Simplified Procedures
Customs Code
General provisions
Article 158
Customs declaration of goods and customs supervision of Union goods
1. All goods intended to be placed under a customs procedure, except for the free zone procedure, shall be covered by a customs declaration appropriate for the particular procedure.
2. In specific cases, other than those referred to in Article 6(2), a customs declaration may be lodged using means other than electronic data-processing techniques.
3. Union goods declared for export, internal Union transit or outward processing shall be subject to customs supervision from the time of acceptance of the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 until such time as they are taken out of the customs territory of the Union or are abandoned to the State or destroyed or the customs declaration is invalidated.
Article 159
Competent customs offices
1. Except where Union legislation provides otherwise, Member States shall determine the location and competence of the various customs offices situated in their territory.
2. Member States shall ensure that official opening hours are fixed for those offices that are reasonable and appropriate, taking into account the nature of the traffic and of the goods and the customs procedures under which they are to be placed, so that the flow of international traffic is neither hindered nor distorted.
3. Except where otherwise provided, the competent customs office for placing the goods under a customs procedure shall be the customs office responsible for the place where the goods are presented to customs.
ection 3
Simplified customs declarations
Article 166
Simplified declaration
1. The customs authorities may accept that a person has goods placed under a customs procedure on the basis of a simplified declaration which may omit certain of the particulars referred to in Article 162 or the supporting documents referred to in Article 163.
2. The regular use of a simplified declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to an authorisation from the customs authorities.
Article 167
Supplementary declaration
1. In the case of a simplified declaration pursuant to Article 166 or of an entry in the declarant’s records pursuant to Article 182, the declarant shall lodge a supplementary declaration containing the particulars necessary for the customs procedure concerned at the competent customs office within a specific time-limit.
In the case of a simplified declaration pursuant to Article 166, the necessary supporting documents shall be in the declarant’s possession and at the disposal of the customs authorities within a specific time-limit.
The supplementary declaration may be of a general, periodic or recapitulative nature.
2. The obligation to lodge a supplementary declaration shall be waived in the following cases:
(a)
where the goods are placed under a customs warehousing procedure;
(b)
in other specific cases.
3. The customs authorities may waive the requirement to lodge a supplementary declaration where the following conditions apply:
(a)
the simplified declaration concerns goods the value and quantity of which is below the statistical threshold;
(b)
the simplified declaration already contains all the information needed for the customs procedure concerned; and
(c)
the simplified declaration is not made by entry in the declarant’s records.
4. The simplified declaration referred to in Article 166 or the entry in the declarant’s records referred to in Article 182, and the supplementary declaration shall be deemed to constitute a single, indivisible instrument taking effect, respectively, on the date on which the simplified declaration is accepted in accordance with Article 172 and on the date on which the goods are entered in the declarant’s records.
5. The place where the supplementary declaration is to be lodged shall be deemed, for the purposes of Article 87, to be the place where the customs declaration has been lodged.
Relief from import duty
Section 1
Returned goods
Article 203
Scope and effect
1. Non-Union goods which, having originally been exported as Union goods from the customs territory of the Union, are returned to that territory within a period of three years and declared for release for free circulation shall, upon application by the person concerned, be granted relief from import duty.
The first subparagraph shall apply even where the returned goods represent only a part of the goods previously exported from the customs territory of the Union.
2. The three-year period referred to in paragraph 1 may be exceeded in order to take account of special circumstances.
3. Where, prior to their export from the customs territory of the Union, the returned goods had been released for free circulation duty-free or at a reduced rate of import duty because of a particular end-use, relief from duty under paragraph 1 shall be granted only if they are to be released for free circulation for the same end-use.
Where the end-use for which the goods in question are to be released for free circulation is no longer the same, the amount of import duty shall be reduced by any amount collected on the goods when they were first released for free circulation. Should the latter amount exceed that levied on the release for free circulation of the returned goods, no repayment shall be granted.
4. Where Union goods have lost their customs status as Union goods pursuant to Article 154 and are subsequently released for free circulation, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall apply.
5. The relief from import duty shall be granted only if goods are returned in the state in which they were exported.
6. The relief from import duty shall be supported by information establishing that the conditions for the relief are fulfilled.
Article 204
Goods which benefited from measures laid down under the common agricultural policy
Relief from import duty provided for in Article 203 shall not be granted to goods which have benefited from measures laid down under the common agricultural policy involving their export out of the customs territory of the Union, except where otherwise provided in specific cases.
Article 205
Goods previously placed under the inward processing procedure
1. Article 203 shall apply to processed products which were originally re-exported from the customs territory of the Union subsequent to an inward processing procedure.
2. Upon application by the declarant and provided the declarant submits the necessary information, the amount of import duty on the goods covered by paragraph 1 shall be determined in accordance with Article 86(3). The date of acceptance of the re-export declaration shall be regarded as the date of release for free circulation.
3. The relief from import duty provided for in Article 203 shall not be granted for processed products which were exported in accordance with point (c) of Article 223(2), unless it is ensured that no goods will be placed under the inward processing procedure.
Section 2
Sea-fishing and products taken from the sea
Article 208
Products of sea-fishing and other products taken from the sea
1. Without prejudice to Article 60(1), the following shall be granted relief from import duty when they are released for free circulation:
(a)
products of sea-fishing and other products taken from the territorial sea of a country or territory outside the customs territory of the Union by vessels solely registered or recorded in a Member State and flying the flag of that State;
(b)
products obtained from products referred to in point (a) on board factory-ships fulfilling the conditions laid down in that point.
2. The relief from import duty referred to in paragraph 1 shall be supported by evidence that the conditions laid down in that paragraph are fulfilled.
Article 209
Conferral of implementing powers
The Commission shall specify, by means of implementing acts, the procedural rules for the provision of the evidence referred to in Article 208(2).
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 285(4).
……
Storage
Section 1
Common provisions
Article 237
Scope
1. Under a storage procedure, non-Union goods may be stored in the customs territory of the Union without being subject to any of the following:
(a)
import duty;
(b)
other charges as provided for under other relevant provisions in force;
(c)
commercial policy measures, insofar as they do not prohibit the entry or exit of goods into or from the customs territory of the Union.
2. Union goods may be placed under the customs warehousing or free zone procedure in accordance with Union legislation governing specific fields, or in order to benefit from a decision granting repayment or remission of import duty.
3. The customs authorities may, where an economic need exists and customs supervision will not be adversely affected, authorise the storage of Union goods in a storage facility for customs warehousing. Those goods shall not be regarded as being under the customs warehousing procedure.
Article 238
Duration of a storage procedure
1. There shall be no limit to the length of time goods may remain under a storage procedure.
2. In exceptional circumstances, the customs authorities may set a time-limit by which a storage procedure must be discharged in particular where the type and nature of the goods may, in the case of long-term storage, pose a threat to human, animal or plant health or to the environment.
Section 2
Customs warehousing
Article 240
Storage in customs warehouses
1. Under the customs warehousing procedure non-Union goods may be stored in premises or any other location authorised for that procedure by the customs authorities and under customs supervision (‘customs warehouses’).
2. Customs warehouses may be available for use by any person for the customs warehousing of goods (‘public customs warehouse’), or for the storage of goods by the holder of an authorisation for customs warehousing (‘private customs warehouse’).
3. Goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure may be temporarily removed from the customs warehouse. Such removal shall, except in case of force majeure, be authorised in advance by the customs authorities.
Article 241
Processing
1. The customs authorities may, where an economic need exists and customs supervision is not adversely affected, authorise the processing of goods under the inward processing or end-use procedure to take place in a customs warehouse, subject to the conditions provided for by those procedures.
2 The goods referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be regarded as being under the customs warehousing procedure.
Article 242
Responsibilities of the holder of the authorisation or procedure
1. The holder of the authorisation and the holder of the procedure shall be responsible for the following:
(a)
ensuring that goods under the customs warehousing procedure are not removed from customs supervision; and
(b)
fulfilling the obligations arising from the storage of goods covered by the customs warehousing procedure.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where the authorisation concerns a public customs warehouse, it may provide that the responsibilities referred to in points (a) or (b) of paragraph 1 devolve exclusively upon the holder of the procedure.
3. The holder of the procedure shall be responsible for fulfilling the obligations arising from the placing of the goods under the customs warehousing procedure.
Section 3
Free zones
Article 243
Designation of free zones
1. Member States may designate parts of the customs territory of the Union as free zones.
For each free zone the Member State shall determine the area covered and define the entry and exit points.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission information on their free zones which are in operation.
3. Free zones shall be enclosed.
The perimeter and the entry and exit points of the area of free zones shall be subject to customs supervision.
4. Persons, goods and means of transport entering or leaving free zones may be subject to customs controls.
Article 244
Buildings and activities in free zones
1. The construction of any building in a free zone shall require the prior approval of the customs authorities.
2. Subject to the customs legislation, any industrial, commercial or service activity shall be permitted in a free zone. The carrying on of such activities shall be subject to notification, in advance, to the customs authorities.
3. The customs authorities may impose prohibitions or restrictions on the activities referred to in paragraph 2, having regard to the nature of the goods in question, or the requirements of customs supervision, or security and safety requirements.
4. The customs authorities may prohibit persons who do not provide the necessary assurance of compliance with the customs provisions from carrying on an activity in a free zone.
Article 245
Presentation of goods and their placing under the procedure
1. Goods brought into a free zone shall be presented to customs and undergo the prescribed customs formalities in any of the following cases:
(a)
where they are brought into the free zone directly from outside the customs territory of the Union;
(b)
where they have been placed under a customs procedure which is ended or discharged when they are placed under the free zone procedure;
(c)
where they are placed under the free zone procedure in order to benefit from a decision granting repayment or remission of import duty;
(d)
where legislation other than the customs legislation provides for such formalities.
2. Goods brought into a free zone in circumstances other than those covered by paragraph 1 shall not be presented to customs.
3. Without prejudice to Article 246, goods brought into a free zone are deemed to be placed under the free zone procedure:
(a)
at the moment of their entry into a free zone, unless they have already been placed under another customs procedure; or
(b)
at the moment when a transit procedure is ended, unless they are immediately placed under a subsequent customs procedure.
Article 246
Union goods in free zones
1. Union goods may be entered, stored, moved, used, processed or consumed in a free zone. In such cases the goods shall not be regarded as being under the free zone procedure.
2. Upon application by the person concerned, the customs authorities shall establish the customs status as Union goods of any of the following goods:
(a)
Union goods which enter a free zone;
(b)
Union goods which have undergone processing operations within a free zone;
(c)
goods released for free circulation within a free zone.
Article 247
Non-Union goods in free zones
1. Non-Union goods may, while they remain in a free zone, be released for free circulation or be placed under the inward processing, temporary admission or end-use procedure, under the conditions laid down for those procedures.
In such cases the goods shall not be regarded as being under the free zone procedure.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions applicable to supplies or to victualling storage, where the procedure concerned so provides, paragraph 1 shall not preclude the use or consumption of goods of which the release for free circulation or temporary admission would not entail application of import duty or measures laid down under the common agricultural or commercial policies.
In the case of such use or consumption, no customs declaration for the release for free circulation or temporary admission procedure shall be required.
Such declaration shall, however, be required if such goods are subject to a tariff quota or ceiling.
Article 248
Taking goods out of a free zone
1. Without prejudice to legislation in fields other than customs, goods in a free zone may be exported or re-exported from the customs territory of the Union, or brought into another part of the customs territory of the Union.
2. Articles 134 to 149 shall apply to goods taken out of a free zone into other parts of the customs territory of the Union.
Article 249
Customs status
Where goods are taken out of a free zone into another part of the customs territory of the Union or placed under a customs procedure, they shall be regarded as non-Union goods unless their customs status as Union goods has been proven.
However, for the purposes of applying export duty and export licences or export control measures laid down under the common agricultural or commercial policies, such goods shall be regarded as Union goods, unless it is established that they do not have the customs status of Union goods.