CELEX: 51992PC0544
Language: en
Date: 1992-12-21
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) replacing Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs or agricultural matters

26 . 2 . 93                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                      No C 56 / 1
                                                                         II
                                                               (Preparatory Acts)
                                                          COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) replacing Regulation (EEC) No 1468/ 81 on mutual
               assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between
               the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs or
                                                              agricultural matters
                                                                 ( 93 / C 56 / 01
                                                              COM(92) 544 final
                                            (Submitted by the Commission on 23 December 1992)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                                    application of the Treaty and the provisions adopted by
                                                                              virtue thereof;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
 Economic Community , and in particular Articles 43 , 100a                    Whereas rules should therefore be drawn up whereby the
 and 113 thereof,                                                             Member States' administrative authorities assist each other
                                                                              and cooperate with the Commission in order to guarantee
                                                                              the proper application of customs or agricultural
 Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 729 / 70 of                     regulations, in particular by preventing and investigating
 21 April 1970 on the financing of the common agricultural                    breaches of these regulations and by investigating actions
 policy (*)> as last amended by Regulation (EEC )                             which are or appear contrary to those regulations; whereas
 No 2048 / 88 ( 2 ), and in particular Article 8 ( 3 ) thereof,               in    order  to  ensure      the   effectiveness and  uniform
                                                                              application of such a system , the rules should be laid
                                                                              down at Community level ;
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                              Whereas Council Regulation ( EEC) No 1468 / 81 of
                                                                              19 May 1981 on mutual assistance between the
 In cooperation with the European Parliament,                                 administrative authorities of the Member States and
                                                                              cooperation between the latter and the Commission to
                                                                              ensure the correct application of the law on customs or
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
 Committee,
                                                                              agricultural matters ( 3 ) established close cooperation
                                                                              between the said authorities and the Commission; whereas
                                                                             that system has proved effective;
Whereas the effectiveness of the customs union and the
 common agricultural policy, particularly in the light of the                Whereas, in the light of the changes brought about in the
 completion of the internal market, calls for close                          context of the internal market and in particular the
cooperation between the administrative authorities                           abolition of customs controls at internal Community
responsible in each Member State for the application of                      borders, it is nevertheless necessary, in the light of the
provisions adopted in those fields ; whereas it also calls for               experience gained, to amend the provisions of Regulation
appropriate cooperation between these national authorities                   ( EEC) No 1468 / 81 in order to strengthen the cooperation
and the Commission , which is responsible for ensuring the                   between the administrative authorities of the Member
                                                                             States responsible for the application of the provisions
(») OJ No L 94 , 28 . 4. 1970 , p . 13 .
( 2 ) OJ No L 185 , 15 . 7 . 1988 , p . 1 .                                  ( 3 ) OJ No L 144, 2 . 6 . 1981 , p. 1 .
 ---pagebreak---   No C 56 / 2                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 26 . 2 . 93
  adopted in the field of customs union and the common                  Whereas the powers of national representatives conducting
  agricultural policy ; whereas in view of the scale of these          enquiries in other Member States should be defined;
  changes, Regulation ( EEC ) No 1468 / 81 should be                   whereas provision should also be made for Commission
  replaced ;                                                           representatives to be associated , where necessary, with
                                                                       national enquiries, and their powers defined;
  Whereas the introduction of Community provisions on
  mutual assistance between Member States' administrations
                                                                       Whereas in order to ensure the effectiveness of the system,
  and their cooperation with the Commission in order to                findings established and information obtained in other
  guarantee the proper application of customs or                       Member States or in third countries in the course of an
  agricultural regulations is without prejudice to the                 investigation carried out under the mutual administrative
  application of the 1967 Convention for mutual assistance             assistance arrangements must not be accorded lesser
  between customs administrations in fields which remain
                                                                       weight simply because they do not come from the Member
  the sole province of the Member States; whereas these                State concerned ;
  common provisions are not such as to affect the
  application in the Member States of rules on judicial
  cooperation in criminal cases;                                       Whereas it is necessary for the functioning of the
                                                                       administrative cooperation that relations with third
  Whereas furthermore the general Community rules                      countries be established and that means of action are
  establishing a system of mutual assistance and cooperation           provided for the Community;
  among the administrative authorities of the Member States
  and between them and the Commission do not apply
  where they overlap with those laid down by specific                  Whereas, with a view to securing the rapid and systematic
  regulations, save where the general rules reinforce or               exchange of information forwarded to the Commission,
  improve administrative cooperation; whereas in particular,           there is a need for a special computer network; whereas
  the implementation of the customs information system in              sensitive data concerning frauds and irregularities in the
  no way affects the Member States' obligations to provide             customs and agricultural domains should be stored in a
  information to the Commission , inter alia pursuant                  central database and accessible to the Member States ,
  to Regulations (EEC ) No 1552 / 89 (») and ( EEC )                   though care should be taken to respect the confidential
  No 595 / 91 ( 2 ), or the established use of fraud information       nature of the information exchanged, and in particular
  sheets to circulate information of Community interest;               data of a personal nature; whereas, given the justifiable
                                                                       sensitivity of the issue, there should be clear and
                                                                      transparent rules to protect the freedom of the
 Whereas greater cooperation between the Member States                 individual ;
  requires the coordination of enquiries and other activities
 carried out by the bodies concerned; whereas it is therefore
 essential that the Commission should be given more                   Whereas Council Directive .../.. ./ EEC of ... on the
 detailed information concerning such activities by the               protection of individuals with regard to the processing of
 Member States ;                                                      personal data and on the free movements of such data
                                                                      applies to all processing of personal data , computerized or
 Whereas the Commission must ensure that all economic
                                                                      otherwise, undertaken in the course of activities coming
                                                                      within the scope of Community law; whereas the Directive
 operators are treated equally and that the application by
 the Member States of the mutual administrative assistance
                                                                      will be applicable to exchanges of information under the
                                                                      mutual administrative assistance arrangements; whereas
 system does not lead to discrimination between economic              reference should therefore be made to the Directive and
 operators in different Member States;
                                                                      the national provisions implementing it; whereas this
                                                                      Regulation should give effect, within its scope, to the
 Whereas it is appropriate to define the Member States'               principles of protection of individuals with regard to the
 obligations under the mutual administrative assistance               processing of their personal data;
 system in respect of cases in which representatives of the
 Member States' national administrations conduct enquiries
 concerning the application of customs or agricultural                Whereas the Commission , in close cooperation with the
 legislation with a mandate from, or under the authority of           Member States, should facilitate the installation and
 the legal authorities;                                               management of computer systems in the Member States ;
Whereas national rules concerning criminal proceedings                Whereas the Commission should be notified of legal or
 are not affected by this Regulation; whereas the                     administrative proceedings brought for infringements of
implementation of such national rules should not have the             the law on customs or agricultural matters ;
effect of delaying or hindering the application of mutual
administrative assistance; whereas measures must therefore
be taken to secure the latter;                                        Whereas customs administrations must in the course
                                                                      of their daily work apply both Community and
(>) OJ No L 155 , 7 . 6 . 1989 , p . 1 .                              non-Community provisions; whereas there is consequendy
( 2 ) OJ No L 67 , 14 . 3 . 1991 , p . 11 .                           a need to ensure that the provisions on mutual
 ---pagebreak--- 26 . 2 . 93                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 56 / 3
administrative assistance, be it in the context of the                 — 'personal data' shall mean the data defined in
Community or otherwise , evolve as far as possible in                      Article 2 ( a) of Directive       ./ EEC .
parallel , in particular where new methods of exchanging
or storing data on frauds and irregularities are                       2.     Each Member State shall transmit to the other
concerned,
                                                                       Member States and the Commission a list of the competent
                                                                       authorities it has appointed for the purposes of applying
                                                                       this Regulation .
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                                                       For the purposes of this Regulation 'competent authorities'
                                                                       shall mean the authorities appointed in accordance with
                           Article 1                                   the preceding subparagraph .
1.      This Regulation lays down the ways in which the
administrative authorities responsible in the Member                                              Article 3
States for the application of customs and agricultural
legislation shall cooperate with those in the other Member
States and with the Commission in order to ensure                      Where national authorities decide, in response to a request
                                                                       for administrative assistance or a communication based on
compliance with such legislation .
                                                                       this Regulation from another Member State or the
                                                                       Commission , to initiate a legal enquiry or take action
2.      Where specific regulations provide for mutual                  involving measures coming under national criminal law
assistance     between    Member      States'      administrative
                                                                       any information thus obtained concerning the application
authorities    and between those authorities and the
                                                                       of customs and agricultural legislation, or at least that part
Commission, this Regulation shall not apply unless it                  of the file required to put a stop to a fraudulent practice,
improves or reinforces administrative cooperation.                     shall be transmitted as part of the administrative
                                                                       cooperation provided for by this Regulation , save where
                                                                       the competent legal authorities, which must be consulted
                           Article 2                                   for this purpose in every case, oppose this.
1.      For the purposes of this Regulation:
— 'customs legislation' shall mean the body of
    Community        provisions      and       the     associated                                  TITLE I
    implementing provisions governing the import, export,
    transit and presence of goods traded between Member
    States and third countries, and between Member States                               ASSISTANCE ON REQUEST
    in the case of goods that do not have Community
    status within the meaning of Article 9 ( 2 ) otthe Treaty
    or goods subject to additional controls or
                                                                                                  Article 4
    investigations for the purposes of establishing their
    Community status,
                                                                       1.    At the request of the applicant authority, the
— 'agricultural legislation' shall mean the body of                   requested authority shall transmit to it any information
    provisions adopted under the common agricultural                  which may enable it to enforce the provisions of customs
    policy and the special rules adopted with regard to               or agricultural legislation , and in particular those
    goods resulting from the processing of agricultural               concerning:
    products ,
                                                                      — the application of customs duties and charges having
— 'applicant authority' shall mean the competent                           equivalent effect together with agricultural levies and
    authority of a Member State which makes a request for                  other charges provided for under the common
    assistance ,                                                           agricultural policy or the special arrangements
                                                                           applicable to certain goods resulting from the
— 'requested authority' shall mean the competent                           processing of agricultural products,
    authority of a Member State to which a request for
    assistance is made,
                                                                      — operations forming part of the system of financing by
— 'administrative enquiry' shall mean all controls, checks                 the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee
                                                                           Fund .
    and other action taken by the administrative
    authorities specified in Article 1 ( 1 ) in the performance
    of their duties with a view to ensuring the proper                2.     In order to obtain the information sought, the
    application of customs and agricultural legislation and ,         requested authority or the administrative authority which
    where necessary , bringing to light breaches of these             it has in turn addressed shall proceed as though acting on
    regulations, except action taken at the request of or             its own account or at the request of another authority in
    under a direct mandate from the legal authorities ,               its own country .
 ---pagebreak--- No C 56 / 4                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   26 . 2 . 93
                            Article 5                                to the applicant authority to constitute, breaches of
                                                                     customs or agricultural legislation .
 At the request of the applicant authority, the requested
 authority shall supply it with any attestation, document or         However, original documents and items shall be provided
 certified true copy of a document in its possession or              only where this is not contrary to the legislation in force in
 obtained in the manner referred to in Article 4 (2 ) and            the Member State in which the requested authority is
 which relates to operations covered by customs or                   based .
 agricultural legislation .
                                                                                               Article 9
                            Article 6
 1.     At the request of the applicant authority, the               1.    The requested authority shall at the request of the
 requested authority shall , while observing the rules in            applicant authority carry out , or arrange to have carried
 force in the Member State in which it is based, notify the          out, the appropriate administrative enquiries concerning
 addressee or have it notified of all instruments or decisions       operations which constitute, or appear to the applicant to
which emanate from the administrative authorities and               constitute, breaches of customs or agricultural legislation .
concern the application of customs or agricultural
legislation .                                                        The requested authority, or the administrative authority
                                                                     to which it has recourse , shall conduct administrative
2.      Requests for notification, mentioning the subject of        enquiries as though acting on its own account or on behalf
the act or decision to be transmitted, shall be accompanied          of another authority in its own country.
by a translation in the official language or an official
language of the Member State in which the requested                 The requested authority shall transmit the results of such
authority is based, without prejudice to the latter's right to      administrative enquiries to the applicant authority.
waive such a translation .
                                                                    2.     By agreement with the requested authority , officials
                                                                    appointed by the applicant authorities may be present at
                            Article 7                               the administrative enquiries referred to in paragraph 1 .
At the request of the applicant authority, the requested            Staff of the requested authority present at administrative
authority shall as far as possible keep a special watch or          enquiries in another Member State must at all times be
arrange for a special watch to be kept within its                   able to furnish proof of their official capacity. They shall
operational area :                                                  enjoy in the territory of the said Member State the
                                                                    protection accorded to staff of the requested authority in
( a ) on persons , and more particularly their movements,           accordance with national laws and regulations . They shall
      where there are reasonable grounds for believing
                                                                    be treated t in the same way as those officials as regards
      that they are breaching customs or agricultural               penal sanctions for offences committed against them or by
      legislation ;                                                 them .
(b) on places where goods are stored in a way that gives
      grounds to suspect that they are intended to supply           Administrative enquiries shall at all times be carried out by
      operations contrary to customs or agricultural                staff of the requested authority . The applicant authority's
      legislation;                                                  staff may not, of their own initiative, assume supervisory
                                                                    powers vested in the representatives of the requested
(c) on the movements of goods indicated as being the                authority ; they shall , however, have access to the same
      object of potential breaches of customs or agricultural       places and the same documents.
      legislation;
                                                                    In so far as national provisions on criminal proceedings
( d ) on means of transport, where there are reasonable             reserve certain acts to officials specifically designated by
      grounds for believing that they are being used to carry       national law , the applicant authority's staff shall not take
      out operations in breach of customs or agricultural
                                                                    part in such acts. In any event, they shall not participate
      legislation .                                                 in particular in searches of premises or the formal
                                                                    questioning of persons under national criminal law. They
                                                                    shall, however, have access to the information thus
                            Article 8                               obtained .
At the request of the applicant authority , the requested
authority shall make available any information in its                                         Article 10
possession or obtained in the circumstances described in
Article 4 ( 2), and particularly reports and othfer documents
or certified true copies or extracts thereof, concerning            By agreement with the requested authority and according
operations detected or planned which constitute, or appear          to the procedures laid down by it, officials duly authorized
 ---pagebreak--- 26 . 2 . 93                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 56 / 5
by the applicant authority may obtain, at government                  constitute , breaches of customs or agricultural legislation,
offices in the Member State in which the requested                    and in particular information concerning the goods
authority is based, information on the application of                 involved and new ways and means of carrying out such
customs or agricultural legislation needed by the applicant           operations .
authority and available in documentation accessible to the
 staff of those offices . These officials shall be authorized to
take copies of the said documentation .                                                          Article IS
                                                                      Information obtained by staff of one Member State and
                            Article 11                                transmitted to another Member State in the course of the
                                                                      spontaneous assistance provided for in Articles 12 to 13 of
Findings , certificates , information, documents , certified          this Regulation may be invoked by the competent bodies
true copies and any intelligence obtained by the staff of the         of the Member State receiving the information. In that
requested authority and transmitted to the applicant                  event it shall not be accorded lesser weight by virtue solely
 authority in the course of the assistance provided for in            of the fact that it does not come from staff of the recipient
                                                                      Member State .
Articles 4 to 10 of this Regulation may be invoked by the
competent body of the applicant authority . In that event
they shall not be accorded lesser weight by virtue solely of
the fact that they do not come from staff of the applicant
 authority.
                                                                                                 TITLE III
                                                                                  RELATIONS WITH THE COMMISSION
                             TITLE II
                                                                                                 Article 16
                 SPONTANEOUS ASSISTANCE
                                                                      1.     The competent authorities of each Member State
                                                                      shall transmit to the Commission as soon as it is available
                                                                     to them :
                            Article 12
                                                                      ( a) any information they consider relevant concerning:
The competent authorities of each Member State shall , as                  — goods which have been or are suspected of having
laid down in Articles 13 and 14 of this Regulation ,                           been the object of breaches of customs or
provide assistance to the competent authorities of the                         agricultural legislation,
other Member States without prior request .
                                                                           — methods or practices used or suspected of having
                                                                               been used to breach customs or agricultural
                                                                               legislation ,
                            Article 13
                                                                           — requests for assistance , action taken and
                                                                               information exchanged in application of Articles 4
Where they consider it serves the enforcement of customs                       to 15 of this Regulation;
or agricultural legislation, each Member State's competent
authorities shall :
                                                                     (b) any information on flaws or gaps in the customs or
                                                                           agricultural legislation that become apparent or may
( a) as far as is possible keep , or have kept, the special                be deduced from the application of that legislation.
      watch described in Article 7 of this Regulation ;
(b) transmit to the competent authorities of the other               2.      The Commission shall transmit to the competent
      Member States concerned all information in their               authorities in each Member State, as soon as it becomes
      possession , and in particular reports and other               available, any information that would help them to
      documents or certified true copies or extracts thereof,        enforce customs or agricultural legislation.
      concerning operations which constitute , or appear
      to them to constitute , breaches of customs or
      agricultural legislation .                                                                Article 17
                                                                      1.    Where a Member State's competent authorities
                            Article 14
                                                                     become aware of operations which constitute, or appear to
                                                                     constitute, breaches of customs or agricultural legislation
                                                                     that are of particular relevance at Community level , and
The competent authorities of each Member State shall                 especially :
immediately send to the competent authorities of the other
Member States all relevant information concerning                    — where they have, or might have, ramifications in other
operations which constitute , or appear to them to                        Member States, or
 ---pagebreak--- No C 56 / 6                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  26 . 2. 93
— where it appears likely to the above authorities that                  required to put an end to practices found to be in
    similar operations have also been carried out in other               breach of customs or agricultural legislation and,
    Member States,                                                       where necessary , suggest amendments to existing
                                                                         Community provisions or the drafting of new ones,
they shall transmit to the Commission as soon as possible,
either on their own initiative or in response to a reasoned          — prepare joint enquiries coordinated by the Commission
request from the Commission, any relevant information ,                  to be carried out in application of this Regulation,
be it in the form of documents or certified true copies or
extracts thereof, needed to determine the facts in order             — examine measures taken to safeguard the
that the Commission might coordinate the steps taken by                  confidentiality of information , in particular personal
the Member States .                                                      data, exchanged under this Regulation, other than that
                                                                         provided for in Title V.
The Commission shall pass this information on to the
competent authorities of the other Member States.
2.      Where a Member State's competent authorities
invoke paragraph 1 , they need not transmit information as                                       TITLE IV
provided in Article 13 (b ) and Article 14 of this Regulation
to their counterparts in the other Member State
concerned .                                                                     RELATIONS WITH THIRD COUNTRIES
3.      In response to a reasoned request from the
Commission, the Member States' competent authorities                                             Article 19
shall act in the manner laid down in Articles 4 to 8 of this
Regulation .
                                                                     1.     Provided the third country concerned has given a
4.      Where the Commission considers that operations               legal undertaking to provide the assistance required to
constitute or appear to constitute breaches of customs or            gather proof of the irregular nature of operations which
agricultural legislation , it shall inform the Member State          appear to be contrary to customs or agricultural legislation
or States concerned, which shall as soon as possible carry           or to determine the scope of operations which have been
out an enquiry, with which Commission staff may be                   found to be contrary to that legislation , information
associated . They shall participate, once the Member State           obtained under this Regulation may be transmitted to that
or States concerned have been informed, on the conditions            third country , subject to the agreement of the competent
laid down in the second and third subparagraphs of                   authorities of the Member State or the Commission , as the
Article 9 ( 2 ) of this Regulation .                                 case may be, supplying the information in accordance with
                                                                     national provisions implementing Directive .../.. ./ EEC ,
The Member State concerned shall notify the Commission
                                                                     and in particular Chapter IV thereof, or the corresponding
                                                                     provisions applying to the Commission, and if necessary
of the conclusions reached by this enquiry.
                                                                     subject to the agreement of the person concerned, in so far
                                                                     as this does not jeopardize the successful outcome of the
5.      Representatives of the Commission may collect the            enquiry .
information specified in Article 10 of this Regulation on
the conditions laid down in that Article .
                                                                     The information may be transmitted by the Commission ,
6.      This Article is without prejudice to the                     which shall then take appropriate steps to ensure a
Commission's right to information and scrutiny by virtue             degree of protection equivalent to that laid down by
of other legislation in force.                                       Article 40 ( 1 ) of "this Regulation.
                           Article 18                                                            Article 20
The Commission shall organize meetings with the                      1.    The Commission is authorized to start negotiations
representatives of the Member States, at which they                  with third countries for the conclusion of agreements
shall :                                                              establishing a system of administrative cooperation and
                                                                     investigation in order to obtain and to communicate the
— examine the general working of the mutual assistance               necessary information for the application of this regulation
    arrangements provided for in this Regulation,                    under the conditions established in Article 19 and on
                                                                     condition that the third countries have taken the legal
— make       practical    provisions    for  forwarding    the       steps to do so .
    information referred to in Articles 16 and 17 of this
    Regulation,
                                                                     2.    In pursuit of the objectives of this Regulation , the
— examine information sent to the Commission pursuant                Commission may, on the conditions laid down in
    to Articles 16 and 17 of this Regulation to see if               Article 19 of this Regulation, conduct Community
    anything can be learnt from it, decide on the measures           administrative and investigative missions in third countries
 ---pagebreak--- 26 . 2 . 93                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 56 / 7
in coordination and close cooperation with the competent                                       TITLE V
authorities of the Member States .
                                                                                CUSTOMS INFORMATION SYSTEM
3.      The Community missions to third countries referred
to in paragraph 1 shall be governed by the following
conditions :                                                                  Establishment of a computerized system
( a ) they may be undertaken at the Commission's initiative                                   Article 23
      or at he request of one or more Member States ;
                                                                   1 . A computerized information system shall be set up .
(b ) the shall be carried out by Commission                        It shall serve for data-processing designed to help prevent,
      representatives appointed for that purpose and by            investigate and prosecute breaches of customs and
      officials appointed for that purpose by the Member           agricultural legislation , excluding operations financed by
      State or Member States concerned ;                           the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,
                                                                   by speeding up the dissemination of information and
(c) they may also , by agreement with the Commission               intelligence in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the
      and the other Member States concerned, be carried            cooperation and control procedures used by the competent
      out on behalf of the Community by officials of a             authorities referred to in this Regulation .
      Member State, in particular under a bilateral
      assistance agreement; in that event the Commission           2.     The system referred to in paragraph 1 , hereinafter
      shall be informed of the results of the mission;             referred to as the 'customs information system' (CIS), shall
                                                                   consist of a central database accessible via terminals in
                                                                   each Member State and at the Commission .
 (d) mission expenses shall be paid by the Commission .
                                                                   3.     Without prejudice to the provisions of Directive
4.      The Commission shall inform the Member States of           .../.. ./ EEC the provisions of the present title do not
the results of missions carried out pursuant to this               apply to Articles 16 and 17 of this Regulation.
Article .
                                                                                              Article 24
                           Article 21
                                                                   In accordance with its function, the CIS database shall
                                                                   contain data in the following categories:
 1.     The findings and information obtained in the course
 of the Community missions referred to in Article 20 of this         (i) goods;
 Regulation , and in particular documents passed on by the
                                                                    (ii ) means of transport ;
competent authorities of the third countries concerned,
shall be handled in accordance with Article 40 of this             (iii ) businesses;
 Regulation .
                                                                   (iv) persons;
2.      Such findings and information may not be accorded           (v) trends in fraud ;
 lesser weight by virtue solely of the fact that they do not       (vi) availability of expertise .
 come from staff of the Member State using them in the
 course of administrative or legal action or proceedings
 brought for breaches of customs or agricultural legislation,
 or because they have been obtained outside the                                               Article 25
 Community .
                                                                   1.     Data in categories ( i) to (iv) of Article 24 of this
                                                                   Regulation shall be included in the customs information
 3.     For such purposes , original documents obtained, or        system for the purposes of applying customs or
 certified true copies thereof, shall be forwarded by the          agricultural legislation , excluding operations financed by
 Commission to the competent authorities of the Member             the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,
 States if they so request .                                       including, in special circumstances, for requirements of
                                                                   tracking and identification, discreet surveillance or specific
                                                                   checks .
                           Article 22
                                                                   2.     Information and intelligence shall comprise only
                                                                   such data , including personal data , as are necessary to
The Member States shall notify the Commission of                   achieve the end in view , as referred to in paragraph 1 .
 information exchanged with third countries wherever
relevant to the implementation of this Regulation or the           3.     For the purposes of requirements described in
effectiveness of customs or agricultural legislation .             paragraph 1 , personal data within any of the categories (i )
 ---pagebreak---  No C 56 / 8                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    26 . 2 . 93
 to (iv ) of Article 24 of this Regulation may be included in          4.     The Commission shall determine, and shall publish
 the customs information system only if, essentially on the            in the Official Journal of the European Communities, the
 basis of previous offences, there are real grounds for                list of third countries and international or regional
 suspecting that the person in question has committed, is              organizations which may be linked to the customs
 committing or is about to commit offences against customs             information system for the purposes referred to in
 or agricultural legislation.                                          Article 27, taking into account inter alia existing bilateral
                                                                       arrangements and the opinion of the group of supervisory
                                                                       authorities referred to in Article 36 of this Regulation
                                                                       regarding the level of protection to be enjoyed by
                       Operation and use                               individuals with respect to the processing of personal
                                                                      data .
                            Article 26
                                                                                                 Article 27
 1.      The customs information system shall be managed
 jointly by the Commission and the Member States . For                The Commission shall determine the items to be included
 that purpose the Commission shall organize meetings with             in the customs information system relating to each of the
 the representatives of the Member States, at which they              categories ( i) to (vi) of Article 24 to the extent that this is
 shall :
                                                                      necessary to fulfil the aim of the system . No items of
                                                                      personal data may be included in categories (v) and (vi).
 — examine the management and operation of the customs                Personal data entered under categories (i ) to (iv) of
     information system and all the measures required to              Article 24 shall comprise no more than the following
     ensure the security of the system ,                              information :
 — examine the necessity of storing information in the                ( a) the customs information system reference number;
     customs information system ,                                     (b ) name, maiden name, forenames and aliases ;
 — examine measures taken to safeguard the                            (c) date and place of birth ;
     confidentiality of information entered in the customs            (d) nationality;
     information system under this Regulation , particularly
     personal data , and to ensure compliance with the                (e) passport number;
     obligations incumbent on those responsible for                   ( f) identity card number;
     processing.
                                                                      (g) sex;
 The Member States and the Commission shall designate                 (h ) distinguishing features;
the staff who will have access to the customs information
service via the terminals in each Member State and at the
                                                                      ( i)  address ;
Commission .                                                          (j ) whether the Member State supplying the data has a
                                                                            photograph;
2.       Data in the customs information system shall be             (k) nature of the case ;
processed only by national authorities and Commission
departments competent to do so by virtue of their duties,            (1 ) intelligence on the goods , means of transport or
for the purposes of the objective set out in Article 23 and                 businesses which , directly or indirectly, identify an
                                                                            individual ,
to the ends specified in Article 25 ( 1 ).
                                                                     (m) grounds for the report;
3.       Each Member State shall inform the Commission of            (n) recommended course of action ;
the national authority responsible for managing the
customs information system.                                          (o) code warning that the person concerned has been
                                                                            known to carry a weapon , use violence or escape
                                                                            from custody;
Each Member State shall send the Commission a list of the
competent authorities authorized to have direct access to            (p) cross references to data in the customs information
the customs information system, specifying the data to                      system concerning persons, businesses, goods or
which each authority shall have access and why .                            means of transport associated with the suspect;
                                                                     (q) routing;
The Commission nominates the services responsible for                (r) customs offices notified;
the working and the use of the system stipulating the data
to which they shall have access and why. The Commission              (s) modus operandi;
shall inform the other Member States thereof.
                                                                     (t) details of the customs authorities to be contacted.
A list of national authorities and of the Commission                 In no circumstances whatsoever may the system include
services so nominated is published by the Commission in              the personal data listed in Article 8 ( 1 ) of Directive
the Official Journal of the European Communities.                    .../.. ./ EEC .
 ---pagebreak--- 26 . 2 . 93                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 56 / 9
                           Article 28                              Community institutions other than in the customs
                                                                   information system. Such data may be duplicated only for
1.      If activities  are   carried  out in the       special     technical reasons and on condition that such duplication is
circumstances referred to in Article 25 ( 1 ) of this              necessary to the enquiries being carried out by the
Regulation , all or part of the following intelligence may be      authorities designated by the Member States or the
                                                                   Commission .
gathered by the competent national authorities and
transmitted to the authority supplying the data :
( a) the fact that the goods , means of transport, business
     or person concerned have been located;                                            Amendment of data
(b ) the time and place of, and the reason for , the check;
                                                                                             Article 31
(c) the route and the destination of the journey;
(d) persons accompanying the individual in question or             1.     The Member States and the Commission respectively
     the occupants of the means of transport;                      shall be authorized to amend, supplement, correct or
                                                                   delete only such data as they have themselves entered in
(e ) the means of transport used ;                                 the customs information system .
( f) the objects carried ;
                                                                   2.     Where a Member State or the Commission finds that
(g) the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the             data it has entered is inaccurate or has been entered or
     product , means of transport , firm or person.
                                                                   stored in the system in breach of this Regulation or of
                                                                   national provisions implementing Directive .../.. ./ EEC
Where this type of intelligence has been gathered by               or corresponding provisions applicable to the Commission ,
discreet surveillance, steps should be taken to preserve the       it shall amend , supplement, correct or delete that data , as
secrecy of the operation.                                          appropriate, and shall notify the other Member States and
                                                                   the Commission accordingly .
2.      Where persons , means of transport and objects may
be inspected in the special circumstances referred to in           3.     Where a Member State or the Commission has
Article 25 ( 1 ) of this Regulation, this shall be done in         evidence to suggest that an item of data is inaccurate or
accordance with the laws , regulations and procedures of           has been entered or stored in the database in breach of this
the Member State in which the inspection takes place.              Regulation , it shall notify the Member State or the
Special checks not authorized by the law of a Member               Commission which entered it as soon as possible. That
State shall automatically be converted by that Member              Member State or the Commission shall , check the data
State into discreet surveillance .
                                                                   concerned and, if necessary , correct or delete the offending
                                                                   item without delay . The said Member State or the
                                                                   Commission shall notify the other Member States and the
                           Article 29                              Commission , as the case may be, of any correction or
                                                                   deletion .
 1.     Save where! this Regulation specifically provides
otherwise, the entry of data into the customs information          4.     Where a Member State or the Commission, on
system shall be governed by the laws, regulations and              entering data into the customs information system, notices
procedures implementing Directive No .../.. ./ EEC in              that its report conflicts with an earlier one in terms of the
the Member State making the entry and to the                       case or the action required, it shall immediately notify
corresponding provisions applicable to the Commission .            both the Member State responsible for the earlier report
                                                                   and the Commission . The Member States concerned and
2.      Save where this Regulation specifically provides           the Commission shall then attempt to resolve the
otherwise, the processing of data from the customs                 contradiction. In the event of disagreement the first report
information system , including the performance of any              will be retained but particulars of the new report which
operation covered by Article 25 of this Regulation and             are not inconsistent with it will be entered in the system.
mentioned by the Member State or Commission making
the entry, shall be governed by the laws, regulations and
procedures implementing Directive No .../.. ./ EEC in
the Member State making the entry and to the                                                Date storage
corresponding provisions applicable to the Commission.
                                                                                             Article 32
                           Article 30
                                                                   1 .. Data entered in the customs information system shall
                                                                   be kept in accordance with Article 6 (e) of Directive
Data transmitted by other Member States or by the                  .../.. ./ EEC and shall be reviewed at least once a year
Commission in accordance with the present title shall not          by the Member State which entered it or the Commission,
be further processed by the Member States or by                    as the case may be .
 ---pagebreak--- No C 56 / 10                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   26 . 2 . 93
2.     Without prejudice to Article 34 of this Regulation ,                  Security of the customs information system
data not stored by the Member State which entered it or
the Commission , as the case may be , shall immediately be                                      Article 35
transferred to that part of the customs information system
to which access is restricted under paragraph 4 .                   1.      The Commission and the Member States shall take
                                                                    all measures necessary , pursuant to Article 17 of Directive
3.     The Member States and the Commission shall                   .../.. ./ EEC , to preserve the security of the customs
automatically be notified a month in advance of the                 information system . They shall take , in particular, the
transfer of data stored in the customs information system           measures necessary to prevent any unauthorized reading,
in accordance with paragraph 2 above .                              copying , alteration or deletion of data in the course of
                                                                    transmission or transport of data-storage media .
4.     Data transferred under paragraph 2 shall continue to         Such measures shall be taken :
be stored in the customs information system for a period
of one year, but , without prejudice to Article 34 of this           ( i) in the case of customs information system terminals
Regulation , shall be accessible only by the persons                      on Commission premises or in the Member States , by
responsible for management referred to in Article 25 and                  the Commission or the competent authorities of the
the national supervisory authorities within the meaning of                Member States respectively;
Article 36 . During that period it may be consulted only to
check its accuracy or legality , after which it must be             (ii) in the case of the customs information system and of
deleted .                                                                 terminals on premises used for technical reasons or
                                                                          for the checks referred to in paragraph 2 , by the
                                                                          Commission or the Member States , as provided for in
                                                                          Article 24 .
                  Exercise of individual rights
                           Article 33
                                                                    2.     The department designated by the Commission and
                                                                    the competent authorities of the Member State referred to
                                                                    in Article 24 shall monitor interrogation of the customs
Where this Regulation does not specifically provide                 information system for the purpose of checking that
otherwise and in order to ensure the proper application             searches made were admissible and carried out by
of this Regulation's provisions on the protection of                authorized users . At least 1 % of all searches shall be
individuals with regard to the processing of personal               checked . A record of such checks shall be kept in the
data , the customs information system shall be regarded             system , used for that sole purpose by the department
in every Member State as national processing subject                designated by the Commission and the competent
to the national provisions implementing Directive                   authorities of the Member States referred to in Article 24 ,
.../.. ./ EEC .                                                     and deleted after six months .
                           Article 34                               Supervising the protection of individuals- with regard to the
                                                                                       processing of personal data
1.     The rights of individuals with regard to the                                             Article 36
processing of personal data in the customs information
system shall be exercised in accordance with the laws,
regulations or procedures of the Member State in which              1.     The independent national supervisory authorities
                                                                    referred to in Article 30 of Directive .../.. ./ EEC shall
such rights are invoked and corresponding measures for
the Commission .                                                    supervise the protection of individuals with regard to the
                                                                    processing of personal data . To that end they shall inter
                                                                    alia be empowered to have access to the customs
2.     A Member State receiving a request for access to             information system .
personal data may refuse access if communication would
be likely to prejudice the prevention , investigation or            2.     At the request of one of the national supervisory
prosecution of breaches of customs or agricultural                  authorities referred to in paragraph 1 , the Commission
legislation , excluding operations financed by the European         shall convene a meeting of the said authorities for the
Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund , as provided              purpose of examining any issues concerning the
for in Article 14 ( 1 ) of Directive .../.. ./ EEC .                supervision of the protection of individuals with regard to
                                                                    the processing of personal data in the customs information
Communication to the person concerned will be refused in            system .
every case throughout the period during which the data is
introduced with a view to the actions mentioned in                  These shall include supervision of operation of the
Article 25 ( 1 ).                                                   customs information system , the examination of any
                                                                    difficulties of application or interpretation which may arise
3.     Where a Member State requests access to personal             during its operation, the study of problems which may
data entered by another Member State or the Commission,             arise during the checks referred to in paragraph 1 or in the
such access shall be accorded only if that Member State or          exercise of the right of access to the database, and the
the Commission has had the opportunity to state its                 drafting of proposals aimed at finding common solutions
position .                                                          to such problems .
 ---pagebreak--- 26 . 2 . 93                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 56 / 11
3.      Reports drafted after the meetings referred to in                                    Article 40
paragraph 2 shall be sent to the authorities to which the
national supervisory authorities report .
                                                                   1.     Regardless of the form , any information transmitted
4.      Any person may, in accordance with the laws ,              pursuant to this Regulation shall be of a confidential
regulations and procedures of the Member State in                  nature , including the data stored in the customs
question , ask any national supervisory authority to check         information system referred to in Article 23 . It shall be
personal data concerning him in the customs information            covered by the obligation of professional secrecy and shall
system and the use that is being made or has been made             enjoy the protection extended to like information under
thereof, as provided for in Article 14 ( 2 ) of Directive          both the national law of the Member States receiving it
.../.. ./ EEC . Where this data has been entered by                and the corresponding provisions applicable to the
another Member State , or by the Commission it shall be            Community authorities.
verified according to the laws , regulations and procedures
of the Member State in question, or corresponding                  In particular, the information referred to in the first
provisions applicable to the Commission , in close                 subparagraph may not be sent to persons other than those
cooperation with the other Member State's national                 in the Member States or within the Community
supervisory authority .                                            institutions whose functions require them to know or use
                                                                   it . Nor may it be used for purposes other than those
                                                                   provided for in this Regulation , unless the Member State
         Publicizing the customs information system                or the Commission , which supplied it or entered it in the
                                                                   customs information system referred to in Article 23 has
                          Article 37                               expressly agreed and subject to the conditions laid down
                                                                   by that Member State or by the Commission and in so far
1.      The Commission shall publish a communication in            as such communication or use is not prohibited by the
the Official Journal of the European Communities                   provisions in force in the Member State in which the
concerning the implementation of the customs information           recipient authority is based .
system .
2.      Without prejudice to other national provisions             2.     Without prejudice to the provisions in Title V on the
concerning notification of processing pursuant to Directive        customs information system, information about natural
.../.. ./ EEC , the customs information system shall be            and legal persons shall be transmitted under this
included in the processing registers kept by the national          Regulation only where strictly necessary to prevent or
supervisory authorities pursuant to Article 21 of the said         discover operations contrary to customs and agricultural
Directive .                                                        legislation .
                                                                   3.     Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not preclude the use of
               Responsibilities and obligations                    information obtained under this Regulation in any legal
                                                                   action or proceedings subsequently initiated in respect of
                          Article 38                               failure to comply with customs or agricultural legislation .
Where an action in respect of incorrect data is brought
pursuant to Article 23 of Directive .../.. ./ EEC against          The competent authority of the Member State supplying
a Member State or the Commission but the data was not              that information shall be notified of such use forthwith .
entered by that Member State or the Commission , as the
case may be, the said Member State or the Commission               4.     Where the Commission is notified by a Member
shall take steps to agree with the party which entered the         State that further enquiries have exonerated of
data on the proportion of any damages awarded to be                involvement in irregularities a natural or legal person
repaid to the other Member States or the Commission, as            whose name was transmitted under this Regulation , the
the case may be , by the party that entered the data . The         Commission shall forthwith notify all to whom this
sums agreed shall be repaid on request .                           personal data has been transmitted . The person concerned
                                                                   shall then cease to be regarded as being involved in the
                                                                   irregularity that gave rise to the initial notice .
                           TITLE VI                                Where the identifying data relating to the person
                                                                   concerned are in the customs information system referred
                      FINAL PROVISIONS
                                                                   to in Article 23 they shall be removed from it .
                          Article 39
                                                                                             Article 41
Without prejudice to the provisions in Title V on the
customs information system , the documents provided for
in this Regulation may be replaced by computerized                 For the purposes of applying this Regulation , Member
information produced in any form for the same purpose .            States shall take all necessary steps to :
 ---pagebreak--- No C 56 / 12                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                    26 . 2 . 93
(a) ensure effective internal coordination between the                                          Article 43
     administrative authorities referred to in Article 1 ( 1 );
                                                                    Without prejudice to the Commission's right to be notified
(b) establish in their mutual relations all necessary direct        under other regulations in force , the Member States shall
     cooperation between the authorities empowered for              transmit to the Commission administrative or legal
     that purpose;                                                  decisions or the main elements thereof relating to the
                                                                    application of penalties for breaches of customs or
                                                                    agricultural legislation in cases which have been the
(c) decide jointly whether procedures are needed to                 subject of communications pursuant to Article 16 or 17 of
     ensure the smooth operation of the mutual assistance           this Regulation .
     arrangements provided for in this Regulation ;
(d) determine,     in     so    far   as is   necessary   and                                   Article 44
     national legislation permits, procedures whereby
     administrative authorities in one Member State that            Without prejudice to the expenses associated with the
     have launched a surveillance operation or are tracking         implementation of the customs information system
     goods or persons may continue this operation in the            referred to in Title V or damages pursuant to Article 38 ,
     territory of another Member State, in close                    Member       States   shall    waive   all   claims   for    the
     cooperation with the authorities of the latter , for the       reimbursement of expenses incurred under this Regulation ,
     sole purpose of avoiding any interruption that might           save , where appropriate, in respect of fees paid to
     impede the detection of a breach of customs or                 experts .
     agricultural legislation, until such time as the
     authorities of the Member State on whose territory
     the operation is taking place can take it over.                                            Article 45
                                                                    Without prejudice to the fifth indent of Article 2 ( 1 ) or to
                                                                    Article 3 , this Regulation shall not affect the application in
                                                                    the Member States of the rules on mutual assistance in
                            Article 42
                                                                    criminal matters .
1.     This Regulation shall not bind the Member States'
                                                                                                Article 46
administrative authorities to grant each other assistance
where that would be likely to be injurious to public order
or other fundamental interests of the Member State in               1.     Regulation (EEC) No 1468 / 81 is hereby repealed .
which they are based.
                                                                    2.     References made to Regulation (EEC) No 1468 / 81
                                                                    shall be understood as referring to this Regulation .
Considerations relating, inter alia to Member States'
trade or commercial interests shall not be considered
fundamental interests .                                                                         Article 47
                                                                    This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
2.     Reasons shall be stated for any refusal to grant             following its publication in the Official Journal of the
assistance .                                                        European Communities.
                 This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
                 States .