CELEX: 51982PC0861
Language: en
Date: 1983-01-10
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON THE SECURITY TO BE GIVEN TO ENSURE OF A CUSTOMS DEBT

4. 2. 83                         Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 30/11
constituted in accordance with the laws in force in                                   Article 14
the Member States who are responsible for the
project or the descriptive analysis.                          A list of the measures for which Community aid has
                                                              been granted shall be published each year in the
                                                               Official Journal of the European Communities.
If the creation of a legal entity for the purpose of
carrying out a project will involve additional costs for                                Article 15
the participating undertakings, the project may be            1.     An Advisory Committee consisting of represen-
carried out simply by cooperation between natural or          tatives of the Member States and chaired by a
legal persons. In that case, the liability for the            Commission representative is hereby set up.
obligations resulting from Community support shall
be specified in the contract.                                 2.     The work        of    the   Committee   shall  be
                                                              confidential.
                                                              3.     The Committee shall adopt rules of procedure.
                                                                                        Article 16
                        Article 13
                                                              The Commission shall submit an annual report on the
The Commission shall negotiate and conclude the               implementation of the Regulation to the European
necessary contracts.                                          Parliament and to the Council.
                                                                                        Article 17
The person in receipt of Community support shall
                                                              This Regulation shall into force on the day following
send to the Commission, each year or at its request, a
                                                              its publication in the Official Journal of the European
report on the fulfilment of the contractual obligations
                                                               Communities.
towards the Commission and, in particular, the
progress of work on the project and the expenditure           This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
incurred in carrying it out.                                  directly applicable in all Member States.
              Proposal for a Council Regulation on the security to be given to ensure payment of a
                                                     customs debt
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 14 January 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                   traders, irrespective of the Member State in which
COMMUNITIES,                                                  they are situated, be subject to the same rules in
                                                              regard inter alia to the manner in which such security
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                  may be given, the calculation on the amount thereof
European Econimic Community, and in particular                and the use to which it is put; whereas it is
Articles 43 and 235 thereof,                                  accordingly necessary to adopt provisions on this
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,            matter at Community level;
Having regard to the opinion of the European                  Whereas, where security is required, it must be given
Parliament,                                                   by the person by whom the customs debt has been or
                                                              may be incurred; whereas no security should be
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and              required where that person is a public authority since
Social Committee,                                             there is no risk of failure to pay the amount of the
                                                              customs debt involved; whereas the cost involved in
Whereas certain provisions of the customs rules
                                                              the provision of security, both for traders and for the
stipulate that the customs authorities are either
                                                              competent authorities, may be disproportionate to the
obliged or entitled to require security to be given to
                                                              real risk of non-payment of the customs debt where
ensure payment of a customs debt which has been or
                                                              the amount of the latter does not exceed a certain
may be incurred;
                                                              limit; whereas the competent authorities must
Whereas, since the giving of security involves sub-           therefore have the right to waive security for customs
stantial expense, it is important that all Community          debts below that limit;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 30/12                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             4.2.83
Whereas, for the sake of simplification, it should be         Whereas, where a secured customs debt is not
made possible to give comprehensive security                  discharged by the prescribed time limit, the necessary
covering a number of operations in respect of which a         measures must be taken immediately for the debt to
customs debt will or may be incurred;                         be paid by means of the security; whereas the security
                                                              must, however, be released immediately once the
                                                              customs debt to which it relates is extinguished or can
Whereas, where the requirement of security is                 no longer arise; whereas it must be made possible for
optional, such security should be required only in so         part of the security to be released having regard to
far as the customs debt is not certain to be paid by          any reduction in the amount of the secured customs
the prescribed time limit; whereas provision must,            debt;
however, be made for such optional security to be
required at any time if the competent authorities
                                                              Whereas, for simplicity's sake, the rules for securing
consider it necessary;
                                                              import duties and export duties must also be applied
                                                              where security is given to ensure payment of charges
Whereas, where the requirement of security is                 resulting from the implementation of the common
compulsory, the amount thereof must be equal to the           agricultural policy imposed on goods satisfying the
amount of the customs debt established or estimated           conditions laid down in Articles 9 and 10 (1) of the
by the competent authorities; whereas, where the              Treaty traded within the Community;
requirement of security is optional, the maximum
amount thereof must not exceed the amount of the
                                                              Whereas the rules governing security contained in
customs debt that may, in fact, be at stake;
                                                              certain international conventions remain unaffected
                                                              by the application of Community rules on the subject;
Whereas the types of security most effective for              whereas the same is true of the Community transit
ensuring payment of a customs debt are a cash                 procedure in so far as that procedure is applicable,
deposit or its equivalent, the provision of a guarantor,      under the terms of agreements reached with
or the pledging of securities issued in the Member            Switzerland and Austria, to goods moving between
State in which the security is required, or guaranteed        two points in the customs territory of the Community
by that State; whereas the persons concerned must be          across the territory of those two non-member
free to choose between those three types of security;         countries;
whereas the competent authorities must nevertheless
have the right to refuse the type of security proposed
where it is incompatible with the customs procedure           Whereas it is necessary to repeal or amend such
through the use of which the customs debt in                  provisions relating to security as are already
question will be or may be incurred; whereas those            contained in Community legislation which conflict
authorities must also have the right to refuse the            with those in this Regulation;
proposed security where they consider that it does
not ensure payment of the customs debt in question
                                                              Whereas this Regulation concerns the security to be
within the time limit laid down; whereas in
                                                              provided to ensure payment of import duties and
exceptional circumstances, on the other hand, those
                                                              export duties, whether they result from the
authorities must have the right to accept types of
                                                              implementation of the common agricultural policy or
security other than one of the three referred to above
                                                              from the implementation of the provisions of the
where they provide equivalent assurance that the
                                                              Treaty relating to the customs union; whereas, so far
customs debt will be paid;
                                                              as the latter subject is concerned, the provisions of
                                                              the Treaty do not empower the Community
Whereas, for such time as they represent a security,          institutions to adopt mandatory provisions on
cash deposits must not be regarded as constituting            securities to ensure payment of import duties or
import duties or export duties which have already             export duties; whereas it accordingly appears
been collected; whereas they do not correspond to             necessary to base this Regulation additionally on
claims duly established within the meaning of Article         Article 235 of the Treaty,
2 of Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No
2891/77 of 19 December 1977 implementing the
Decision of 21 April 1970 on the replacement of
financial contributions from Member States by the
Communities' own resources ('); whereas they should
therefore not be entered in the accounts as such              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
duties;
                                                                                      Article 1
                                                               1.   This Regulation lays down the rules governing
 (') OJ No L 336, 27. 12. 1977, p. 1.                         the security to be given, in accordance with customs
 ---pagebreak---  4.2.83                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 30/13
 rules, to ensure, in whole or in part, payment of a          be required only in so far as a customs debt which
 customs debt.                                                has been or may be incurred is not certain to be paid
                                                              within the prescribed time limit.
 2.    For the purposes of this Regulation:
                                                              Where the security referred to in the preceding
 (a) customs rules means all the customs and agri-            subparagraph is not required, the competent authority
     cultural provisions relating to the import, export,      may nevertheless ask the person referred to in Article
     transit and storage of goods traded between              2 (1) for an undertaking setting out the obligations
     Member States and between the latter and non-            which this person is legally obliged to fulfil.
     member countries, whether they be Community
     provisions or national provisions adopted in             2.     The security referred to in the first subpara-
     implementation thereof;                                  graph of paragraph 1 may be required:
 (b) customs debt means the obligation on a natural or        — at the time of application of the rules which make
     legal person to pay the amount of the import                 provision for requiring such security to be given,
     duties (customs debt on importation) or export               or
     duties (customs debt on exportation) which apply         — at any subsequent time when the competent
     under the provisions in force to goods liable to             authority finds that the customs debt which has
     such duties;                                                 been or may be incurred is not certain to be paid
 (c) import duties means customs duties and charges               by the prescribed time limit.
     having equivalent effect, and agricultural levies
     and other import charges laid down under the                                     Article 4
     common agricultural policy or under the specific
     arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting       A comprehensive security may be given to cover one
     from the processing of agricultural products;            or more operations in respect of which a customs
                                                              debt has been or may be incurred.
 (d) export duties means agricultural levies and other
     export charges laid down under the common
     agricultural policy or under the specific                                        Article 5
     arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting       Where customs rules make it compulsory to give
     from the processing of agricultural products;            security, the amount of the security shall be fixed by
(e) competent      authority    means     any   authority     the competent authority at a level equal to:
     competent to apply customs rules within the              — the exact amount of the customs debt or debts to
     meaning of subparagraph (a), even if that                    be secured, where that amount can be established
     authority    is not       part   of    the  customs          with certainty at the time when the security is
     administration.                                              required,
                                                              — the maximum amount, as estimated by the
                                                                  competent authority, of the customs debt or debts
                                                                  which have been or may be incurred in other
                          TITLE I
                                                                  cases, particularly if the security is required to
                 Requirement of security                          cover a number of operations to be carried out
                                                                  during a given period.
                         Article 2
 1.    Where, pursuant to customs rules, the                                          Article 6
competent authority requires security to be given to          Where customs rules provide that the security is
ensure payment of a customs debt, such security shall         optional, and the customs authorities require it to be
be given by the person by whom that debt has been             given, the amount of the security shall be fixed by the
or may be incurred.                                           competent authority so as not to exceed the level
                                                              provided for in Article 5.
2.     No security shall be required where the person
by whom a customs debt has been or may be incurred
is a public authority.                                                                TITLE II
3.     The competent authority may waive the                                     Giving of security
requirement for provision of security where the
amount of the customs debt in question does not                                       Article 7
exceed 100 ECU.
                                                              Subject to the second subparagraph of Article 10 (1),
                                                              security may be given by:
                         Article 3                            — making a cash deposit,
1.    Where customs rules provide that the                    — a guarantor,
requirement of security is optional, such security shall          or
 ---pagebreak--- No C 30/14                          Official Journal of the European Communities                              4.2.83
— pledging securities which are negotiable in the           and the first      subparagraph     of   Article   8   (1)
    Member State in which the security is required          respectively.
    and which are issued or guaranteed by that State.
                                                            3.     The types of security which may be accepted
                                                            pursuant to paragraph 2 shall be determined in
                                                            accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
                        Article 8                           15.
1.    A cash deposit shall be made in the currency of
                                                                                    Article 11
the Member State in which the security is required.
The following shall be deemed equivalent to a cash          The competent authority may refuse the security
deposit:                                                    proposed where it does not appear to it certain to
                                                            ensure payment of the customs debt by the prescribed
— submission of a cheque the payment of which is
                                                            time limit.
    guaranteed by the institution on which it is drawn
    in any manner acceptable to the competent                                       Article 12
    authority;
— submission of any other instrument recognized by          Where the competent authority establishes that the
    the competent authority as a means of payment.          security given does not ensure, or is no longer certain
                                                            or sufficient to ensure, payment of the customs debt
2.    Security in the form of a cash deposit or             by the prescribed time limit, it shall require the person
payment deemed equivalent to a cash deposit shall be        referred to in Article 2 (1), at his option, to give
given in accordance with the provisions in force in         additional security or to replace the original security
the Member State in which the security is required.         with a new security.
3.    For such time as they are used to secure a
customs debt, sums constituting a cash deposit shall
not be entered in the accounts by the competent                                     TITLE III
authority as import or export duties.
                                                                               Use of the security
                                                                                   Article 13
                        Article 9
                                                            1.    Where the whole customs debt in respect of
1.    The guarantor shall undertake jointly and             which security was given is not discharged by the
severally with the debtor to pay the secured amount         prescribed time limit, the competent authority shall
of a customs debt which falls to be paid. The               initiate forthwith such procedures as are necessary to
guarantor must have his normal residence or an              ensure actual payment of the amount due by means
establishment in the Member State in which the              of the security which has been given.
security is given and must be approved by the
                                                            The security may not be released until such time as
competent authority of that Member State.
                                                            the customs debt in respect of which it was given is
2.    The guarantor and the person required to give         extinguished or can no longer arise. Once that
security may not secure each other's customs debts.         situation is attained, the security shall be released
                                                            forthwith.
                                                            2.     Once the customs debt has been extinguished in
                       Article 10                           part or may arise only in respect of part of the
1.    The person required to give security shall be         amount which has been secured, part of the security
free to choose between the types of security laid           shall be released accordingly at the request of the
down in Article 7.                                          person concerned, unless the amount involved does
                                                            not justify such action.
However, the competent authority may refuse to
accept the type of security proposed where it is
incompatible with the proper functioning of the
customs procedure concerned.                                                       TITLE IV
2.    The competent authority may, where circum-                                Final provisions
stances justify and where the provisions in force so
allow, accept types of security other than those                                   Article 14
referred to in Article 7 where they provide equivalent      This Regulation shall apply in cases where security is
assurance that the customs debt will be paid.               given to ensure payment of charges resulting from the
It may, subject to the same conditions, accept a cash       implementation of the common agricultural policy,
deposit or the submission of securities or instruments      imposed on goods satisfying the conditions laid down
notwithstanding that they do not comply with the            in Articles 9 and 10 (1) of the Treaty and traded
conditions laid down in the third indent of Article 7       within the Community.
 ---pagebreak---  4.2.83                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 30/15
                           Article 15                               down in this Directive, grant him deferment of
                                                                    payment of the import duties or export duties for
  1.     The Committee on General Customs rules                     which he is liable.'
 provided for in Article 24 of Council Directive
 79/695/EEC of 24 July 1979 on the harmonization                 3. Council Directive 79/695/EEC of 24 July 1979 on
 of procedures for the release of goods for free circu-             the harmonization of procedures for the release of
 lation (') may consider any matter concerning the                  goods for free circulation (*)
 application of this Regulation which is raised by its              The text of Article 18 (3) and Article 19 (7) is
 chairman either on his own initiative or at the request
                                                                    replaced by the following:
 of a Member State.
                                                                    'The competent authorities may make the granting
 2.      The provisions required for the implementation             of the facilities provided for in this Article
 of this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance                  conditional upon the giving of security.'
 with the procedure laid down in Article 26 (2) and
 (3) of Directive 79/695/EEC.                                    4. Council Regulation (EEC) No 1224/80 of 28 May
                                                                     1980 on the valuation of goods for customs
                           Article 16                               purposes (')
 The provisions of this Regulation shall apply without              Article 11 is replaced by the following:
 prejudice to such special provisions as are applicable              Article 11
 to security pursuant to:
                                                                    If, in the course of determining the customs value
 — international conventions,                                       of imported goods, it becomes necessary to delay
 — Council Regulation (EEC) No 222/77 of 13                         the final determination of such value, the importer
       December 1976 on Community transit (2).                      may, at his request, obtain the release of the goods
                                                                    in question on condition that he provides sufficient
                           Article 17                               security in the form of a guarantee, a deposit or
                                                                    some other appropriate instrument to cover the
 The following provisions are hereby repealed or                    difference between the amount of the customs
 amended as indicated:                                              duties for which the goods may ultimately be liable
 1. Council Directive 69/73/EEC of 4 March 1969 on                  and that resulting from the information contained
     the harmonization of provisions laid down by law,              in the declaration.'
     regulation or administrative action in respect of
     inward processing (3)
                                                                                         Article 18
     Article 3 (3) is replaced by the following:
     '3.     Where paragraph 1 (a) of this Article               Each Member State shall inform the Commission of
     applies, the competent authorities may require             the measures it adopts for the purpose of
     security to be given.'                                     implementing this Regulation.
 2. Council Directive 78/453/EEC of 22 May 1978 on              The Commission shall communicate this information
     the harmonization of provisions laid down by law,          to the other Member States.
     regulation or administrative action concerning
     deferred payment of import duties or export duties (4)
                                                                                         Article 19
     Article 2 is replaced by the following:
      'Article 2                                                This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1984.
     Subject to the applicant giving security, the              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
     competent authorities shall, on the conditions laid        directly applicable in all Member States.
(*) OJ No L 205, 13. 8. 1979, p. 19.
(*) OJ No L 38, 9. 2. 1977, p. 1.
(J) OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 1.                               (*) OJ No L 205, 13. 8. 1979, p. 19.
(4) OJ No L 146, 2. 6. 1978, p. 19.                             (*) OJ No L 134, 31. 5. 1980, p. 1.