN SUCH CHANNELS , REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY ARE DISCOVERED AND DESTROYED OR ARE NOT DETECTED BY THE AUTHORITIES .
13 A CUSTOMS DEBT CANNOT THEREFORE ARISE UPON THE IMPORTATION OF DRUGS WHICH MAY NOT BE MARKETED AND INTEGRATED INTO THE ECONOMY OF THE COMMUNITY . THE INTRODUCTION OF THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF , PROVIDED FOR IN SUBPARAGRAPH ( B ) OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE TREATY , FALLS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE OBJECTIVES ASSIGNED TO THE COMMUNITY IN ARTICLE 2 AND THE GUIDE-LINES LAID DOWN IN ARTICLE 29 FOR THE OPERATION OF THE CUSTOMS UNION . IMPORTS OF DRUGS INTO THE COMMUNITY , WHICH CAN GIVE RISE ONLY TO REPRESSIVE MEASURES , FALL WHOLLY OUTSIDE THOSE OBJECTIVES AND GUIDE-LINES .
14 THAT VIEW IS CONFIRMED BY THE PROVISIONS OF REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 803/68 OF THE COUNCIL OF 27 JUNE 1968 ON THE VALUATION OF GOODS FOR CUSTOMS PURPOSES ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL , ENGLISH SPECIAL EDITION 1968 ( I ), P . 170 ) AND BY THOSE OF COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 79/623/EEC OF 25 JUNE 1979 ON THE HARMONIZATION OF PROVISIONS LAID DOWN BY LAW , REGULATION OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION RELATING TO CUSTOMS DEBT ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL , 1979 , L 179 , P . 31 ). THE PREAMBLE TO THAT DIRECTIVE STATES SPECIFICALLY THAT THE MOMENT WHEN THE CUSTOMS DEBT ARISES MUST BE DEFINED IN THE LIGHT OF THE ECONOMIC NATURE OF THE DUTIES ON IMPORTS AND IN TERMS OF THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE GOODS SUBJECT TO IMPORT DUTIES ARE INTEGRATED INTO THE ECONOMY OF THE COMMUNITY . IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES , NO CUSTOMS DEBT CAN ARISE WHEN DRUGS ARE IMPORTED THROUGH ILLEGAL CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION , SINCE THEY MUST BE SEIZED AND DESTROYED UPON DISCOVERY INSTEAD OF BEING PUT INTO CIRCULATION .
15 MOREOVER , THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR MAKING A DISTINCTION IN THAT REGARD BETWEEN DRUGS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN DISCOVERED AND THOSE WHICH ARE DESTROYED UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE COMPETENT AUTHORITIES , SINCE IF SUCH A DISTINCTION WERE MADE THE APPLICATION OF CUSTOMS DUTIES WOULD BE SUBJECT TO THE CHANCE OF DISCOVERY .
16 IT IS APPARENT FROM THE FOREGOING THAT NO CUSTOMS DEBT ARISES UPON THE IMPORTATION OF DRUGS OTHERWISE THAN THROUGH ECONOMIC CHANNELS STRICTLY CONTROLLED BY THE COMPETENT AUTHORITIES FOR USE FOR MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES .
17 THIS FINDING IS WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE POWERS