CELEX: 51985PC0468(02)
Language: en
Date: 1985-09-30
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ON FREE ZONES AND FREE WAREHOUSES

6.11.85                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 2 8 3 / 9
                           Article 31                                  3.   Authorizations granted by the customs authorities
                                                                      regarding the operation of customs warehouses shall be
 1.    This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January            revoked when their substance conflicts with the
  1986.                                                               provisions of this Regulation. They shall continue
 2.     Directive 69/74/EEC and the Directives adopted                unchanged in all other cases.
 for its implementation are hereby repealed. References to
 those Directives shall be deemed to be references to this            This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
 Regulation.                                                          directly applicable in all Member States.
                              Proposal for a Council Regulation on free zones and free warehouses
                                                        COM(85) 468 final
                                (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 10 October 1985)
                                                          (85/C 283/05)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            Whereas non-Community goods placed in free zones or
                                                                     warehouses should be allowed to remain there for an
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                unlimited period without payment of import duties or
 Community, and in particular Articles 43 and 113                     application of commercial policy measures; whereas for
thereof,                                                              the purposes of the application of these duties and
                                                                      measures the presence of such goods in free zones or
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  warehouses should, therefore, continue to be considered
                                                                      as not being in the customs territory of the Community;
 Having regard      to   the    opinion   of  the    European
Parliament,
                                                                     Whereas it should be borne in mind that Community
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                      goods placed in free zones or free warehouses qualify
 Social Committee,                                                    for certain benefits normally attaching to their exports;
                                                                     whereas it is also necessary to determine the
Whereas free zones and free warehouses are parts of or               consequences of placing in a free zone or free warehouse
premises in the Community customs territory separate                 Community goods which are subject in intra-Community
from the rest of that territory in which there is generally          trade to charges imposed under the common agricultural
 a concentration of external trade-related activities;
                                                                     policy for such time as such charges are applied; whereas
whereas the customs facilities available in such zones or
                                                                     it should also be possible to place other Community
warehouses help foster the said activities, in particular
                                                                     goods in a free zone or free warehouse; whereas where
the distribution of goods within the Community and
                                                                   i such goods are liable to domestic taxes it falls to the
elsewhere;
                                                                     Member States to decide on the consequences of placing
                                                                     them in free zones or free warehouses;
Whereas Council Directive 69/75/EEC (') laid down the
rules to be incorporated in Member States' own
provisions governing free zones; whereas the importance
of these zones in the context of the customs union means             Whereas it is necessary to lay down certain rules for the
that provisions relating to them must be applied                     charging of duties where a customs debt arises in respect
uniformly throughout the Community; whereas the rules                of goods placed in a free zone or free warehouse;
currently in force should therefore be supplemented and              whereas in particular it should be provided that in
enacted in a form directly applicable in the Member                  certain circumstances value added within the customs
States, thus strengthening the legal rights of individuals;          territory of the Community is not to be included in the
                                                                     customs value of such goods;
Whereas free zones and free warehouses should not be
given any competitive advantage where application of
import duties is concerned; whereas, on the other hand,              Whereas the term 'import duties' has been defined in
the customs formalities in such zones or warehouses                  Council Directive 79/623/EEC (2) and other acts of
should, in view of the special circumstances, be simpler             Community customs legislation; whereas it has become
than those applying in the rest of the Community                     necessary to specify what charges are covered by that
customs territory;                                                   term;
(») OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 11.                                   (») OJ No L 179, 17. 7. 1979, p. 31.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 2 8 3 /10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                     6.11.85
Whereas to ensure uniform application of this Regu-                  (b) non-Community goods means goods other than those
lation a Community procedure for the enactment of                        referred to in (a).
implementing rules should be established; whereas close
and effective cooperation between the Member States                      Without prejudice to agreements concluded with
and the Commission should take place through the                         non-member countries for the purposes of the
Committee on Customs Warehouses and Free Zones                           Community transit procedure, goods which, while
established under Council Regulation (EEC) N o . . . of                  satisfying the conditions laid down in (a), are
. . . on customs warehouses;                                             reimported into the customs territory of the
                                                                         Community after having been exported from that
                                                                         territory, shall also be deemed to be non-Community
Whereas the provisions relating to free zones and         free
                                                                         goods;
warehouses form an essential instrument of                 the
Community's trade policy; whereas the provisions of       this
                                                                     (c) import duties means:
Regulation also derive from the implementation of          the
common agricultural policy,                                              — customs duties,
                                                                         — anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                                 introduced under Article VI of the General
                                                                             Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, as well as other
                             TITLE I                                         charges having an effect equivalent to that of
                                                                             customs duties,
                       General provisions
                                                                         — agricultural levies and other import charges laid
                            Article 1                                        down under the common agricultural policy or
                                                                             under the specific arrangements applicable to
1.      This Regulation lays down the rules governing free                   certain goods resulting from the processing of
zones and free warehouses.                                                   agricultural products;
2.      In a free zone or free warehouse:                            (d) export duties means agricultural levies and other
                                                                         export charges laid down under the common agri-
(a) non-Community goods shall not be subject to import                   cultural policy or under the specific arrangements
      duties or commercial policy measures;                              applicable to certain goods resulting from the
                                                                         processing of agricultural products;
(b) Community goods subject to specific Community
      rules as a result of being placed in a free zone shall         (e) customs authority means any authority competent for
      qualify for the application of measures which, under               the application of customs rules, even if i t is not part
      the said rules, would normally attach to export of                 of the customs administration;
      such goods;
                                                                     (f) person means:
(c) no customs formalities or controls shall apply to the
      entry, holding or removal of goods other than as                   — a natural person,
      provided in this Regulation.
                                                                         — a legal person,
3.      For such time as Community goods are subject in                  — an association of persons recognized as having
intra-Community trade to charges imposed under the                           the capacity to perform legal acts but without the
common agricultural policy, such charges shall not apply                     status of a legal person.
in a free zone or free warehouse.
4.      For the purposes of this Regulation:                                                    Article 2
(a) Community goods means goods:                                     1.    Member States may designate parts of the customs
                                                                    territory of the Community as free zones or authorize
      — wholly obtained in the customs territory of the             the establishment of free warehouses.
          Community without the addition of goods from
          countries or territories which do not form part of
          the customs territory of the Community,                   2.     Member States shall determine the area covered by
      — imported from countries or territories not                  each free zone. Premises which are to be designated as
          forming part of the customs territory of the              free warehouses must be approved by Member States.
          Community which are in free circulation in a              Member States shall take the necessary steps to prevent
          Member State,                                             goods being illicitly brought into or taken out of free
                                                                    zones or free warehouses.
      — obtained, in the customs territory of the
          Community, either from goods referred to in the
          second indent alone or from goods referred to in          3.    Member States shall determine the entry and exit
          the first and second indents;                             points of free zones and free warehouses.
 ---pagebreak---  6.11. 85                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 283/11
 4.    The construction of any building in a free zone                (a) they have been placed under a customs procedure
 shall require the prior approval of the customs authority.                which is discharged when they enter a free zone or
                                                                           free warehouse; however, where the procedure in
                                                                           question provides that such presentation is
                           Article 3                                       unnecessary, it shall not be required;
 1.    The perimeter and the entry and exit points of free
 zones and free warehouses shall be subject to the                    (b) they have been placed in a free zone or free
 supervision of the customs authorities. Access to free                    warehouse on the authority of a decision to grant
 warehouses shall be possible only in the presence of the                  repayment or remission of import duties;
 customs authority.
                                                                      (c) a request has been made for advance payment of
                                                                           export refunds on the goods under the common
 2.    Persons and means of transport entering or leaving                  agricultural policy.
 a free zone or a free warehouse may be subjected to a
 customs check.
                                                                      3.     At the request of the party concerned the customs
                                                                      authority shall issue a certificate to the effect that the
 3.    Access to a free zone or a free warehouse may be               goods placed in a free zone or free warehouse are
denied to persons who it is considered may not comply                 Community goods or non-Community goods, as the case
with the rules provided for in this Regulation.                       may be.
4.     The customs authority may check goods entering,                                          TITLE III
leaving or remaining in a free zone or free warehouse.
T o enable such checks to be carried out a copy of the                        Operation of a free zone or free warehouse
transport document must be handed to or kept at the
disposal of the customs authority.                                                               Article 6
                                                                      1.    There shall be no limit on the length of time goods
                           TITLE II                                  may stay in free zones or free warehouses.
      Placing of goods in free zones or free warehouses
                                                                     2.     Specific time-limits imposed in accordance with
                                                                     Article 15 (2) of Council Regulation (ECC) N o . . . (on
                           Article 4                                 customs warehouses) shall apply to certain goods.
 1.    Free zones and free warehouses shall be open to all
goods irrespective of their nature, quantity and country                                        Article 7
of origin, consignment or destination.
                                                                      1.    Subject to Articles 8 and 9, any industrial,
                                                                     commercial or service activity may be carried on in a free
2.     Paragraph 1 shall not preclude:                               zone or free warehouse on the conditions laid down in
                                                                     this Regulation.
(a) the imposition of prohibitions or restrictions justified
     on grounds of public morality, public policy or
                                                                     2.     However, the customs authority may impose
     public security; the protection of health and life of
                                                                     certain prohibitions or restrictions on activity, having
     humans, animals or plants; the protection of national
                                                                     regard to the nature of the goods concerned or the
     treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaelogical
                                                                     requirements of customs supervision.
     value, or the protection of industrial and commercial
     property;
                                                                     3.     The customs authority may prohibit persons not
(b) the right of the customs authority to restrict access            considered likely to comply with the provisions of this
     to some free zones or parts of free zones or free               Regulation from carrying on an activity in a free zone or
     warehouses to certain types of goods on technical or            free warehouse.
     administrative grounds.
                                                                                                Article 8
                          Article 5                                 Where an activity referred to in Article 7 involves the
                                                                    working of non-Community goods, the following
1.     Goods entering a free zone or free warehouse need
                                                                    provisions shall apply:
not be presented to the customs authority, nor need a
customs declaration be lodged.
                                                                     (a) Without prejudice to Article 13 (2), no authorization
                                                                          shall be required for the usual forms of handling
2.    Without prejudice to Article 18, goods need be                     within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Council
presented to the customs authority only where:                            Regulation (EEC) N o . . . (on customs warehouses).
 ---pagebreak--- No C 283/12                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                   6.11. 85
(b) Processing operations other than the usual forms of             (b) The Community goods referred to in Article 1 (3)
    handling shall be carried out in accordance with                    may undergo without authorization the usual forms
    Council Regulation (EEC) N o 1999/85 of 16 July                     of handling referred to in Article 16 (1) of Council
     1985 on inward processing relief arrangements (').                  Regulation (EEC) N o . . . (on customs warehouses)
                                                                        or be destroyed in accordance with Article 8 (d).
    Member States may, however, in so far as is
    necessary, adopt methods of control to take into                (c) Community goods other than those referred to in (a)
    account conditions of operation and customs                          and (b) may undergo any form of handling, working
    supervision in free zones or free warehouses.                        or processing. At the request of the person
                                                                        concerned, the customs authority shall take the
                                                                        necessary steps to identify goods after handling,
    By way of derogation from the first paragraph of                    working or processing.
    this indent, processing operations in the territory of
    the Old Free Port of Hamburg shall not be subject
    to conditions of an economic nature.
                                                                                              Article 10
                                                                    1.    Without prejudice to Article 8 and Article 9 (a) and
    However, if conditions of competition in a specific
                                                                    (b), non-Community goods and the Community goods
    economic sector in the Community are affected as a
                                                                    referred to in Article 1 (2) (b) and Article 1 (3) may not
    result of this derogation, the Council, acting by a
                                                                    be consumed or used in free zones or free warehouses.
    qualified majority on a proposal from the
    Commission, shall decide that the economic
    conditions laid down for the Community with regard
    to inward processing shall apply to the cor-                    2.    Where the procedure concerned so provides,
    responding economic activity within the territory of            paragraph 1 shall not preclude the use or consumption
    the Old Free Port of Hamburg.                                   of:
(c) Processing under customs control shall be carried               — goods whose release for free circulation or home use
    out in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC)                     would not entail application of import duties,
    No 2763/83 of 26 September 1983 on arrangements                     measures under the common agricultural policy or
    permitting goods to be processed under customs                      the common commercial policy or the charges
    control before being put into free circulation (2).                 referred to in Article 1 (3). In this case no declaration
                                                                        of release for free circulation or home use shall be
                                                                        required,
     Member States may, however, in so far as is
    necessary, adapt the relevant methods of control to
    take into account conditions of operation and                   — goods which constitute stores, or
    customs supervision in free zones and free
    warehouses.
                                                                    — goods which qualify for the temporary importation
                                                                        arrangements in accordance with Council Regulation
(d) The destruction of goods shall be permitted provided                (EEC) No 3599/82 (3).
    that the person concerned provides such information
     as the customs authority considers necessary.
                                                                    Member States may, however, in so far as is necessary,
                                                                    adapt the methods of control to take into account
                                                                    conditions of operation and customs supervision in free
                               Article 9                            zones and free warehouses.
Where an activity referred to in Article 7 involves the
working of Community goods, the following provisions
shall apply:                                                                                  Article 11
                                                                    1.    Persons carrying on an activity involving the
(a) Community goods referred to in Article 1 (2) (b)                storage, working or processing, or sale or purchase, of
    which are covered by the common agricultural policy             goods in a free zone or free warehouse must keep
     may undergo only the forms of handling expressly               accounts in a form approved by the customs authority.
     referred to in Article 16 (2) of Council Regulation            Goods must be entered in the accounts immediately they
     (EEC) N o . . . (on customs warehouses). Such                  are brought on to the consignee's premises. The accounts
     handling may be undertaken without authorization.              must enable the customs authority to identify the goods,
                                                                    and must record their movements.
(') O J N 0 L I 8 8 , 20. 7. 1985, p. 1.
O OJ No L 272, 5. 10. 1983, p. 1.                                   O OJ No L 376, 31. 12. 1982, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---  6.11.85                                Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 283/13
 The accounts must be held at the disposal of the customs          quantity to be taken into account for the purposes of
 authority to enable it to carry out such controls as it           calculating import duties shall, at the declarant's request
 considers necessary.                                              and provided such handling was covered by an author-
                                                                   ization issued in accordance with Article 16 (3) of the
                                                                   said Regulation, be those which would be taken into
 2.    Where goods are transhipped in a free zone the              account if the goods concerned had not undergone such
 documents relating to the operation must be held at the           handling.
 disposal of the customs authority. Short-term ware-
 housing of goods in connection with such transhipment
 shall be deemed to be an integral part of the operation.                                     Article 14
                                                                    1.    Community goods covered by the common agri-
                                                                   cultural policy which are referred to in Article 1 (2) (b)
                          TITLE IV                                 must be dealt with, when placed in a free zone or free
                                                                   warehouse, in one of the ways provided for by the rules
    Removal of goods from a free zone or free warehouse            under which they were placed in the zone or warehouse.
                         Article 12                                2.     Should such goods be returned to another part of
                                                                   the customs territory of the Community or leave the free
Without prejudice to special provisions adopted under
                                                                   warehouse, or should no application to have them dealt
 specific customs arrangements, non-Community goods
                                                                   with in one of the ways provided for in paragraph 1 have
placed in a free zone or free warehouse may be:
                                                                   been made by the expiry of a time limit set pursuant to
                                                                   Article 6 (2), the customs authority shall take such
— released for free circulation or placed under another            measures as are prescribed by the specific rules
     customs procedure, or                                         concerned in the event of failure to deal with the goods
                                                                   in the specified way.
— re-exported or sent to another Member State, or
                                                                                             Article 15
— surrendered to the exchequer, if such a possibility is           Community goods referred to in Article 1 (3) which have
     provided for under national regulations, or                   been placed in a free zone or a free warehouse may be:
                                                                   — released for home use, or
— destroyed under the supervision of the customs
     authority; waste and scrap resulting from the de-             — placed under the customs warehousing procedure or
     struction may be dealt with as provided under one                  a transit procedure, orr
     of the above indents.
                                                                   — exported or sent to another Member State, or
                         Article 13                                — placed under the outward processing arrangements,
                                                                       or
 1.    Where a customs debt arises in respect of non-
Community goods, the customs value of such goods shall             — surrendered to the exchequer if such a possibility is
be determined in accordance with Council Regulation
                                                                       provided for under national regulations, or
(EEC) No 1224/80 (*).
                                                                   — destroyed under the supervision of the customs
Where the customs value is based on a price actually                   authority; waste and scrap resulting from the de-
paid or payable which includes the cost of warehousing                 struction may be dealt with as provided under one of
or of preserving goods while they remain in the free                   the above indents.
zone or free warehouse, such costs need not be included
in the customs value if they are distinguished from the
                                                                                             Article 16
price actually paid or payable for the goods.
                                                                   Community goods placed in a free zone or a free
                                                                   warehouse other than goods referred to in Article
2.     Where the said goods have undergone in the free             1 (2) (b) or Article 1 (3) may be:
zone or free warehouse one of the usual forms of
handling within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Regu-             — declared for export or placed under a transit
lation (EEC) No . . . (on customs warehouses), other                   procedure or the outward processing arrangements,
than action taken to ensure their preservation, then the               or
description of the goods, their customs value and the
                                                                  —• returned to another part of the customs territory of
                                                                       the Community, or removed from the free
O OJ No L 134, 31. 5. 1980, p. 1.                                      warehouse.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 283/14                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 6.11. 85
                          Article 17                               Council Regulation         (EEC)     No...  (on   customs
                                                                   warehouses).
1. Where goods are to be returned to another part of
the customs territory of the Community, removed from                                         Article 21
the free warehouse or placed under a customs procedure,
the certificate referred to in Article 5 (3) may be used as        This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the
proof of the Community or non-Community status of                  adoption of special provisions relating to the common
the goods, as the case may be.                                     agricultural policy, which remain subject to the rules
                                                                   governing the establishment of that policy.
2. Where no such certificate or other evidence of the
Community or non-Community status of the goods is                                            Article 22
available, the goods shall be deemed to be:
                                                                   Where specific Community rules refer to free zones, that
— Community goods, for the purposes of applying                    reference shall be taken to include a reference to free
    export duties and export certificates or export                warehouses.
    measures laid down under the common commercial
    policy,                                                                                  Article 23
— non-Community goods in all other case.                           This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to Council
                                                                   Regulation (EEC) No 1736/75 of 24 June 1975 on the
                          Article 18                               external trade statistics of the Community and statistics
                                                                   of trade between Member States (*).
The customs authority shall ensure that rules governing
the export or consignment of goods from free zones or                                        Article 24
free warehouses are complied with.
                                                                   Nothing in this Regulation shall affect the provisions of
                                                                   Council Regulation (EEC) No 353/79 of 5 February
                          TITLE V                                  1979 laying down the conditions for coupage and wine
                       Final provisions                            making in the free zones on Community territory for
                                                                   wine products originating in third countries (2).
                          Article 19
                                                                                             Article 25
The Committee on Customs Warehouses and Free Zones
set up under Article 27 of Council Regulation (EEC)                1. This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
N o . . . (on customs warehouses) shall examine any                1986.
matter concerning the implementation of this Regulation
raised by its chairman either on his own initiative or at          2. Directive 69/75/EEC and the Directives adopted
the request of a representative of a Member State.                 for its implementation are hereby repealed. References to
                                                                   those Directives shall be deemed to be references to this
                                                                   Regulation.
                          Article 20
The provisions required to implement this Regulation               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
shall be adopted in accordance with Article 29 of                  directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                                   C) OJ No L 183, 14. 7. 1975, p. 3.
                                                                   (*) OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 94.