Hauptzollamt Neubrandenburg v Leszek Labis (C-310/98) and Sagpol SC Transport Miedzynarodowy i Spedycja (C-406/98).
Date: 2000-03-23
29 It follows that, given that there is no legislation at Community level governing the concept of proof, any type of evidence admissible under the procedural law of the Member States in similar proceedings is in principle admissible.
30 Consequently, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, it is for the national authorities to determine, according to the principles of their national law on evidence, whether, in the specific case before them, and in the light of all the circumstances, the place where the offence or irregularity was committed has been proved to their satisfaction; for example, it is for them to determine whether, for instance, particular testimony is to be admitted or not, and whether it should be considered to have probative force. In particular, it is for the national authorities to assess the reliability of a witness who participated in the transportation operation affected by the irregularity at issue.
37 In that connection, it must be observed that the compensation regime provided for in the third and fourth subparagraphs of Article 454(3) of Regulation No 2454/93 institutes a mechanism for simplifying the administrative aspect and recovering duties and other charges in cases where uncertainty as to the place where the offences or irregularities vis-à-vis the customs provisions were committed might result in the sums owed being lost altogether. With that situation in mind, it is provided that, where the Member State in which the offence was committed cannot be determined with certainty, a provisional presumption arises that the Member State in which the offence or irregularity was detected has competence. Where it is subsequently established that the first State did have competence, the presumption in favour of the second State is rebutted and a compensation mechanism comes into operation between the two Member States, thus preventing the first State from being barred through lapse of time from recovering the duties and other charges.
38 That mechanism therefore reflects the idea, on the one hand, that the Member States constitute a single customs zone vis-à-vis third countries concerned by operations under the Community external transit regime and, on the other hand, that the question as to which Member State has competence to recover the customs duty is a problem internal to the Community, such that if a different Member State becomes the competent State, that does not affect the debtor's liability to pay the customs duties.
49 The answer to the first question in Case C-406/98 must therefore be that the first subparagraph of Article 454(3) and Article 455(1) of Regulation No 2454/93 must be interpreted as meaning that the customs authorities of the Member State where the offence or irregularity was detected cannot impose on a TIR carnet holder a time-limit of three months for furnishing satisfactory proof of the place where the offence or irregularity was actually committed. The time-limit laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 454(3) of Regulation No 2454/93 for furnishing proof of the place where the offence or irregularity was committed is one year.