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1.Without prejudice to the measures in force in the Member States with regard to industrial and commercial policy, and subject to Articles 29 to 33, the capital goods and other equipment belonging to undertakings which definitively cease their activity in a third country and move to the customs territory of the Community in order to carry on a similar activity there, shall be admitted free of import duties.
Where the undertaking transferred is an agricultural holding, its livestock shall also be admitted free of import duties.
2.For the purposes of paragraph 1, ‘undertaking’ means an independent economic unit of production or of the service industry.
Relief shall be limited to capital goods and other equipment which:
except in special cases justified by the circumstances, have actually been used in the undertaking for a minimum of 12 months before the date on which the undertaking ceased to operate in the third country from which it has transferred its activities;
are intended to be used for the same purposes after the transfer;
are appropriate to the nature and size of the undertaking in question.
No relief shall be granted to undertakings the transfer of which into the customs territory of the Community is consequent upon or is for the purpose of merging with, or being absorbed by, an undertaking established in the customs territory of the Community, without a new activity being set up.
No relief shall be granted for:
means of transport which are not of the nature of instruments of production or of the service industry;
supplies of all kinds intended for human consumption or for animal feed;
fuel and stocks of raw materials or finished or semi-finished products;
livestock in the possession of dealers.
Except in special cases justified by the circumstances, the relief referred to in Article 28 shall be granted only for capital goods and other equipment entered for free circulation before the expiry of a period of 12 months from the date when the undertaking ceased its activities in the third country of departure.
1.Until 12 months have elapsed from the date on which their entry for free circulation was accepted, capital goods and other equipment which have been admitted duty-free may not be lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for a consideration or free of charge, without prior notification to the competent authorities.
This period may be extended to up to 36 months as concerns hiring out or transfer where there is a risk of abuse.
2.Any loan, giving as security, hiring out or transfer before the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1 shall entail payment of the relevant import duties on the goods concerned, at the rate applying on the date of such loan, giving as security, hiring out or transfer, on the basis of the type of goods and the customs value ascertained or accepted on that date by the competent authorities.
Articles 28 to 33 shall apply mutatis mutandis to capital goods and other equipment belonging to persons engaged in a liberal profession and to legal persons engaged in a non-profit making activity who transfer this activity from a third country into the customs territory of the Community.