CELEX: 51987PC0021
Language: en
Date: 1987-02-03
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING FOR THE THIRD TIME DIRECTIVE 83/181/EEC DETERMINING THE SCOPE OF ARTICLE 14 ( 1 ) ( D ) OF DIRECTIVE 77/388/EEC AS REGARDS EXEMPTION FROM VALUE ADDED TAX ON THE FINAL IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN GOODS

28.2. 87                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 53/9
                                                  COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive amending for the third time Directive 83/181/EEC
              determining the scope of Article 14 (1) (d) of Directive 77/388/EEC as regards exemption from
                                   value added tax on the final importation of certain goods
                                                       COM(87) 21 final
                               (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 9 February 1987)
                                                          (87/C 53/12)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                                          Article 1
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 99 and
100 thereof,                                                        Directive 83/181/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   1. Article 22 is replaced by the following:
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                        'Article 22
liament,
                                                                        Goods of a total value not exceeding 22 ECU
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                        imported from another Member State shall be
Social Committee,                                                       exempt on admission. Member States may grant the
                                                                        same or a smaller exemption for goods imported
                                                                        from third countries but shall, in all cases, grant
                                                                        exemption for any imported goods of a total value
Whereas the system of exemptions from VAT on import
                                                                        not exceeding 10 ECU.'
laid down in Council Directive 83/181/EEC (') is based
upon the system of reliefs from customs duty established
in Council Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 (2);
                                                                        In the second indent of Article 35 (1) (b) the words
                                                                        'Article 60 (1) (b)' are replaced by 'Article 60'.
Whereas the Commission has proposed certain
amendments (J) to Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 which
should be reflected in Directive 83/181/EEC;                         3. The following new Chapter I I A is inserted after
                                                                        Article 38:
Whereas exemptions from VAT on import can be
granted only on condition that they are not liable to
affect conditions of competition on the home market;                                         'CHAPTER IIA
                                                                        Reference substances for the quality control of
Whereas arrangements for VAT should be introduced                                           medical products
that differ according to whether goods are imported                                           Article 38 (a)
from third countries or come from other Member States,
and to the extent necessary to comply with the objectives
of tax harmonization,
                                                                        Consignments which contain samples of reference
                                                                        substances approved by the World Health Organi-
                                                                        zation for the quality control of materials used in the
                                                                        manufacture of medicinal products and which are
O OJ No L 105, 23. 4. 1983, p. 38.                                      addressed to consignees authorized to receive such
O OJ No L 105, 23. 4. 1983, p. 1.                                       consignments free of tax shall be exempt on
(5) OJ No C 254, 11. 10. 1986, p. 7.                                    admission.'
 ---pagebreak--- No C 53/10                              Official Journal of   European Communities                                   28. 2. 87
 4. Article 46 (1) is replaced by the following:                     (c) printed matter may not be the subject of
                                                                          grouped consignments from the same consignor
    '1.     Articles specially designed for the education,                to the same consignee.
    employment or social advancement of blind or other
    physically or mentally handicapped persons shall be              However, the conditions at (b) and (c) above shall
    exempt on admission where they are imported by                   not apply to printed matter relating to either goods
    institutions or organizations that are principally               for sale or hire or services offered by a person
    engaged in the education of, or the provision of                 established in another Member State provided that
    assistance to, handicapped persons and are auth-                 the printed matter has been imported, and will be
    orized by the competent authorities of the Member                distributed, free of charge.'
    States to receive such articles exempt from tax.'
                                                                  7. The following are added to Article 79:
 5. The following is added to Article 56:
    '(d) awards, trophies and souvenirs of a symbolic                '(s) mint postage stamps valid for use for postal
           nature intended for distribution free of charge                services in another Member State and sold by
           at business conferences or similar international               the postal authorities of that country at face
           events to persons normally resident in third                   value;
           countries; their nature, unitary value or other
           features, must not be such as might indicate that          (t) imports of official publications issued under the
           they are being imported for commercial                         authority of Member States, international
           reasons.'                                                      institutions, regional or local authorities and
                                                                          bodies under public law, and printed matter
                                                                          distributed on a non-commercial basis by
 6. Articles 62 and 63 are replaced by the following:
                                                                          political organizations officially recognized as
                                                                          such in the Member States either on the
     'Article 62                                                          occasion of elections to the European Par-
                                                                          liament or on the occasion of national elections
    Subject to Article 63, printed advertising matter such                in the country in which the printed matter orig-
    as catalogues, price lists, directions for use or                     inates.'
    brochures shall be exempt on admission provided
    that they relate to:
                                                                  8. Article 82 is replaced by the following:
    (a) goods for sale or hire by a person established
         outside the Member State of import,                          Article 82
         or
                                                                     1.     Subject to Articles 83 to 85, the following shall
    (b) services offered by a person         established   in        be exempt on admission:
         another Member State,
                                                                     (a) fuel contained in the standard tanks of:
         or                                                               — private and commercial motor vehicles and
                                                                              motor cycles,
    (c) transport, commercial insurance or banking
                                                                          — specialized containers;
         services offered by a person established in a third
         country.
                                                                     (b) fuel contained in portable tanks carried by
                                                                          private motor vehicles and motor cycles, up to a
    Article 63                                                            maximum of 10 litres per vehicle and without
                                                                          prejudice to national provisions on the holding
    The exemption referred to in Article 62 shall be
                                                                          and transport of fuel.
    limited to printed advertisements which fulfil the
    following conditions:
                                                                     2.     For the purpose of paragraph 1:
     (a) printed matter must clearly display the name of
          the undertaking which produces, sells or hires             (a) "commercial motor vehicle" means any motorized
          out the goods, or which offers the services to                  road vehicle (including tractors with trailers)
         which it refers;                                                 which by its type of construction and equipment
                                                                          is designed for and capable of transporting,
    (b) each consignment must contain no more than                        whether for payment or not:
          one document or a single copy of each
          document if it is made up of several documents.                 — more than nine persons including the driver,
          Consignments comprising several copies of the                   — goods,
         same document may nevertheless be granted
         exemption provided their total gross weight does                 and any road vehicle for a special purpose other
         not exceed one kilogram;                                         than transport as such;
 ---pagebreak--- 28. 2. 87                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 53/11
     (b) "private motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle              in Dutch:
          not covered by the definition set out in (a);
                                                                      Vrijstelling wordt eveneens verleend voor door personen
     (c) "standard tanks" means:                                      die hun normale verblijfplaats buiten de Gemeenschap
                                                                      hebben, gewoonlijk ter gelegenheid van een huwelijk aan
          — the tanks permanently fixed by the manu-                  een persoon die aan de in lid 1 genoemde voorwaarden
               facturer to all motor vehicles of the same             voldoet, aangeboden geschenken. De vrijstelling is van
               type as the vehicle in question and whose              toepassing op geschenken waarvan de waarde per
               permanent fitting enables fuel to be used              eenheid niet meer bedragt dan 200 Ecu. De Lid-Staten
               directly, both for the purpose of propulsion           kunnen evenwel een vrijstelling van meer dan 200 Ecu
               and, where appropriate, for the operation of           verlenen mits de waarde van elk geschenk dat met
               refrigeration systems and other systems with           vrijstelling mag worden ingevoerd, niet meer bedraagt
               which special vehicles are equipped.                   dan 1 000 Ecu.
               Gas tanks fitted to motor vehicles designed            In English:
               for the direct use of gas as a fuel and tanks          Exemption shall also be granted in respect of presents
               fitted to ancillary systems with which the             customarily given on the occasion of a marriage which
               vehicle may be equipped shall also be                  are made to a person fulfilling the conditions laid down
               considered to be standard tanks;                       in paragraph 1 by persons having their normal place of
                                                                      residence in a country situated outside the Community.
          — tanks permanently fixed by the manufacturer               The exemption shall apply to presents of a unit value of
               to all containers of the same type as the              not more than 200 ECU. Member States may, however,
               container in question and whose permanent              grant exemption for more than 200 ECU provided that
               fitting enables fuel to be used directly for the       the value of each such exempt present does not exceed
               operation of refrigeration systems and other           1 000 ECU.
               systems with which special containers are
               equipped.'                                             in French:
                                                                      Sont egalement admis en exoneration les cadeaux habi-
 9. The following is added to Article 9 1 :                           tuellement offerts a l'occasion d'un manage qui sont faits
                                                                      a une personne repondant aux conditions prevues au
     '(c) exemptions in the context of agreements entered             paragraphe 1 par des personnes ayant leur residence
           into on the basis of reciprocity with third                normale dans un pays situe en dehors de la
           countries that are contracting parties to the              Communaute. L'exoneration s'applique aux cadeaux
           Convention on International Civil Aviation                 dont la valeur unitaire ne depasse pas 200 Ecus. Les
           (Chicago 1944) for the purpose of implementing             Etats membres peuvent toutefois accorder une
           Recommended Practices 4.42 and 4.44 in Annex               exoneration depassant 200 Ecus pour autant que la
           9 to the Convention (eight edition, July 1980).'           valeur de chaque cadeau admis en exoneration n'excede
                                                                      pas 1 000 ECUs.
10. Article 92 is replaced by the following:                          in Greek:
                                                                      AroxAlaaaovxai, emang, xa auvf|$T| ya\ii\km Scbpa Ttou
      'Article 92                                                     8l8ovxai ae 7tp6aco7to no\) auyKevxpcbvei XIQ npotinoSeaEic,
                                                                      TT|I; napaypaqmi) 1, an6 jip6aco7ta Ttoi) t%ow TT| auvf|$T|
     Until 31 December 1990, Member States may                        Kaxoiida xoug ae %<bpa noi) 6piaicexai eicx6g -rng Koiv6xr|xac,.
     maintain, up to a limit of 210 ECU, any exemption                H aitaXktyi] xopnyetxai yia 8cbpa xwv orcolcov r\ a£la 8ev
     in excess of that laid down in Article 1 of Council              i)7tep6aivei xa 200 ECU yia Ka$e 8d)po. navxcog, xa Kpaxn
     Directive 69/169/EEC (') which they granted on 1                 \x£kx\ (XTtopouv va xoprjyfiaouv a7taAiayf| yia 8cbpa a£la;
     January 1983 to merchant navy seamen involved in                 HeyaX,()xepT)i; xoov 200 ECU, e(p6aov T) a£ia K&OE 86po\) 8ev
     international transport.                                         i)7tep6alvEi xa 1 000 ECU.
                                                                                                 Article 3
     0) OJ No L 133, 4. 6. 1969, p. 6.'
                                                                      Member States shall take the measures necessary to
                                                                      comply with this Directive not later than 1 March 1987.
                                                                      They shall forth with inform the Commission thereof.
                             Article 2
                                                                                                 Article 4
The following language versions of Article 11 (2) of
Directive 83/181/EEC are hereby amended as follows:                   This Directive is addressed to the Member States.