CELEX: 51992PC0097
Language: en
Date: 1992-03-30
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) on transit statistics and storage statistics relating to the trading og goods between Member States

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                              C0M(92)97   final-SYN 407
                                              Brussels,30  March 1992
iW-
                                   Proposal for a
                             COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
     on transit statistics and storage statistics relating to the trading
                        of goods between Member States
                           (presented by the Commission)
 ---pagebreak---                              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
 1. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November 1991, on the statistics relating to
    the trading of goods between Member States, lays down in Article 4 that transit or
    storag statistics shall be compiled on certain goods moving from one Member State to
    another d in Article 31 that the provisions necessary for these statistics to be compiled
    must be adopted by the Council on a proposal from the Commission. The present draft
    Regulation is designed to satisfy these requirements.
2.  It has been established that in the present circumstances the Community as such has no
    need of these statistics; on the other hand, several Member States do compile, or intend to
    compile, transit and storage statistics. From 1993, the absence of legislation would
    prevent them from obtaining information in these two fields; it is therefore necessary to
    define the framework within which the Member States will be able to collect the
    information necessary for producing these statistics.
3.  With the same general aim as Regulation No 3330/91 referred to above, the present
    Regulation, while taking account of the elimination of formalities at the Community's
    internal borders, sets up the new system of collection on the basis of direct contact with
    the parties responsible for providing information and lays down the methodology to be
    followed. This methodology imposes certain limits so that the burden on the respondents
    is not generally increased and does not vary excessively from one Member State to
    another; it is thus mainly concerned with the data media and classifications to be used and
    the information to be declared.
    Nevertheless, this proposal allows the Member States a certain degree of freedom, in
    view of their differing situations in certain respects, without jeopardizing the intended
    lessening of the burden.
4.  It is also in order to alleviate burdens that thresholds are laid down below which the
    parties responsible are not required to make declarations for statistical purposes; these are
    in fact minimum thresholds which the Member States will be obliged to adhere to.
5.  As regards the trading of goods between Member States, the adoption of this Regulation
    will complete the legislation to be adopted by the Council in order to meet statistical
    requirements after 1992.
 ---pagebreak---                  Council Regulation (EEC) No      /92 of
     on transit statistics and storage statistics relating to the trading
                        of goods between Member States
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and
in particular Article 100A thereof.
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November 1991 on
the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member Statest 1 ),
and in particular Articles 4 and 31 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,
Whereas abolishing customs formalities, controls and documentation for any
movement of goods across internal frontiers is necessary for the completion
of the internal market;
Whereas, in the Member States, statistics may nevertheless still be required
on the trading of goods between Member States that results from transit
movements and movements into and out of warehouses;
Whereas the framework in which the Member States are authorized to organize
their statistical surveys on these movements must be determined in order to
prevent the burden on the information respondents varying excessively from
one Member State to another;
Whereas, within that framework, it is necessary to determine the purpose of
transit and storage statistics and its consequences for the collection of
information, to ensure that responsibility for collecting this data is
directed towards existing administrative sources and to refer to the
competent administrative services to fill any gaps, without increasing the
burden on the information respondents;
Whereas this burden must not exceed certain limits, as regards either
classifications, the data to be declared or the information media;
Whereas it is important that the burden of transit and storage statistics be
alleviated, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises; whereas this
should be effected by means of statistical thresholds;
Whereas the Commission must not only adopt provisions implementing this
Regulation but must also ensure that other implementing provisions adopted by
the Member States do not compromise the alleviation of the burden on the
information respondents; whereas the Commission should be assisted in this
task by the Committee on the statistics relating to the trading of goods
between Member States,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
(1) OJ No L 316 of 16.11.1991, p. 1
 ---pagebreak---                                    Article 1
1.  With a view to drawing up transit statistics and storage statistics, the
    Member States may collect data on the trading of goods between Member
    States, acting in conformity with the rules laid down in this Regulation.
2.  The Member States which exercise this option shall so inform the
    Commission.
                                   Article 2
    For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions given in Regulation
    (EEC) No 3330/91, Article 2 a ) , b ) , c ) , d ) , e) and f) shall apply.
    For the purposes of this Regulation:
    a)   transit means the crossing of a given Member State by goods which are
         being transported between two places situated outside that Member
         State;
    b)   interrupted transit means transit during which a break in transport
         occurs; this also includes transshipment.
    c)   customs warehousing procedure means the procedure of the customs
         warehouses as defined in Articles 1 and 2 of Council Regulation (EEC)
         No 2503/88 of 25 July 1988 on customs warehouses1)
    d)   competent statistical services means those services in each Member
         State which are responsible for drawing up statistics on the trading
         of goods between Member States.
                                    Article 3
Of the goods referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, those
on which data are to be collected for drawing up statistics of transit
through a given Member State are goods which are in interrupted transit in
that Member State, except goods which, having entered the said Member State
as non-Community goods, have subsequently been put into free circulation
there.
 1)  O J   No L 22S of 15.8.1988, p.l l
                                       !                                       U
 ---pagebreak---                                    Article 4
Of the goods referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, the
following are those on which data are to be collected for drawing up storage
ntatistics in a given Member State:
a)  those which, though the  customs warehousing procedure has not terminated,
    are transferred, within  the meaning of Article 20 of Regulation (EEC) No
    2503/88, from a customs  warehouse situated in that same Member State to
    one situated in another  Member State;
b)  those which, though the customs warehousing procedure has not been
    terminated, are transferred, within the meaning of Article 20 of
    Regulation (EEC) No 2503/88,to a customs warehouse situated in that
    Member State from a customs warehouse situated in another Member State;
c)  those which are subject to the customs warehousing procedure in that
    Member State and are sent to another Member State under the external
    Community transit procedure;
d)  those which are subject to customs warehousing procedure in that Member
    State, having come from another Member State under the Community external
    transit procedure.
                                    Article 5
     The Member States shall authorise, under the conditions which they
     themselves determine, those responsible for providing statistical
     information to use administrative or commercial documents already
     required for other purposes as the statistical information medium.
     Nevertheless, with a view to the standardization of their basic
     documentation, the Member States may establish exclusively statistical
     media provided that those required to provide the statistical information
     are free to choose which of these media they will use.
    The Member States shall inform the Commission of the media which they
     authorize or establish.
                                                                               s
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 6
1.  In a given Member State, the person responsible for providing the
    statistical information referred to in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No
    3330/91 is the natural or legal person who, engaged in that Member State
    in the trading of goods between Member States, draws up the
    administrative or commercial document designated as the statistical
    information medium pursuant to Article 5(1), 1st indent-
    In the absence of such a person and by way of derogation to Article 8 of
    Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, each Member State shall nominate, from
    within t n administrative services to which the document referred to in
    the first aragraph is made available, one service which shall provide
    the information.
2.  The Member States, may, if they wish, proceed in accordance with the
    second paragraph of Article 6.1. in order to relieve the persons
    responsible for supplying information of their obligations, in whole or
    in part.
3.  The person or service referred to in Article 6 (1) shall conform with the
    provisions of this Regulation, the provisions laid down by the
    Commission shall lay down pursuant to Article 30 of Regulation (EEC)
    No 3330/91 and the measures taken by the Member States to implement these
    provisions.
                                   Article 7
 1.  In the statistical information medium to be sent to the competent
     services:
         without prejudice to Article 34 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, the
         goods shall be designated according to their usual trade description
         in sufficiently precise terms to permit their identification and
         their immediate and unequivocal classification in the most detailed
         relevant subdivision of the applicable version, i.e. the
         classification of the Harmonized System for transit statistics and
         the Combined Nomenclature for storage statistics, irrespective of th<
         level at which these classifications are applied; however, this
         provision shall not prevent the Member States applying the Standard
         Goods Nomenclature for Transport Statistics - revised (NST/R) insteac
         of the above-mentioned classifications where this is permissible
         under the legislation governing the medium used;
     -   the code number corresponding to the above-mentioned subdivision may
         also be required by type of goods.
 2.  In the statistical information medium, the countries shall be designated
     by an alphabetic or numerical code, as laid down in Council Regulation
     (EEC) No 1736/75 of 24 June 1975 on the external trade statistics of the
     Community and statistics of trade between Member States(*).
     In order to apply the first paragraph above, those responsible for
     providing information shall comply with the instructions of tfee competent
     national departments in drawing up the statistics covered by this
     Regulation.
     (1) O J  No L 183 of 14.7.197S, p. 3
 ---pagebreak---                               Article 8
Member States which establish transit statistics shall determine which
data from the following list are to be included on the statistical
information medium by type of goods:
a)  the country of consignment within the meaning of Article 9;
b)  the country of destination within the meaning of Article 9;
c)  the quantity of goods in gross weight within the meaning of
    Article 9;
d)  the mode of transport, pursuant to Article 9(f)(1);
e)  the place where the interruption in transit took place, pursuant to
    Article 9.
Those Member States which establish storage statistics shall determine
which data from the following list shall be included on the statistical
information medium, by type of goods:
a)  the Member State of consignment, in the Member State which the the
    goods enter within the meaning of Article 9;
b)  the Member State of destination, in the case of the Member State
    which goods enter within the meaning of Article 9;
c)  the country of origin within the meaning of Article 9; this item of
    information is, however, only required within the limits of Community
    law;
d)  the quantity of goods expressed in gross mass or net mass pursuant to
    Article 9 and, if the Combined Nomenclature is used, in supplementary
    units in accordance with the CN, in application of Article 7(1);
e)  the customs value;
f)  the presumed mode of transport, pursuant to Article 9(f)(2).
Where not covered elsewhere in this Regulation, the definition of the
data referred to in 1 and 2, and the ways in which these shall be
indicated listed on the statistical information medium, shall be
determined by the Commission pursuant to the procedure laid down in
Article 30 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91.
 ---pagebreak---                                    Article 9
With a view to the application of Article 8:
a)  country/Member State of consignment means the last country/Member State
     in which the goods have been held up or subjected to legal procedures n
     inherent in the transport process;
b)  country 'ember State of destination means the last country/Member State
    known at -he moment the statistical information medium is drawn up, as
    the one towards which the goods must be sent;
c)  country of origin means the country in which the goods originate within
    the meaning of Council Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on th<
    common definition of the concept of origin of goods( x );
d)  gross mass means the cumulated mass of the goods and all their packaging
    with the exclusion of the transport equipment, and particularly of
    containers;
e)  net mass means the weight of the goods proper excluding any packaging;
f)  mode of transport means that actually used
         1) before or after the interruption of transit;
         2) on entry to or exit from the warehouse.
         Modes of transport are as follows:
             Code            Designation
              1              Sea transport
              2              Rail transport
              3              Road transport
              4              Air transport
              5              Postal shipments
              7              Fixed transport installations
              8              Inland waterway transport
              9              Self-propelled
If the mode of transport is given as one of those listed under Codes 1, 2, 3,
4 or 8, it must also be stated whether the goods are transported in
containers within the meaning of Article 15(3) of
Regulation No 1736/75.
g)  Place of interruption of transit means the port, airport or any other
    place where transit is interrupted within the meaning of Article 2(2)(b).
(1) OJ No L 148 of 28.6.1968, p. 1
                                                                             i
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 10
1.  When the data referred to in Article 7 and 8 do not need to be given on
    the administrative or commercial document referred to in the first
    paragraph of Article 5(1) for the purposes for which this document is
    required, the Member States shall instruct the administrative service
    referred to in the second paragraph of Article 6(1) to collect them and
    forward them to the competent statistical services in accordance with
    procedures which they shall lay down.
2.  Without prejudice the second paragraph of Article 5(1), the Member States
    shall establish the media to be used by the above-mentioned
    administrative service for forwarding these data.
                                   Article 11
 1.  For the purposes of this Regulation, the statistical thresholds are
     defined as limits - expressed in gross mass for transit statistics and as
     values or in mass for storage statistics - below which respondents are
     not required to submit information.
 2.  The threshold for transit statistics is fixed per type of goods at at
     least:
             50 kg in the case of air transport;
         -   1 000 kg for other modes of transport.
3.  The threshold for storage statistics is fixed at at least ECU 800 per
    type of goods, irrespective of the mass of the goods, or at at least
     1 000 kg per type of goods, irrespective of the value of the goods.
                                                                               1
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 12
1-  Information which is communicated in application of this Regulation and
   which is confidential or is covered by professional secrecy shall be
   subject to the protection accorded to information of the same type under
   the national law of the Member State which receives it and under the
   corresponding provisions applicable to Community bodies.
    Information referred to in the above paragraph may not be communicated to
   persons other than those in the Member States or the Community
    institutions whose official duties require them to have knowledge of it.
   Neither may it be used for purposes other than those laid down in this
   Regulation, unless the authority which supplied it has expressly agreed
   and as long as such communication or use is not forbidden by the
   provisions in force in the Member State or authority which has recieved
    it.
2. Paragraph 1 above shall not preclude the use of the information obtained
    in application of this Regulation for the purposes of subsequent legal
   proceedings or prosecutions.
    If the information is used for such purposes, the competent authority of
   the Member State which supplied it shall be immediately informed.
                                  Article 13
1- The provisions necessary for implementing this Regulation shall be laid
   down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30 of
   Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91.
2. The Member States may lay down the provisions required for collecting
   information in order to draw up transit and storage statistics when such
   provisions are not contained in this Regulation or laid down by the
   Commission in accordance with paragraph 1.
   Nevertheless, if the effect of these national arrangements is to
   compromise the alleviation of the burden on the information respondents,
   the Commission shall lay down, in conformity with the above-mentioned
   Article, the arrangements which reestablish the conditions for
   alleviating this burden.
                                                                              Av
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 14
The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the measures which they
take to implement this Regulation.
                                  Article 15
The Committee on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between
Member States, instituted by Article 29 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91, may
examine any question relating to the implementation of this Regulation raised
by its Chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the
representative of a Member State.
                                  Article 16
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall be applicable from the date given in the second paragraph of Article
35 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91.
                                                                              //M
 ---pagebreak---                             IMPACT ON THE SME AND EMPLOYMENT
    Administrative obligations resulting from the application of the legislation for enterprises
     The regulation does not define new obligations to declare information; it does, however,
     recommend the use of documents, which are already required for other purposes, as statistical
     information media. One should point out that the regulation is designed to meet the needs of the
     Member States whereas the Community as such has not yet identified any similar requirements
     for information.
2.  Advantages for the enterprise
     The regulation aims to standardise procedures and it lays down limits for statistical
     requirements. Stress is also laid on reducing the burden on respondents as the Regulation
     determines the thresholds which enterprises are not obliged to declare information.
     It is obvious that in general, having statistics is advantageous for the enterprises, directly or
     indirectly, if they are both suppliers and users of the information.
3.  Disadvantages for the enterprise
     An obligation to declare, whatever its nature, can always be considered as a burden on
     enterprises; nevertheless, the regulation attempts to reduce this burden and also introduces
     simplified procedures.
4.  Effects on employment
      The Regulation should have neither a negative nor a positive effect on employment; in general,
     its aim is to maintain the data collection necessary for drawing up the statistics which are
     currently prepared by certain Member States; it does this by adapting the framework and
     methodology of these statistics to the special situation created by the introduction of the internal
     market.
5.  Was there a prior consultation with the social partners?
   As regards transiting and warehousing movements, this Regulation does derive from an obligation
   laid down in Council Regulation No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods
   between Member States. This regulation, including the particular aspect in question, was
   preceded by opinions of the Economic and Social Committee and under went the cooperation
   procedure with the European Parliament after it had been carefully prepared by the Commission
   which kept the main professional organisations concerned informed during the whole process.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                      ISSN 0254-1475
                                                                   COM(92) 97
                                                      DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                              17
                                 Catalogue number: CB-CO-92-108-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-42067-7
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