CELEX: 51983PC0741
Language: en
Date: 1983-12-19
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON THE TEMPORARY IMPORTATION OF MEANS OF TRANSPORT

7.1.84                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                N o .C 4/3
                                                            II
                                                    (Preparatory Acts)
                                              COMMISSION
                Proposal for a Council Regulation on the temporary importation of means of transport
                                                   COM(83) 741 final
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 21 December 1983)
                                                      (84/C 4/03)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     effective cooperation in this field between the
 COMMUNITIES,                                                   Member States and the Commission should be
                                                                organized through the Committee for Customs Pro-
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   cedures with Economic Impact established by Council
                                                                Regulation (EEC) N o . . . of . . . on inward processing
 European Economic Community, and in particular
                                                                arrangements,
Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament,                                                                              TITLE I
                                                                                   General provisions
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                                       Article 1
                                                                1.    The temporary importation arrangements shall
Whereas, although the duty-free temporary import-              permit the importation, in accordance with the pro-
ation for use of means of transport intended for subs-         cedures and conditions laid down in this Regulation
equent export is not covered by Article 9 (2) of the           and free of all import duties, of means of transport
Treaty, it is the subject of legislation in most of the        which it is intended will stay temporarily in the
Member States; whereas such procedures are also                customs territory of the Community and then be re-
covered by a number of multilateral conventions to             exported.
which all or spme of the Member States are party;
whereas the requirements of the customs union make
it desirable for procedures relating to the temporary          2.     For the purposes of this Regulation:
importation of means of transport to be harmonized;
                                                               (a) 'person' mean a natural or legal person;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3599/82 (')
established general arrangements for temporary
importation which did not include means of                     (b) 'person resident outside the customs territory of
transport;                                                          the Community' shall mean a natural person
                                                                    having his normal residence outside the customs
                                                                    territory of the Community or a legal person
Whereas the means of transport which do not meet                    having its registered place of business outside that
the conditions laid down by this Regulation may                     territory;
nevertheless be covered by the general arrangements;
                                                               (c) 'normal residence' means the place where a
Whereas it is necessary to ensure the uniform                       person usually lives, that is for at least 185 days in
implementation of this Regulation and therefore                     each calendar year, because of personal and
make provision for a Community procedure for the                    occupational ties, or, in the case of a person with
adoption of implementing rules; whereas close and                   no occupational ties because of personal ties
                                                                    which show close links between that person and
(') OJ No L 376, 31. 12. 1982, p. 1.                                the place where he is living.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 4/4                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 7.1.84
     However, the normal residence of a person                 However, if the vehicles are not registered, the
     whose occupational ties are in a different place          condition set out under (c) shall be deemed to be met
     from his personal ties and who consequently lives         where the vehicles in question belong to a person
     in turn in different places situated within the           established outside the customs territory of the
     customs territory of the Community or outside             Community.
     the said territory, shall be regarded as being the
     place of his personal ties, provided that such            4.     If a trailer is coupled to a motor vehicle
     person returns there regularly. This last condition       registered within the customs territory of the
     need not be met where the person is living in the         Community, it shall be admitted under these
     customs territory of the Community in order to            arrangements even if the conditions set out in subpar-
     carry out a task of a definite duration.                  agraphs 3 (a) and (b) are not satisfied.
     Attendance at a university or school shall not
     imply transfer of normal residence.
                                                               5.     The vehicles referred to in paragraph 1 may
                                                               remain in the customs territory of the Community
(d) 'import duties' are as defined in Article 1 (2) of         during the time required for transporting and for
     Regulation (EEC) No 3599/82.                              taking on and discharging goods and passengers and
                                                               for maintenance.
                          Article 2
                                                                                         Article 4
The competent authorities of the Member State
where application is made for admission of the means           1.     Road vehicles for private use shall be admitted
of transport under the temporary importation                   under the temporary importation arrangements.
arrangements shall grant, under the conditions
provided for in this Regulation, an authorization to           2.     For the purposes of this Article, the following
any person who uses or causes to be used under his             definitions shall apply:
responsibility the said means of transport.
                                                               (a) 'vehicles': all road vehicles, including caravans
                                                                     and trailers which can be coupled to a motor
                          TITLE II                                   vehicle;
                 Means of road transport
                                                               (b) 'private use': use for purposes other than the
                                                                     business use as defined under Article 3 (2) (b).
                          Article 3
1.      Road vehicles for business use shall be admitted       3.     Admission under the temporary importation
under the temporary importation arrangements.                  arrangements referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
                                                               granted on condition that the vehicles are:
2.      For the purpose of this Article, the following
                                                                (a) imported by a person established outside the
definitions shall apply:
                                                                     customs territory of the Community;
(a) Vehicles': all road motor vehicles and all trailers         (b) used for private purposes by or on behalf of the
      which can be coupled to such vehicles;                         person concerned; and
 (b) 'business use': use of a vehicle in direct exercise        (c) registered outside the customs territory of the
      of an activity carried out for consideration or                Community in the name of a person established
      financial gain.                                                outside that territory.
 3.     Without prejudice to paragraph 4, admission             However, if the vehicles are not registered, the
 under the temporary importation arrangements                   condition set out in (c) shall be deemed to be met
 referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted on                 where the vehicle in question belongs to a person
 condition that the vehicles are:                               established outside the customs territory of the
                                                                Community.
 (a) imported by or on behalf of a person established
      outside the customs territory of the Community;           4.     Notwithstanding subparagraph 3 (c), the
                                                                arrangements shall also extend to vehicles which are
 (b) used for business purposes by such a person or on          registered in the customs territory of the Community
      his behalf; and                                           and have a registration number plate that is issued to
                                                                a person established outside that territory.
 (c) registered outside the customs territory of the
      Community in the name of a person established              5.    The temporary admission arrangements shall
      outside that territory.                                    also be granted in the following cases:
 ---pagebreak--- 7.1.84                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 4/5
(a) where a private vehicle registered in the country                                   TITLE IV
     of normal residence of the user is used regularly
     for the journey from his residence to his place of                          Means of air transport
     work in the customs territory of the Community
     and vice versa; there is no limitation on the                                      Article 7
     period;                                                   1.    Subject to Article 8, means of air transport shall
                                                               be admitted under the temporary importation
(b) where a student uses a private vehicle registered          arrangements.
     in the country of his normal residence in the
     customs territory of the Community in which the
     student is residing for the sole purpose of               2.    The means of transport referred to in paragraph
     pursuing his studies.                                     1 may remain in the customs territory of the
                                                               Community for the time required to take on or
                                                               discharge goods or passengers and undergo main-
6.     Without prejudice to Article 5 (a), the vehicles,       tenance.
referred to in paragraph 1, may remain in the customs
territory of the Community:
                                                                                        Article 8
(a) for a period, continuous or not, of six months
     within a 12-month period;                                 1.    The temporary admission arrangements shall be
                                                               granted in respect of means of air transport for
(b) for the period of the stay of the student in the           private use on condition that these means of transport
     customs territory of the Community in cases               are:
     provided for in paragraph 5 (b) above.
                                                               (a) registered outside the customs territory of the
                                                                    Community in the name of a person established
                         Article 5                                  outside of that territory; and
1.     The provisions of Article 4 shall apply mutatis
mutandis to saddlehorses which enter the customs               (b) used for private purposes within the meaning of
territory of the Community for the purposes of or in                Article 4 (2) (b).
the course of horse-riding excursions by their riders.
                                                               2.    The means of transport referred to in paragraph
2.     Saddle-horses as referred to in paragraph 1 may         1 may remain in the customs territory of the
remain in the customs territory of the Community for           Community for a period of six months, whether
a period of three months.                                      continuous or not, in any 12-month period.
                         TITLE III                                                      TITLE V
                 Means of rail transport                                 Means of sea, lake or river transport
                         Article 6                                                      Article 9
 1.    Means of rail transport shall be admitted under         1.    Subject to Article 10, means of sea, lake or river
the temporary importation arrangements.                        transport shall be admitted under the temporary
                                                               importation arrangements.
2.     For the purposes of this Article:
                                                               2.    The means of transport referred to in paragraph
'means of rail transport' means all prime movers,               1 may remain in the customs territory of the
railcars and multiple sets, and rolling stock of any           Community for the time required for taking on and
description intended for the transport of persons and          discharging passengers or goods and for maintenance
goods.                                                         operations.
 3.    Admission under the temporary importation                                        Article 10
arrangements referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
granted on condition that the means of rail transport:          1.   Means of sea, lake or river transport for private
                                                               use shall be admitted under the temporary impor-
 (a) belong to a person established outside           the      tation arrangements provided that the means of
      customs territory of the Community;                      transport:
 (b) are registered on a railway network outside the            (a) have been imported by a person established
      customs territory of the Community.                           outside the customs territory of the Community;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 4/6                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               7. 1. 84
(b) are used by that person for private purposes as              (d) so designed as to permit ready handling, parti-
     defined in Article 4 (2) (b).                                   cularly during transfer from one mode of
                                                                     transport to another;
2.    The means of transport referred to in paragraph            (e) so designed as to be easy to fill and empty; and
1 may remain in the customs territory of the
Community for a period of six months, whether                    (f) with an internal volume of one cubic metre or
continuous or not, in any 12-month period.                           more; however, this minimum shall not apply to
                                                                     containers used in air transport.
                                                                 The term 'container' shall include the accessories and
3.    In cases where the lack of river or lake facilities
                                                                 equipment of the container according to its category,
makes the mooring of boats for private use
                                                                 provided that these are transported with it and
impossible, the temporary importation arrangements
                                                                 permanently attached.
may be extended to pleasure boats:
                                                                 The term 'container' shall include neither vehicles,
(a) imported temporarily by a natural person having              nor accessories or spare parts of vehicles, nor
     his normal place of residence in the customs                packaging.
    territory of the Community, and
                                                                 3.    Containers shall be admitted under the
                                                                 temporary importation arrangements referred to in
(b) registered outside the said territory.
                                                                 paragraph 1 on condition that:
                                                                 (a) whether or not loaded with goods, they are
                          TITLE VI                                   imported temporarily into the customs territory of
                                                                     the Community; and
                   Pallets and containers
                                                                 (b) they are approved for the transport of goods
                          Article 11                                 under customs seal.
1.    Pallets shall be admitted under the temporary              4.    The containers referred to in paragraph 1 may
importation arrangements.                                        remain in the customs territory of the Community for
                                                                 a maximum period of six months.
2.    For the purposes of this Article, 'pallet' means a
device on the deck of which a quantity of goods can                                    TITLE VII
be assembled to form a unit load for the purpose of                                 Other provisions
transport or of handling or stacking by means of
mechanical appliances. The device consists of a deck
supported by feet or of a special deck designed for air                                 Article 13
transport; its overall height is reduced to the                  The relevant authorities shall admit for temporary
minimum compatible with its handling by means of                 importation spare parts, accessories and normal
rollers, forklift trucks or pallet trucks; it may or may         equipment, including equipment which is used for the
not have a superstructure.                                       loading, stowage or protection of goods:
                                                                 (a) imported at the same time as the means of
                          Article 12                                 transport covered by this Regulation, for which
                                                                     they are intended; or
1.     Containers shall be admitted            under    the
temporary importation arrangements.                              (b) imported    subsequently    to    these  means    of
                                                                     transport.
2.     The term 'container' means an article of                                         Article 14
transport equipment (lift-van, movable tank or frame
or other similar structure):                                     The means of transport provided for in Titles II, III,
                                                                 IV and V of this Regulation shall not be lent, hired,
(a) constituting a receptacle, totally or         partially      pledged or transferred to any person having his
     closed, designed to contain goods;                          normal residence in the customs territory of the
                                                                 Community.
(b) of a permanent character and accordingly strong
     enough for repeated use;                                                           Article 15
                                                                 Where the circumstances so justify, the competent
(c) specially designed to facilitate the carriage of             authorities may, at the request of the interested party,
     goods, by one or more modes of transport,                   prolong the time limits provided for in this regulation
     without intermediate reloading;                             within reasonable limits.
 ---pagebreak---  7.1.84                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 4/7
                             Article 16                               customs territory of the Community, destroyed under
                                                                      customs supervision, released for free circulation, or
 Persons eligible for the temporary admission                         placed under other customs arrangements.
 arrangements shall be obliged to submit to all sur-
 veillance and control measures specified by the
 competent authorities.                                               5.    Without prejudice to the provisions concerning
                                                                      the infringement of customs legislation and duty-free
                                                                      arrangements, in cases where the means of transport
                             Article 17                               admitted under the temporary importation arrange-
The competent authorities may revoke the author-                      ments are released for free circulation or in other
 ization where it is established that the person eligible             cases where a customs debt is incurred under Council
 for the temporary admission arrangements has not                     Directive 79/623/EEC of 23 June 1979 on the
 observed one of the conditions laid down for the                     harmonization of provisions laid down by law, regu-
grant of the said arrangements.                                      lation or administrative action relating to customs
                                                                     debt (2), import duties shall be charged according to
                                                                     the taxation characteristics of the means of transport
                             Article 18                              when it was temporarily imported, whether the
 1.    The arrangements for temporary importation                    release for free circulation took place then or after
shall be satisfied when the means of transport placed                the means of transport had been placed under one of
under these arrangements is exported outside the                     the customs procedures specified to in paragraph 1.
customs territory of the Community or placed in a
free zone with a view to its subsequent export, or                   However, in the case of waste or debris resulting
placed:                                                              from the destruction of the parts referred to in
                                                                     paragraph 4, the point to be used for the calculation
— in a customs warehouse, or                                         of the customs debt shall be that referred to in Article
                                                                     3 (f) of Directive 79/623/EEC.
— under an external Community transit procedure
     or one of the international transport procedures
     referred to in Article 7 (1) of Council Regulation
                                                                                             TITLE VIII
     (EEC) No 222/77 of 13 December 1976 on
     Community transit ('), provided that the use of                                      Final provisions
     such a procedure is permitted by Community
     legislation,                                                                            Article 19
or abandoned to the profit of public funds with the                  1.    This Regulation shall not affect the provisions
approval of the relevant authorities.                                laid down with regard to transport, in particular the
                                                                     conditions governing access to the market and the
However, as regards pallets, the arrangements shall                  execution of the said transport.
also be considered satisfied when identical pallets to
those which are eligible for the temporary admission
arrangements are exported or placed in a free zone                   2.    Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the means of
with a view to subsequent export or are placed under                 transport covered by this Regulation shall be admitted
one of the arrangements set out above.                               under the temporary importation arrangements free
                                                                     of import prohibitions or restrictions, on condition
                                                                     that they are to be re-exported.
2.     The competent authorities may, where circum-
stances so warrant, authorize the release for free
circulation or the destruction under customs                         3.    The provisions of this Regulation shall not
supervision of means of transport admitted under the                 prevent the prohibition or restriction of imports,
temporary          importation        arrangements,     either       exports or transit for any of the reasons listed in
immediately or after it has been placed in a free zone               Article 36 of the EEC Treaty.
or after it has been placed under one of the proc-
edures referred to in paragraph 1.
                                                                                             Article 20
3.     Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall also apply, without                  Until such time as Community provisions are
prejudice to the provisions regarding infringement of                established in the field in question, this Regulation
customs legislation, in cases where the authorization                shall not affect the application by the Member States
has been withdrawn under Article 17.                                 of special measures applying in respect of armed
                                                                     forces stationed in the customs territory of the
4.     Defective parts and spare parts removed from                  Community and without serving under the flag of a
the means of transport as a result of repair or main-                Member State, in pursuance of international
tenance must be either re-exported outside the                       agreements.
(') O J N o L 3 8 , 9. 2. 1977, p. 1.                                (2) OJ No L 179, 17. 7. 1979, p. 31.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 4/8                         Official Journal of the European Communities                             7. 1. 84
                       Article 21                            the arrangements or used while in the customs
                                                             territory of the Community and the conditions under
The Committee for Customs Procedures with                    which the goods referred to in Article 13 (b) may be
Economic Impact set up by Article 16 of Regulation           temporarily imported, shall be adopted in accordance
(EEC) No . . . [of . . . on inward processing                with the procedure provided for in Article 18 of
arrangements] may examine any question concerning            Regulation (EEC) No . . . [of . . . on inward
the application of this Regulation, either on the            processing arrangements].
initiative of its chairman or at the request of the
representative of a Member State.                                                    Article 23
                       Article 22                            This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
                                                             1985.
The provisions necessary for the implementation of
this Regulation, and in particular the conditions            This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
under which means of transport may be placed under           directly applicable in all Member States.