CELEX: C2003/083/51
Language: en
Date: 2003-04-05 00:00:00
Title: Case T-23/03: Action brought on 29 January 2003 by C.A.S. Succhi di Frutta against the Commission of the European Communities

5.4.2003               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                              C 83/23
Action brought on 29 January 2003 by C.A.S. Succhi di                      In the contested decision, the Commission, inter alia, takes the
Frutta against the Commission of the European Communi-                     view that 32 A.TR.1 certificates were falsified. The Commission
                                 ties                                      refused the applicant’s request for remission of
                                                                           ITL 3 296 190 371.
                          (Case T-23/03)
                                                                           In support of its claim for annulment of the part of the
                          (2003/C 83/51)                                   Commission’s decision refusing remission, the applicant sub-
                                                                           mits that the Commission infringed its right of access to the
                                                                           file, inasmuch as, in the course of providing access to the file,
                   (Language of the case: German)                          the Commission failed to disclose and produce to the applicant
                                                                           all the documents relevant to the case.
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                  The applicant further submits that the Commission failed to
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                 comply with its remission or repayment obligation under
European Communities on 29 January 2003 by C.A.S. Succhi
                                                                           Article 239 of the Customs Code in respect of the 32 allegedly
di Frutta, Verona, Italy, represented by D. Ehle, lawyer.                  falsified A.TR.1 certificates, since those 32 certificates too were
                                                                           issued and registered and handed over to the exporter when
                                                                           clearing the goods for export with the knowledge and cooper-
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                ation of the competent Turkish customs authority, which was
                                                                           aware of the possibility that the goods might not be of Turkish
—     annul the Commission’s decision of 18 October 2002                   origin.
      (REC 10/01), in so far as the Commission refused to remit
      or repay the import duties amounting to
      ITL 3 296 190 371 collected by way of post-clearance                 Moreover, the Commission infringed Article 220(2)(b) of the
      recovery in respect of 32 imports covered by 32 specified
                                                                           Customs Code since the Turkish customs authorities knew or
      A.TR.1 certificates;
                                                                           could reasonably have known that the deliveries for which the
                                                                           32 A.TR 1 certificates were issued, were not of Turkish origin,
—     order the Commission to pay the costs.                               whereas, when importing the products, the applicant acted in
                                                                           good faith and was unaware of the misconduct of the Turkish
                                                                           customs authority.
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                           (1 ) Council Regulation (EEC) No 4115/86 of 22 December 1986 on
                                                                                imports into the Community of agricultural products originating
Regulation (EEC) No 4115/86 ( 1) abolished, with certain                        in Turkey (OJ 1986 L 380, p. 16).
exceptions, the customs duties imposed on the goods originat-
ing in Turkey listed in Annex II to the EEC Treaty.
Between 5 April 1995 and 20 November 1997, the applicant,
an Italian company which, inter alia, processes imported fruit
juice concentrates, put on the market for free circulation apple
and pear juice concentrates declared to originate in Turkey.
According to the applicant, the shipments were accompanied                 Action brought on 28 January 2003 by Marco de Stefano
by proper documents, including the A.TR.1 movement of                         against the Commission of the European Communities
goods certificates. In 1998, the customs authorities in Ravenna
presented the applicant with a list of A.TR.1 certificates. On
the basis of examinations of the authenticity and regularity of                                      (Case T-25/03)
the certificates carried out at the offices of the Turkish customs
authority, it was alleged that the applicant had imported apple
juice concentrates with falsified A.TR.1 certificates. At the                                        (2003/C 83/52)
same time, the applicant was required to pay import duties by
way of post-clearance recovery.
                                                                                               (Language of the case: French)
The applicant lodged an objection to the customs assessment
notices issued by the competent customs authority in Ravenna.
At the same time, it applied for remission under                           An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
Article 220(2)(b) and Article 239 of the Customs Code. The                 ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
Italian tax authorities submitted the decision on the remission            European Communities on 28 January 2003 by Marco de
of the import duties collected by way of post-clearance                    Stefano, residing in Brussels, represented by Georges Vander-
recovery to the Commission.                                                sanden and Guy Verbrugge, lawyers.