CELEX: 51995EC1172
Language: en
Date: 2006-12-08
Title: Proposal for a regulation (EC) no …/.. of the European Parliament and of the Council of […] on the statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries (Codified version)

EN

|[pic]                     |COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES                                                                           |

                                        Brussels,
                                        COM

                                                                  Proposal for a

                                      REGULATION (EC) No …/.. OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

                                                                      of […]

               on the statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries

                                                                (Codified version)

                                                              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.    In the context of a people’s Europe, the Commission attaches great importance to simplifying and clarifying Community law so as to make  it
       clearer and more accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance to make use of the  specific  rights
       it gives him.

       This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have  been  amended  several  times,  often  quite  substantially,  remain
       scattered, so that they must be sought partly in the original instrument and partly in later amending ones.  Considerable  research  work,
       comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the current rules.

       For this reason a codification of rules that have frequently been amended  is  also  essential  if  Community  law  is  to  be  clear  and
       transparent.

2.    On 1 April 1987 the Commission therefore decided[1] to instruct its staff that all legislative acts should be codified after no  more  than
       ten amendments, stressing that this is a minimum requirement and that departments should endeavour to codify at even shorter intervals the
       texts for which they are responsible, to ensure that the Community rules are clear and readily understandable.

3.    The Conclusions of the Presidency of the  Edinburgh  European  Council  (December 1992)  confirmed  this[2]  stressing  the  importance  of
       codification as it offers certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time.

       Codification must be undertaken in full compliance with the normal Community legislative procedure.

       Given that no changes of substance may be made to the instruments affected by codification, the European Parliament, the Council  and  the
       Commission have agreed, by an interinstitutional agreement dated 20 December 1994, that an accelerated procedure may be used for the fast-
       track adoption of codification instruments.

4.    The purpose of this proposal is to undertake a codification of Council Regulation (EC)  No  1172/95  of  22  May  1995  on  the  statistics
       relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries[3]. The new  Regulation  will  supersede
       the various acts incorporated in it[4]; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does no  more  than
       bring them together with only such formal amendments as are required by the codification exercise itself.

5.    The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, in  all  official  languages,  of  Regulation  (EC)  No
       1172/95 and the instruments amending it, carried out by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, by  means  of  a
       data-processing system. Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the correlation between the old and the new numbers is shown in  a
       table set out in Annex II to the codified Regulation.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

                                      REGULATION (EC) No …/... OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

                                                                      of […]

               on the statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries

                                                            (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article Ö 285 Õ thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee[5],

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty[6],

Whereas:

                                            ê .

   1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 of 22 May 1995 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States
      with non-member countries[7] has been substantially amended several times[8].  In  the  interests  of  clarity  and  rationality  the  said
      Regulation should be codified.

                                            ê 1172/95 recital 1

   2) Community statistics on external trade are an indispensable tool for the purposes of the common commercial policy and must be drawn  up  on
      the basis of a methodology common to all the Member States.

                                            ê 1172/95 recital 2

   3) However, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the Member States  are,  for  reasons  of  efficiency,  to  make  the  necessary
      arrangements for the collection and analysis of the data, while the Commission is to handle the integration and dissemination of  Community
      results.

                                            ê 1172/95 recital 6

   4) Amongst those statistics, those on transit, customs warehouses and free zones and  free  warehouses  have  not  yet  been  the  subject  of
      harmonized regulations.

                                            ê 1172/95 recital 7

   5) It is preferable that the technical provisions relating to the compiling of external trade statistics be incorporated in  the  implementing
      provisions of this Regulation.

                                            ê .

   6) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision  1999/468/EC  of  28
      June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implanting powers conferred on the Commission[9],

                                            ê 1172/95

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

                                                                    CHAPTER I

                                                                General Provisions

                                                                    Article 1

The Community and its Member States shall compile statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and is  Member  States  with  non-
member countries in accordance with the rules laid down in this Regulation.

                                                                    Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation and without prejudice to any individual provisions:

(a)   ‘trading of goods with non-member countries’ means any movement of goods between a non-member country  and  a  Community  country  or  vice
       versa;

(b)   ‘goods’ means all moveable property, including electric current;

(c)   ‘Community goods’ means goods as referred to in Article 4 (7) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 [10];

(d)   ‘non-Community goods’ means goods as referred to in Article 4 (8) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92;

(e)   ‘non-member country’ means any country or territory which does not form part of the statistical  territory  of  the  Community  within  the
       meaning of Article 3.

                                                                    Article 3

1. The statistical territory of the Community and of its Member States shall correspond to the customs territory of the Community as  defined  in
Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92.

                                            ê 476/97 Art. 1 pt. 1

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the statistical territory of the Community shall include Helgoland.

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    Article 4

1. Statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries shall be compiled for  all  goods
which, after entering or before leaving the statistical territory of the Community, are subject to customs-approved treatment or use  within  the
meaning of Article 4 (15) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

The said statistics shall also include, in accordance with  rules  which  the  Commission  shall  determine  in  accordance  with  the  procedure
Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2), certain goods which are not moved or which are not subject to customs-approved treatment or use.

                                            ê 1172/95

2. Paragraph 1 shall apply to both non-Community and Community goods, whether or not they are the subject of a commercial transaction.

                                                                    Article 5

1. Statistics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with  non-member  countries  shall  include  the  following
specific statistics:

(a)   statistics relating to external trade;

(b)   statistics relating to transit;

(c)   statistics relating to customs warehouses;

(d)   statistics relating to free zones and free warehouses.

2. Among the goods referred to in Article 4, the same goods may be the subject of more than one set of special statistics.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

In accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2), the Commission shall adopt provisions  making  it  possible  to  quantify  the
extent to which each statistic overlaps with the others.

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    CHAPTER II

                                                            External trade statistics

                                                                    Article 6

1. Among the goods referred to in Article 4, external trade statistics shall be compiled on:

(a)   those goods which, having entered the statistical territory of the Community, are placed there under the customs procedure of  release  for
       free circulation, inward processing or processing under customs control;

(b)   those goods which, being due to leave the statistical territory of the Community;

       (i)  are placed there under customs export or outward processing arrangements;

       (ii) have as their customs destination re-exportation following inward processing or, where appropriate, processing under customs control;

                                            ê 374/98 Art. 1 pt. 1(c)

(c)   the goods referred to in Article 4(1), second subparagraph.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

2. The Commission may adopt supplementary provisions, in accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2), to  maintain  the  scope
of the provisions referred to in paragraph 1 Ö of this Article Õ , taking account of changes in Community customs legislation and  of  provisions
deriving from international conventions concluded by the Community and its Member States which affect statistics  or  which  have  an  impact  on
statistical matters.

                                                                    Article 7

Without prejudice to Article 24, the Single Administrative Document which, pursuant to Article 205  of  Commission  Regulation  (EEC)  No 2454/93
[11], is used to make the declaration regarding one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in Article 6 Ö of this Regulation Õ  ,
shall be used as the statistical data medium.

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    Article 8

1. On the statistical data medium, and without prejudice  to  Article  24,  goods  shall  be  designated  by  type  in  accordance  with  customs
legislation.

2. For each type of goods, mention shall be made, on importation, of the Taric code number provided for in Article 3 of Council Regulation  (EEC)
No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 [12] and, on exportation, of the combined nomenclature code number.

3. The goods shall be designated in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2, even when other Community legislation requires that  they  be  designated
simultaneously in accordance with other classification.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

                                                                    Article 9

1. Without prejudice to customs legislation or to Article 24, countries shall be designated on the statistical data medium in such a  way  as  to
permit classification in the nomenclature of countries under the relevant heading which the Commission is introducing,  in  accordance  with  the
procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2), for statistics on external trade and trade between Member States.

                                            ê 374/98 Art. 1 pt. 2(a)

2. The code specified in the nomenclature of countries referred to in paragraph 1 must be given for each country.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

                                                                    Article 10

1. Without prejudice to the provisions regarding the Single Administrative Document, for each type of goods Ö designated Õ  pursuant  to  Article
8(1), the following data shall be given on the statistical data medium:

(a)   either the customs-approved treatment or use, or the statistical procedure;

(b)   for the imported goods referred to in Article 6(1), the country of origin or, in the cases to  be  determined  by  the  Commission  by  the
       procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2), the country of consignment;

(c)   for the exported goods referred to in Article 6(1)(b), the country of destination;

(d)   the quantity of goods, in net mass and in supplementary units;

(e)   the statistical value of the goods;

(f)   the mode of transport at the frontier;

(g)    the internal mode of transport;

(h)   the preference, according to the classification laid down by customs legislation;

(i)   the nationality of the means of transport crossing the frontier;

(j)   the container.

2. Without prejudice to customs legislation, the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure Ö referred  to Õ  in  Article  21(2),  add  the
following data to the list in paragraph 1 Ö of this Article Õ , deciding in each case the date from which it shall be entered on the  statistical
data medium:

(a)   the amount invoiced;

(b)   the nature of the transaction;

(c)   the delivery terms.

3. In order to meet national requirements the Member States may require that the following be entered on the statistical data medium:

(a)   in the case of the goods referred to in Article 6(1)(a), the Member State of destination, and in the case  of  the  goods  referred  to  in
       Article 6(1)(b), the actual Member State of export;

(b)   data other than those referred to in paragraph 1, insofar as the supply of such data  is  compatible  with  the  provisions  regarding  the
       Single Administrative Document.

4. With prejudice to customs legislation, the following shall be decided by the Commission in accordance with the procedure  Ö referred  to Õ  in
Article 21(2):

(a)   the definition of the data referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and paragraph 3(a),

(b)   the rules for entering Ö data referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and paragraph 3(a) Õ on the statistical data medium.

                                                                    Article 11

The Community and its Member States shall compile external trade statistics from  the  data  referred  to  in  Article  10(1),  pursuant  to  the
provisions adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2).

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    Article 12

1. The statistical threshold shall be defined as the limit expressed in value or net mass below which results are not compiled.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

2. The statistical threshold shall be fixed by the Commission in accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2).

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    Article 13

1. Member States shall forward on a monthly basis the monthly statistics on their trade with non-member countries, compiled as  provided  for  in
Article 11, including data declared confidential pursuant  to  national  legislation  or  practices  governing  statistical  confidentiality,  in
accordance with the provisions of [Council] Regulation [(Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90] [13].  The  said  Regulation  shall  govern  the  confidential
treatment of information.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

2. Where necessary, the technical procedures for Ö the Õ transmission Ö referred to in  paragraph  1 Õ  shall  be  fixed  by  the  Commission  in
accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2).

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    Article 14

The Commission shall compile the results of the external trade statistics of the Community and of its Member States on the basis of  the  results
transmitted to it by the Member States and shall make them available to users broken down by Combined Nomenclature subheadings.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

                                                                    Article 15

Without prejudice to customs legislation, provisions regarding the simplification of statistical information shall be adopted by  the  Commission
in accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2).

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                   CHAPTER III

                                Statistics relating to transit, customs warehouses, free zones and free warehouses

                                                                    Article 16

1. The compilation by Member States of the statistics referred to in Articles 17 to 19 shall be optional.

2. In the absence of harmonization at Community level, Member States' provisions in this respect shall remain applicable.

                                                                    Article 17

Among the goods referred to in Article 4, those which enter the statistical territory of a Member State,  remain  there  for  some  time  or  are
subject to transport-related stoppages before leaving it under a customs transit procedure shall be covered by transit statistics.

                                                                    Article 18

Among the goods referred to in Article 4, those which are placed under customs warehouse procedure or for  which  the  said  procedure  has  been
discharged pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 shall be covered by customs warehouse statistics.

                                                                    Article 19

Among the goods referred to in Article 4, those which enter or leave the free zones and free warehouses pursuant to Regulation  (EEC)  No 2913/92
shall be covered by free zones and free warehouse statistics.

                                                                    CHAPTER IV

                                  Committee on statistics relating to the trading of goods with third countries

                                            ê 1882/2003 Art. 2 and Annex II pt. 17 (adapted)

Article 20

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with  the  procedure  Ö referred  to  in  Article
21(2) Õ .

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

                                                                    Article 21

1. A Committee on statistics relating to the trading of goods with third countries  (hereinafter  called  ‘the  Committee’)  Ö shall  assist  the
Commission Õ .

                                            ê 1882/2003 Art. 2 and Annex II pt. 17

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article  8
thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at one month.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

3. The Committee shall Ö adopt Õ its rules of procedure.

                                            ê 1172/95 Art. 20(3)

Article 22

The Committee may examine any matter 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.

                                            ê 1172/95

                                                                    CHAPTER V

                                                                 Final provisions

                                                                    Article 23

1. The statistical results compiled pursuant to this Regulation shall be disseminated. However, on a request by the exporter or importer  to  the
competent national authorities, statistical results that enable him to be identified indirectly  shall  not  be  disseminated  or  shall  be  re-
arranged so that their dissemination is not prejudicial to the maintenance of statistical confidentiality.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

2. The measures necessary to ensure uniform standards for the application of paragraph 1 shall be adopted by the Commission  in  accordance  with
the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2).

                                                                    Article 24

1. In accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 21(2), the Commission may, without prejudice  to  customs  legislation,  establish
simplified data collection procedures creating, in particular, the conditions for increased use of automatic data processing and electronic  data
transmission.

                                            ê 1172/95

2. However, Member States' provisions in this field shall continue to apply until the introduction of the procedures referred to in  paragraph  1
or in order to take account of their particular administrative organization.

                                            ê .

                                                                    Article 25

Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 is repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance  with  the  correlation
table in Annex II.

                                            ê 1172/95 (adapted)

                                                                    Article 26

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

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

Done at Brussels, […]

For the European Parliament  For the Council
The President    The President
[…]   […]

                                            é

                                                                     ANNEX I

                                                Repealed Regulation with its successive amendments

|Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95                                                      |                                          |
|(OJ L 118, 25.5.1995, p. 10)                                                            |                                          |
|Council Regulation (EC) No 476/97                                                          |                                     |
|(OJ L 75, 15.3.1997, p. 1)                                                                 |                                     |
|Council Regulation (EC) No 374/98                                                          |                                     |
|(JO L 48, 19.2.1998, p. 6)                                                                 |                                     |
|Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council                 |Annex II point 17 only               |
|(OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1)                                                               |                                     |

                                                                  _____________

                                                                     ANNEX II

                                                                Correlation Table

|Regulation (EC) No 1172/95                                           |This Regulation                                                      |
|________                                                             |Chapter I                                                            |
|Article 1                                                            |Article 1                                                            |
|Chapter I                                                            |________                                                             |
|Article 2                                                            |Article 2                                                            |
|Article 3                                                            |Article 3                                                            |
|Article 4(1) first and second subparagraphs                          |Article 4(1) first and second subparagraphs                          |
|Article 4(1) third subparagraph                                      |________                                                             |
|Article 4(2)                                                         |Article 4(2)                                                         |
|Article 5(1) first to fourth indents                                 |Article 5(1)(a)-(d)                                                  |
|Article 5(2)                                                         |Article 5(2)                                                         |
|Chapter II                                                           |Chapter II                                                           |
|Article 6(1)(a) indent                                               |Article 6(1)(a)                                                      |
|Article 6(1)(b) first and second indents                             |Article 6(1)(b)(i) and (ii)                                          |
|Article 6(1)(c)                                                      |Article 6(1)(c)                                                      |
|Article 6(2)                                                         |Article 6(2)                                                         |
|Articles 7, 8 and 9                                                  |Articles 7, 8 and 9                                                  |
|Article 10(1)                                                        |Article 10(1)                                                        |
|Article 10(2)                                                        |Article 10(2)                                                        |
|Article 10(3) first and second indents                               |Article 10(3)(a) and (b)                                             |
|Article 10(4) first and second indents                               |Article 10(4)(a) and (b)                                             |
|Articles 11-15                                                       |Articles 11-15                                                       |
|Chapter III                                                          |Chapter III                                                          |
|Articles 16-19                                                       |Articles 16-19                                                       |
|Chapter IV                                                           |Chapter IV                                                           |
|Article 20(1)                                                        |Article 21(1)                                                        |
|Article 20(2)                                                        |Article 21(3)                                                        |
|Article 20(3)                                                        |Article 22                                                           |
|Article 21(1)                                                        |Article 20                                                           |
|Article 21(2)                                                        |Article 21(2)                                                        |
|Chapter V                                                            |Chapter V                                                            |
|Article 22                                                           |Article 23                                                           |
|Article 23                                                           |Article 24                                                           |
|________                                                             |Article 25                                                           |
|Article 24 first paragraph                                           |Article 26                                                           |
|Article 24 second paragraph                                          |________                                                             |
|________                                                             |Annex I                                                              |
|________                                                             |Annex II                                                             |

                                                                 _______________

                                                             -----------------------
[1]   COM(87) 868 PV.
[2]   See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions.
[3]   Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the  Council  –  Codification  of  the  Acquis
      communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final.
[4]   See Annex I to this proposal.
[5]   OJ C
[6]   OJ C
[7]   OJ L 118, 25.5.1995, p 10. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council  (OJ  L
      284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).
[8]   See Annex I
[9]   OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
[10]  OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.
[11]  OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.
[12]  OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.
[13]  OJ L [151, 15.6.1990, p. 1].