CELEX: 51978PC0724
Language: en
Date: 1979-01-10
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION DEFINING THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A PERSON MAY BE PERMITTED TO MAKE A CUSTOMS DECLARATION

1. 2. 79                            Official Journal of the European Communities                           No C 29/3
                                                           II
                                                  (Preparatory Acts)
                                              COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Regulation defining the conditions under which a person may
                                     be permitted to make a customs declaration
                          (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 19 January 1979)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       Whereas the provisions to be adopted at Community
                                                               level must take into account both the nature of the
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   customs union, and in particular the existence of the
 European Economic Community, and in particular                common customs territory, and the basic objective of
 Article 235 thereof,                                          the Treaty with regard to the free movement of
                                                               goods, persons and services within the Community;
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                               Whereas the said Community provisions must also
 Having regard to the opinion of the European                  take into account the special conditions of
 Parliament,                                                    international trade, and the consequent need for the
                                                                customs authorities to have a set of rules enabling
                                                               them to carry out their controls as effectively as
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                possible and guard against any irregularities;
 Social Committee,
 Whereas the placing of goods imported into or                  Whereas the Treaty does not provide the necessary
 exported from the Community under a customs                    powers for the introduction of rules defining the
 procedure is subject to the lodging of a customs               conditions under which a natural or legal person may
 declaration with the competent customs authorities;            be permitted to make a customs declaration; whereas
                                                                this Regulation should therefore be based on Article
                                                                235 of the said Treaty,
 Whereas the conditions under which a natural or
 legal person is entitled to make a customs declaration
 vary appreciably from one Member State to another,
 in particular as regards the possibility of making a
 customs declaration on behalf of another person;              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 whereas the declaration of goods for a given customs
 procedure may thus, for reasons connected solely
                                                                                       Article 1
 with the manner in which the said conditions are
 defined, entail extra-administrative expenses which
 differ depending on the Member State with whose               For the purposes of this Regulation:
 customs authorities the declaration is lodged;
                                                                (a) person means any natural or legal person;
 Whereas the said conditions must be harmonized in              (b) customs declaration means the document by
 order to eliminate any distortion in the treatment of              which a person indicates his wish to place goods
 Community firms in this field;                                      under a given customs procedure.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 29/4                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                1. 2. 79
                       Article 2                                                        Article 4
The customs declaration of goods may be made by                Save where rules adopted under a specific customs
any person able to produce to the competent customs            procedure provide otherwise, the declarant must be
service the goods in question as well as all documents         domiciled in the Community.
production of which is provided for by the
provisions    governing     the    customs     procedure       This requirement shall not, however, apply to
 requested for the goods.                                      persons declaring goods on an occasional basis in
                                                               their own name and on their own behalf.
The person who makes a customs declaration shall
be referred to hereafter as the 'declarant'.
                                                                                        Article 5
                       Article 3                               Persons who have committed serious or repeated
                                                               offences against customs, fiscal or economic
                                                               legislation may be excluded from the right to declare
 1.    The declarant    may     establish  the   customs
                                                                on behalf of another person.
 declaration:
 (a) in his own name and on his own behalf; or,
                                                                                        Article 6
 (b) in his own name but on behalf of another
     person; or,
                                                                1.      The General Customs Regulation Committee
(c) in the name and on behalf of another person.               provided for in Article 25 of the Council Directive of
                                                               . . . o n the harmonization of procedures for the release
 2.    When the customs procedure to which the                 of goods for free circulation may examine any
 customs declaration relates involves the personal             question relating to the application of this
commitment of the person concerned to fulfil a                  Regulation submitted to it by its chairman either on
 particular obligation, or when acceptance of the               his own initiative or at the request of the
 customs declaration requires the production of an              representative of a Member State.
 authorization or any other document established on a
 nominative basis, only the person bound to carry out          2.       The provisions necessary for the application of
 the obligation in question or in whose name the               Articles 3 to 5 shall be adopted in accordance with
 authorization or necessary document has been                  the procedure laid down in Article 27 (2) and (3) of
established may establish the declaration in his own           the said Directive.
 name and on his own behalf.
3.     Where the declarant acts in accordance with                                      Article 7
 paragraph 1 (b) or (c) this should be stated on the
 customs declaration. Where they consider it necessary         This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
 the customs authorities may require the declarant to           1980.
provide evidence of the accuracy of any such
 statement and to give particulars of the precise legal        It shall be binding in its entirety and          directly
 capacity in which he is acting.                                applicable in all Member States.