CELEX: C2002/323/14
Language: en
Date: 2002-12-21 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 14 November 2002 in Case C-251/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Tributário de Primeira Instância de Lisboa ): Ilumitrónica — Iluminação e Electrónica Lda v Chefe da Divisão de Procedimentos Aduaneiros e Fiscais/Direcção das Alfândegas de Lisboa, third party: Ministério Público (EEC-Turkey Association Agreement — Importation of television sets from Turkey — Determination of the person liable for the customs debt — Post-clearance recovery of customs duties)

21.12.2002                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                            C 323/13
2.    Where a company formed in accordance with the law of a                1.    Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1697/79 of
      Member State (‘A’) in which it has its registered office exercises          24 July 1979 on the post-clearance recovery of import duties
      its freedom of establishment in another Member State (‘B’),                 or export duties which have not been required of the person
      Articles 43 EC and 48 EC require Member State B to recognise                liable for payment on goods entered for a customs procedure
      the legal capacity and, consequently, the capacity to be a party            involving the obligation to pay such duties must be interpreted
      to legal proceedings which the company enjoys under the law of              as meaning that:
      its State of incorporation (’A’).
                                                                                  —     in order to determine whether there is an ’error made by
( 1) OJ C 233 of 12.8.2000.
                                                                                        the competent authorities themselves’, account must be
                                                                                        taken both of the conduct of the customs authorities
                                                                                        which issued the certificate permitting the application of
                                                                                        preferential treatment and of that of the central customs
                                                                                        authorities;
                                                                                  —     the routine issuing by the authorities of the exporting
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                country of certificates permitting the application of prefer-
                                                                                        ential treatment under association rules constitutes evi-
                                                                                        dence of such an error when those authorities must have
                            (Fifth Chamber)
                                                                                        been aware, on the one hand, of the existence in the
                                                                                        exporting country of a policy of encouraging exports,
                        of 14 November 2002                                             involving the duty-free importation of components orig-
                                                                                        inating in third countries for incorporation in goods
                                                                                        intended for export to the Community and, on the other
in Case C-251/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                               hand, of the absence in the exporting country of provisions
the Tribunal Tributário de Primeira Instância de Lisboa ):                              enabling collection of the compensatory levy to which the
Ilumitrónica — Iluminação e Electrónica Lda v Chefe da                                  application of preferential treatment to exports to the
Divisão de Procedimentos Aduaneiros e Fiscais/Direcção                                  Community of goods thus obtained was subject;
das Alfândegas de Lisboa, third party: Ministério Púb-
                                  lico (1)
                                                                                  —     the fact that some of the relevant provisions of the
(EEC-Turkey Association Agreement — Importation of                                      association rules were not published in the Official Journal
television sets from Turkey — Determination of the person                               of the European Communities and the circumstance
liable for the customs debt — Post-clearance recovery of                                that those provisions were not implemented, or were
                             customs duties)                                            implemented incorrectly, in the exporting country over a
                                                                                        period of more than 20 years constitute evidence that such
                                                                                        an error could not reasonably have been detected by the
                            (2002/C 323/14)                                             person liable.
                   (Language of the case: Portuguese)
                                                                            2.    The conduct of the authorities of the exporting country does not
                                                                                  affect the determination of the person by whom the customs
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published            debt is payable or the right of the authorities of the importing
                     in the European Court Reports)                               country to take action for post-clearance recovery thereof.
                                                                            3.    Articles 22 and 25 of the Agreement establishing an associ-
In Case C-251/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234
                                                                                  ation between the European Economic Community and Turkey
EC by the Tribunal Tributário de Primeira Instância de Lisboa
                                                                                  do not require the national customs authorities of a Member
(Portugal) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
                                                                                  State, acting on the Commission’s advice, to have recourse to
before that court between Ilumitrónica — Iluminação e
                                                                                  the procedure provided for by those articles before taking action
Electrónica L da and Chefe da Divisão de Procedimentos
                                                                                  for post-clearance recovery of import duties.
Aduaneiros e Fiscais/Direcção das Alfândegas de Lisboa, third
party: Ministério Público, on the interpretation of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing
the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1) and on
the validity of a Commission decision, the Court (Fifth                     (1 ) OJ C 233 of 12.8.2000.
Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the Chamb-
er, C.W.A. Timmermans, A. La Pergola, P. Jann (Rapporteur)
and S. von Bahr, Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; L. Hew-
lett, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a
judgment on 14 November 2002, in which it has ruled: