CELEX: 51984PC0395
Language: en
Date: 1984-09-06
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ON CUSTOMS DEBT

No C 261/4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                               29.9. 84
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
                                     Proposal for a Council Regulation on customs debt
                                                     (COM(84) 395 final)
                          (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 September 1984)
                                                        (84/C 261/05)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                       of prohibition or restriction of whatever kind causes a
 COMMUNITIES,                                                      customs debt to be incurred; whereas, indeed, the
                                                                   economic and financial effect on the Community
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                      economy of such de facto integration is identical to
 European Economic Community, and in particular                    that which would result from an importation carried
Articles 43 and 235 thereof,                                       out lawfully pursuant to an authorization granted by
                                                                   the competent authorities permitting a derogation
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                from the import prohibition or restriction measure
                                                                   involved; whereas, moreover, the Common Customs
 Having regard to the opinion of the               European        Tariff makes no distinction, as regards application of
 Parliament,                                                       the rates of duty set out therein, between goods
                                                                  which are integrated into the Community economy
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   lawfully and those which are not;
Social Committee,
Whereas Council Directive 79/623/EEC of 25 June                   Whereas it should also be provided that a customs
 1979 on the harmonization of provisions laid down                 debt on exportation is incurred even if it concerns
by law, regulation or administrative action relating to           goods the exportation of which is subject to measures
customs debt (') defined the various situations giving             of prohibition of whatever kind, where, as a result of
rise to a customs debt on importation or exportation;              an unlawful act, those goods actually leave the
whereas that Directive also determined the material               customs territory of the Community;
time for assessing the amount of the customs debt
and that at which the debt becomes payable, as well
as specifying the circumstances in which a customs                Whereas it is, on the other hand, justifiable to provide
debt is extinguished;                                             that the customs debt on importation is extinguished
                                                                  in respect of prohibited goods where they are seized
                                                                  by the customs authorities and confiscated;
Whereas the rules governing the incurrence of a
customs debt, the assessment of its amount, when it
becomes due and its extinction are so important for               Whereas account should also be taken, when
the proper functioning of the customs union that it is            determining the situations in which a customs debt is
essential to ensure that such rules are implemented as            incurred, of the provisions of Council Regulation
uniformly as possible in the Community; whereas, to                (EEC) No 3599/82 of 21 December 1982 on
this end, the present provisions of Directive                     temporary importation arrangements (2), which
79/623/EEC should be embodied in a Regulation;                    provide, in certain cases, for the use of such customs
whereas this will lead to greater legal certainty for             arrangements only with partial relief from import
members of the public;                                            duties;
Whereas all the principles embodied in Directive
79/623/EEC should be incorporated in this Regu-                   Whereas it should also be made clear that the
lation, together with further principles based on                 consumption of goods liable to import duties in a free
experience gained since the Directive was adopted;                zone within the meaning of Article 1 (2) of Council
whereas it should be provided, in particular, that the            Directive 69/75/EEC of 4 March 1969 on the
de facto integration into the Community economy of                harmonization of provisions laid down by law,
goods the importation of which is subject to measures             regulation or administrative action relating to free
(») OJ No L 179, 17. 7. 1979, p. 31.                              (2) OJ No L 376, 31. 12. 1982, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 261/5
29.9.84
zones 0> as last amended by the Act of Accession of                     HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Greece, or their use in that free zone under any other
conditions than those laid down by the regulations in                                               Article 1
force causes a customs debt to be incurred;
                                                                         1.     This Regulation lays down the rules in respect
Whereas the provisions of Article 10 of Directive                       of:
79/623/EEC, which concern trade between Member
States, should be supplemented by drawing up                             (a) the incurrence of a customs debt;
specific rules on the compensatory levy collected in
certain circumstances on the dispatch from one
                                                                         (b) the moment to be taken into consideration for the
Member State to another Member State of goods
                                                                               determination of the amount of a customs debt;
obtained under the inward processing procedure;
whereas account should also be taken of the
provisions         applicable      to     trade    between     the       (c) the extinction of a customs debt.
Community and the non-member countries which
constitute the European Free Trade Association;                          2.      For the purposes of this Regulation:
whereas the agreements concluded with those non-
 member countries provide for the application of pref-                   (a) 'customs debt' means the obligation on a person
 erential tariff treatment for goods originating in                            to pay the amount of the import duties (customs
 Member States; whereas, where compensating                                    debt on importation) or export duties (customs
 products obtained or produced in the Community                                debt on exportation) which apply under the
 under the inward processing arrangements are                                  provisions in force to goods liable to such duties;
 concerned, such preferential tariff treatment is
 conditional on payment of the import duties payable
 on goods from non-member countries contained in                          (b) 'person' means
 the said compensating products;                                               — a natural person, or
                                                                               — a legal person, or
 Whereas it is deemed more appropriate to include the                          — when this possibility is provided for in the
 rules on liability for payment of the customs debt,                                rules in force, an association of persons
 which are.currently set out in Article 8 of Directive                              recognized as having legal capacity but
 79/623/EEC, among the provisions concerning entry                                  lacking the legal status of legal person;
 in the accounts and the terms of payment of customs
 debts;
                                                                          (c) 'Community goods' means goods:
 Whereas it is necessary to safeguard the uniform                               — entirely obtained or produced in the customs
  implementation of the provisions of this Regulation                               territory of the Community without including
  and to provide to that end for a Community                                        goods imported from countries or territories
  procedure enabling the rules for their implementation                             which are not part of that customs territory,
  to be adopted within an appropriate period; whereas                           — imported from countries or territories which
  the Committee on General Customs Rules, set up by                                  are not part of the customs territory of the
  Article 24 of Council Directive 79/695/EEC of                                      Community and which were placed in free
  24 July 1979 on the harmonization of procedures for                                circulation in a Member State in conformity
  the release of goods for free circulation (2), is the                              with the Treaties,
  appropriate body to organize close and effective
  collaboration between the Member States and                                   — obtained or produced in the customs territory
  the Commission in this field;                                                      of the Community either exclusively from
                                                                                     goods referred to in the second indent or
  Whereas this Regulation concerns customs debt,                                     from goods referred to in the first and second
   whether it results from the implementation of the                                 indents;
   common          agricultural       policy     or     from     the
   implementation of the Treaty provisions concerning                      (d) 'import duties' means customs duties and charges
   the customs union; whereas this measure is necessary                         having equivalent effect, and agricultural levies
   to attain, in the course of the operation of the                              and other import charges laid down under the
   common market, one of the objectives of the                                  common agricultural policy or under the specific
   Community; whereas the Treaty has not provided, in                            arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting
   the case of the customs union, the necessary powers                           from the processing of agricultural products;
   for this purpose; whereas it is therefore necessary to
   base this Regulation also on Article 235 of the                          (e) 'export duties' means agricultural levies and other
   Treaty,                                                                       export charges laid down under the common
                                                                                 agricultural policy or under the specific
                                                                                 arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting
    (•) O J N o L 5 6 , 8. 3. 1969, p. 11.
                                                                                 from the processing of agricultural products.
    (2) OJ No L 205, 13. 8. 1979, p. 19.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 261/6                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                 29.9.84
                         TITLE I                                (f) the failure to use for the stipulated purpose and if
          INCURRENCE OF CUSTOMS DEBT                                 applicable, within the set time limit, goods put
                                                                     into free circulation with total or partial relief
                                                                     from import duties because of their intended use
             A. Customs debt on importation                          for a particular purpose, or their use for purposes
                                                                     other than those stipulated.
                        Article 2
                                                                    The destruction of the goods without the prior
 1.   A customs debt on importation shall be incurred               authorization of the competent authorities before
by:                                                                 their actual use for the stipulated purpose shall be
                                                                    deemed to be a use for purposes other than those
(a) the placing of goods liable to import duties in free            stipulated;
    circulation or the placing of such goods under the
    temporary importation procedure with partial               (g) the definitive retention, in the customs territory
    relief from import duties;                                      of the Community, of waste or scrap liable to
                                                                    import duties which results from the destruction
(b) the unlawful introduction into the customs                      of goods with the prior authorization of the
    territory of the Community of goods liable to                   competent authorities, where such destruction has
    import duties.                                                  the effect:
    When goods liable to import duties coming from                  — in accordance with Article 4 (b), of not
    a free zone situated within the customs territory                    causing to be incurred in respect of the said
    of the Communities are unlawfully introduced                         goods the customs debt which should have
    into another part of that territory, such intro-                     been incurred pursuant to subparagraph (f),
    duction shall be considered as an unlawful intro-                    or
    duction into the customs territory of the                       — in accordance with the second subparagraph
    Community.                                                           of Article 6 (1) or the second subparagraph of
    For the purposes of this paragraph (b), unlawful                     Article 11 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC)
    introduction means any introduction in violation                     No 1430/79 of 2 July 1979 on the repayment
    of the provisions adopted in implementation of                       or remission of import or export duties (2)
    Article 2 of Council Directive 68/312/EEC of 30                      and, where appropriate, with the decisions
    July 1968 on the harmonization of the provisions                     taken under Article 13 of that Regulation, of
    laid down by law, regulation or administrative                       permitting the repayment or remission of the
    action relating to customs treatment of goods                        import duties payable on the said goods.
    entering the customs territory of the Community
    and the temporary storage of such goods (1), as            2.     The customs debt on importation shall be
    last amended by the Act of Accession of Greece;            incurred even if it relates to goods subject to
                                                               measures of prohibition or restriction on importation
                                                               of whatever kind.
(c) the removal of goods liable to import duties from
    the customs supervision involved in the temporary
    storage of the goods or their being placed under                                     Article 3
    a customs procedure which involves such
                                                               The moment when a customs debt on importation is
    supervision;
                                                               incurred shall be deemed to be:
(d) the non-fulfilment of one of the obligations               (a) in the cases referred to in Article 2 (1) (a), the
    arising, in respect of goods liable to import                   moment when the competent authorities accept
    duties, from their temporary storage or from the                the entry of the goods for free circulation or
    use of the customs procedure under which they                   temporary importation or the time of any other
    are placed, or non-compliance with a condition                  act which, in accordance with the provisions in
    to which the placing of the goods under that                    force, has the same effect in law as such
    procedure is subject, unless it is established that             acceptance; »
    these failures have no significant effect on the
    correct operation of the temporary storage or              (b) in the cases referred to in Article 2 (1) (b), the
    customs procedure in question;                                  moment when the goods are                 unlawfully
                                                                    introduced into the customs territory of the
(e) the consumption in a free zone of goods liable to               Community;
    import duties or their use in such free zone in any        (c) in the cases referred to in Article 2 (1) (c), the
    conditions other than those laid down by the                    moment when the goods are removed from
    regulations in force;                                           customs supervision;
0) OJ No L 194, 6. 8. 1968, p. 13.                             (') OJ No L 175, 12. 7. 1979, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 9. 84                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 259/7
   The maximum quantities laid down may differ by                    by means of musts for which the aid referred to in
   region of production and by variety and may in no                 Article 14 was paid.
   case exceed 300 kg per hectare.'
                                                                     3.    The proceeds of the tax referred to in
                                                                     paragraph 1 shall be used to finance Community
6. The following Article 33a is inserted:                            expenditure in the wine sector.
    'Article 33a                                                     4.    The amount of the tax referred to in
                                                                     paragraph 1 shall be fixed in accordance with the
    1.    In wine-growing regions where the addition
                                                                     procedure laid down in Article 67. Detailed rules
   of sucrose is authorized in accordance with
                                                                     for the application of this Article shall be adopted
   Article 33, a tax shall be levied in respect of wines
                                                                     in accordance with the same procedure.'
   produced on holdings where the yield per hectare
   exceeds 80 hectolitres. The tax shall be levied
                                                                                          Article 2
   when the wine is sold for the first time, including
   when it is delivered for the purpose of distillation.         This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 September
                                                                 1985.
   2.     The amount of the tax shall be fixed in the
   light of the difference between the cost of                   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
   enrichment by means of sucrose and that obtained              directly applicable in all Member States.
               Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 laying down
                        special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions
                                                    COM(84) 515 final
                          (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 September 1984)
                                                      (84/C 259/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                      lasting prospects of finding a market may be
COMMUNITIES,                                                     recognized as quality wines psr and by making
                                                                 recognition of such wines subject to a Community
                                                                 authorization procedure;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular
Article 43 thereof,
                                                                 Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 does not
                                                                 include rectified concentrated grape must among the
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               products which may be used for sweetening quality
                                                                 wines psr; whereas the present state of scientific
                                                                 knowledge suggests that it can be used for this
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                purpose;
liament,
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 of                    Whereas Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) N o 338/79
5 February 1979 laying down special provisions                   provides that Member States are to fix a maximum
relating to quality wines produced in specified                  yield per hectare for quality wines psr and to
regions ('), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) N o              determine the conditions on which these yields may
3159/83 (2), sets out criteria for the recognition of             be exceeded; whereas the application of this provision
wines by the Member States as quality wines                       by some Member States has led to the yields
produced in specified regions; whereas, in view of the            compatible with a product of best quality being
growing surpluses on the wine market and the                      exceeded, with the attendant likelihood that such
pressures exerted on the market by quality wines psr,             wines will be increasingly difficult to market; whereas
the said criteria should be supplemented by                       these considerations make it essential to fix maximum
the       provision     that      only     wines      with        yields per hectare applicable throughout the
                                                                  Community and to define precisely the conditions on
O OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 48.                                  which the designation of a quality wine psr can be
O OJ No L 309, 10. 11. 1983, p. 21.                               recognized when the maximum yield is exceeded;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 261/8                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                   29. 9. 84
with total or partial relief from export duties or,              customs debt for the part in excess of the sum
should the competent authorities be unable to                    specified by that judicial authority as having to be
determine that moment, the moment of expiry of the               paid.
time limit set for the production of proof that the
goods have actually been used for the purpose which              When the payment of the customs debt is covered
entitled them to such relief.                                    by a guarantee, the provisions of the preceding sub-
                                                                 paragraph shall not apply. However, when such
                                                                 guarantee is only partial, the said provisions shall
                          TITLE II
                                                                 apply with regard to that part of the customs debt
MATERIAL TIME FOR ASSESSING THE AMOUNT                           which is not covered by the guarantee.
                    OF CUSTOMS DEBT
                                                                  2.      Customs debt on importation shall also be
                          Article 7                               extinguished:
Subject to the special provisions adopted            under        (a) where, before they have been released, the entry
specific customs or agricultural legislation:                           of the goods for release for free circulation or for
                                                                        temporary importation with partial relief from
 (a) the amount of the import or export duties payable                  import duties is, for a reason admissible under the
      on goods shall be determined on the basis of the                  rules in force, cancelled or rendered invalid by
      rules of assessment applicable to the goods at the                the competent authorities, or where the latter
      moment when the customs debt in respect of                        authorize the declarant to replace such
      them is incurred;                                                 declaration by an entry for another customs
 (b) where it is not possible to determine precisely                    procedure;
      when the customs debt is incurred, the material             (b) where the goods entered for release for free circu-
      time for determining the rules of assessment                      lation or for temporary importation with partial
      applicable to the goods concerned shall be the                    relief from import duties are, before their release,
      moment when the competent authorities conclude                    destroyed on the order or with the authorization
      that the goods are in a situation in which a                      of the competent authorities or surrendered in the
      customs debt is incurred.                                          same state or after destruction, to the exchequer
      However, where the information available to the                   with the agreement of the said authorities;
      competent authorities enables them to establish
      that the customs debt was incurred at a moment               (c) where the person concerned proves that the
      prior to that at which they reached that                           goods entered for release for free circulation or
       conclusion, the amount of the import or export                    for temporary importation with partial relief from
       duties payable on the goods in question shall be                  import duties were destroyed or irretrievably lost
       determined on the basis of the rules of assessment                before their release as a result of the actual nature
       applicable to the goods at the most distant                       of the goods or of unforeseeable circumstances or
       moment in the past at which the existence of the                 force majeure;
       customs debt arising from this situation may be             (d) where the person concerned proves that the
       established.                                                      circumstances which caused the non-fulfilment of
                                                                         an obligation arising, in respect of goods liable to
                          TITLE III                                      import duties, from their being kept in temporary
                                                                         storage or from the use of the customs procedure
              EXTINCTION OF CUSTOMS DEBT                                  under which they were placed were due either to:
                                                                         — the exportation of the goods concerned out of
                           Article 8
                                                                              the customs territory of the Community or
  1.     Customs debt shall be extinguished:                                  their introduction into a free-zone, or
                                                                          — the consignment of the goods concerned to
  (a) by payment of the amount of the import or
                                                                              another Member State where they were
        export duties payable on the goods in question
                                                                              treated in accordance with their legal status
        or, where appropriate, by remission of that
                                                                              therein.
        amount pursuant to the Community provisions in
        force;                                                      3.      Customs debt on exportation         shall also be
  (b) by confiscation of goods provided that the goods              extinguished:
        have not effectively been used into the customs             (a) where the export declaration is, for a reason
        territory of the Community;                                       admissible under the rules in force, cancelled or
   (c) by the operation of a time bar, in accordance                      rendered invalid by the competent authorities;
        with the provisions in force.                                (b) where the person concerned proves that it has not
  The establishment by a judicial authority of the                        been possible for the goods declared for export to
   insolvency of the debtor shall also extinguish the                      leave the customs territory of the Community.
 ---pagebreak--- 29.9.84                            Official Journal of the European Communities                          No C 261/9
                        TITLE IV                              produced under the inward processing procedure in
                                                              other Member States, and vice versa, shall be subject
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TRADE BETWEEN
THE COMMUNITY AND CERTAIN NON-MEMBER                          to the charging of a compensatory levy, the
                      COUNTRIES                               completion of the formalities necessary to permit the
                                                              placing in free circulation of the goods in question
                         Article 9                            shall cause a customs debt on importation to be
                                                              incurred.
1.    In so far as agreements concluded between the
Community and certain non-member countries                    The moment when such customs debt is incurred shall
provide for the granting on importation into those            be deemed to be the moment when the competent
countries of preferential tariff treatment for goods          authorities accept the declaration for dispatch to the
originating in the Community within the meaning of            Member State of destination concerned, or any other
such agreements, on condition that, where they have           act having the same legal effects as such acceptance.
been obtained or produced under the inward
processing arrangements, products from non-member             Article 8 (1), (2) (b) and (2) (c) shall apply mutatis
countries used in producing the said goods are                mutandis to the extinction of such customs debt. The
subjected to payment of the import duties payable             said customs debt shall also be extinguished when the
thereon, the completion of the formalities necessary          formalities completed to place the goods in question
for obtaining such preferential tariff treatment shall        in free circulation are cancelled.
cause a customs debt on importation to be incurred.
                                                                                      TITLE VI
The moment when such customs debt is incurred shall
be deemed to be the moment when the competent                                    FINAL PROVISIONS
authorities accept the export declaration relating to
the goods in question or any other act having the                                     Article 11
same legal effects as such acceptance.
                                                              This Regulation shall not constitute an impediment to
2.    Article 8 (1), (2) (b) and (2) (c) shall apply          the provisions in force in the Member States under
mutatis mutandis to the extinction of the customs debt        which the goods themselves constitute security for the
referred to in paragraph 1. The said customs debt             import or export duties to which they are liable and
shall also be extinguished when the formalities               as such may be liable to seizure or confiscation.
completed to obtain preferential tariff treatment are
cancelled.                                                                            Article 12
                                                              The measures necessary to implement this Regulation
                        TITLE V                               shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TRADE BETWEEN                        laid down in Article 26 (2) and (3) of Directive
                   MEMBER STATES                              79/695/EEC.
                       Article 10                                                     Article 13
1.    To the extent that Community goods are liable           Directive 79/623/EEC is hereby repealed as from
to customs or agricultural charges when traded                1 July 1985.
between Member States, Articles 2 to 8 shall apply
mutatis mutandis, as regards the incurrence of the            Any references to that Directive shall be read as
customs debt arising from this situation, to the              referring to this Regulation.
material time for assessing the amount of the customs
debt and its extinction.                                                              Article 14
2.    In so far as, during the transitional period laid       This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1985.
down by the Acts of accession to the Community of
new Member States, the placing in free circulation in         This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
the new Member States of goods obtained or                    directly applicable in all Member States.