Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 (repealed)Show full title

Section 1 U.K. Entry in the accounts and communication of the amount of duty to the debtor

Article 217 U.K.

1. Each and every amount of import duty or export duty resulting from a customs debt, hereinafter called ‘amount of duty’, shall be calculated by the customs authorities as soon as they have the necessary particulars, and entered by those authorities in the accounting records or on any other equivalent medium (entry in the accounts).

The first subparagraph shall not apply:

(a) where a provisional anti-dumping or countervailing duty has been introduced;

[F1 (b) where the amount of duty legally due exceeds that determined on the basis of binding information;]

(c) where the provisions adopted in accordance with the committee procedure waive the requirement for the customs authorities to enter in the accounts amounts of duty below a given level.

The customs authorities may discount amounts of duty which, under Article 221 (3), could not be communicated to the debtor after the end of the time allowed.

2. The Member States shall determine the practical procedures for the entry in the accounts of the amounts of duty. Those procedures may differ according to whether or not, in view of the circumstances in which the customs debt was incurred, the customs authorities are satisfied that the said amounts will be paid.

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996.

Article 218 U.K.

1. Where a customs debt is incurred as a result of the acceptance of the declaration of goods for a customs procedure other than temporary importation with partial relief from import duties or any other act having the same legal effect as such acceptance the amount corresponding to such customs debt shall be entered in the accounts as soon as it has been calculated and, at the latest, on the second day following that on which the goods were released.

However, provided that payment has been secured, the total amount of duty relating to all the goods released to one and the same person during a period fixed by the customs authorities, which may not exceed 31 days, may be covered by a single entry in the accounts at the end of the period. Such entry in the accounts shall take place within five days of the expiry of the period in question.

2. Where it is provided that goods may be released subject to meeting certain conditions laid down by Community legislation which govern either determination of the amount of the debt or its collection, entry in the accounts shall take place no later than two days following the day on which the amount of the debt or the obligation to pay the duties resulting from that debt is determined or fixed.

However, where the customs debt relates to a provisional anti-dumping or countervailing duty, that duty shall be entered in the accounts no later than two months following publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of the Regulation establishing a definitive anti-dumping or countervailing duty.

3. Where a customs debt is incurred under conditions other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the relevant amount of duty shall be entered in the accounts within two days of the date on which the customs authorities are in a position to:

(a) calculate the amount of duty in question, and

(b) determine the debtor.

Article 219 U.K.

1. The time limits for entry in the accounts laid down in Article 218 may be extended:

(a) for reasons relating to the administrative organization of the Member States, and in particular where accounts are centralized, or

(b) where special circumstances prevent the customs authorities from complying with the said time limits.

Such extended time limit shall not exceed 14 days.

2. The time limits laid down in paragraph 1 shall not apply in unforeseeable circumstances or in cases of force majeure.

Article 220 U.K.

1. Where the amount of duty resulting from a customs debt has not been entered in the accounts in accordance with Articles 218 and 219 or has been entered in the accounts at a level lower than the amount legally owed, the amount of duty to be recovered or which remains to be recovered shall be entered in the accounts within two days of the date on which the customs authorities become aware of the situation and are in a position to calculate the amount legally owed and to determine the debtor (subsequent entry in the accounts). That time limit may be extended in accordance with Article 219.

2. Except in the cases referred to in the second and third subparagraphs of Article 217 (1), subsequent entry in the accounts shall not occur where:

(a) the original decision not to enter duty in the accounts or to enter it in the accounts at a figure less than the amount of duty legally owed was taken on the basis of general provisions invalidated at a later date by a court decision;

[F2 (b) the amount of duty legally owed was not entered in the accounts as a result of an error on the part of the customs authorities which could not reasonably have been detected by the person liable for payment, the latter for his part having acted in good faith and complied with all the provisions laid down by the legislation in force as regards the customs declaration.

Where the preferential status of the goods is established on the basis of a system of administrative cooperation involving the authorities of a third country, the issue of a certificate by those authorities, should it prove to be incorrect, shall constitute an error which could not reasonably have been detected within the meaning of the first subparagraph.

The issue of an incorrect certificate shall not, however, constitute an error where the certificate is based on an incorrect account of the facts provided by the exporter, except where, in particular, it is evident that the issuing authorities were aware or should have been aware that the goods did not satisfy the conditions laid down for entitlement to the preferential treatment.

The person liable may plead good faith when he can demonstrate that, during the period of the trading operations concerned, he has taken due care to ensure that all the conditions for the preferential treatment have been fulfilled.

The person liable may not, however, plead good faith if the European Commission has published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Communities , stating that there are grounds for doubt concerning the proper application of the preferential arrangements by the beneficiary country;]

(c) the provisions adopted in accordance with the committee procedure exempt the customs authority from the subsequent entry in the accounts of amounts of duty less than a certain figure.

Textual Amendments

F2 Substituted by Regulation (EC) No 2700/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.

Article 221 U.K.

1. As soon as it has been entered in the accounts, the amount of duty shall be communicated to the debtor in accordance with appropriate procedures.

2. Where the amount of duty payable has been entered, for guidance, in the customs declaration, the customs authorities may specify that it shall not be communicated in accordance with paragraph 1 unless the amount of duty indicated does not correspond to the amount determined by the authorities.

Without prejudice to the application of the second subparagraph of Article 218 (1), where use is made of the possibility provided for in the preceding subparagraph, release of the goods by the customs authorities shall be equivalent to communication to the debtor of the amount of duty entered in the accounts.

[F2 3. Communication to the debtor shall not take place after the expiry of a period of three years from the date on which the customs debt was incurred. This period shall be suspended from the time an appeal within the meaning of Article 243 is lodged, for the duration of the appeal proceedings.

4. Where the customs debt is the result of an act which, at the time it was committed, was liable to give rise to criminal court proceedings, the amount may, under the conditions set out in the provisions in force, be communicated to the debtor after the expiry of the three-year period referred to in paragraph 3.]

Textual Amendments

F2 Substituted by Regulation (EC) No 2700/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.