CELEX: 51981PC0483
Language: en
Date: 1981-09-11
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES OF THE MEMBER STATES CONCERNING THE CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS IN THE CUSTOMS NOMENCLATURE

No C 256/10                         Official Journal of the European Communities                              8. 10.81
              Proposal for a Council Regulation on the information provided by the customs auth-
             orities of the Member States concerning the classification of goods in the customs
                                                   nomenclature
                         (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 24 September 1981)
                                                             goods entered for a customs procedure involving the
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
                                                             obligation to pay such duties (');
COMMUNITIES,
                                                             Whereas, in view of the scale of structural
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                 adjustments which would be required in most of the
European Economic Community, and in particular               customs administrations of the Member States by the
Articles 43 and 235 thereof,                                 establishment of rules of general application
                                                             regarding the provision of information which is
                                                             binding on the administration, it appears desirable,
Having regard to the proposal form the Commission,           however, at the present time, to limit the scope of the
                                                             Community rules to be adopted to information
                                                             concerning the classification of goods in the customs
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-            nomenclature; whereas this is the most important and
liament,                                                     most useful category of information for traders
                                                             because of the highly technical nature of the
                                                             Common Customs Tariff and the Community
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and             nomenclatures derived from it;
Social Committee,
                                                             Whereas it is necessary to specify precisely the
                                                             procedure to be followed in order to enable infor-
Whereas the conditions under which traders are able          mation provided by a customs authority concerning
to obtain from the customs authorities information on        the classification of goods in the customs
the interpretation or practical application of               nomenclature to bind the administration; whereas it is
Community customs rules differ appreciably in the            also necessary to lay down the conditions governing
various Member States; whereas the legal effect of           the use of such information by the holder;
such information also varies considerably, depending
on the Member State in which it is provided;                 Whereas information provided in accordance with the
                                                             procedure laid down can bind the administration only
                                                             in respect of the classification of the goods in
Whereas this situation results in considerable               question in the customs nomenclature; wheres such
distoritions of treatment between traders in the             information cannot affect the rate of duty or any
Community, depending on the Member State in                  other measure deriving from that classification which
which they operate; whereas such distortions of              apply at the time of completion of the customs
treatment are incompatible with the proper                   formalities relating to those goods;
functioning of the customs union;
                                                             Whereas, on grounds of sound administration, it is
                                                             necessary to establish a time limit after which the
Whereas it appears necessary, in order to ensure a           information provided can no longer be relied upon by
measure of legal certainty for traders when carrying         the holder thereof; whereas, however, the time limit
on their activities, to facilitate the work of the           laid down must correspond to the realities of inter-
customs services themselves and secure more uniform          national trade; whereas it is also necessary to lay
application of Community customs law, to establish           down the conditions under which the information
rules which oblige customs authorities to provide            provided ceases to bind the administration before the
information which is binding on the administration           expiry of that time limit, as a result of the adoption of
 under certain well defined conditions;                      Community measures amending the existing law or
                                                             concerning the interpretation of that law;
                                                             Whereas this Regulation deals with the conditions for
Whereas the Council has already accepted the
                                                             providing and for using, within the customs territory
principle of the provision of information which is
                                                             of the Community, information concerning the classi-
binding on the administration in Regulation (EEC)
                                                             fication of goods of every kind in the customs
No 1697/79 of 24 July 1979 on the post-clearance
recovery of import duties or export duties which have
not been required of the person liable for payment on        (') OJ No L 197, 3. 8. 1979, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- 8. 10.81                         Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 256/11
nomenclature; whereas the Treaty does not empower                                      TITLE II
the Community institutions to enact binding
provisions on this matter; whereas it therefore seems            Procedure for obtaining binding tariff information
necessary to base this Regulation also on Article 235
of the Treaty,                                                                          Article 4
                                                              1. Applications for binding tariff information shall
                                                             be made in writing to the competent customs
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                                             authority of the Member State in which such infor-
                                                             mation is to be used.
                         Article 1
                                                             The competent administration in each Member State
                                                             shall determine the form and procedure for drawing
1.     This Regulation lays down:
                                                             up the application referred to in the preceding
(a) the conditions under which information concer-            subparagraph and shall designate the authority to
     ning the classification of goods in the customs         which it must be submitted.
     nomenclature, hereinafter referred to as 'tariff
     information', may be obtained from the                   2.     The competent administration in each Member
     competent customs authorities of the Member              State may limit the number of goods which may be
     States;                                                  covered by a single application.
(b) the legal effect of such information;
                                                                                        Article 5
2.     For the purposes of this Regulation, 'customs
nomenclature' means:                                          1. Applications for binding tariff information shall
— the Common Customs Tariff nomenclature;                    include, inter alia, the following particulars:
— the nomenclature for products subject to the               (a) The name and address of the applicant. Where
    Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel                the application is submitted by a natural or legal
    Community;                                                     person acting on behalf of another person, the
                                                                   name and address of the latter shall also be
— the nomenclatures derived from the Common                        shown on the application.
    Customs Tariff which are established by specific
    rules relating to customs or agriculture.                 (b) The particulars, including, where appropriate, the
                                                                   use to which the goods are to be put, which are
                         TITLE I                                   necessary to enable the competent customs
                                                                   authority to reach a decision.
                    General provisions                             Where classification of the goods in the customs
                                                                   nomenclature depends on the level of certain
                                                                   substances in the goods in question, that level
                         Article 2
                                                                   and, where appropriate, the methods of analysis
                                                                   used for determining it shall be notified to the
1.     Any natural or legal person may apply to the                competent customs authority.
competent customs authorities for tariff information.
                                                              (c) Where an application for binding tariff infor-
2.     Tariff information shall be provided to the                 mation has been submitted in respect of identical
applicant free of charge. However, expenditure                     goods in another Member State, the references
incurred by the competent authority in analysing, or                relating to that application together with the
obtaining an expert's report on any samples sent to it              classification determined in that Member State,
and in returning them to the applicant may be                      where appropriate.
charged to the latter.
                                                              2.     The competent administration in each Member
                         Article 3                            State may also stipulate that applications for binding
                                                              tariff information shall indicate the customs office or
                                                              offices at which the customs formalities relating to
Where the conditions laid down in Articles 4 to 8 are
                                                              the goods in question are expected to be carried out.
fulfilled, the tariff information provided by the
competent customs authorities shall be binding on the
administration and shall constitute binding tariff             3.     Requests for binding tariff information must,
information within the meaning of this Regulation.            where appropriate, be accompanied by representative
 ---pagebreak--- No C 256/12                           Official Journal of the European Communities                              8.10.81
samples of the goods or, where samples cannot be                   goods to be classified            in the customs
taken because of the nature of the goods, by                       nomenclature, together with the methods of
photographs, plans, catalogues and such other                      analysis on which the information is based;
technical documents as may assist the competent               (d) The classification of the goods in the customs
customs authority to determine the classification of               nomenclature;
the goods in the customs nomenclature.
                                                              (e) The name and address of the person entitled to
Documents enclosed with applications shall, where                  rely upon such information, hereinafter referred
appropriate, be accompanied by a translation into the              to as the 'holder';
official language or one of the official languages of
the Member State concerned.                                   (f) The date on which the information was supplied.
4.    Where the applicant wishes to obtain the                 2.    Where the competent administration of the
classification of goods in one of the nomenclatures            Member State in which the binding tariff information
derived from the Common Customs Tariff which are               is to be used requires the applicant to indicate the
established by specific rules relating to customs or           customs office or offices in which he intends to
agriculture, the application for binding information           complete the customs formalities relating to the goods
shall make express mention of the nomenclature in              in question, those offices must be indicated in the
question.                                                     binding tariff information. In the absence of such
                                                               requirement, the binding tariff information may be
                         Article 6                             used in any customs office of the Member State in
                                                              which it was supplied which is empowered to
Where the competent customs authority to which an             complete the customs formalities relating to the goods
application for binding tariff information has been            in question.
submitted considers that the application does not
contain all the particulars needed to enable it to reach
a decision, it shall invite the applicant to furnish the                               TITLE III
missing particulars, indicating that the application
cannot be considered as it stands.                                     Legal effect of binding tariff information
                                                                                        Article 9
                         Article 7
                                                              1.     Binding tariff information may be relied upon
Where the Member State to whose customs authority             only by the holder thereof or by a person acting on
an application for binding tariff information is made         his behalf. It must be presented to the customs service
considers it necessary for the purpose of ensuring            at the time of completion of the customs formalities
uniform interpretation of the customs nomenclature            relating to the goods in respect of which the holder
under the best conditions, it shall take the measures         intends to rely upon such information.
necessary to submit the matter for examination by the
Committee       on      Common        Customs      Tariff
Nomenclature in accordance with Article 2 of                  2.     The holder of binding information may rely
Council Regulation (EEC) No 97/69 of 16 January               upon it in respect of particular goods only where it is
1969 on measures to be taken for uniform application          established to the satisfaction of the customs service
of the nomenclature of the Common Customs                     that the goods in question conform in all respects to
Tariff 0).                                                    those described in the information presented.
                         Article 8
                                                                                       Article 10
1.     Binding tariff information must be notified to
the applicant in writing and must contain, inter alia,         1.    Binding tariff information shall be binding on
the following particulars:                                     the administration only in respect of the classification
                                                               of goods in the customs nomenclature. It shall be
(a) The references relating to the application for             without prejudice to the rate or amount of import or
     information;                                              export duties or other Community provisions which
                                                               may be applied to the goods in question by virtue of
(b) A precise description of the goods in question to          that classification.
     enable them to be accurately identified at the time
     of completion of the customs formalities;
                                                               2.    Binding tariff information shall have effect only
(c) The levels of certain substances in the goods,             in regard to goods in respect of which the customs
     where such indication is necessary to enable the          formalities are completed after the date on which
                                                               such information is provided by the competent
O O J N o L 14,21. 1. 1969, p. 1.                              customs authority.
 ---pagebreak---  8. 10.81                         Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 256/13
 3.    Binding tariff information shall be devoid of                    reached and notified to the Member States
 effect where it is established that it was provided on                 through their Permanent Representations;
 the basis of inaccurate or incomplete data.
                                                                   or,
                                                              (b) the transposition into Community law of the
                         Article 11
                                                                   following international tariff measures:
                                                                   — amendment of the Explanatory Notes to the
Where binding tariff information indicates the
                                                                        Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature;
customs office or offices at which it may be used, it
shall be binding on the administration only where the
customs formalities relating to the goods in question              — a classification opinion        of   the    Customs
are completed at one of those offices.                                  Cooperation Council.
The customs authority which provided the binding              2.    Without prejudice to the provisions of
tariff information may, however, authorize its use at         paragraph 3, the date on which the administration
other customs offices, on condition that prior                ceases to be bound by binding tariff information,
application therefore is made by the holder.                  pursuant to paragraph 1, shall be the date on which
                                                              the holder is informed that that information is not in
                                                              conformity with one of the tariff measures referred to
                         Article 12                           in paragraph 1.
                                                              Holders of binding tariff information shall be
Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 13 and        informed that the latter is not in conformity with one
14, binding tariff information may not be relied upon         of the tariff measures referred to in paragraph 1:
after a period of six years from the date on which it
was provided.                                                 — in the case of a tariff measure referred to in
                                                                  paragraph 1 (a), by a Communication from the
                                                                  Commission published in the Official Journal of
                         Article 13                               the European Communities            or, where the
                                                                  administration     considers    it    necessary,    by
Where, as a result of the adoption of:                            individual notification to the various holders of
                                                                  the binding information affected by the tariff
— a Regulation        amending the customs        nomen-          measure adopted;
     clature; or                                              — in the case of a tariff measure referred to in
— a Regulation determining the tariff classification              paragraph      1 (b), at the option of the
     of goods,                                                    administration, either by a notice of general
                                                                  application published, where appropriate, in an
binding tariff information previously supplied is not in          official national publication or by individual
conformity with Community law as thus established,                notification to the various holders of the binding
such information shall cease to be binding on the                 tariff information affected by the tariff measure
administration from the date of entry into force of               adopted.
the Regulation in question.
                                                              3.    In the case of products in respect of which an
                         Article 14                           import or export licence or advance-fixing certificate
                                                              is submitted when the customs formalities are
                                                              completed, the binding tariff information which
 1.    In addition to the cases referred to in Article 13,
                                                              ceases to be binding on the administration pursuant
tariff information shall also cease to be binding on the
                                                              to paragraph 1 may continue to be relied on by the
administration where such information is no longer
                                                              holder of the information during the remainder of the
compatible with the interpretation of the customs
                                                              period of validity of that licence or certificate.
nomenclature as a result of:
 (a) the adoption of any one of            the  following      In other cases, the binding tariff information which
      Community tariff measures:                              ceases to be binding on the administration pursuant
                                                              to paragraph 1 may continue to be relied upon by the
      — amendment of the Explanatory Notes to the
                                                              holder thereof for a period of six months from the
          Common Customs Tariff;
                                                              date on which he is notified of its non-conformity, as
     — adoption of a Community classification slip;           provided in paragraph 2, where it is established to the
     — agreement reached in the Committee on                  satisfaction of the customs service that the holder
         Common Customs Tariff Nomenclature on                concluded, on the basis of the binding tariff infor-
         the classification of goods, recorded in the         mation supplied to him and prior to the date of
         minutes of the meeting at which it was               adoption of the tariff measure in question,
 ---pagebreak--- No C 256/14                          Official Journal of the European Communities                           8.10.81
(a) where such information is relied upon for the            jeopardized, the decision may be taken, in
     import of goods:                                         accordance, with the procedure laid down in Article
    — a binding contract for the purchase of the              36 of Regulation (EEC) No 136/66 (') and in the
         goods in question from a supplier established       corresponding Articles of the orther Regulations on
         in a non-member country; or                         the common organization of the markets, to derogate
                                                             from the provisions of paragraph 3.
    — a binding contract for the sale of the goods in
         question, in an unaltered state or after
         processing, to a customer established in the                                 Article 15
         Community;
(b) where such information is relied upon for the            Where the competent customs authority amends
     export of goods:                                        binding tariff information for a reason other than
    — a binding contract for the sale of the goods in        those referred to in Articles 13 and 14 (1), the infor-
         question to a customer established in a non-        mation originally supplied shall cease to be binding
         member country; or,                                 on the authority from the date on which such
                                                             amendment is notified to the holder.
     — a binding contract for the purchase of the
         goods in question from a supplier established
                                                             The provisions of Article 14 (3) shall, however, also
         in the Community.
                                                             apply.
4.    The application under the conditions laid down
in paragraph 3 of the classification given in the                                     Article 16
binding tariff information shall have effect only in
reagard to:                                                  The provision of binding tariff information shall not
— the determination of the import or export duties           preclude the customs service from carrying out, at the
    or the calculation of export refunds and any other       time of customs clearance, any inspection or analysis
    amounts granted on imports or exports within the         it considers necessary for the purpose of verifying
    framework of the common agricultural policy;             that the goods presented in fact correspond to those
    and                                                      in respect of which the information was provided.
— the use of import or export licences or advance-
    fixing certificates which were already in existence
    on the date on which the information was
                                                                                      TITLE IV
    provided to the holder under the conditions
    provided for in paragraph 2 and which are
    submitted at the time of completion of the                                    Final provisions
    customs formalities relating to the goods in
    question, on condition that such licences or certi-
                                                                                      Article 17
    ficates were issued on the basis of the said binding
    tariff information.
                                                             Each Member State shall inform the Commission of
                                                             the measures which it adopts for the purpose of
5.     Upon the adoption of one of the tariff measures       implementing this Regulation.
referred to in paragraph 1, the administrations of the
Member States shall take the necessary steps to
ensure that binding tariff information is provided by        The Commission shall notify such information to the
the competent customs authorities only in conformity          other Member States.
with the measure in question.
The provisions of the preceding subparagraph shall                                    Article 18
 apply even where a specific date is laid down for the
 entry into force of the tariff measure in question.          This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
                                                              1983.
 6.    In exceptional cases where there is a risk that
 the working of arrangements set up within the                This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
 framework of the common agricultural policy may be           directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                              (') OJ No 172, 30. 9. 1966, p. 3025/66.