Section 4U.K.Other provisions
[F1Article 13 U.K.
1. Customs authorities may, in accordance with the conditions laid down by the provisions in force, carry out all the controls they deem necessary to ensure that customs rules and other legislation governing the entry, exit, transit, transfer and end-use of goods moved between the customs territory of the Community and third countries and the presence of goods that do not have Community status are correctly applied. Customs controls for the purpose of the correct application of Community legislation may be carried out in a third country where an international agreement provides for this.
2. Customs controls, other than spot-checks, shall be based on risk analysis using automated data processing techniques, with the purpose of identifying and quantifying the risks and developing the necessary measures to assess the risks, on the basis of criteria developed at national, Community and, where available, international level.
The committee procedure shall be used for determining a common risk management framework, and for establishing common criteria and priority control areas.
Member States, in cooperation with the Commission, shall establish a computer system for the implementation of risk management.
3. Where controls are performed by authorities other than the customs authorities, such controls shall be performed in close coordination with the customs authorities, wherever possible at the same time and place.
4. In the context of the controls provided for in this Article, customs and other competent authorities, such as veterinary and police authorities, may communicate data received, in connection with the entry, exit, transit, transfer and end-use of goods moved between the customs territory of the Community and third countries and the presence of goods that do not have Community status, between each other and to the customs authorities of the Member States and to the Commission where this is required for the purposes of minimising risk.
Communication of confidential data to the customs authorities and other bodies (e.g. security agencies) of third countries shall be allowed only in the framework of an international agreement and provided that the data protection provisions in force, in particular Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (1) and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (2) are respected.]
Textual Amendments
Article 14U.K.
For the purposes of applying customs legislation, any person directly or indirectly involved in the operations concerned for the purposes of trade in goods shall provide the customs authorities whith all the requisite documents and information, irrespective of the medium used, and all the requisite assistance at their request and by any time limit prescribed.
[F1Article 15 U.K.
All information which is by nature confidential or which is provided on a confidential basis shall be covered by the duty of professional secrecy. It shall not be disclosed by the competent authorities without the express permission of the person or authority providing it. The communication of information shall, however, be permitted where the competent authorities are obliged to do so pursuant to the provisions in force, particularly in connection with legal proceedings. Any disclosure or communication of information shall fully comply with prevailing data protection provisions, in particular Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.]
Textual Amendments
Article 16U.K.
The persons concerned shall keep the documents referred to in Article 14 for the purposes of [F1customs controls], for the period laid down in the provisions in force and for at least three calendar years, irrespective of the medium used. That period shall run from the end of the year in which:
in the case of goods released for free circulation in circumstances other than those referred to in (b) or goods declared for export, from the end of the year in which the declarations for release for free circulation or export are accepted;
in the case of goods released for free circulation at a reduced or zero rate of import duty on account of their end-use, from the end of the year in which they cease to be subject to customs supervision;
in the case of goods placed under another customs procedure, from the end of the year in which the customs procedure concerned is completed;
in the case of goods placed in a free zone or free warehouse, from the end of the year on which they leave the undertaking concerned.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 221 (3), second sentence, where a check carried out by the customs authorities in respect of a customs debt shows that the relevant entry in the accounts has to be corrected, the documents shall be kept beyond the time limit provided for in the first paragraph for a period sufficient to permit the correction to be made and checked.
Textual Amendments
Article 17U.K.
Where a period, date or time limit is laid down pursuant to customs legislation for the purpose of applying legislation, such period shall not be extended and such date or time limit shall not be deferred unless specific provision is made in the legislation concerned.
[F2Article 18 U.K.
1. The value of the ecu in national currencies to be applied for the purposes of determining the tariff classification of goods and import duties shall be fixed once a month. The rates to be used for this conversion shall be those published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on the penultimate working day of the month. Those rates shall apply throughout the following month.
However, where the rate applicable at the start of the month differs by more than 5 % from that published on the penultimate working day before the 15th of that same month, the latter rate shall apply from the 15th until the end of the month in question.
2. The value of the ecu in national currencies to be applied within the framework of customs legislation in cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1 shall be fixed once a year. The rates to be used for this conversion shall be those published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on the first working day of October, with effect from 1 January of the following year. If no rate is available for a particular national currency, the rate applicable to that currency shall be that obtaining on the last day for which a rate was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
3. The customs authorities may round up or down the sum resulting from the conversion into their national currency of an amount expressed in ecus for purposes other than determining the tariff classification of goods or import or export duties.
The rounded-off amount may not differ from the original amount by more than 5 %.
The customs authorities may retain unchanged the national-currency value of an amount expressed in ecus if, at the time of the annual adjustment provided for in paragraph 2, the conversion of that amount, prior to the abovementioned rounding-off, results in a variation of less than 5 % in the national-currency value or a reduction in that value.]
Textual Amendments
Article 19U.K.
The procedure of the Committee shall be used to determine in which cases and under which conditions the application of customs legislation may be simplified.
[F1 OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31 . Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 ( OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1 )