Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (repealed)Show full title

Article 205

1. The official model for written declarations to customs by the normal procedure, for the purposes of placing goods under a customs procedure or re-exporting them in accordance with Article 182 (3) of the Code, shall be the Single Administrative Document.

2. Other forms may be used for this purpose where the provisions of the customs procedure in question permit.

3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not preclude:

• waiver of the written declaration prescribed in Articles 225 to 236 for release for free circulation, export or temporary importation,

• waiver by the Member States of the form referred to in paragraph 1 where the special provisions laid down in Articles 237 and 238 with regard to consignments by letter or parcel-post apply,

• use of special forms to facilitate the declaration in specific cases, where the customs authorites so permit,

• waiver by the. Member States of the form referred to in paragraph 1 in the case of existing or future agreements or arrangements concluded between the administrations of two or more Member States with a view to greater simplification of formalities in all or part of the trade between those Member States,

• use by the persons concerned of loading lists for the completion of Community transit formalities in the case of consignments composed of more than one kind of goods,

• printing of export, transit or import declarations and documents certifying the Community status of goods not being moved under internal Community transit procedure by means of official or private-sector data-processing systems, if necessary on plain paper, on conditions laid down by the Member States,

• provision by the Member States to the effect that where a computerized declaration-processing system is used, the declaration, within the meaning of paragraph 1, may take the form of the Single Administrative Document printed out by that system.

4. When formalities are completed using public or private computers which also print out the declarations, the customs authorities may provide that:

• the handwritten signature may be replaced by another identification technique which may be based on the use of codes and having the same legal consequences as a handwritten signature. This facility shall only be granted if the technical and administrative conditions laid down by the competent authorities are complied with,

• the declarations thus produced may be directly authenticated by those systems, in place of the manual or mechanical application of the customs office stamp and the signature of the comptetent official.

5. Where in Community legislation, reference is made to an export, re-export or import declaration or a declaration placing goods under another customs procedure, Member States may not require any administrative documents other than those which are:

• expressly created by Community acts or provided for by such acts,

• required under the terms of international conventions compatible with the Treaty,

• required from operators to enable them to qualify, at their request, for an advantage or specific facility,

• required, with due regard for the provisions of the Treaty, for the implementation of specific regulations which cannot be implemented solely by the use of the document referred to in paragraph 1.