Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (repealed)Show full title

TITLE III CUSTOMS PROCEDURES WITH ECONOMIC IMPACT

CHAPTER 1 Common provisions

Section 1 Definitions

Article 496

For the purposes of this Title:

(a)

supervising customs office means: the customs office empowered by the customs authorities of each Member State issuing an authorization to supervise the procedure, as indicated in the authorization;

(b)

office of entry for the procedure means: the customs office or offices empowered by the customs authorities of the Member State which issued the authorization to accept declarations entering goods for the procedure or procedures, as indicated in the authorization;

(c)

office of discharge means: the customs office or offices empowered by the customs authorities of the Member State which issued the authorization to accept declarations assigning goods, following entry for a customs procedure with economic impact, to an accepted customs-approved treatment or use, as indicated in the authorization.

Section 2 Authorizing use of the procedure — normal procedure

Article 497

1. Without prejudice to paragraph 3 and Articles 568, 656, 695 and 760, an application for authorization to use a customs procedure with economic impact (including applications for authorization to operate a customs warehouse or use the customs warehousing procedure), hereinafter referred to as the ‘application’, shall be made out in writing.

It shall conform to the appropriate model in Annex 67. The applicant shall provide in the application all the information required under the various headings listed in that model by heading number, as shown in Annexes 67/A to 67/E, including the notes. The text of the notes need not, however, be reproduced in the application. Applications shall be signed and dated.

Where the designated customs authorities consider that the information given in the application is inadequate, nothing in this paragraph shall preclude its requiring the applicant to furnish additional information, nor its requiring other particulars needed for the application of provisions in fields other than those governed by this Title.

2. The application shall refer to and be accompanied by originals or copies of all supporting evidence or documents relating to particulars to be given in the application whose presentation is necessary for its appraisal. It may be accompanied by additional sheets where more extensive information is to be provided. All such documents, evidence or additional sheets shall constitute an integral part of the application they accompany. The number of annexes shall be indicated on the application.

3. On a case-by-case basis, the customs authorities may allow the holder of an authorization to apply for its renewal or modification by written request, giving particulars of the earlier authorization and indicating any changes which need to be made.

4. Without prejudice to the simplified procedures provided for in Articles 568, 656, 695 and 760, an application which does not fulfil the requirements laid down by this Article and which is not presented in accordance with Article 509, 555, 651, 691 and 750 shall be inadmissible.

Article 498

The lodging of an application signed by the applicant shall indicate that the person concerned wishes to use the customs procedure applied for and, without prejudice to the possible application of penal provisions, shall be responsible, under the provisions in force in the Member States, for:

• the accuracy of the information given in the declaration,

• the authenticity of the documents accompanying it, and

• compliance with all the obligations relating to the customs procedure applied for.

Article 499

1. Before issuing an authorization, the customs authorities competent to grant it shall satisfy themselves that all the conditions for granting the authorization are fulfilled.

2. An authorization shall not be granted where the application is inadmissible within the meaning of Article 497 (4).

Article 500

1. Without prejudice to Articles 568, 656, 695 and 760, an authorization to use a customs procedure with economic impact as provided for in Article 85 of the Code (including authorizations to operate a customs warehouse or use the customs warehousing procedure), shall be made out on a model conforming to the relevant provisions in Annexes 68/A to 68/E. It shall be signed and dated.

2. The applicant shall be notified that the authorization has been issued.

3. Without prejudice to the derogations provided for in Articles 556 (1) and 751 (1), authorizations shall take effect on the date of issue.

4. Authorizations may cover one or more entries for the procedure concerned, as appropriate.

5. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in the case of renewal or modification of an authorization previously issued following an application presented in accordance with Article 497 (3), the customs authorities, on a case-by-case basis, may either adopt a decision indicating the boxes to be changed by reference to the authorization being modified, or issue a new authorization.

Article 501

1. Where one of the conditions for granting the authorization is not fulfilled, the customs authorities shall reject the application.

2. The decision rejecting the application shall be set out in writing and shall be communicated to the applicant, in conformity with Article 6 (3) of the Code.

Article 502

1. The customs authorities shall keep applications and their annexes, together with any authorization issued.

2. Where an authorization is granted, the application, annexes and authorization shall be kept for at least three years from the end of the calendar year in which the authorization expires or, in the case of an authorization to operate a customs warehouse or use the customs warehousing procedure, for at least three years from the end of the calendar year in which the authorization is cancelled or withdrawn.

3. Where an application is rejected or an authorization is annulled or revoked, the application and either the decision rejecting the application or the authorization, as the case may be, and all annexes shall be kept for at least three years from the end of the calendar year in which the application was rejected or the authorization was annulled or revoked.

CHAPTER 2 Customs warehousing

Section 1 General provisions

Subsection 1 Definitions and types of warehouse

Article 503

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

agricultural goods means: goods covered by the Regulations referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 565/80(1). Goods coming under Council Regulation (EEC) No 3033/80(2) (goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products) or (EEC) No 3035/80(3) (agricultural products exported in the form of goods not coming under Annex II to the Treaty) shall be treated as agricultural goods;

(b)

advance payment means: the payment of an amount equal to the export refund before the goods are exported, where such payment is provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 565/80;

(c)

prefinanced goods means: any goods intended for export in the unaltered state which are the subject of an advance payment, however described in the Community rules permitting such payment;

(d)

prefinanced basic product means: any product intended for export after processing more extensive than the handling referred to in Article 532 in the form of a processed product which is the subject of an advance payment;

(e)

processed goods means: any product or goods resulting from the processing of a prefinanced basic product, however described in the Community rules permitting advance payment.

Article 504

1. Without prejudice to paragraphs 2 and 3, customs warehouses in which goods are stored under the customs warehousing procedure shall be classified as follows:

• type A: public warehouse conforming to the first indent of the second paragraph of Article 99 of the Code under the responsibility of the warehouse-keeper,

• type B: public warehouse conforming to the first indent of the second paragraph of Article 99 of the Code under the responsibility of each depositor, in accordance with Article 102 (1) of the Code, having regard to the second sub-paragraph of Article 105 of the Code,

• type C: private warehouse conforming to the second indent of the second paragraph of Article 99 of the Code where the warehousekeeper is the same person as the depositor but is not necessarily the owner of the goods,

• type D: private warehouse conforming to the second indent of the second paragraph of Article 99 of the Code where the warehousekeeper is the same person as the depositor but is not necessarily the owner of the goods, the procedure referred to in Article 112 (3) of the Code being applied.

2. A customs warehouse as a private warehouse conforming to the second indent of the second paragraph of Article 99 of the Code where the ware-housekeeper is the same person as the depositor but is not necessarily the owner of the goods, may also be applied under a system permitting the warehousing of goods in storage facilities belonging to the holder of the authorization in accordance with Article 98 (3) of the Code. This system is classified as a type E warehouse.

3. Where a customs warehouse is applied in respect of a public warehouse conforming to the first indent of the second paragraph of Article 99 of the Code and is operated by the customs authorities, this is classified as a type F warehouse.

4. The combination in the same premises or location of the types of warehouse referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not be permitted.

Subsection 2 Location of customs warehouses

Article 505

1. With the exception of type E and type F warehouses, a customs warehouse shall consist of premises or any other defined location approved by the customs authorities.

2. Where the customs authorities decide to operate a type F warehouse, they shall designate the premises or location which constitute the warehouse. The decision shall be published in the form used by the Member State for publishing its administrative or legal instruments.

3. A place approved by the customs authorities as a ‘temporary storage facility’ in accordance with Article 185 or operated by the customs authorities may also be approved as a type A, type B, type C or type D warehouse or operated as a type F warehouse.

Article 506

Type A, type C, type D and type E warehouses may also be approved as victualling warehouses in accordance with Article 38 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87(4).

Subsection 3 Commercial policy measures

Article 507

Where Community acts provide that commercial policy measures are to apply to:

(a)

the release of goods for free circulation, they shall not apply when the goods are entered for the customs warehousing procedure, nor for such time as the goods remain there;

(b)

the introduction of goods into the customs territory of the Community, they shall apply when non-Community goods are entered for the customs warehousing procedure;

(c)

the export of goods, they shall apply when Community goods are exported from the customs territory of the Community after being entered for the customs warehousing procedure.

Section 2 Provisions concerning the granting of authorization

Article 508

The provisions of this Section shall apply to all types of warehouse except type F.

Article 509

The application for authorization shall be submitted, in accordance with Article 497 and Annex 67/A, to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the places to be approved as customs warehouses are situated or, in the case of a type E warehouse, to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the warehousekeeper's main accounts are kept.

Article 510

1. Authorization may be granted only if the applicant shows that there is a real economic need for warehousing and if the warehouse is intended principally for the storage of goods; however, the goods may undergo usual forms of handling, inward processing or processing under customs control under the conditions referred to in Articles 106 and 109 of the Code, provided that such operations do not predominate over the storage of the goods.

2. For the purposes of Article 86 of the Code, the assessment of whether the administrative costs of supervision and control of the customs warehouse are in proportion to the economic needs for customs warehousing shall take account inter alia of the type of customs warehouse and the procedures which may be applied therein.

Article 511

1. Authorizations shall be issued by the customs authorities designated by each Member State in which an application has been presented under Article 509.

Authorizations shall take effect on the date of issue or on a later date if they so provide. However, where an applicant is seeking authorization to operate a private warehouse and the customs authorities exceptionally notifies him of its agreement to issue such authorization in writing otherwise than by means of the form referred to in Annex 68/A, the authorization shall take effect on the date of such notification. A copy of the notification shall be annexed to the authorization and shall form an integral part thereof.

2. Without prejudice to the rules governing annulment, revocation and amendment, authorizations shall be for an unlimited period.

3. Authorizations shall specify inter alia the customs office responsible for supervising the customs warehouse. They may also specify, where appropriate, that goods which present a danger or are likely to spoil other goods or which, for other reasons, require special facilities, must be placed in premises specially equipped to receive them.

In the case of a private warehouse, the authorization may also specify the categories of goods which may be admitted to that warehouse.

4. Where the person concerned asks permission to present the goods or declare them for the procedure at customs offices other than the supervising office and the proper conduct of the operations would not be affected, the customs authorities may empower one or more offices to act as office(s) of entry for the procedure.

Where more than one Member State is affected, the customs authorities which issued the authorization shall send a copy to the other customs authorities concerned.

Article 512

1. The economic need criterion referred to in Article 510 (1) shall be held to be no longer fulfilled where the person concerned asks in writing for the authorization to be revoked.

2. An authorization may also be revoked where the customs authorities considers that the customs warehouse is not or is no longer sufficiently used to warrant its existence.

Section 3 Entry of goods for the procedure

Article 513

1. Goods to be entered for the customs warehousing procedure and the corresponding declarations of entry for the procedure shall be presented at the supervising office or, where Article 511 (4) is applied, at an office of entry for the procedure indicated in the authorization.

2. Where the second subparagraph of Article 511 (4) is applied, a copy or additional sheet of the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 or a copy of the administrative or commercial document used to enter the goods for the procedure shall be sent by the office of entry for the procedure to the supervising office as soon as release is granted. The name and address of the said office shall be indicated in box 44 of the declaration or on the commercial or administrative document.

Where the office of entry for the procedure sees fit, it may ask the supervising office to inform it of the arrival of the goods.

The provisions governing the customs warehousing procedure shall be applicable from the date on which the office of entry for the procedure accepts the declaration of entry for the procedure; such declaration shall also be used for transport of the goods, which shall take place as soon as possible, and their introduction into the premises of the customs warehouse without presentation to the supervising office.

This procedure shall not apply in a type B warehouse.

3. The procedure referred to in paragraph 2 may also be used without a request to that effect from the persons concerned, for reasons relating to the internal administration of the customs offices, in particular the use of computerized procedures.

Subsection 1 Normal procedure

Article 514

The declaration referred to in Article 513 shall be made in accordance with Articles 198 to 252.

Subsection 2 Simplified procedures

Article 515

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Articles 268 to 274.

Article 516

The procedures provided for in Articles 514 and 515 shall also apply in respect of the transfer of goods in a temporary storage facility referred to in Article 505 (3) to the customs warehousing procedure.

Section 4 Operation of customs warehouses and the customs warehousing procedure

Subsection 1 Stock records

Article 517

1. In type A, type C, type D and type E warehouses, the customs authorities shall designate the warehouse-keeper as the person required to keep the stock records referred to in Article 105 of the Code.

The stock records shall be made available to the supervising office to enable it to carry out any checks.

2. In type B customs warehouses, the supervising office shall keep the declarations of entry for the procedure or the administrative documents used for such entry in order to monitor their discharge. Stock records shall not be kept.

Without prejudice to other Community provisions governing the keeping of customs documents, the supervising office may decide as part of its internal administration how long such declarations will be kept there. Such time limit may be extended.

Where the goods to which the declaration or document relates have not been assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use within the time limit the supervising office shall require that the goods be assigned such treatment or use or that the initial declaration or document of entry for the procedure be replaced by a new declaration reproducing all the particulars of the old declaration or old document.

3. In a type F warehouse, the customs records shall contain all the information referred to in Article 520. The said records shall replace the stock records referred to in Article 105 of the Code.

Article 518

Without prejudice to Article 517 (3), the supervising office shall not keep stock records.

However, for administrative purposes it may keep a register of all declarations accepted.

Article 519

Where records kept for commercial or tax purposes by the depositor contain all the particulars necessary for supervision, taking into account the type of customs warehouse and the procedures applicable for entry and discharge, and such particulars are usable for the purposes of supervision, the customs authorities shall approve those records as the stock records referred to in Article 105 of the Code.

Article 520

1. The stock records referred to in Article 105 of the Code shall contain all the particulars necessary for the proper application and supervision of the procedure.

They shall include:

(a) the information contained in boxes 1, 31, 37 and 38 of the declaration of entry for the procedure;

(b) reference particulars of the declarations by means of which the goods are assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use discharging the customs warehousing procedure;

(c) the date and reference particulars of other customs documents and all other documents relating to entry and discharge;

(d) information enabling the goods to be monitored, including their location and particulars of any transfer of goods between customs warehouses without termination of the arrangements;

(e) information concerning the common storage of goods referred to in Article 524;

(f) any other details which may be needed to identify the goods;

(g) information concerning the usual forms of handling to which the goods are subject;

(h) information concerning the temporary removal of goods from the premises of the customs warehouse.

2. The stock records of a type D warehouse shall contain, in addition to the particulars listed in paragraph 1, the information referred to in the minimum list provided for in Annex 37.

3. The stock records shall at all times show the current stock of goods which are still under the customs warehousing procedure. At the times laid down by the customs authorities, the warehousekeeper shall lodge at the supervising office a list of the said stock.

4. Where Article 112 (2) of the Code applies, the customs value of the goods before handling shall appear in the stock records.

5. Where the simplified (entry or discharge) procedures apply, the provisions of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 521

1. Goods entered for the customs warehousing procedure in a type A, type С or type D warehouse shall be entered in the stock records in accordance with Article 107 of the Code at the time when they are physically placed in the customs warehouse, on the basis of particulars recognized or accepted by the supervising office or the office of entry for the procedure, in accordance with Article 513 (2).

2. Where goods are entered for the procedure in a type E warehouse, the entry in the stock records referred to in paragraph 1 shall take place at the time when they arrive at the storage facilities of the holder of the authorization.

3. Where the customs warehouse also serves as a temporary storage facility in accordance with Article 505 (3), the entry in the stock records referred to in paragraph 1 shall take place:

• before expiry of the time limit set under Article 49 of the Code, where the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 272 is applied in respect of transfer from temporary storage to the customs warehousing procedure,

• in other cases, at the time when the goods are released following the lodging of the declaration entering the goods for the customs warehousing procedure.

4. Particulars relating to discharge of the procedure must be entered in the stock records:

• by the time the goods leave the customs warehouse premises, where one of the simplified procedures is applied,

• at the time when the goods are released following presentation of a declaration entering them for a customs-approved treatment or use, in other cases.

Subsection 2 Usual forms of handling

Article 522

1. Without prejudice to paragraphs 2 and 3, the usual forms of handling which non-Community goods may undergo are listed in Annex 69.

2. Where handling could give rise to an advantage in terms of the import duties applicable to the goods after handling compared with those applicable before handling, it may be authorized only on condition that the request referred to in Article 112 (2) of the Code is lodged at the same time as the application for authorization to carry out usual forms of handling.

In that case, a request for the more favourable items of charge to apply in a type D warehouse as referred to in Article 112 (3) of the Code cannot be accepted.

3. Where handling would result in higher import duties than those applying to the goods before handling, the person concerned shall not present the request referred to in Article 112 (2) of the Code.

In this case, the warehousekeeper of a type D warehouse shall waive any advantage he might gain from the application of the items of charge recognized or accepted for the handled goods when they were entered for the procedure.

4. Where goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure are declared for a customs-approved treatment or use other than release for free circulation and paragraph 2 applies, box 31 of the declaration entering the goods for the customs-approved treatment or use in question shall contain one of the following indications:

• Mercancías MU,

• SB varer,

• UB-Waren,

• Εμπορεύματα ΣΕ,

• UFH goods,

• Marchandises MU,

• Merci MU,

• GB-goederen,

• Mercadorias MU.

Such indication shall be carried over to any document relating to the customs procedure under which or temporary storage in which the goods are subsequently placed.

5. Where goods to which paragraph 2 applies, having been placed under one customs procedure, are released for free circulation or placed under another customs procedure which could result in the incurrence of a customs debt, information sheet INF 8 shall be used. It shall be made out in an original and one copy on a form complying with the model and provisions set out in Annex 70.

The customs authorities with which the declaration for free circulation or for another customs procedure which could result in the incurrence of a customs debt is lodged shall use information sheet INF 8, which it shall endorse, to ask the supervising office for the customs warehouse where the usual forms of handling were carried out to indicate the nature, customs value and quantity of the declared goods which would be taken into account if they had not undergone the said handling.

The original of the INF 8 sheet shall be sent to the supervising office for the customs warehouse; the copy shall be retained by the customs authorities which endorsed box 14 of the form.

The supervising office for the customs warehouse shall provide the information requested in boxes 11, 12 and 13, endorse box 15 and send the original of the INF 8 sheet back to the customs office referred to in box 4.

6. The declarant may ask for the INF 8 sheet to be issued at the time when the declaration referred to in paragraph 4 is lodged.

In this case, the supervising office shall provide the information referred to in boxes 11, 12 and 13, endorse box 15 and return the original of the INF 8 sheet to the declarant.

Article 523

1. The person concerned must apply to the supervising office in writing, on a case-by-case basis, for authorization to carry out usual forms of handling before such handling is carried out.

2. Applications for authorization to carry out usual forms of handling must provide all particulars necessary for application of the provisions governing the customs warehousing procedure, in particular Article 522 (2) and (3).

If the application is approved, the supervising office shall grant authorization by endorsing the application to that effect and stamping it. In that case Article 502 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

3. Without prejudice to Article 522, an authorization to operate a customs warehouse or, in the case of a type E warehouse, an authorization to use the procedure, may indicate the usual forms of handling which are expected to be carried out under the procedure. In this case notification to the supervising office, in the manner it shall determine, that handling is to be carried out shall replace the application referred to in paragraph 1.

Subsection 3 Common storage of goods of different customs status

Article 524

1. Provided the proper conduct of operations is not thereby affected, the supervising office shall allow Community goods other than those referred to in Article 98 (1) (b) of the Code and non-Community goods to be stored together in the same storage facilities.

2. Where common storage, as referred to in paragraph 1, makes it impossible to identify at all times the customs status of each type of goods, it shall be permitted only if the goods are equivalent.

Equivalent goods are those falling within the same subheading of the combined nomenclature, having the same commercial quality and the same technical characteristics.

Subsection 4 Temporary removal

Article 525

1. Before temporarily removing goods from the premises of the customs warehouse, the person concerned shall apply to the supervising office in writing, on a case-by-case basis, for authorization to do so.

2. Applications for authorization to remove goods temporarily shall provide all particulars necessary for the application of the provisions governing the customs warehousing procedure. If the application is approved, the supervising office shall grant authorization by endorsing the application to that effect and stamping it.

In that case Article 502 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

3. Authorizations to operate customs warehouses may indicate that goods can be temporarily removed. In this case notification to the supervising office, in the manner it shall determine, that the goods are to be temporarily removed shall replace the application referred to in paragraph 1.

4. Articles 522 and 523 shall apply where usual forms of handling are to be carried out while the goods are temporarily absent from the warehouse.

Subsection 5 Transfer of goods between customs warehouses without termination of the procedure

Article 526

1. To transfer goods between customs warehouses without termination of the customs warehousing procedure, a form corresponding to the specimen form, made out in accordance with Article 205, shall be used in accordance with the procedure described in Annex 71.

2. The simplified procedure described in Annex 72 shall apply:

• where the customs warehouse from which the goods are dispatched is authorized to use the local clearance procedure, as referred to in Article 253 (3), and the customs warehouse in which the goods are to be placed is authorized to use the simplified local clearance procedure for entry of goods for the procedure, as referred to in Article 272,

  or

• where the same person is responsible for both warehouses,

  or

• where the stock records are interconnected by electronic means.

3. Responsibility for goods transferred between warehouses shall pass to the warehousekeeper of the customs warehouse in which the goods are to be placed when he receives the goods and enters them in his stock records.

4. When the goods to be transferred have undergone usual forms of handling and Article 522 (2) applies, the document referred to in paragraph 1 must include the nature, customs value and quantity of the transferred goods which would be taken into account in the event of the incurrence of a customs debt if the goods concerned had not undergone the said handling.

Article 522 (4), (5) and (6) shall apply to these goods where appropriate.

5. Goods entered for the procedure cannot be transferred from one customs warehouse to another without termination of the procedure where the warehouse from or to which the transfer is made is a type B warehouse.

Subsection 6 Inventory

Article 527

The supervising office may, where it considers this necessary to ensure the proper operation of the customs warehouse, require an inventory to be made of all or some of the goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure, periodically or otherwise.

Section 5 Discharge

Article 528

1. Where equivalent goods are stored in common, as referred to in Article 524 (2), goods declared for a customs-approved treatment or use may be considered to be either Community or non-Community goods, at the choice of the person concerned.

In no case may application of the first subparagraph result in a given customs status being assigned to a quantity of goods greater than the quantity actually having that status which is stored at the customs warehouse when the goods declared for a customs-approved treatment or use are removed.

2. In the event of the total destruction or irretrievable loss of goods, the portion of goods entered for the procedure which has been destroyed or lost shall be established by reference to the proportion of goods of the same type under the procedure on the premises of the customs warehouse at the time when the destruction or loss occurred, unless the warehousekeeper can produce evidence of the actual quantity of goods under the procedure which was destroyed or lost.

Section 6 Special provisions concerning Community agricultural products

Article 529

Sections 1 to 5, excluding Articles 522 and 524, shall apply to prefinanced goods which are entered for the customs warehousing procedure in accordance with Article 98 (1) (b) of the Code.

Article 530

1. Where the declaration referred to in Article 513 (1) concerns prefinanced goods, it shall be made on the form provided for in Article 205.

2. A copy of the document referred to in paragraph 1 shall constitute the ‘payment declaration’ provided for in Article 25 (1) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87.

3. The declaration shall be accompanied by all documents whose production is necessary to enter the prefinanced goods for the procedure, including the export licences or advance fixing certificates referred to in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88(5).

Article 531

1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the declaration referred to in Article 530 entering prefinanced goods for the customs warehousing procedure may be accepted only after a security has been lodged in accordance with Article 6 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 565/80 and Article 31 (1) and (2) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87. Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85(6) shall apply.

2. The customs authorities may allow the security referred to in paragraph 1 to be lodged after the declaration of entry for the procedure has been accepted, on the conditions laid down in Article 31 (3) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87.

Article 532

Without prejudice to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 815/89(7) concerning coloured barley, prefinanced goods entered for the customs warehousing procedure may undergo the forms of handling provided for in Article 28 (4) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87; the forms of handling are listed in Annex 73.

Article 533

1. The customs warehousing procedure shall be discharged when an export declaration is accepted.

2. Following acceptance of the export declaration the goods shall remain under customs control until they leave the customs territory of the Community.

During this period the goods may be stored on the premises of a customs warehouse without being under the customs warehousing procedure.

3. Application of this Article by the supervising office shall be without prejudice to the verifications to be carried out by the competent authorities for the purposes of the common agricultural policy.

Article 534

1. Prefinanced goods entered for the customs warehousing procedure shall be declared for export using the form provided for in Article 205.

2. The declaration shall be accompanied by all the documents referred to in Article 221, including the export licence or advance fixing certificate referred to in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88.

3. The date on which the goods leave the customs territory of the Community shall be noted on the back of the document referred to in paragraph 1.

If, before leaving the customs territory of the Community, goods in respect of which an export declaration has been accepted transit through part of that territory, the procedures laid down in Articles 6, 6a and 7 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 shall apply.

4. Goods which have been assigned to a customs treatment considered equivalent to export pursuant to Articles 34 and 42 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 shall be considered to have left the customs territory of the Community.

Section 7 Use of a customs warehouse without entry of goods for the procedure

Subsection 1 Community goods

Article 535

The processing of prefinanced basic products on the premises of a customs warehouse shall be carried out in accordance with Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 565/80.

Article 536

1. Where the customs authorities require Community goods other than those referred to in Article 98 (2) (b) and (3) of the Code which are stored on the premises of a customs warehouse to be listed in the stock records referred to in Article 105 of the Code in accordance with Article 106 (3) of the Code, the entry must make clear their customs status.

2. Without prejudice to Article 524, the supervising office may lay down specific methods of identifying such goods, with a view in particular to distinguishing them from goods entered for the customs warehousing procedure stored on the same premises.

3. The goods referred to in paragraph 1 may be used for usual forms of handling, inward processing or processing under customs control.

Article 537

The following may be stored on the premises of a customs warehouse without being entered for the customs warehousing procedure:

• goods which are required to remain under customs control in accordance with Article 3 (6) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87,

• goods temporarily present in the customs territory of the Community with a view to their transhipment pursuant to Article 6a of the said Regulation.

Article 536 (1) and (2) shall apply to such goods.

Subsection 2 Non-Community goods

Article 538

1. This subsection shall apply to inward processing operations (suspension system) or processing under customs control carried out on the premises of customs warehouses of types A, C and D in which use of the local clearance procedure is authorized for entry for the procedure, re-export or release for free circulation.

2. Where not otherwise provided in this subsection, the provisions laid down for inward processing and processing under customs control shall apply to:

• inward processing operations using the drawback system,

• inward processing operations (suspension or drawback system) or processing under customs control carried out on the premises of warehouses of types B or F, or on premises used for the storage of goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure in a type E warehouse,

• operations to be carried out on the premises of type A, C or D warehouses not fulfilling the conditions laid down in paragraph 1.

Article 539

The customs authorities shall withhold authorization to use the simplified procedures referred to in this subsection where the necessary guarantees for the proper conduct of the operations are not afforded. The customs authorities may withhold authorization from persons who do not frequently carry out inward processing operations or processing under customs control, without prejudice to Article 510.

Article 540

Processing operations carried out under the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control on the premises of a customs warehouse referred to in Article 538 (1) shall not take place until the authorization referred to in Article 556 or 651 has been granted.

The authorization must specify the customs warehouse (indicating type) where the operations will be carried out.

Article 541

1. To use the procedures provided for in this subsection, the holder of the authorization shall keep either ‘inward processing records’ or ‘records of processing under customs control’ as appropriate, as referred to in Articles 556 (3) and 651 (3), which shall also contain the reference particulars of the authorization.

2. For the purpose of drawing up the bill of discharge referred to in Article 595 or Article 664, a reference to the entries specified in paragraph 1 shall replace the reference to the declarations and documents referred to in Article 595 (3) or Article 664 (3).

3. Entries in the ‘inward processing records’ or ‘records of processing under customs control’ shall allow the customs authorities to monitor the precise situation of all goods or products under one of these procedures at any time.

Article 542

1. Where goods are placed under the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control at the time when they are brought onto the premises of the customs warehouse, the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 276 shall apply.

2. The entry in the inward processing records or records of processing under customs control shall refer to the document under which the goods were carried.

Article 543

1. Where goods already on the premises of a customs warehouse are placed under the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control, the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 276 shall apply.

2. The customs warehousing procedure shall be discharged by entry in the inward processing records or records of processing under control, as the case may be. The reference particulars of such entry shall be recorded in the stock records of the customs warehouse.

Article 544

1. Where compensating products or goods in the unaltered state which have been placed under the inward processing procedure on the premises of a customs warehouse or processed products or goods in the unaltered state which have been placed under the procedure for processing under customs control on the premises of a customs warehouse are placed under the customs warehousing procedure, the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 272 shall apply.

2. The inward processing procedure and procedure for processing under customs control shall be discharged by entry in the stock records of the customs warehouse. Reference particulars of such entry shall be recorded in the inward processing records or records of processing under customs control, as the case may be.

3. The indications provided for in Article 610 shall be entered in the stock records of the customs warehouse.

Article 545

1. Where the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control is discharged at the time when the compensating products, processed products or goods in the unaltered state are removed from the premises of the customs warehouse by the re-export of those products or goods, the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 283 shall apply.

2. Where the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control is discharged at the time when the compensating products, processed products or goods in the unaltered state are removed from the premises of the customs warehouse by the release for free circulation of those products or goods, the local clearance procedure referred to in Articles 263 to 267 shall apply.

3. Where the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control is discharged at the time when the compensating products, processed products or goods in the unaltered state are removed from the premises of the customs warehouse by their entry for a procedure other than release for free circulation or re-export, the normal or simplified procedures laid down for that purpose shall apply.

4. The removal of compensating products, processed products or goods in the unaltered state from the premises of a customs warehouse need not be entered in the stock records of the customs warehouse.

Article 546

Articles 544 (2) and 545 (2) and (4) shall be without prejudice to the application of Articles 122, 135 and 136 of the Code concerning the application of charges to goods or products placed under the inward processing procedure or the procedure for processing under customs control.

Article 547

1. Provided the proper conduct of operations is not affected, the customs authorities shall allow non-Community goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure and import goods or compensating products placed under the inward processing procedure to be stored together in the same storage facilities.

2. Where the status of goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure or of compensating products or goods in the unaltered state placed under the inward processing procedure is assigned to goods, those goods shall be subject to all provisions governing the procedure in question, including in particular those concerning charges and the collection of compensatory interest.

3. Articles 524 (2) and 528 (1) and (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Section 8 Exchange of information

Article 548

Pursuant to this Chapter each Member State shall inform the Commission of the general measures as regards:

• determination of the customs authorities pursuant to Article 509,

• Article 104 of the Code,

• Article 106 (3) of the Code,

• Article 513 (3).

The Commission shall publish this information in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.

CHAPTER 3 Inward processing

Section 1 General provisions

Article 549

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

main compensating products means: the compensating products for the production of which the use of the inward processing procedure was authorized;

(b)

secondary compensating products means: compensating products other than the main compensating products which are a necessary by-product of the processing operation;

(c)

losses means: the proportion of the import goods destroyed and lost during the processing operation, in particular by evaporation, desiccation, venting as gas or leaching;

(d)

quantitative scale method means: calculation of the proportion of import goods incorporated in the various compensating products by reference to the quantity of the import goods;

(e)

value scale method means: calculation of the proportion of import goods incorporated in the various compensating products by reference to the value of the compensating products;

(f)

operators means: persons who carry out all or part of the processing operations;

(g)

equivalent compensation means: the system which, in accordance with Article 115 (1) (a) of the Code, allows the compensating products to be obtained from equivalent goods, which must fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 569 (1);

(h)

prior exportation means: the system which, in accordance with Article 115 (1) (b) of the Code, allows compensating products obtained from equivalent goods to be exported from the customs territory of the Community before the import goods are entered for the procedure using the suspension system;

(i)

triangular traffic means: the system whereby the import goods are entered for the procedure in the Community at a customs office other than the one at which the prior exportation of the compensating products took place;

(j)

period for re-exportation means: the time by which the products must have been assigned to one of the customs-approved treatments provided for under Article 89 of the Code;

(k)

monthly aggregation means: application of the second subparagraph of Article 118 (2) of the Code in respect of periods for re-exportation which begin to run during a given calendar month;

(l)

quarterly aggregation means: application of the second subparagraph of Article 118 (2) of the Code in respect of periods for re-exportation which begin to run during a given quarter.

Article 550

The goods referred to in Article 114 (2) (d) of the Code which can be used as production accessories are listed in Annex 74.

Section 2 Authorizing use of the procedure — normal procedure

Article 551

1. An authorization to use the suspension system shall be granted only where the applicant has the actual intention of re-exporting the main compensating products from the customs territory of the Community. In that case use of the suspension system may be authorized for all the goods to be processed.

2. An authorization for use of the drawback system shall be granted only in the cases referred to in Article 124 of the Code, where opportunities exist for export of the main compensating products from the customs territory of the Community.

3. Where the conditions for use of both systems are fulfilled, the applicant may request that the authorization be for either the suspension system or the drawback system.

Article 552

1. The economic conditions laid down in Article 117 (c) of the Code shall be considered fulfilled inter alia where:

(a) the processing consists of one of the following, referred to by the appropriate code:

(i)

operations carried out under a job-processing contract concluded with a person established in a third country. ‘Job processing’ means any processing of import goods directly or indirectly placed at the disposal of the holder of the authorization which is carried out according to the specifications and on behalf of a principal established outside the customs territory, generally against payment of processing costs alone (code 6201);

(ii)

operations involving goods of a non-commercial nature (code 6202);

(iii)

repairs, including overhaul and adjustments (code 6301);

(iv)

usual forms of handling intended to preserve goods, improve their appearance or marketable quality or prepare them for distribution or resale (code 6302);

(v)

operations in which the value of each type of goods, by eight-digit CN code, imported under the authorization does not exceed ECU 200 000 per applicant and per calendar year, irrespective of the number of operators carrying out the processing operation.

However, the value limit for goods and products listed in Annex 75 shall be ECU 100 000. The said value shall be the customs value of the goods estimated on the basis of the particulars known and the documents presented at the time when the application is lodged.

This paragraph may be waived in respect of particular import goods in accordance with the Committee procedure (code 6400);

(b) no goods comparable to the goods to be processed are produced in the Community (code 6101);

‘Comparable goods’ means goods falling within the same eight-digit CN code, being of the same commercial quality and having the same technical characteristics, having regard to the compensating products to be obtained;

(c) comparable goods as defined in paragraph (b) are not produced in the Community in sufficient quantity (code 6102);

(d) comparable goods as defined in paragraph (b) cannot be made available to the applicant within a suitable time by producers established in the Community. Such goods shall be considered unavailable within a‘suitable time’ where producers established in the Community cannot make them available to the operator in time for the proposed commercial operation to be carried out, despite a request having been made to them in good time (code 6103);

(e) comparable goods as defined in paragraph (b) are produced in the Community but cannot be used for one of the following reasons:

(i)

their price would make the proposed commercial operation uneconomic (code 6104).

In deciding whether the price of comparable goods produced in the Community would make the proposed commercial operation uneconomic, it shall be necessary to take account inter alia of the impact that the use of Community-produced goods would have on the cost price of the compensating product and hence on the disposal of the product on the third-country market, having regard to:

• the price before duty of the goods for processing and the price of comparable goods produced in the Community less domestic taxes refunded or refundable on export, including any refunds or other amounts applying under the common agricultural policy.

  Conditions of sale, in particular payment terms, and proposed delivery terms for the Community goods shall also be taken into account when comparing prices,

• the price obtainable for the compensating products on the third-country market, as ascertained from commercial correspondence or other information;

(ii)

they do not have the quality or characteristics necessary for the operator to produce the required compensating products (code 6105);

(iii)

they do not conform to the expressly stated requirements of the third-country purchaser of the compensating products (code 6106);

(iv)

the compensating products must be obtained from import goods in order to comply with provisions concerning the protection of industrial or commercial property rights (code 6107);

(f) the applicant for an authorization in respect of a particular type of goods to be entered for the procedure within a given period:

(i)

during the period in question, obtains 80 % of his total requirements for such goods incorporated in the compensating products in the customs territory of the Community in the form of comparable goods, as defined in paragraph (b), produced in the Community; to make use of this provision, the applicant must supply the customs authorities with supporting documents which enable the said authorities to satisfy itself that the intended purchase of Community goods may be reasonably carried out. Such supporting documents, to be annexed to the application, may take the form, for example, of copies of commercial or administrative documents which refer to purchases made in an earlier reference period, or orders or intended purchases for the period under consideration.

Without prejudice to Article 87 (2) of the Code, the customs authorities shall, where appropriate, check that the percentage is correct at the end of the period in question (code 7001);

(ii)

is trying to guard against real supply problems, proven to the satisfaction of the customs authorities, for that type of goods, and the proportion of supplies of goods produced in the Community is lower than the percentage indicated in paragraph (i) (code 7002);

(iii)

satisfies the customs authorities that he is taking the necessary steps to obtain goods for processing in the Community, but has met with no response from Community producers (code 7003);

(iv)

is building civil aircraft for delivery to airline companies (code 7004);

(v)

is carrying out repair, modification or conversion of civil aircraft (code 7005).

2. Paragraph 1 (f) (i) shall not apply to goods listed in Annex II to the Treaty.

3. The applicant shall indicate in his application the reasons for which the economic conditions are considered to be fulfilled within the meaning of paragraph 1.

Article 553

1. In exceptional circumstances, where the applicant considers the economic conditions to be fulfilled for reasons other than those listed in Article 552, he shall state the said reasons in his application (code 8000).

2. Where the customs authorities consider that the economic conditions are fulfilled in cases other than those provided for in Article 552, the authorization shall be granted for a limited period, which may not exceed nine months.

The particulars of the application concerning economic conditions shall be communicated to the Commission within a month of the issue of the authorization. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof.

The customs authorities may, at the request of the holder of the authorization, extend the period of validity of the latter where relevant provisions have not been adopted in good time in accordance with the Committee procedure.

3. Where the customs authorities consider that consultation at Community level is advisable in order to ensure that the economic conditions enabling an authorization to be issued are fulfilled, the Member State of the authorities shall submit the case to the Commission, which shall inform the other Member States thereof.

If the customs authorities do not consider it advisable to issue an authorization before consultation has taken place at Community level, they shall communicate particulars of the application as soon as possible.

If the customs authorities consider the authorization can be issued before the consultation, paragraph 2 may be applied mutatis mutandis.

Article 554

In assessing the economic conditions, the following shall not in themselves be taken as grounds for granting the authorization:

(a)

the fact that the Community producer of comparable goods which could be used to carry out the processing operations is an undertaking in competition with the person applying to use the procedure;

(b)

the fact that the goods are produced in the Community by a single undertaking.

Article 555

1. The application shall be made in conformity with Article 497 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 67/B, and presented by the person to whom the authorization may be granted under Articles 86, 116 and 117 of the Code.

2. (a) The application shall be presented to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the processing operation is to be carried out.

(b) Where it is expected that successive processing operations will be carried out by or on behalf of the applicant in different Member States, application for a single authorization may be made.

In this case, the application, which shall include all particulars of the sequence of operations and the exact places where they will be carried out, shall be presented to the customs authorities of the Member State where the first such operation will be carried out.

3. Where processing is to be carried out under a job-processing contract between two persons established in the Community, the application shall be lodged by or on behalf of the principal.

4. For the purposes of the second sentence of Article 117 (a) of the Code, ‘imports of a non-commercial nature’ means imports of goods referred to in Article 1(6).

Article 556

1. Without prejudice to Article 568, the authorization shall be issued by the authorities to which the application was presented under Article 555 (2) and shall be made out in conformity with Article 500 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 68/B.

By way of derogation from Article 500 (3) and in duly substantiated exceptional cases, the customs authorities may issue a retroactive authorization. However, the retrospective effect of such authorization may not go back beyond the time when the application was lodged.

2. Where Article 555 (2) (b) applies, the authorization may not be issued without the agreement of the customs authorities designated by the Member States in which the places indicated in the application are located. The following procedure shall apply:

(a) the customs authorities to which the application was presented, after satisfying themselves that the economic conditions can be considered fulfilled in respect of the planned operation, shall communicate the application and the draft authorization to the customs authorities of the other Member States concerned; the said draft shall include at least the rate of yield, the approved methods of identification, the customs offices referred to at point 12 of the specimen authorization in Annex 68/B, any simplified procedures used for entry for the procedure, transfer or discharge and the rules to be observed inter alia as regards notification to the supervising office;

(b) the customs authorities having received notification shall transmit any objections as soon as possible, and in any case within two months of the date of communication of the application and draft authorization;

(c) the customs authorities referred to in subparagraph (a), after taking the necessary steps to ensure payment of the customs debt which may be incurred in respect of the import goods, may issue the authorization if they have received no information concerning the existence of objections to the draft authorization within the period referred to in subparagraph (b);

(d) the Member State issuing the authorization shall send a copy thereof to all the Member States referred to above.

Authorizations issued in this way shall be valid only in the Member States referred to above.

The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the names and addresses of the customs authorities designated to receive the application and the draft authorization mentioned in subparagraph (a). The Commission shall inform the other Member States accordingly.

3. To ensure correct application of the provisions governing the procedure, the customs authorities may require the holder for the purposes of facilitating controls, to keep or ensure the keeping of stock records, hereafter called ‘inward processing records’ which indicate the quantities of import goods entered for the procedure and of compensating products obtained, and all particulars needed for the monitoring of the operations and the correct calculation of any import duties which may be payable.

The ‘inward processing records’ shall be made available to the supervising customs office to enable it to carry out the checks necessary for the proper implementation of the procedure. Where the processing operations are being carried out in two or more establishments, the stock records shall at all times show the information pertaining to the implementation of the procedure in each establishment.

Where the records kept by the holder for commercial purposes allow supervision of the procedure they shall be recognized by the customs authorities as valid ‘inward processing records’ within the meaning of the preceding subparagraph.

Article 557

Where Article 556 (2) does not apply and compensating products are to be obtained from other compensating products obtained under an authorization already issued, the person carrying out the further processing operations or having them carried out must submit a fresh application conforming to Annex 67/B, giving reference particulars of the authorization already issued. In this case the economic conditions shall be considered fulfilled and shall not be assessed again (code 6303).

Article 558

1. The period of validity of the authorization shall be set by the customs authorities having regard to the economic conditions and the specific needs of the applicant.

Where the period of validity exceeds two years, the conditions on the basis of which it was issued shall be reviewed periodically at intervals specified in the authorization.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the period of validity of an authorization to use the procedure in respect of products referred to in Article 560 (2) shall not exceed three months.

Article 559

1. When issuing the authorization the designated customs authorities shall specify the period within which the compensating products must be re-exported in accordance with Article 118 of the Code, taking into account the time required to carry out the processing operations as indicated in the authorization for a given quantity of goods, the quantity of import goods authorized for the procedure, and the time required to assign the compensating products to a customs-approved treatment or use.

2. Where the circumstances so warrant, the period specified for re-exportation may be extended even when that originally set has expired.

Article 560

1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, in the case of agricultural products of the kind referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 565/80 which are to be re-exported in the form of processed products or goods within the meaning of Article 2 (b) or (c) of that Regulation, the period for re-exportation shall not exceed six months.

2. In the case of products referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68(8) which are intended for the manufacture of products referred to in that Article or goods referred to in the Annex to the said Regulation, the period for re-exportation shall not exceed four months.

Article 561

1. In the case of prior exportation the customs authorities shall specify the period referred to in Article 118 (3) of the Code taking account of the time required for the procurement and transport to the Community of the import goods.

2. The period referred to in paragraph 1 shall not exceed:

• three months in the case of goods subject to a price-regulating mechanism,

• the period of validity of the import licence issued in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2630/81(9) in the case of raw sugar falling within CN code 1701 11 or 1701 12,

• six months in the case of all other goods. This period may, however, be extended where the holder of the authorization submits a reasoned request, provided that the total period does not exceed twelve months. Where the circumstances so warrant the extension may be allowed even after the original period has expired.

Article 562

1. The periods referred to in Articles 559 and 560 shall run from the date of acceptance of the declaration entering the goods for the procedure or, under the drawback system, of the declaration for release for free circulation.

2. The periods specified in accordance with Article 561 shall run from the date of acceptance of the export declaration.

Article 563

1. Monthly or quarterly aggregation shall be authorized by the customs authorities duly empowered by the Member State where the authorization is applied for, where the import goods are expected to be entered for the procedure for processing and re-exportation in the form of compensating products on a regular basis, so that the period for re-exportation will be more or less constant.

2. In the case of monthly aggregation, all periods for re-exportation beginning to run in a given month shall expire on the last day of the calendar month during which the period for re-exportation relating to the final entry for the procedure in the month in question would expire.

3. In the case of quarterly aggregation, all periods for re-exportation beginning to run in a given quarter shall expire on the last day of the quarter during which the period for re-exportation relating to the final entry for the procedure in the quarter in question would expire.

4. Monthly or quarterly aggregation shall be applied having regard to the examples in Annex 76.

Article 564

1. Where monthly aggregation is authorized for the agricultural products referred to in Article 560 (1), the periods for re-exportation referred to in Article 563 (2) shall expire no later than the last day of the fifth calendar month following that for which aggregation was authorized.

2. Where monthly aggregation is authorized for the agricultural products referred to in Article 560 (2), the periods for re-exportation shall expire no later than the last day of the fourth month following that for which aggregation was authorized.

3. Where quarterly aggregation is authorized for the agricultural products referred to in Article 560 (1), the periods for re-exportation referred to in Article 563 (3) shall expire no later than the last day of the quarter following that for which aggregation was authorized.

4. Quarterly aggregation shall not be authorized for the products referred to in Article 560 (2).

Article 565

The periods referred to in Articles 563 and 564 shall run from the date of acceptance of the declaration entering the goods for the procedure.

Article 566

1. Subject to Article 567, the rate of yield as defined in Article 114 (2) (e) of the Code or the method of determining such rate referred to in Article 119 of the Code shall as far as possible be set on the basis of production data and shall be identifiable in the records of the operator's undertaking.

2. The rate, or method of determining the rate, shall be set in accordance with paragraph 1 and shall be subject to retrospective verification by the customs authorities.

Article 567

1. The standard rates of yield referred to in paragraph 2 shall apply only to import goods of sound, genuine and merchantable quality which conform to any standard quality laid down in Community legislation.

2. The standard rates of yield shown in column 5 of Annex 77 shall apply to inward processing operations carried out on the import goods listed in column 1 of that Annex which result in the production of the compensating products listed in columns 3 and 4.

Section 3 Authorizing use of the procedure — simplified procedure

Article 568

1. This Article shall apply where processing operations are to take place in a single Member State, except in cases where the equivalent compensation system is to be used.

2. Where the simplified procedures for entry for the procedure laid down in Article 76 of the Code are not applied, and in the cases referred to in Article 552 (1) (a), any customs office empowered by the customs authorities to grant authorizations using the simplified procedure shall allow the lodging of the declaration of entry for the procedure, under the suspension system, or the declaration for release for free circulation, under the drawback system, to constitute an application for authorization.

In this case acceptance of the declaration shall constitute the authorization, the said acceptance remaining in any event subject to the conditions governing the granting of the authorization.

3. Declarations presented under paragraph 2 shall be accompanied by a document made out by the declarant containing the following information, as necessary, unless such information can be entered in box 44 of the form used for the declaration itself:

(a) where the person applying to use the procedure is not the same as the declarant, the name or business name and address of the applicant;

(b) where the operator is not the same as the applicant or declarant, the name or business name and address of the operator;

(c) the nature of the processing operation;

(d) the trade and/or technical description of the compensating products;

(e) the estimated rate of yield or, where appropriate, the method by which that rate is to be determined;

(f) the estimated period for re-exportation;

(g) the place where it is intended to carry out the processing operation.

Article 498 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4. Article 502 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Section 4 Equivalent compensation and prior exportation

Subsection 1 Equivalent compensation under the suspension system and the drawback system

Article 569

1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2 and Article 570 (2), where use is to be made of equivalent compensation, the equivalent goods must fall within the same eight-digit subheading of the CN code, be of the same commercial quality and have the same technical characteristics as the import goods.

2. Special provisions, set out in Annex 78, shall apply in respect of the goods referred to in that Annex.

3. Use of equivalent compensation shall be possible only where it has been requested by the person concerned in the application and where the authorization specifies the factors referred to in paragraph 1 common to the equivalent goods and the import goods, and the means by which these may be checked.

4. Where the authorization provides for use of equivalent compensation, the specific measures to be taken in order to ensure compliance with the provisions applying to that system shall be indicated in the authorization.

5. Where the authorization does not specify use of equivalent compensation but the holder of the authorization wishes to use that system, the said holder shall apply for the authorization initially granted to be modified. The application shall be made out in accordance with Article 497.

Article 570

1. Where the circumstances so warrant, the customs authorities may allow the equivalent goods to be at a more advanced stage of manufacture than the import goods, provided that the essential part of the processing to which the said equivalent goods are subjected is carried out in the undertaking of the holder of the authorization or in the undertaking where the operation is being carried out on his behalf.

2. The person concerned shall in every case make it possible for the customs authorities to identify the factors referred to in Article 569 (1) before he can use the equivalent compensation system.

Article 571

1. In the case of equivalent compensation without prior exportation, the change in customs status of the import goods and the equivalent goods, referred to in Article 115 (3) of the Code, shall take place at the time of acceptance of the declaration discharging the procedure. However, where the holder of the authorization puts the import goods on the Community market either in the unaltered state or in the form of compensating products before the procedure has been discharged, the change in customs status of the import goods and the equivalent goods shall take place at the time the goods are put on the market.

2. The change in customs status referred to in paragraph 1 shall not alter the origin of the exported goods.

3. In the event of the total destruction or irretrievable loss of goods in the unaltered state or compensating products the proportion of import goods destroyed or lost shall be calculated by reference to the proportion of import goods in stocks of goods of the same kind held by the holder of the authorization at the time when the destruction or loss occurred, unless he can produce evidence of the actual quantity of import goods destroyed or lost.

Subsection 2 Prior exportation under the suspension system

Article 572

1. Where equivalent compensation is used under the suspension system, Article 569, 570 and 571 (2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

2. In the case of prior exportation, the change in customs status referred to in Article 115 (3) of the Code shall take place:

• in respect of the exported compensating products, at the time of acceptance of the export declaration and on condition that the import goods are entered for the procedure,

• in respect of the import goods and equivalent goods, at the time of release of the import goods declared for the procedure.

Section 5 Provisions applying to the suspension system

Subsection 1 Entry of goods for the procedure

Article 573

1. The procedures governing the entry of goods for the inward processing procedure (suspension system) shall also apply to import goods, under the equivalent compensation system whether with prior exportation or not.

2. Without prejudice to Article 570 (2), equivalent goods used under the equivalent compensation system, whether with prior exportation or not, shall not be subject to the procedures for entry of goods for the procedure.

(a) Normal procedure

Article 574

1. Except where Article 568 applies, the declaration entering import goods for the inward processing procedure (suspension system) shall be lodged at one of the offices of entry for the procedure specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 568 applies, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged at a duly empowered customs office.

Article 575

1. The declaration referred to in Article 574 shall be made in accordance with Articles 198 to 252.

2. Without prejudice to the application of Article 568, the description of the goods given in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

Where the equivalent compensation system is used, the particulars in the declaration shall be sufficiently detailed to make it possible to identify the particulars referred to in Article 569 (1).

3. For the purposes of Article 62 (2) of the Code, the documents to accompany the declaration shall be those provided for in Article 220; where the triangular traffic system is used the declaration shall also be accompanied by the INF sheet, except where Article 605 applies, in accordance with Article 604.

(b) Simplified procedures

Article 576

1. The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Articles 275 and 276.

2. The customs authorities shall withhold authorization to use the local clearance procedure provided for in Article 276, from persons whose stock records, as referred to in Article 556 (3), cannot be established.

3. The supplementary declaration referred to in Article 76 (2) of the Code shall be supplied within the stipulated period and in any case no later than the time when the bill of discharge is lodged.

Subsection 2 Discharge of the procedure

Article 577

1. Pursuant to Article 89 of the Code, the inward processing procedure (suspension system) shall be discharged in respect of the import goods when the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state have been declared for another customs-approved treatment or use and all other conditions for use of the procedure have been complied with.

Where Article 115 (1) (b) of the Code applies, the procedure shall be discharged when the customs authorities have accepted the declaration in respect of the non-Community goods.

2. For the purposes of discharging the inward processing procedure, the following shall be treated as export from the customs territory of the Community:

(a) the delivery of compensating products to persons in third countries who are eligible for relief pursuant to either the Vienna Convention of 18 April 1961 on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention of 24 April 1963 on Consular Relations or other consular conventions, or the New York Convention of 16 December 1969 on Special Missions;

(b) the delivery of compensating products to the armed forces of third countries stationed in the territory of a Member State, in accordance with Article 136 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 918/83;

(c) the delivery of civil aircraft to airline companies established in the customs territory of the Community;

(d) the repair, modification or conversion of civil aircraft carried out under the inward processing procedure.

3. Discharge of the procedure shall be carried out according either to the quantities of import goods corresponding to the compensating products assigned to one of the treatments or uses referred to in paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or to the quantities of goods in the unaltered state assigned to such a treatment or use.

Article 578

The declaration to assign compensating products or goods in the unaltered state to one of the customs-approved treatments or uses shall contain all particulars necessary for discharge of the procedure.

Article 579

1. When the nature and/or technical characteristics of the import goods have been altered as a result of unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure so that it becomes impossible to obtain the compensating products for which an inward processing authorization (suspension system) has been issued, the holder of the authorization shall inform the supervising customs office of what has happened.

2. Article 571 (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

3. In cases where the alteration in question may affect the continuation in force or the substance of the authorization, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be without prejudice to Articles 9 and 87 (2) of the Code.

4. This Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to compensating products.

Article 580

1. The conditions for the release for free circulation of goods in the unaltered state or main compensating products shall be deemed to be fulfilled where the person concerned declares that he is unable to assign those products or goods to a customs-approved treatment or use under which import duties would not be payable.

2. The customs authorities may authorize release for free circulation on a general basis. They shall do so only if this does not contravene other Community provisions relating to release for free circulation.

3. Import goods may be put on the Community market in the form either of compensating products or of goods in the unaltered state without the formalities for release for free circulation being completed at the time of their being put on the market.

For the purposes of paragraph 4 only, goods put on the market in such a manner shall not be considered to have been assigned one of the treatments or uses referred to in Article 89 of the Code.

4. Import goods, whether in the form of compensating products or of goods in the unaltered state, which are covered by a general authorization for release for free circulation and which, upon expiry of the period for re-exportation (having due regard to Article 561), have not been assigned to any of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in Article 89 of the Code shall be considered to have been released for free circulation, and the declaration for release for free circulation shall be considered to have been lodged and accepted and release granted upon expiry of the said period.

5. Goods put on the market in accordance with paragraph 3 shall be considered to be Community goods forthwith.

Article 581

Without prejudice to use of the simplified procedures, any compensating products or goods in the unaltered state to be assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use shall be presented to the office of destination in order to undergo the customs formalities specified for the treatment or use in question under the general provisions applicable.

However, the supervising office may allow the products or goods concerned to be presented at a customs office other than that referred to in the first subparagraph.

(a) Normal procedures

Article 582

1. Except where Article 568 is applied, the declaration discharging the inward processing procedure (suspension system) shall be lodged at one of the offices of discharge specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 568 is applied, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged with the customs office which issued the authorization.

3. However, the supervising office may allow the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 to be presented at a customs office other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 583

1. The declaration referred to in Article 582 shall be made in accordance with the provisions laid down for the customs-approved treatment or use concerned.

2. The description of the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. For the purposes of Article 62 (2) of the Code, the documents to accompany the discharge declaration shall be those whose production is necessary for placing the goods under the procedure requested, as provided for in Articles 218 to 221.

(b) Simplified procedures

Article 584

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Article 278.

(c) Provisions concerning application of charges

Article 585

1. Where the import goods are olive oils falling within headings 1509 or 1510 of the combined nomenclature and their release for free circulation either in the unaltered state or in the form of compensating products falling within CN codes 1509 90 00 or 1510 00 90 has been authorized, the agricultural levy to be charged shall be:

• the agricultural levy indicated on the import licence issued under the tendering procedure, subject to the provisions of Article 4 (2) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3136/78 of 28 December 1978(10),

  or

• the last minimum agricultural levy fixed by the Commission before the date of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation, when the licence referred to in Article 6 of the said Regulation has been presented or when the quantity released for free circulation does not exceed 100 kilograms.

2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply where the import goods are olives falling within CN code 0709 90 39 or 0711 20 90 and the release for free circulation of compensating products falling within tariff CN code 1509 90 00 or 1510 00 90 has been authorized.

Article 586

In the event of the release for free circulation of goods in the unaltered state or compensating products in a Member State other than the one in which the goods were entered for the procedure, the said Member State shall collect the import duties which are mentioned on information sheet INF 1 provided for in Article 611, in accordance with the corresponding indications.

Article 587

1. Where the compensating products are released for free circulation and the customs debt is calculated on the basis of the items of charge appropriate to the import goods, in accordance with Article 121 of the Code, boxes 15, 16, 34, 41 and 42 of the declaration shall refer to the goods in the unaltered state.

2. The particulars referred to in paragraph 1 need not be supplied where information sheet INF 1 referred to in Article 611 or another document containing the same particulars as the INF 1 sheet accompanies the declaration for release for free circulation.

Article 588

1. The list of compensating products and processing operations to which the first indent of Article 122 (a) of the Code applies is in Annex 79.

For the purposes of this Article, destruction of compensating products other than those to which the first indent of Article 122 (a) of the Code applies shall be treated as export from the customs territory of the Community.

2. The date to be used for determining import duties on the compensating products referred to in paragraph 1 shall be that on which the declaration for release for free circulation is accepted.

3. The supervising office may allow the first indent of Article 122 (a) of the Code to be applied to waste, scrap, residues, offcuts and rejects other than those in the list referred to in paragraph 1.

Each Member State shall notify the Commission every six months of cases in which this paragraph has been applied.

Article 589

1. Where a customs debt is incurred in respect of compensating products or goods in the unaltered state, compensatory interest shall be paid on the import duty applicable.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply:

• where a customs debt is incurred pursuant to Article 216 of the Code,

• where waste and scrap resulting from destruction under Article 182 of the Code is released for free circulation,

• where the secondary compensating products referred to in Annex 79 are released for free circulation, provided they are in proportion to exported quantities of main compensating products,

• where compensatory interest calculated in accordance with paragraph 4 does not exceed ECU 20 per declaration for free circulation,

• where the holder of the authorization requests release for free circulation and supplies proof that particular circumstances not arising from any negligence or deception on his part make it impossible or uneconomic to carry out the export operation under the conditions he had anticipated and duly substantiated when applying for the authorization.

3. The request for consideration of a case under the terms of the fifth indent of paragraph 2 shall be submitted to the customs authorities indicated by the Member State which issued the authorization. It shall be admissible only if accompanied by all the supporting documents needed for a full examination of the case.

Where a customs authorities receive a request relating to compensatory interest on a sum of ECU 3 000 or less per bill of discharge and finds that the grounds supporting the request indicate a situation of the kind provided for in the fifth indent of paragraph 2, they shall waive application of paragraph 1. In this case the supporting documents shall be kept for three years by the customs authorities.

In all other cases, where they intend to grant the request they shall forward the said request to the Commission with the file containing the material needed for a full examination of the case. Release granted by the customs authorities for entry for free circulation of compensating products or goods in the unaltered state may be made subject to the provision of a security, the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 4.

The Commission shall notify the Member State concerned immediately it receives the file. The Member State which forwarded the request shall waive application of paragraph 1 if the Commission has failed to inform it of any objections within two months of the date of acknowledgement of receipt.

The Commission shall inform the Member States of requests received and the action taken on them.

4. (a) The annual interest rates shall be set by the Commission on the basis of the arithmetical average of representative short-term rates for each Member State in the same six-month period of the previous year.

They shall apply to all customs debts incurred in the course of a six-month period.

The rate applied shall be that for the Member State where the inward processing operations, or the first such operation, took place or should have taken place.

Rates shall be published in the L series of the Official Journal of the European Communities at least one month before they become applicable.

(b) Interest shall be applied per calendar month for the period running from the first day of the month following the month in which the import goods in respect of which the procedure is discharged were first entered for the procedure to the last day of the month in which the customs debt is incurred.

In order to simplify determination of the period to be taken into account for the application of compensatory interest, particularly in the case of operations in which the number of import goods and/or compensating products makes it economically impracticable to apply the normal provisions, the customs authorities, at the request of the person concerned, may allow the period for application of interest to be based on turnover periods of stocks of goods used to obtain the compensating products.

The stock turnover period should be taken to mean the average time from the moment the goods to be used for obtaining the compensating products enter the factory until the moment they leave the factory. This period shall be determined from the ratio at cost price of the value of the average stock of goods necessary for obtaining the compensating products to the annual turnover.

The figure obtained, multiplied by 12 and rounded up to the next whole number, shall constitute the number of months on which compensatory interest shall be applicable.

The simplification mentioned above shall be accorded by the customs authorities only on condition that the stock turnover period can be verified.

The period to take into account for the application of compensatory interest shall not be less than one month.

(c) The amount of interest shall be calculated on the basis of the import duties, the interest rate referred to in (a) above and the period referred to in (b) above.

Article 590

1. In specific cases, particularly in the case of processing operations involving two or more Member States, simplified methods may be used at the request of the persons concerned for the calculation and accounting of compensatory interest.

2. When the Member States concerned have satisfied themselves that the proposed procedures can be implemented, they shall communicate them to the Commission and the Commission shall inform the other Member States. The procedures communicated to the Commission may be applied unless the Commission notifies the Member States concerned, within two months of the date of receipt of the draft, of any objections to such application.

Article 591

1. The proportion of import goods incorporated in compensating products shall be calculated when necessary in order to determine the import duties to be charged. Such calculation shall not be effected when, inter alia, the amount of the debt is determined solely on the basis of Article 122 of the Code.

2. The calculations shall be effected in accordance with the methods referred to in Articles 592 to 594 or by any other method giving the results.

Article 592

The quantitative scale method (compensating products) shall be used where one kind of compensating product only is derived from the inward processing operations. In that case the quantity of import goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products in respect of which a customs debt is incurred shall be calculated by applying to the total quantity of the said goods a coefficient corresponding to the ratio of the quantity of compensating products in respect of which a customs debt is incurred to the total quantity of compensating products.

Article 593

1. The quantitative scale method (import goods) shall be applied where all elements of the import goods are found in each compensating product.

In deciding whether this method shall apply, losses shall not be taken into account.

The quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of each compensating product shall be determined by successively applying to the total quantity of import goods a coefficient corresponding to the ratio of the quantity of the said goods found in each type of compensating product to the total quantity of the goods found in the compensating products as a whole.

The quantity of import goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products in respect of which a customs debt is incurred shall be determined by applying the coefficient arrived at by the method indicated in Article 592 to the quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of the said product calculated in accordance with the third subparagraph.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the quantitative scale method (import goods) shall also apply to operations in which durum wheat is processed to obtain ‘couscous’ meal, groats and other meal.

Article 594

1. Where Articles 592 and 593 do not apply, the value scale method shall be applied in all cases. However, with the agreement of the holder of the authorization and for the purposes of simplification, the customs authorities may apply the quantitative scale method (import goods) instead of the value scale method where either method would give similar results.

2. In order to determine the quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of each type of compensating product, successive coefficients corresponding to the ratio of the value of each compensating product to the total value of those products, calculated in accordance with paragraph 3, shall be applied to the total quantity of import goods.

3. Pursuant to Article 36 (1) of the Code, the value of each of the different compensating products to be used for applying the value scale shall be:

• the recent selling price in the Community of identical or similar products, provided that this has not been influenced by the relationship between buyer and seller, or, where this is not known,

• the recent ex-works price in the Community, provided that this has not been influenced by the relationship between buyer and seller.

Where the value cannot be ascertained under the first subparagraph it shall be determined by the supervising customs office using any reasonable method.

4. The quantity of import goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products in respect of which a customs debt is incurred shall be calculated by applying the coefficient arrived at by the method indicated in Article 592 to the quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of the products in question, calculated in accordance with paragraph 2.

(d) Bill of discharge

Article 595

1. Without prejudice to Article 596 (3), the holder of the authorization shall supply the supervising office with a bill of discharge.

2. The bill of discharge shall contain inter alia the following particulars:

(a) reference particulars of the authorization;

(b) the quantity of each type of import goods and reference particulars of the declarations entering them for the procedure;

(c) the combined nomenclature code of the import goods;

(d) the customs value of the import goods and the rate of import duties to which they are liable;

(e) the rate of yield established;

(f) the nature and quantity of the compensating products and the customs-approved treatment or use to which they are assigned, together with reference particulars of the declarations assigning the said products to a customs-approved treatment or use;

(g) the value of the compensating products if the value scale method is used for the purposes of discharge;

(h) the amount of import duties to be paid on the quantity of import goods considered to be released for free circulation under Article 580 (3);

(i) the import goods entered for the procedure under the triangular traffic system.

3. Where simplified procedures are used for entry for the procedure or discharge of the procedure, the declarations and documents in question shall be those provided for in Article 76 (3) of the Code. The bill of discharge shall also show the quantity of goods considered to be released for free circulation pursuant to Article 580.

Article 596

1. The bill of discharge shall be supplied within 30 days of the expiry of the time limit for re-exportation, calculated, where appropriate, in accordance with Article 565. Where monthly or quarterly aggregation is used, a bill of discharge shall be presented for each month or quarter.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 3 and Article 597 (4), where the prior exportation system is used the bill of discharge shall be supplied within 30 days of the expiry of the period fixed in accordance with Article 561.

3. The supervising office may itself make out the bill of discharge subject to the same time limits referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. This fact shall be indicated in the authorization.

Article 597

1. Import duties on import goods, whether in the form of compensating products or of goods in the unaltered state considered to have been released for free circulation in accordance with Article 580 (3), shall be paid at the latest on presentation of the bill of discharge, which may be based on a summary declaration.

2. Where identification of other items of charge relating to the import goods is necessary in order to determine the amount of import duties, the bill of discharge shall in addition show such items and, where appropriate, the proportion of the import goods incorporated in the compensating products, established in accordance with Articles 592 to 594.

3. The holder of the authorization shall make available to the supervising office any document relating to goods considered to have been released for free circulation in accordance with Article 580 (3) whose production is necessary for the correct application of the provisions governing the release of goods for free circulation.

4. The supervising office may agree that:

(a) the bill of discharge referred to in Article 595 (1) should be made out by computer or in any other form that the said office shall stipulate;

(b) the bill of discharge should be made out on the declaration entering the goods for the procedure.

Article 598

The supervising office shall annotate the bill of discharge on the basis of the verification which has been carried out, informing the holder of the authorization if necessary of the result of that verification, and shall keep the bill of discharge and related documents for at least three calendar years from the end of the year in which the bill was drawn up. However, the said customs office may decide that documents relating to the bill of discharge shall be kept by the holder of the authorization. In that case the said documents shall be kept for the same period.

Article 599

1. Where import goods have been entered for the procedure by virtue of a single authorization but under several declarations, the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use shall be considered to have been obtained from the import goods entered for the procedure under the earliest of the declarations.

2. Where the holder of the authorization can show the specific import goods from which the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state referred to in paragraph 1 were obtained, paragraph 1 shall not apply.

Subsection 3 Triangular traffic

Article 600

The customs authorities referred to in Article 556 may allow triangular traffic only as part of the prior exportation system.

Article 601

1. For triangular traffic the information sheet referred to as ‘information sheet INF 5’ shall be used.

2. Information sheet INF 5 shall be made out on a form corresponding to the model and indications in Annex 81, in one original and three copies which must be presented together at the customs office where the export formalities are carried out.

Information sheet INF 5 shall be made out in respect of the quantity of import goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products exported. Where it is planned to import the goods in successive consignments, more than one INF 5 sheet may be made out.

3. In the event of theft, loss or destruction of information sheet INF 5, the importer may ask the customs office which endorsed it for a duplicate to be issued. The said office shall comply with this request provided it can be shown that the import goods in respect of which the duplicate is requested have not been entered for the procedure.

The original and copies of the information sheet INF 5 so issued shall bear one of the following indications:

• DUPLICADO,

• DUPLIKAT,

• DUPLIKAT,

• ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟ,

• DUPLICATE,

• DUPLICATA,

• DUPLICATO,

• DUPLICAAT,

• SEGUNDA VIA.

Article 602

1. When the export declaration in respect of the compensating products is presented at the customs office where the export formalities are carried out, an INF 5 sheet made out in accordance with Article 601 (2) shall be presented.

2. Where the compensating products leave the customs territory of the Community via the customs office where the export declaration is accepted, the said office shall endorse boxes 9 and 10 of the INF 5 sheet, retain copy No 1 and return the original and the other copies to the declarant.

Where that customs office is not the supervising customs office, it shall endorse copy 1 and send it to the supervising office.

3. Where the compensating products leave the customs territory of the Community via a customs office other than the customs office where the export declaration is accepted, they shall be carried from the customs territory of the Community under the external Community transit procedure.

The box reserved for the description of the goods on the transit document shall contain one of the indications referred to in Article 610 (1) plus the letters EX-IM.

In cases provided for by this paragraph the customs office where the export declaration is accepted shall complete box 9, entering particulars of the T1 document and the symbol T1. The customs office of exit shall complete box 10, send copy 1 to the supervising office and return the original and the other copies to the declarant.

4. The compensating products referred to in paragraph 3 may not be assigned to any treatment or use other than direct export to a third country.

Article 603

The import goods may be entered for the procedure at a customs office of entry other than that originally specified, where the change is allowed by the supervising office or by the customs office where the entry formalities are actually carried out, which in that event shall notify the change to the supervising office.

Article 604

1. The declaration entering import goods for the procedure must be accompanied by the original and copy 2 and 3 of information sheet INF 5.

2. The customs office where the declaration of entry is presented shall note on the original and copies 2 and 3 of information sheet INF 5 the quantity of import goods entered for the procedure and the date of acceptance of the declaration. It shall send copy 3 to the supervising office without delay, returning the original to the declarant and retaining copy 2.

3. On receipt of copy 3 the supervising office shall notify the holder of the authorization without delay of the quantity of import goods entered for the procedure and the date of such entry.

Article 605

Where the office of entry for the procedure and the office where the export formalities are carried out are in the same Member State, the customs authorities may stipulate other procedures.

Subsection 4 Specific commercial policy measures

Article 606

Where the application for authorization relates to goods subject to the commercial policy measures referred to in Article 607 (1) (a) it shall not be necessary to present any licence, authorization or other similar document at the time when the application is submitted.

Article 607

1. Where Community acts provide for specific commercial policy measures on:

(a) release of goods for free circulation, the said measures shall not apply on entry of the goods for the inward processing procedure nor for such time as they remain under the procedure;

(b) goods brought into the customs territory of the Community, the said measures shall apply when the import goods are entered for the inward processing procedure.

2. Non-Community goods, even where they are not liable to import duties, may also be entered for the procedure using the suspension system:

(a) with a view to waiver of commercial policy measures applying to the release of the goods for free circulation;

(b) with a view to waiver of commercial policy measures applying to export of the goods in the unaltered state or the compensating products, without prejudice to commercial policy measures applying to the export of products originating in the Community.

3. Where paragraph 1 (a) or paragraph 2 applies, it shall not be necessary to present any licence, authorization or other related document at the time of entry for the procedure.

Article 608

Subject to the applicable provisions, the re-export of non-Community goods entered for the procedure shall not give rise to the application of the commercial policy measures laid down for exports of the goods in the unaltered state or compensating products, without prejudice to commercial policy measures applying to the export of products originating in the Community.

Article 609

1. The release for free circulation of import goods in the form either of goods in the unaltered state or of compensating products other than secondary compensating products listed in Annex 79 shall be subject to the application by the customs authorities of any commercial policy measures in force for the import goods at the time when the declaration for release for free circulation was accepted.

2. Where release for free circulation is requested in a Member State other than the one in which the import goods were entered for the procedure, it shall be subject to application of any commercial policy measures in force in the Member State where the goods were entered for the procedure at the time when the declaration for release for free circulation is accepted.

Subsection 5 Administrative cooperation

Article 610

1. Where the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state are placed in a free zone or free warehouse or entered for one of the suspensive procedures, enabling the inward processing procedure to be discharged, the box reserved for the description of goods on the document used for the said customs-approved treatment or use or, where simplified procedures are used, on the commercial document or records used, shall, in addition to the information laid down for the procedure in question, contain one of the following indications:

• Mercancías PA/S,

• A.F./S-varer,

• A.V./S-Waren,

• Εμπορεύματα ET/A,

• I.P./S. goods,

• Marchandises PA/S,

• Merci PA/S,

• AV/S-goederen,

• Mercadorias AA/S.

2. Where import goods entered for the procedure using the suspension system are subject to specific commercial policy measures and such measures continue to be applicable at the time when the goods, either in the unaltered state or in the form of compensating products, are placed under a customs procedure or in a free zone or free warehouse, the indication referred to in paragraph 1 shall be supplemented by one of the following:

• Política comercial,

• Handelspolitik,

• Handelspolitik,

• Εμπορική πολιτική,

• Commercial policy,

• Politique commerciale,

• Politica commerciale,

• Handelspolitiek,

• Política comercial.

3. The office of discharge shall satisfy itself that the indications referred to in paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 have been entered as appropriate on any documents issued to replace or discharge the documents referred to in those paragraphs.

Article 611

1. The information sheet referred to as the INF 1 sheet shall comprise an original and two copies made out on a form conforming to the specimen and provisions in Annex 82.

2. The INF 1 sheet referred to in paragraph 1 shall be used for:

(a) fixing the amount of the security referred to in Article 88 of the Code;

(b) the release for free circulation of compensating products or goods in the unaltered state at a customs office other than an office of discharge.

Article 612

Where the INF 1 sheet is used for the purposes of Article 611 (2) (a), an appropriate indication must be entered in box 2.

Article 613

1. Under Article 611 (2) (b), where the release for free circulation of all or part of the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state is requested, the customs authorities responsible for accepting the declaration, using the INF 1 sheet endorsed by them, shall ask the supervising customs office to indicate:

• in box 9 (a), the amount of import duties to be levied under Article 121 or 128 (4) of the Code,

• in box 9 (b), the amount of compensatory interest to be levied under Article 589,

• the quantity, CN code and origin of the import goods used in the manufacture of the compensating products released for free circulation.

The amount of import duties shall also reflect any difference between:

• the amount of import duties determined by the application of Article 121 of the Code or the amount of import duties repaid or remitted, and

• the amount of import duties already recorded or to be repaid or remitted.

2. Where the declaration for release for free circulation relates to products or goods referred to in Article 610 (2) and the commercial policy measures are to be applied in the Member State where use of the procedure was authorized, the customs authorities responsible for accepting the said declaration, using the INF 1 sheet endorsed by them, shall ask the supervising office to indicate whether the commercial policy measures in force for goods entered for the inward processing procedure have in fact been applied.

3. The original and one copy of the INF 1 sheet shall be sent to the supervising office and a copy shall be kept by the authorities which endorsed the sheet.

4. Where the INF 1 sheet is used for the application of commercial policy measures, the supervising office receiving it shall notify the holder of the authorization of the request.

5. The supervising office to which the INF 1 sheet is sent shall supply the information requested in boxes 8, 9 and 10 of the sheet, endorse it, retain the copy and return the original. However, it shall not be obliged to supply such information beyond the expiry of the period for which it is required to keep records.

6. For the purpose of calculating the amount referred to in paragraph 1 and for that purpose only, the products to which the INF 1 sheet refers shall be considered to have been released for free circulation on the date on which box 2 was endorsed.

Article 614

Should release for free circulation be requested where an INF 1 sheet has been made out under Article 612, the same INF 1 sheet may be used, provided it contains:

• in box 9 (a) the amount of import duties payable on the import goods pursuant to Article 121 (1) or 128 (4) of the Code, and

• in box 11, the date when the import goods concerned were first entered for the procedure.

In the absence of such information, a new INF 1 sheet shall be endorsed in accordance with Article 613.

Article 615

1. The holder of the authorization may ask for an INF 1 sheet to be endorsed when the compensating products or goods are transferred to a second holder or to the plant of a second approved operator.

2. In that case, the supervising office shall provide the indications referred to in Article 614.

Subsection 6 Transfer of goods

Article 616

1. Without prejudice to Articles 617 to 623 when products or goods are to be moved within the customs territory of the Community, either under a transfer of authorization or under a single authorization, the products or goods concerned shall be transported in accordance with the provisions concerning external transit.

2. The Community external transit document or the document treated as the external transit document shall carry the endorsements referred to in Article 610.

3. If permission is given for the use of such transfer procedures, they shall be set out in the authorization. They shall replace the movement procedures of the external transit arrangements. In the case of a transfer of products or goods from the holder of one authorization to the holder of a second authorization, both of these authorizations shall stipulate the procedures of transfer.

Permission for the use of the procedures in question may be given only if the holder of the authorization keeps or has kept for him the inward processing records referred to in Article 556 (3).

(a) Provisions governing transfers of goods or products using a single authorization

Article 617

The customs authorities shall permit compensating products or goods in the unaltered state to be transferred without customs formalities and without termination of the inward processing procedure from the plant of one operator to the plant of another operator, with a view to further processing, provided the transfer is entered in the inward processing records.

Article 618

The holder of the authorization shall retain responsibility for transferred goods or products.

(b) Provisions governing transfers of goods or products from the holder of an authorization to the holder of another

Article 619

The customs authorities shall permit compensating products or goods in the unaltered state to be transferred from the holder of one authorization to the holder of another authorization, provided the transfer is recorded in the inward processing records of the first holder in accordance with the procedure described in Annex 83.

Article 620

1. Responsibility for transferred goods or products shall pass to the holder of the second authorization at the time at which he takes delivery of the said goods or products and enters them in his inward processing records.

2. Such entry in the inward processing records shall have the effect of placing the goods or products under the procedure again in the name of the holder of the second authorization.

(c) General provisions

Article 621

1. Provided the proper conduct of operations is not thereby affected, the customs authorities, on other conditions they shall lay down, shall permit:

(a) the carriage of import goods, without customs formalities, from the office of entry for the procedure to the operator's plant, and of compensating products or goods in the unaltered state from the operator's plant to the office of discharge;

(b) advance authentication of the forms referred to in Annex 83 or completion by the operator of the forms referred to in Annex 83, which shall be stamped by him using a special metal stamp approved by the authority;

(c) completion of the formalities using a computerized system, provided the said system is such as to guarantee the proper implementation of the provisions of this Chapter.

2. Where paragraph 1 (a) is applied, the supervising office must be informed by the office of entry for the procedure that the import goods have been entered for the procedure and by the office of discharge that the compensating products or goods in the unaltered state have been exported, by dispatching extra copies of the declaration made to that effect and the accompanying documents.

Article 622

The holder of the authorization shall be responsible for providing the customs authorities with advance notification of the transfers to be carried out in the form and manner which the said authorities shall determine.

Article 623

1. Where the transfer procedures referred to in this subsection are applied, the provisions of Article 580 regarding goods considered to have been released for free circulation may be applied on presentation of the bill of discharge, provided that other Community provisions concerning release for free circulation do not prevent this.

2. The supervising office shall inform the office or offices of entry for the procedure of the discharges granted, giving reference particulars of the declarations of entry for the procedure that it has accepted.

Section 6 Provisions applicable to the drawback system

Subsection 1 Release for free circulation under the drawback system

Article 624

The procedures laid down for release for free circulation under the drawback system shall apply to import goods, including import goods under the equivalent compensation system without prior exportation (special release for free circulation without application of import duties).

(a) Normal procedure

Article 625

1. Except where Article 568 applies, the declaration for release for free circulation under the drawback system shall be lodged at one of the offices of entry for the procedure specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 568 applies, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged at one of the duly empowered customs offices.

Article 626

1. The declaration referred to in Article 625 shall be made in accordance with Articles 198 to 252.

2. Article 575 (2) and (3) shall apply.

(b) Simplified procedures

Article 627

1. The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code for release for free circulation under the drawback system shall apply in accordance with Articles 275 and 276.

2. Article 576 (2) shall apply.

3. The supplementary declaration referred to in Article 76 (2) of the Code shall be supplied within the time limit laid down, and in any case no later than the time when the repayment claim is lodged.

Subsection 2 Repayment or remission of duties

Article 628

The cases referred to in Article 577 (2) shall be treated as equivalent to the export of compensating products from the Community.

Article 629

The declaration or application to assign compensating products to one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in Article 128 of the Code shall contain all the particulars necessary to support a repayment claim.

Article 630

Without prejudice to the use of the simplified procedures, any compensating product which is to be assigned to one of the accepted customs-approved treatments or uses shall be presented to the office of discharge and undergo the customs formalities specified for the treatment or use in question in accordance with the general provisions applicable.

Article 631

1. Except where Article 568 applies, the declaration assigning the compensating products to one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in Article 128 of the Code shall be lodged at one of the offices of discharge specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 568 applies, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged at the office which issued the authorization.

3. However, the supervising office may allow the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 to be presented to a customs office other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 632

1. The declaration referred to in Article 631 shall be made in accordance with the provisions laid down for the customs-approved treatment or use concerned.

2. Article 583 (2) and (3) shall apply.

Article 633

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code for discharge of the procedure shall apply in accordance with Article 278.

Article 634

1. The proportion of import goods incorporated in compensating products shall be calculated when necessary in order to determine the import duties to be repaid or remitted. Such calculation shall not be effected when all the compensating products are assigned to one of the treatments or uses referred to in Article 128 of the Code.

2. The calculation shall be effected in accordance with the methods referred to in Articles 635 to 637 or by any other method giving the same results.

Article 635

The quantitative scale method (compensating products) shall be used where one kind of compensating product only is obtained from the inward processing operations. In that case the quantity of import goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products for which repayment or remission may be claimed shall be calculated by applying to the whole amount of the said goods a coefficient corresponding to the ratio of the quantity of compensating products for which repayment or remission may be claimed to the total quantity of compensating products.

Article 636

The quantitative scale method (import goods) shall be applied where all elements of the goods released for free circulation are found in each compensating product.

In deciding whether this method shall apply, losses shall not be taken into account.

The quantity of import goods under the drawback system used in the manufacture of each compensating product shall be determined by successively applying to the total quantity of import goods a coefficient corresponding to the ratio of the quantity of the said goods found in each type of compensating product to the total quantity of the goods found in the compensating products as a whole.

The quantity of import goods under the drawback system corresponding to the quantity of compensating products for which repayment or remission may be claimed shall be determined by applying the coefficient arrived at by the method indicated in Article 635 to the quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of the said product calculated in accordance with the third subparagraph.

Article 637

1. Where Articles 635 and 636 cannot be applied, the value scale method shall be used. However, with the agreement of the holder of the authorization and for the purposes of simplification, the customs authorities may apply the quantitative scale method (import goods) instead of the value scale method where either method would give similar results.

2. In order to determine the quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of each type of compensating product, successive coefficients corresponding to the ratio between the comparable value of each compensating product, calculated in accordance with paragraph 3. shall be applied to the total quantity of import goods.

3. Article 594 (3) shall apply.

4. The quantity of import goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products for which repayment or remission may be claimed shall be calculated by applying the coefficient arrived at by the method indicated in Article 635 to the quantity of import goods used in the manufacture of the products in question, calculated in accordance with paragraph 2.

Article 638

1. The repayment or remission of import duties shall be subject to the lodging by the holder of the authorization of a claim, hereinafter referred to as the ‘repayment claim/IP’, with the supervising office. The claim shall be submitted in duplicate.

2. Subject to paragraph 4, where an authorization was issued under Article 556 (2), the repayment claim/IP may be submitted only to the supervising office in the Member State which issued the authorization.

3. Where Article 557 is applied, repayment may be claimed only by a single holder.

4. In specific cases, following a written request from the persons concerned, where two or more Member States involved in processing operations are prepared to allow repayment claims/IP to be submitted to the customs authorities of a Member State other than the one specified in paragraph 2, they shall first communicate the requests to the Commission, together with a draft of the procedures planned to ensure that the claim referred to in Article 640 is correctly made out. The Commission shall inform the other Member States accordingly. The procedures communicated by the Commission may be applied unless the Commission notifies the Member States concerned, within two months of the date of receipt of the draft, of any objections to such application.

Article 639

1. The period referred to in Article 128 (3) of the Code within which the repayment claim/IP shall be lodged shall be a maximum of six months from the date on which the compensating products were assigned one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in Article 128(1) of the Code.

2. Where special circumstances so warrant, the customs authorities may extend the period referred to in paragraph 1 even after it has expired.

Article 640

1. The repayment claim/IP shall contain inter alia the following particulars:

(a) reference particulars of the authorization;

(b) the quantity of each type of import goods in respect of which repayment or remission is claimed;

(c) the CN code of the import goods;

(d) the customs value of the import goods and the rate of import duties to which they are liable as ascertained by the customs authorities on the date of acceptance of the declaration for release for free circulation under the drawback system;

(e) the date of release for free circulation of the import goods under the drawback system;

(f) reference to the declarations under which the import goods were released for free circulation under the drawback system;

(g) the type and quantity of the compensating products and the customs-approved treatment or use to which they are to be assigned;

(h) the value of the compensating products if the value scale method is used for the purpose of discharge;

(i) the rate of yield fixed;

(j) reference to the declarations under which the compensating products were entered for one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in Article 128 of the Code;

(k) the amount of import duties to be repaid or remitted and any compensatory interest collected, taking into account inter alia the import duties on other compensating products.

2. Where the simplified procedures relating to the formalities for release for free circulation under the drawback system and to export have been applied, the declarations and documents shall be those referred to in Article 76 (3) of the Code.

Article 641

1. Where the supervising office decides that the declarations referred to in Article 640 (1) (f) and (j) and such other documents as the said office shall stipulate should be kept by the holder of the authorization, the said declarations and documents shall be made available to that office.

2. However, where Article 646 applies, the claim shall be accompanied by the originals of the INF 7 sheets, duly endorsed.

Article 642

1. The supervising office may allow claims to omit some of the particulars referred to in Article 640 (1) where these do not affect calculation of the amount to be repaid or remitted.

2. The supervising office may allow the repayment claim /IP referred to in Article 640 (1) to be made out by computer or in such other form as the said office shall stipulate.

Article 643

The supervising office shall annotate the repayment claim /IP on the basis of the verification carried out and shall inform the holder of the authorization of the result of that verification; it shall keep the claim and related documents for at least three calendar years from the end of the year in which it takes a decision on the claim.

However, the supervising office may decide that documents relating to the claim should be kept by the holder of the authorization. In that case, the said documents shall be kept for the same period.

Subsection 3 Administrative cooperation

Article 644

1. Where compensating products under the drawback system are placed under one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in the second indent of Article 128 (1) of the Code, thus allowing repayment, the box reserved for the description of the goods on the document used for the procedure or in the free zone or free warehouse shall contain one of the following indications:

• Mercancías PA/R,

• A.F./R-varer,

• A.V./R.-Waren,

• Εμπορεύματα ET/E,

• I.P./D. goods,

• Marchandises PA/R,

• Merci PA/R,

• AV/T-goederen,

• Mercadorias AA/D.

2. The office of discharge shall satisfy itself that the indications referred to in paragraph 1 are entered on any document issued to replace or discharge the documents referred to in that paragraph.

Article 645

Where the compensating products obtained from inward processing operations under the drawback system are consigned to another supervising office in the same or another Member State under the external Community transit procedure, which may constitute justification for a request for repayment, and are the subject of a new inward processing application, the duly empowered customs authorities responsible for issuing the new authorization, either with the suspension system or with the drawback system, shall use the INF 1 sheet referred to in Article 611 to determine the amount of any import duties to be levied or the amount of the customs debt liable to be incurred.

Article 646

1. The information sheet known as the INF 7 sheet shall comprise an original and one copy on a form conforming to the specimen and provisions in Annex 84.

2. The INF 7 sheet referred to in paragraph 1 shall be used where the compensating products obtained from processing operations under the drawback system are transferred, without a repayment claim being lodged, to a supervising office other than the one where release for free circulation took place and are assigned there, either in the unaltered state or after further duly authorized processing, to one of the customs-approved treatments or uses permitting repayment or remission, in accordance with Article 128 (1) of the Code. The customs office where the products were assigned such treatment or use shall where necessary, at the request of the person concerned, issue the information sheet INF 7.

Article 647

1. The information sheet shall be presented by the person concerned at the same time as the customs declaration used to assign the customs-approved treatment or use applied for.

2. The office where the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 was presented shall endorse the information sheet INF 7, return the original and one copy to the holder and retain the other copy.

Section 7 Exchange of information with the Commission

Article 648

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) in respect of each authorization where the value of the import goods per operator and per calendar year exceeds the limits set in Article 552 (1) (a) (v), the particulars indicated in Annex 85; such particulars need not be communicated where the inward processing authorization has been issued on the basis of one or more of the economic conditions referred to by the following codes: 6106, 6107, 6201, 6202, 6301, 6302, 6303, 7004 or 7005.

However, in respect of the products referred to in Article 560 (2), the particulars must be supplied for every authorization granted, irrespective of the value of the products or the code used to refer to the economic conditions;

(b) in respect of each application for an authorization rejected because the economic conditions are not considered to be fulfilled, the particulars indicated in Annex 86;

(c) particulars of cases in which the standard rates of yield referred to in Article 567 have not been applied because although the inward processing operations concern the import goods listed in Column 1 of Annex 77 the compensating products obtained are not those referred to in Columns 3 or 4 at the same stage of manufacture.

2. The particulars referred to in paragraph 1 (a) and (b) shall be communicated during the month following that in which the authorization was issued or the application was rejected, as the case may be. They shall be circulated by the Commission to the other Member States and shall be examined by the Committee in cases where this is judged necessary.

Article 649

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) the list of customs authorities to which applications for authorization are to be presented, except under Article 568;

(b) the list of customs offices empowered to accept declarations entering goods for the procedure under the suspension system or declarations for release for free circulation under the drawback system, pursuant to Article 568.

2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be communicated two months before the entry into application of this Regulation, and subsequently during the month following that in which a Member State changes the jurisdiction of customs offices.

3. For the benefit of traders the Commission will publish the information in the C Series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.

CHAPTER 4 Processing under customs control

Section 1 General provisions

Article 650

Pursuant to Article 131 of the Code, the procedure for processing under customs control may be used for goods in column 1 of the list in Annex 87 which are to undergo the processing referred to in column II.

Subsection 1 Authorization — normal procedure

Article 651

1. The application shall be made in conformity with Article 497 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 67/C, and presented by the person to whom the authorization may be granted under Articles 86, 132 and 133 of the Code.

2. (a) The application shall be presented to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the processing operation is to be carried out.

(b) Where it is expected that processing operations will be carried out by or on behalf of the applicant in different Member States, application for a single authorization may be made.

In that case, the application, which shall include particulars of the sequence of operations and the exact places where they will be carried out, shall be lodged with the customs authorities of the Member State where the first such operation will be carried out.

Article 652

1. Without prejudice to Article 656, the authorization shall be issued by the authorities to which the application was presented under Article 651 (2) and shall be made out in conformity with Article 500 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 68/C.

2. Where Article 651 (2) (b) applies, the authorization may not be issued without the agreement of the customs authorities designated by the Member States in which the places indicated in the application are located. The following procedure shall apply:

(a) the customs authorities to which the application was presented, after satisfying themselves that the economic conditions can be considered fulfilled in respect of the planned operation, shall communicate the application and the draft authorization to the customs authorities of the other Member States concerned; the said draft shall include, at least, the rate of yield, the approved methods of identification, the customs offices referred to at point 9 of the specimen authorization in Annex 68/C, any simplified procedures used for entry for the procedure, transfer or discharge and the rules to be observed inter alia as regards notification to the supervising office;

(b) the customs authorities having received notification shall transmit any objections as soon as possible, and in any case within two months of the date of communication of the application and draft authorization;

(c) the customs authorities referred to in subparagraph (a), after taking the necessary steps to ensure payment of the customs debt which may be incurred in respect of the import goods, may issue the authorization if it has received no information concerning the existence of objections to the draft authorization within the period referred to in subparagraph (b);

(d) the Member State issuing the authorization shall send a copy thereof to all the Member States referred to above.

Authorizations issued in this way shall be valid only in the Member States referred to above.

The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the names and addresses of the customs authorities designated to receive the application and the draft authorization mentioned in subparagraph (a). The Commission shall inform the other Member States accordingly.

3. To ensure correct application of the provisions governing the procedure, the customs authorities may require the holder of the authorization, in order to facilitate checks, to keep or have kept for him stock records which indicate the quantities of import goods entered for the procedure and of processed products obtained, and all particulars needed for the monitoring of the operations and the correct calculation of any import duties which may be payable.

The ‘records of processing under customs control’ shall be made available to the supervising office to enable it to carry out any checks necessary for the proper implementation of the procedure.

Where the records kept by the applicant for commercial purposes allow supervision of the procedure they shall be recognized by the customs authorities as valid ‘records of processing under customs control’.

Article 653

The period of validity of the authorization shall be set case by case by the customs authorities, having regard to the specific requirements of the applicant.

Where the period exceeds two years, the conditions on which the authorization was issued shall be reviewed periodically at intervals laid down in the authorization.

Article 654

1. When issuing the authorization the customs authorities shall specify the period within which the processed products must be assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use in accordance with Article 134 of the Code, taking into account the time required to carry out the processing operations and the time required to assign the processed products to a customs-approved treatment or use.

2. Where the circumstances so warrant, the period specified in the authorization may be extended even when that originally set has expired.

Article 655

1. The rate of yield, or method of determining the rate, referred to in Article 134 of the Code shall as far as possible be set on the basis of production data and shall be identifiable in the records of the holder of the authorization.

2. The rate or method of determining the rate shall be set in accordance with paragraph 1, subject to retrospective verification by the customs authorities.

Subsection 2 Authorization — simplified procedure

Article 656

1. This Article shall apply where processing operations are to take place in a single Member State.

2. Where the simplified procedures for entry for the procedure referred to in Article 76 of the Code are not applied, any customs office empowered by the customs authorities to grant authorizations using the simplified procedure, shall allow the lodging of the declaration entering goods for the procedure to constitute an application for authorization. In this case acceptance of such declaration shall constitute the authorization, the said acceptance remaining in any event subject to the conditions governing the granting of the authorization.

3. Declarations presented under paragraph 2 shall be accompanied by a document made out by the declarant containing the following information, as necessary, unless such information can be entered in box 44 of the form used for the declaration itself:

(a) where the person applying to use the procedure is not the same as the declarant, the name or business name and address of the applicant;

(b) where the person carrying out the processing is not the same as the applicant or the declarant, the name or business name and address of that person;

(c) the nature of the processing operation;

(d) the trade and/or technical description of the processed products to be obtained;

(e) the rate of yield or, where appropriate, the method by which the rate will be established;

(f) the time allowed for assigning the import goods to a customs-approved treatment or use;

(g) the place where it is intended to carry out the processing operation.

Article 498 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4. Article 502 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Section 2 Entry of goods for the procedure

Article 657

1. Except where Article 656 is applied, the declaration entering goods for processing under customs control shall be lodged at one of the offices of entry for the procedure specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 656 is applied, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged at a duly empowered customs office.

Article 658

1. The declaration referred to in Article 657 shall be made in accordance with Articles 198 to 252.

2. Without prejudice to the application of Article 656, the description of the goods given in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. For the purposes of Article 62 (2) of the Code, the documents to accompany the declaration shall be those provided for in Article 220.

Article 659

1. The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Articles 275 and 276.

2. The customs authorities shall withhold authorization to use the local clearance procedure provided for in Article 276, from persons whose stock records, as referred to in Article 652 (3), cannot be established.

3. The supplementary declaration referred to in Article 76 (2) of the Code shall be supplied within the stipulated period and in any case no later than the time when the bill of discharge is lodged.

Section 3 Discharge of the procedure

Article 660

1. Discharge of the procedure shall be based either on the quantity of import goods corresponding, by application of the rate of yield, to the processed products or on the quantity of goods in the unaltered state which have been assigned to a customs-approved treatment or use.

2. Where necessary, pursuant to Article 135 of the Code, the rules in Articles 591 to 594 concerning the proportion of import goods incorporated in the products shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 661

1. Except where Article 656 is applied, the declaration discharging the procedure for the processing of goods under customs control shall be lodged at one of the customs offices of discharge specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 656 is applied, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged with the customs office which issued the authorization.

3. However, the supervising office may allow the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 to be presented at a customs office other than the one referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 662

1. The declaration referred to in Article 661 shall be made in accordance with the provisions laid down for the customs-approved treatment or use concerned.

2. The description of the processed products or import goods in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. The provisions of Article 583 (3) shall apply.

Article 663

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code for discharge of the procedure shall apply in accordance with Article 278 (1).

Article 664

1. The holder of the authorization shall supply the supervising office with a bill of discharge within thirty days of the expiry of the time limit for discharge.

2. The bill of discharge shall contain inter alia the following particulars:

(a) reference particulars of the authorization;

(b) the quantity by type of import goods and reference particulars of the declarations entering them for the procedure;

(c) the CN code of the import goods;

(d) the customs value of the import goods;

(e) the rate of yield set;

(f) the nature and quantity of the processed products and the customs-approved treatment or use to which they are assigned, together with reference particulars of the declarations assigning the said products to a customs-approved treatment or use;

(g) where the fourth indent of Article 666 is to be applied, the processing costs;

(h) the CN code of the processed products.

3. Where a simplified procedure is used for entry for or discharge of the procedure, the declarations and documents in question shall be those provided for in Article 76 (3) of the Code.

Article 665

1. The supervising office may agree that:

(a) the bill of discharge referred to in Article 664 (2) should be made out by computer or in any other form that the said office shall stipulate;

(b) the bill of discharge should be made out on the declaration entering the goods for the procedure.

2. The provisions of Article 598 shall apply.

3. The supervising office may itself make out the bill of discharge subject to the time limit laid down in Article 664 (1). This fact shall be indicated in the authorization.

Article 666

Pursuant to Article 36 (1) of the Code, where the processed products are released for free circulation their customs value shall be one of the following, at the choice of the person concerned, such choice being exercised on the date of acceptance of the declaration for release for free circulation:

• the customs value, determined at or about the same time of identical or similar goods produced in any third country,

• their selling price, provided this is not influenced by a relationship between buyer and seller,

• the selling price in the Community of identical or similar goods, provided this is not influenced by a relationship between buyer and seller,

• the customs value of the import goods plus the processing costs.

Article 667

Where commercial policy measures are in force for the import goods at the time of acceptance of the declaration for release for free circulation, such measures shall not apply to the processed products unless they are also in force for products identical to the processed products.

In this case, the measures shall be applied to the quantity of import goods actually used in the manufacture of the processed products released for free circulation.

Section 4 Exchange of information with the Commission

Article 668

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) in respect of each authorization where the value of the goods entered for the procedure, per operator and per calendar year, exceeds ECU 100 000, the particulars indicated in Annex 88;

(b) in respect of each application for an authorization rejected because the economic conditions referred to in Article 133 (e) of the Code are not considered to be fulfilled, the particulars indicated in Annex 89.

2. The particulars referred to in paragraph 1 shall be communicated during the month following that in which the authorization was issued or the application was rejected, as the case may be. They shall be circulated by the Commission to the other Member States and shall be examined by the Committee in cases where this is judged necessary.

Article 669

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) the list of customs authorities to which applications for authorization are to presented, except under Article 656;

(b) the list of customs offices empowered to accept declarations entering goods for the procedure under Article 656.

2. The provisions of Article 649 (2) and (3) shall apply.

CHAPTER 5 Temporary importation procedure

Section 1 General provisions

Article 670

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

office of entry means: the customs office via which goods accompanied by an ATA carnet enter the customs territory of the Community;

(b)

office of exit means: the customs office via which goods accompanied by an ATA carnet leave the customs territory of the Community;

(c)

means of transport means: any means used for the transport of persons or goods. The term covers spare parts and normal accessories and equipment, including the gear used to stow, secure or protect goods which is imported with the means of transport;

(d)

person established outside the customs territory of the Community means: a natural person normally resident outside the customs territory of the community or a legal person having a registered place of business outside that territory;

(e)

commercial use means: the use of a means of transport for the transport of persons for remuneration or the industrial or commercial transport of goods, whether or not for remuneration;

(f)

private use means: the use of a means of transport exclusively for personal purposes by the person concerned, excluding commercial use;

(g)

container means: an article of transport equipment (lift-van, movable tank, demountable body or other similar structure):

• fully or partially enclosed to constitute a compartment intended for containing goods,

• of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use,

• specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods, by one or more modes of transport, without intermediate reloading,

• designed for ready handling, particularly when being transferred from one mode of transport to another,

• designed to be easy to fill and to empty, and having an internal volume of one cubic metre or more.

Platform flats shall be treated as containers.

The term container shall include the accessories and equipment of the container, appropriate for the type concerned, provided they are transported with the container. The term container shall not include vehicles, accessories or spare parts of vehicles, packaging or pallets.

By way of derogation from the final indent, the term container shall apply to containers used for air transport having an internal volume of less than one cubic metre;

(h)

transport under customs seal means: the use of a container to transport goods which are identified by the sealing of the container;

(i)

demountable body means: a loading compartment which has no independent means of movement and is specifically designed to be transported on a road vehicle, the chassis of such vehicle and the lower bodywork frame being specially designed for that purpose. This definition also covers movable cases which form loading compartments specifically designed for combined transport;

(j)

partially enclosed containers means: equipment generally consisting of a floor and a superstructure marking off a loading space equivalent to that of a closed container; the superstructure is generally made up of metal members forming the frame of a container; containers of this type may also comprise one or more lateral or frontal walls; in some cases there is only a roof attached to the floor by uprights; this type of container is used in particular for the carriage of bulky goods (motor cars, for example);

(k)

platform flats means: loading platforms without a superstructure, or with partial superstructure only, of the same length and width as containers and possessing top and bottom corner fittings located on the side of the platform to enable the same anchoring and lifting devices to be used as for containers;

(l)

accessories and equipment of the container means: in particular the following devices, even if they are removable:

(i)

equipment for controlling, modifying or maintaining the temperature inside the container;

(ii)

small appliances, such as temperature or impact recorders, designed to indicate or record variations in environmental conditions and impact;

(iii)

internal partitions, pallets, shelves, supports, hooks and similar devices used for stowing goods.

(m)

pallet means: a device on the deck of which a quantity of goods can be assembled to form a unit load for the purpose of transporting it, or of handling or stacking it with the assistance of mechanical appliances. This device is made up of two decks separated by bearers, or of a single deck supported by feet, or of a special deck designed for air transport; its overall height is reduced to the minimum compatible with handling by means of fork lift trucks or pallet trucks; it may or may not have a superstructure;

(n)

operator of a container or pallet means: the person who, whether or not its owner, has effective control of its movements;

(o)

user of the procedure for a container or pallet means: the operator of a container or pallet or his representative;

(p)

internal traffic means: the carriage of persons or goods picked up or loaded in the customs territory of the Community for setting down or unloading at a place within that territory.

Section 2 Temporary importation of goods other than means of transport

Subsection 1 Temporary importation with total relief: scope and conditions

(a) Professional equipment

Article 671

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for professional equipment.

2. Professional equipment means:

(a) equipment for the press or for sound or television broadcasting which is necessary for representatives of the press or of broadcasting or television organizations established outside the customs territory of the Community and visiting that territory for purposes of reporting or in order to transmit or record material for specified programmes;

(b) cinematographic equipment necessary for a person established outside the customs territory of the Community and visiting that territory in order to make a specified film or films;

(c) any other equipment necessary for the exercise of the calling, trade or profession of a person established outside the customs territory of the Community and visiting that territory to perform a specified task. It does not include equipment which is to be used for the industrial manufacture or packaging of goods or (except in the case of hand tools) for the exploitation of natural resources, for the construction, repair or maintenance of buildings or for earth moving and like projects;

(d) ancillary apparatus for the equipment mentioned in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this paragraph, and accessories thereof.

An illustrative list of goods to be considered as professional equipment is given in Annex 90.

3. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that the professional equipment is:

(a) owned by a person established outside the customs territory of the Community;

(b) imported by a person established outside the said territory;

(c) used solely by or under the personal supervision of the person visiting the said territory.

However, the condition referred to in (c) shall not apply to cinematographic equipment imported for the production of films, television programmes or audiovisual works, under a coproduction contract concluded with a person established in the customs territory of the Community.

In the case of joint radio or television programme productions, professional equipment may be the subject of a hire contract or similar arrangement to which a person established in the customs territory of the Community is a party.

Article 672

Spare parts subsequently imported for the repair of professional equipment which has been temporarily imported shall be entitled to temporary importation facilities on the same conditions as the equipment itself.

(b) Goods for display or use at exhibitions, fairs, meetings or similar events

Article 673

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a) goods intended for display or demonstration at an event;

(b) goods intended for use in connection with the display of imported products at an event, including:

• (b) goods necessary for the purpose of demonstrating imported machinery or apparatus to be displayed,

• construction and decoration material, including electrical fittings, for the temporary stands of persons established outside the Community,

• advertising and demonstration material and other equipment which is publicity material for the imported goods displayed, such as sound and image recordings, films and transparencies, together with apparatus necessary for their use;

(c) equipment, including interpretation equipment, sound and image recording apparatus and films of an educational, scientific or cultural character, intended for use at international meetings, conferences or congresses;

(d) live animals intended for exhibition at or participation in an event;

(e) products obtained during an event from goods, machinery, apparatus or animals imported temporarily.

2. Event means:

(a) a trade, industrial, agricultural or craft exhibition, fair, or similar show or display;

(b) an exhibition or meeting which is primarily organized for a charitable purpose;

(c) an exhibition or meeting which is primarily organized to promote any branch of learning, art, craft, sport or scientific, technical educational, cultural, trade union or tourist activity, to promote religious knowledge or worship or to promote friendship between peoples;

(d) a meeting of representatives of international organizations or international groups of organizations;

(e) a representative meeting of an official or commemorative character,

except exhibitions organized for private purposes in shops or business premises with a view to sale of the imported goods.

(c) Teaching aids and scientific equipment

Article 674

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a) teaching aids;

(b) spare parts and accessories for such aids;

(c) tools especially designed for the maintenance, checking, calibration or repair of such aids.

2. Teaching aid means any aid intended for the sole purpose of teaching or vocational training, and in particular models, instruments, apparatus and machines.

The list of goods to be considered as teaching aids is given in Annex 91.

3. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that the teaching aids, spare parts, accessories or tools:

(a) are imported by approved establishments and are used under the supervision and responsibility of such establishments;

(b) are used for non-commercial purposes;

(c) are imported in reasonable quantities, having regard to the intended purpose of the importation;

(d) remain throughout their stay in the customs territory of the Community the property of a person established outside that territory.

4. The period during which such teaching aids may remain under the temporary importation procedure shall be twelve months.

Article 675

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a) scientific equipment;

(b) spare parts and accessories for such equipment;

(c) tools specially designed for the maintenance, checking, calibration or repair of scientific equipment used in the customs territory of the Community exclusively for purposes of scientific research or teaching.

2. Scientific equipment means instruments, apparatus and machines used for the purpose of scientific research or teaching.

3. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that the scientific equipment, accessories, spare parts and tools:

(a) are imported by approved establishments and are used under the supervision and responsibility of such establishments;

(b) are used for non-commercial purposes;

(c) are imported in reasonable numbers having regard to the intended purpose of the importation;

(d) remain throughout their stay in the customs territory of the Community the property of a person established outside that territory.

4. The period during which such scientific equipment may remain under the temporary importation procedure shall be twelve months.

Article 676

1. For the purposes of Article 674 (3) (a), approved establishments means public or private teaching or vocational training establishments which are essentially non-profit making and have been approved by the designated authorities of the Member State which issued the authorization as recipients of teaching aids under the temporary importation procedure.

2. For the purposes of Article 675 (3) (a), approved establishments means public or private scientific or teaching establishments which are essentially non-profit making and have been approved by the designated authorities of the Member State which issued the authorization as recipients of scientific equipment under the temporary importation procedure.

(d) Medical, surgical and laboratory equipment

Article 677

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for medical, surgical and laboratory equipment intended for hospitals and other medical institutions.

2. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that the said equipment:

(a) has been dispatched on an occasional basis, on loan free of charge;

(b) is intended for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.

3. Equipment dispatched on an occasional basis means any medical, surgical or laboratory equipment dispatched at the request of a hospital or other medical institution which is facing exceptional circumstances and has urgent need of such equipment to make up for the inadequacy of its own facilities.

(e) Disaster relief materials

Article 678

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for materials to be used in connection with measures taken to counter the effects of disasters affecting the customs territory of the Community.

2. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that such materials:

• are imported on loan free of charge,

• are intended for state bodies or bodies approved by the competent authorities.

(f) Packings

Article 679

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for packings.

2. Packings means:

(a) containers used, or to be used, in the state in which they are imported, for external or internal packing of goods;

(b) supports on which goods are, or are to be, rolled, wound or attached,

but excluding packing materials such as straw, paper, glass wool and shavings when imported in bulk.

3. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that:

(a) if the packings are imported filled, they are declared as being for re-exportation empty or filled;

(b) if the packings are imported empty, they are declared as being for re-exportation filled.

4. Packings admitted under the temporary importation procedure may not be used even occasionally in internal traffic, except with a view to the export of goods from the customs territory of the Community. In the case of packings imported filled, this ban shall apply only from the time that they are emptied of their contents.

5. The period during which such packings may remain under the temporary importation procedure shall be six months.

(g) Other goods qualifying for temporary importation with total relief

Article 680

The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a)

moulds, dies, blocks, drawings, sketches and other similar articles intended for a person established in the customs territory of the Community, where at least 75 % of the production resulting from their use is exported from that territory;

(b)

measuring, checking and testing instruments and other similar articles intended for a person established in the customs territory of the Community for use in a manufacturing process, where at least 75 % of the production resulting from their use is exported from that territory;

(c)

special tools and instruments made available to a person established in the customs territory of the Community for use in the manufacture of goods which are to be exported in their entirety, on condition that such special tools and instruments remain the property of a person established outside the customs territory of the Community;

(d)

goods of any kind which are to be subjected to tests, experiments or demonstrations, including the tests and experiments required for type-approval procedures, but excluding any tests, experiments or demonstrations constituting a gainful activity;

(e)

goods of any kind to be used to carry out tests, experiments or demonstrations, but excluding any tests, experiments or demonstrations constituting a gainful activity;

(f)

samples representative of a particular category of goods which are intended for demonstration purposes with a view to obtaining orders for similar goods.

Article 681

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for replacement means of production.

2. The period during which replacement means of production may remain under the temporary importation procedure shall be six months.

3. Replacement means of production means instruments, apparatus and machines made temporarily available to a customer free of charge by a supplier or repairer, pending the delivery or repair of similar goods.

Article 682

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a) second-hand goods imported with a view to their sale by auction;

(b) goods imported under a contract of sale subject to satisfactory acceptance tests;

(c) works of art imported for the purposes of exhibition, with a view to possible sale;

(d) consignments on approval of made-up articles of fur, precious stones, carpets and articles of jewellery, provided that their particular characteristics prevent their being imported as samples.

2. The period during which the goods referred to in paragraph 1 may remain under the temporary importation procedure shall be six months in the case of (a), (b) and (c) and four weeks in that of (d).

3. For these purposes:

• second-hand goods means goods other than newly manufactured goods,

• consignments on approval means consignments of goods which the consignor for his part wishes to sell and which the consignee may decide to purchase after inspection.

Article 683

The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a)

positive cinematograph films, printed and developed and other recorded image-bearing media intended for viewing prior to commercial use;

(b)

films, magnetic tapes and wires and other sound- or image-bearing media which are intended to be provided with a sound track, dubbed or copied;

(c)

films demonstrating the nature or the operation of foreign products or equipment, provided that they are not intended for public showing for charge;

(d)

data-carrying media, sent free of charge for use in automatic data-processing.

Article 684

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for personal effects and goods imported for sports purposes.

2. For these purposes:

(a) personal effects means all articles, new or used, which a traveller may reasonably require for his or her personal use during the journey, taking into account all the circumstances of the journey, but excluding any goods imported for commercial purposes;

(b) goods imported for sports purposes means sports requisites and other articles for use by travellers in sports contests or demonstrations or for training taking place in the customs territory of the Community.

3. The illustrative list of such goods is given in Annex 92.

Article 685

The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for:

(a)

live animals of any species imported for dressage, training or breeding purposes or in order to be given veterinary treatment;

(b)

live animals of any species imported for transhumance or grazing purposes;

(c)

draught animals and equipment belonging to persons established outside but in close proximity to the customs territory of the Community, provided that they are imported by such persons for working land located inside the customs territory of the Community, involving the performance of agricultural work or forestry work including the clearing or transport of timber, or for pisciculture;

(d)

tourist publicity material. The list of goods to be considered as tourist publicity material is given in Annex 93.

Article 686

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for welfare materials for seafarers.

2. For these purposes:

• welfare material means material for the pursuit of cultural, education, recreational, religious or sporting activities by seafarers,

• seafarers means all persons transported on board a vessel responsible for tasks relating to the operating or service of the vessel at sea.

3. The list of goods to be considered as welfare material for seafarers is given in Annex 94.

4. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted on condition that the material is:

(a) unloaded from a vessel engaged in international maritime traffic to be temporarily used ashore by the crew for a period not exceeding the vessel's stay in port;

(b) imported for temporary use in cultural or social establishments for a period of twelve months. Cultural or social establishments means hostels, clubs or recreation centres for seafarers, managed either by official bodies or by religious or other non-profit making organizations, and places of worship where services for seafarers are regularly held.

Article 687

The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for miscellaneous equipment used under the supervision and responsibility of a public authorities for the building, repair or maintenance of infrastructure of general importance in frontier zones.

Article 688

1. The temporary importation procedure with total relief from import duties shall be granted for goods temporarily imported into the customs territory of the Community in a particular situation having no economic effect.

2. Temporary importation into the customs territory of the Community on an occasional basis, for a period not exceeding three months, of goods whose value is less than ECU 4 000 shall be considered a particular situation having no economic effect.

Article 689

1. Any Member State may decide to grant total relief instead of the partial relief referred to in Article 142 of the Code for goods imported into its territory on an occasional basis for a period not exceeding three months.

2. Following examination by the Committee of the communications referred to in Article 746 (1) (c), provisions shall be adopted to exclude from the scope of paragraph 1 operations which have been found to affect adversely the conditions of competition in the Community or to damage the interests of operators established there.

Subsection 2 Special provisions relating to goods qualifying for partial relief

Article 690

Pursuant to Article 142 (2) of the Code, the list of goods in respect of which the temporary importation procedure with partial relief from import duties may not be used is given in Annex 95.

Subsection 3 Authorizing use of the procedure

(a) Normal procedure

Article 691

1. The application shall be made in conformity with Article 497 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 67/D, and presented by the person to whom the authorization may be granted under Articles 86 and 138 of the Code.

2. (a) The application shall be presented to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the goods are to be used.

(b) Where it is expected that the goods will be used in several Member States, application for a single authorization may be made. This application shall be lodged with the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the goods are to be used first.

In that case, the application shall include particulars of the sequence of uses and the expected places where the goods temporarily imported will be used.

Article 692

1. Without prejudice to Article 695, the authorization shall be issued by the authorities to which the application was presented under Article 691 (2) and shall be made out in conformity with Article 500 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 68/D.

2. Where Article 691 (2) (b) applies, the authorization may not be issued without the agreement of the customs authorities designated by the Member States in which the places indicated in the application are located. The following procedure shall apply:

(a) the customs authority to which the application was presented shall communicate the application and the draft authorization to the other customs authorities concerned; the said draft shall include, at least, the places of use, the trade and/or technical description of goods, the expected quantity and value, the article under which authorization is sought, the proposed methods of identification, the customs offices referred to at point 8 of the specimen authorization in Annex 68/D, and where appropriate, the rules to be observed inter alia as regards notification to the supervising office;

(b) the other customs authorities concerned shall notify the existence of any objections as soon as possible, and in any case within two months of the date of communication of the application and draft authorization;

(c) the customs authority referred to in subparagraph (a) may issue the authorization if it has received no information concerning the existence of objections to the draft authorization within the period referred to in subparagraph (b);

(d) the Member State issuing the authorization shall send a copy thereof to all the Member States referred to above.

Authorizations issued in this way shall be valid only in the Member States referred to above.

The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the names and addresses of the customs authorities designated to receive the application and the draft authorization mentioned in subparagraph (a). The Commission shall inform the other Member States accordingly.

Article 693

The period of validity of the authorization shall be set by the customs authorities on a case-by-case basis, having regard to the specific needs of the applicant.

Article 694

1. When issuing the authorization the designated customs authorities shall specify the period within which the import goods must be assigned a permitted customs-approved treatment or use, taking into account the periods provided for in Article 140 (2) of the Code and Articles 674, 675, 677, 679, 681, 682 and 688 and the time required to achieve the object of the temporary importation.

2. For the purposes of Article 140 (3) of the Code, exceptional circumstances means any event as a result of which the goods must be used for a further period in order to fulfil the purpose of the temporary importation operation.

3. Where an extension is granted which exceeds the period provided for, it shall be set having regard to the circumstances which prevented the holder of the authorization from fulfilling his obligation to re-export within that period.

(b) Simplified procedures

Article 695

1. This article may be applied where the goods are to be used in a single Member State or in several Member States. It shall apply whenever application of Article 142 (1) of the Code or Articles 688 and 689 is not requested.

2. Where the simplified procedures for entry for the procedure laid down in Article 76 of the Code are not applied, a customs office empowered by the customs authorities to grant authorizations using the simplified procedure shall allow the declaration of entry for the procedure to constitute an application for authorization.

In this case acceptance of the declaration shall constitute the authorization, the said acceptance remaining in any event subject to the conditions governing the granting of the authorization, including the decision of the control office, indicated in the box 44 of the form.

3. A declaration presented under paragraph 2 shall be accompanied by a document made out by the declarant containing the following information, in so far as this information is necessary and cannot be entered in box 44 of the form used for the declaration itself:

(a) where the person applying to use the procedure is not the same as the declarant, the name or business name and address of the applicant, and, where appropriate, of the owner of the goods;

(b) where the user is not the same as the applicant or declarant, the name or business name and address of the user of the goods;

(c) the article under which the application is being made;

(d) the period for which the goods are expected to remain under the procedure;

(e) the place where the goods are to be used;

(f) whether the procedures laid down in Articles 713 and 714 are being used.

Article 498 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4. Article 502 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 696

1. The cases provided for in Article 229 (1) (a) and (c) shall apply on condition that the declarant produces, in support of his oral declaration, an inventory setting out:

(a) his name and address;

(b) the trade description of the goods;

(c) the value of the goods;

(d) the intended length of stay of those goods in the Member State concerned;

(e) precise information about the number of items of each type of goods;

(f) the place of use in the cases specified in the fourth indent of Article 229 (1) (a).

2. The inventory, dated and signed by the applicant, shall be lodged in duplicate at the customs office; one copy shall be endorsed by the customs office and given to the person concerned and the other copy shall be retained by the said office.

Endorsement of the inventory by the customs office shall be equivalent to authorization.

3. Inventories relating to the animals and equipment referred to in the first indent of Article 229 (1) may be used for one year for all entries into the customs territory of the Community.

They shall be lodged each year at the competent customs office before the first temporary importation operation is carried out.

Article 697

1. Presentation of an ATA carnet to a customs office duly empowered by the customs authorities in order to use the temporary importation procedure shall be equivalent to presentation of the application for authorization and acceptance of the carnet (temporary importation voucher) shall be equivalent to authorization to use the procedure.

2. Goods which can be temporarily imported in accordance with the procedure described in paragraph 1 are listed in Annex 96.

3. ATA carnets shall be accepted by the customs offices only if they are:

(a) issued in a country which is a contracting party to the ATA Convention and endorsed and guaranteed by an association forming part of an international guarantee chain.

The Commission shall communicate a list of the countries and associations concerned to the Member States;

(b) certified by the customs authorities in the appropriate section of the cover page, and

(c) valid throughout the customs territory of the Community.

Article 698

Save at the express request of the customs authorities, travellers' personal effects and goods imported for sports purposes referred to in Article 684 shall be authorized for the temporary importation procedure without a written application or authorization.

In that case the act provided for in Article 223 shall be considered to be an application for temporary importation and the absence of intervention by the customs authorities to be an authorization.

Subsection 4 Entry of goods for the procedure

Article 699

1. Except where Articles 695 to 697 apply, the declaration entering goods for the temporary importation procedure shall be lodged at one of the customs offices of entry for the procedure specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 695 or Article 696 applies, the declaration referred to in Article 701 or the inventory shall be lodged at a duly empowered customs office.

3. Where Article 697 applies, the ATA carnet shall be presented in order to enter goods for the temporary importation procedure at the following customs offices:

(a) in the case of goods referred to at points 2 to 9, 11 and 20 of Annex 95, at an office of entry for the procedure with territorial jurisdiction for the place where the goods are to be used;

(b) in other cases, at any office of entry empowered to act as office of entry for the procedure. In that case, the office of entry shall act as office of entry for the procedure.

Exceptionally, where the office of entry empowered to act as office of entry for the procedure is unable to check the fulfilment of all conditions to which the use of the temporary importation procedure is subject, it shall permit the goods to be carried to the office of destination able to carry out such checks under cover of the ATA carnet used as a transit document.

4. The customs authorities of the Member States shall empower customs offices to act as offices of entry for the procedure or offices of entry acting as offices of entry for the procedure.

Article 700

For the purposes of Article 88 of the Code, cases in which a security shall not be required for the entry of goods for the temporary importation procedure are listed in Annex 97.

(a) Normal procedure

Article 701

1. The declaration referred to in Article 699 (1) and (2) shall be made in accordance with Articles 198 to 252.

2. Without prejudice to the application of Article 695, the description of the goods in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. Where Article 699 (3) applies, the office of entry for the procedure shall proceed as follows:

(a) verify the information given in boxes A to G of the importation voucher;

(b) complete the counterfoil and box H of the importation voucher; the final date for re-exportation of the goods, to be entered in box H (b), must not be later than the date on which the carnet's validity expires, without prejudice to the special periods referred to in Article 140 (2) of the Code;

(c) enter the name and address of the office of entry for the procedure in box H (e) of the re-exportation voucher; and

(d) retain the importation voucher.

(b) Simplified procedures

Article 702

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Articles 275 and 276.

Subsection 5 Discharge of the procedure

(a) General provisions relating to customs-approved treatments or uses provided for in Article 89 of the Code

Article 703

The entry for a customs-approved treatment or use of goods under the temporary importation procedure with partial relief shall be subject to payment of any amount due under Article 143 of the Code.

Article 704

1. The temporary importation procedure shall be considered discharged in respect of goods imported under Article 673 which have been consumed, destroyed or distributed free of charge to the public at an event.

However, the nature of such goods and the products referred to in Article 673 (1) (e) must correspond to the nature of the event, the number of visitors and the extent of the exhibitor's participation therein.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to alcoholic beverages, tobacco goods or fuels.

(b) Normal procedures

Article 705

1. Except where Articles 695 to 697 are applied, the declaration discharging the temporary importation procedure shall be lodged at one of the customs offices of discharge specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 695 is applied, either the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 or the inventory, as the case may be, shall be lodged at the customs office which issued the authorization.

3. Where Article 697 applies the ATA carnet shall be presented at a duly empowered customs office of discharge.

4. However, the supervising customs office may allow the declaration referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 to be presented at a customs office other than those referred to in the said paragraphs.

Article 706

1. The declaration referred to in Article 705 (1) and (2) shall be made in accordance with the provisions laid down for the customs-approved treatment or use concerned.

2. The description of the import goods in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. Where Article 705 (3) is applied, the office of discharge shall:

(a) complete the counterfoil and box H of the re-exportation voucher;

(b) retain the re-exportation voucher and return it without delay to the office referred to in box H (e).

(c) Simplified procedures

Article 707

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Article 278.

Subsection 6 Provisions concerning application of charges

Article 708

Pursuant to Article 144 (1) of the Code, in the case of the goods referred to in Article 673 and Article 682 (1) (a), (c) and (d), the material time for the purposes of determining the customs debt shall be the time of acceptance of the declaration for release for free circulation.

Article 709

1. Where import goods previously entered for the procedure of temporary importation are released for free circulation, compensatory interest shall be paid on the total import duty applicable.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the release for free circulation of goods which were entered for the temporary importation procedure under Article 673, Article 678, Article 682, Article 684 and Article 685 (d).

3. (a) The annual interest rates shall be those set pursuant to Article 589 (4) (a).

(b) Interest shall be applied per calendar month for the period running from the first day of the month following the month in which the import goods in respect of which the procedure is discharged were first entered for the procedure to the last day of the month in which they were released for free circulation. The material period for the application of compensatory interest shall not be less than one month.

(c) The amount of interest shall be calculated on the basis of the import duties, the interest rate referred to in (a) above and the period referred to in (b) above.

Article 710

In the case of an offence or irregularity committed in the course of or in connection with a temporary import operation under cover of an ATA carnet, the provisions in Articles 630 and 631 and Articles 634 to 637 relating to use of the ATA carnet as a transit document shall apply mutatis mutandis to recovery of the import duties payable.

Subsection 7 Administrative cooperation

Article 711

Where the import goods are placed in a free zone or free warehouse or entered for one of the permitted conditional relief procedures, enabling the temporary importation procedure to be discharged, the box reserved for the description of goods on the document concerning the said customs-approved treatment or use or, where simplified procedures are used, on the commercial documents or records used, shall, in addition to the information laid down for the procedure in question, contain one of the following indications:

• Mercancías IT,

• MI-varer,

• V.V.-Waren,

• Εμπορεύματα ΠΕ,

• T.A. goods,

• Marchandises AT,

• Merci A.T.

• TI-goederen,

• Mercadorias I.T.

Subsection 8 Transfer of goods

Article 712

1. Without prejudice to Articles 713 and 714, when goods are to be moved within the customs territory of the Community, either under a transfer of authorization or under a single authorization, the goods concerned shall be transported in accordance with the external transport provisions.

2. The external transit document or the document treated as the external transit document shall carry the final date of re-exportation and one of the endorsements referred to in Article 711.

Article 713

1. At the request of the person concerned, the goods referred to in Article 712 (1) may also be transported under a single authorization in accordance with the transfer procedures set out in paragraph 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. If permission is given for the use of such transfer procedures, they must be set out in the authorization. They shall then replace the movement procedures of the external transit procedure.

3. The customs authorities shall permit goods to be transferred from the office of entry for the procedure to the office of discharge without other customs formalities than those provided for in Article 715 (3) and without terminating the temporary importation procedure.

4. The holder of the authorization shall retain responsibility for transferred goods.

5. The holder of the authorization shall provide the customs authority with advance notification of the transfers to be carried out in the form and manner which the said authorities shall determine.

Article 714

1. Provided the proper conduct of operations is not thereby affected, the customs authorities, on other conditions it shall lay down, shall permit the carriage of import goods, without customs formalities, from the office of entry to the place of use, and from a place of use to the office of discharge.

2. The person concerned shall inform the supervising office of the re-exportation of the goods entered under the temporary importation procedure by sending the copy of the export declaration given to him.

Article 715

1. Where Article 712 is applied when the goods are placed under the external transit procedure, the competent authorities shall endorse the Information Sheet provided for in paragraph 3, at the request of the holder of the authorization.

2. Where Article 713 is applied, the information sheet provided for in paragraph 3 shall be endorsed either at the entry of the goods for the procedure or at the beginning of the transfer operation.

3. The information sheet, hereinafter referred to as ‘INF 6 sheet’, shall consist of an original and two copies. It shall be set out on a form conforming to the model in Annex 98.

Article 716

1. The INF 6 sheet shall comprise all the information needed to show the customs authorities:

• the date on which the import goods were entered for the temporary importation procedure,

• the items of charge ascertained on that date,

• the amount of any import duties already levied under partial relief arrangements and the period taken into account for that purpose.

2. The original and one copy of the INF 6 sheet shall be returned to the person concerned; one copy shall be retained by the customs office which endorsed it; the other copy shall be given by the person concerned to the office of discharge and, after endorsement, shall be returned by the person concerned to the customs office which initially endorsed it.

Section 3 Temporary importation of means of transport

Subsection 1 Temporary importation with total relief: scope and conditions

Article 717

Without prejudice to Articles 718 (7), 719 (10) (b) and (11), 721 (5), 722 (3) and 723 (3) and (7), the means of transport referred to in (a) to (d) below shall not be lent, hired, pledged, transferred or put at the disposal of any person established in the Community.

(a) Means of road transport

Article 718

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to road vehicles for commercial use.

2. For the purposes of this Article, vehicles shall mean all road vehicles and all trailers which can be coupled to such vehicles.

3. Without prejudice to paragraph 4, admission under the temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to the condition that the vehicles are:

(a) imported by a person established outside the customs territory of the community or on his behalf;

(b) used for commercial purposes by such a person or on his behalf; and

(c) registered outside the customs territory of the Community in the name of a person established outside that territory. However, if the vehicles are not registered, the above condition shall be deemed to be met where the vehicles in question belong to a person established outside the customs territory of the Community;

(d) used exclusively for transport which begins or ends outside the customs territory of the Community.

4. Where a trailer is coupled to a motor vehicle registered in the customs territory of the Community, the temporary importation procedure may be granted even if the conditions set out in subparagraphs 3 (a) and (b) are not satisfied.

5. The vehicles referred to in paragraph 1 may remain in the customs territory of the Community subject to the conditions laid down in paragraph 3 during the time required for carrying out the operations for which temporary importation is requested, e.g. the carriage, picking up and setting down of passengers, loading and unloading goods, transport and maintenance.

6. For the purposes of subparagraphs 3 (a) and (b), persons acting on behalf of a person established outside the customs territory of the Community must be duly authorized by the person concerned.

7. By way of derogation from paragraph 3:

(a) subject to the requirements of paragraph 6, vehicles for commercial use may be driven by natural persons established in the Customs territory of the Community;

(b) the customs authorities may:

• (b) in exceptional cases, allow a person established in the customs territory of the Community to import and use vehicles for commercial use under the temporary importation procedure for a limited period fixed by the said authorities according to the circumstances of the case under consideration,

• allow a natural person established in the customs territory of the Community and employed by a person established outside that territory to import and use in that territory, for commercial use, a vehicle belonging to the latter. The vehicle admitted under the temporary importation procedure may also be used for private purposes where such use is occasional, subsidiary to the commercial use and provided for in the contract of employment;

(c) vehicles for commercial use may be used in internal traffic where the provisions in force in the field of transport, in particular those concerning admission and operations, so provide.

Article 719

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to road vehicles for private use.

2. For the purposes of this Article, vehicles means all road vehicles, including caravans and trailers which can be coupled to motor vehicles.

3. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to the condition that the vehicles are:

(a) imported by persons established outside the customs territory of the Community;

(b) used for private purposes by the persons concerned;

(c) registered outside the customs territory of the Community in the name of a person established outside that territory. However, if the vehicles are not registered, the above condition shall be deemed to be met where the vehicles in question belong to a person established outside the customs territory of the Community.

4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3:

(a) the procedure shall also be granted in the case of non-Community vehicles which are registered in the customs territory of the Community under a temporary series with a view to re-exportation and carry a registration number plate issued to a person established outside that territory;

(b) the customs authorities may allow a natural person established in the customs territory of the Community and employed by a person established outside that territory to import and use a vehicle belonging to the latter for private purposes or in the exercise of an activity carried out for consideration, other than those defined as commercial use, on condition that this is provided for in the contract of employment.

5. The temporary importation procedure shall also apply in the following cases:

(a) where a private vehicle registered in the country of normal residence of the user is used regularly in the customs territory of the Community for the journey from his residence to his place of work and vice versa. Authorization to use the procedure shall not be subject to any other time limit;

(b) where a student uses a private vehicle registered in the country of his normal residence in the customs territory of the Community in which the student is staying for the sole purpose of pursuing his studies.

6. Without prejudice to paragraph 5 (a), the vehicles referred to in paragraph 1 may remain in the customs territory of the Community for:

(a) a period of six months, whether continuous or not, in any 12 months;

(b) the period the student stays in the customs territory of the Community in the cases referred to in paragraph 5 (b).

7. Paragraphs 5 (b) and 6 (b) shall apply mutatis mutandis to persons fulfilling assignments of a specified duration.

8. For the purposes of subparagraphs 3 (a) and (b), vehicles for private use shall not be hired, lent or made available following their importation or, if they were on hire, on loan or made available at the time of their importation, they shall not be re-hired or sub-hired or lent or made available to another person in the customs territory of the Community for any purpose other than immediate re-exportation.

9. Pursuant to paragraph 8, vehicles for private use belonging to a hire firm whose registered place of business is outside the customs territory of the Community may be re-hired to a natural person established outside that territory with a view to their re-exportation within a period to be set at the discretion of the customs authorities, where they are within the customs territory of the Community following performance of a contract of hire.

10. Notwithstanding paragraph 8:

(a) the spouse and the relatives in the direct ascending and descending lines of a natural person established outside the customs territory of the Community who have their normal residence outside that territory may use a private vehicle already admitted under the temporary importation procedure;

(b) a vehicle for private use may be used occasionally by a natural person established in the customs territory of the Community where such person is acting on behalf of and on the instructions of the user of the procedure, who is himself in that territory;

11. By way of derogation from Article 717:

(a) the temporary importation procedure provided for in paragraph 9 shall be available to natural persons established in the customs territory of the Community; vehicles may also be brought back from the customs territory of the Community by an employee of the hire firm resident in that territory;

(b) a natural person established in the customs territory of the Community may, for the purpose of returning to the Member State where he has his residence, hire or borrow outside that territory a vehicle for private use meeting the conditions laid down in subparagraph 3 (c). The period within which the vehicle must be re-exported shall be fixed by the customs authorities according to the circumstances of the case under consideration;

(c) the customs authorities may allow the temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 4 to be used by natural persons established in the customs territory of the Community preparing to transfer their normal residence out of that territory on the following conditions:

• (c) the person concerned shall provide evidence of the transfer of residence by any means acceptable to those authorities,

• the vehicle must be exported within three months of the date of registration.

12. For the purposes of subparagraph 6 (a), in order to interrupt the period in which a vehicle imported under the procedure remains in the customs territory of the Community, the user of the temporary importation procedure shall so inform the customs authorities and shall comply with the measures considered appropriate by those authorities to prevent use of the vehicle on a temporary basis.

Article 720

1. Article 719, excluding paragraph 12 thereof, shall apply mutatis mutandis to saddle or draught animals and the vehicles drawn by them entering the customs territory of the Community.

2. The animals and the vehicles drawn by them referred to in paragraph 1 may remain in the customs territory of the Community for a period of three months.

(b) Means of rail transport

Article 721

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to means of rail transport.

2. For the purposes of this Article, means of rail transport means all prime movers, railcars and multiple sets, and rolling stock of any description used for the transport of persons or goods.

3. The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to the condition that the means of rail transport:

(a) belong to a person established outside the customs territory of the Community;

(b) are registered on a railway network outside the customs territory of the Community.

4. Means of rail transport may remain in the customs territory of the Community for 12 months.

5. By way of derogation from Article 717:

(a) means of rail transport may be placed at the disposal of a person established in the customs territory of the Community on condition that they are used jointly under an agreement whereby each network may use the rolling stock of the other networks as its own rolling stock;

(b) in exceptional cases, the customs authorities may allow a person established in the customs territory of the Community to import and use wagons intended for the carriage of goods which have been placed under the temporary importation procedure for a limited period fixed by the said authorities according to the circumstances of the case under consideration.

(c) Means of air transport

Article 722

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to means of air transport.

2. The means of transport referred to in paragraph 1 may remain in the customs territory of the Community during the time required for carrying out the operations for which temporary importation is requested, e.g. the carriage, picking up and setting down of passengers, loading and unloading goods, transport and maintenance.

3. Article 718 (6), (7) and (8) shall apply mutatis mutandis to aircraft for commercial use. In particular, the customs authorities may, in exceptional cases, allow a person established in the customs territory of the Community to import and use aircraft placed under the temporary importation procedure for a limited period fixed by the said authorities according to the circumstances of the case under consideration.

4. Where the means of transport referred to in paragraph 1 are used for private air transport, the conditions laid down in Article 719 (3) shall apply.

5. The means of transport referred to in paragraph 4 may remain in the customs territory of the Community for a period of six months, whether continuous or not, in any 12 months.

6. Article 719 (8) to (12) shall apply mutatis mutandis to aircraft for private use.

(d) Means of sea or inland waterway transport

Article 723

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to means of sea and inland waterway transport.

2. The means of transport referred to in paragraph 1 may remain in the customs territory of the Community for the time required for carrying out the operations for which temporary admission is requested, e.g. the carriage, picking up and setting down of passengers, loading and unloading goods, transport and maintenance.

3. Article 718 (6) and (7) shall apply mutatis mutandis to vessels for commercial use in sea or inland waterway transport. In particular, the customs authorities may, in exceptional cases, allow a person established in the customs territory of the Community to import and use vessels placed under the temporary importation procedure for a limited period fixed by the said authorities according to the circumstances of the case under consideration.

4. Where the means of transport referred to in paragraph 1 are used for private sea or inland waterway transport, the conditions laid down in Article 719 (3) shall apply.

5. The means of transport referred to in paragraph 4 may remain in the customs territory of the Community for a period of six months, whether continuous or not, in any 12 months.

6. Article 719 (8) to (12) shall apply mutatis mutandis to vessels for private use in sea or inland waterway transport.

7. By way of derogation from Article 717, in exceptional cases where lake harbour infrastructure outside the customs territory of the Community is not adequate to allow the mooring of means of inland waterway transport for private use, the customs authorities may allow a natural person established in the customs territory of the Community to import a vessel placed under the temporary importation procedure and used on the Community part of a lake situated both within the said territory and in the country in which the vessel is registered. The person concerned shall provide evidence of the inadequacy of lake harbour infrastructure by any means acceptable to the customs authorities.

(e) Pallets

Article 724

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to pallets.

2. Pallets which can be identified may remain in the customs territory of the Community for a period of 12 months, which may be reduced at the request of the person concerned.

3. Pallets other than those referred to in paragraph 2 may remain in the customs territory of the Community for a period of six months, which may be reduced at the request of the person concerned.

(f) Containers

Article 725

1. The temporary importation procedure shall apply to containers approved for transport under customs seal or simply bearing marks when they are brought into the customs territory of the Community on behalf of their owners, their operators or the representatives of either of those.

2. Containers other than those referred to in paragraph 1 shall be admitted under the temporary importation procedure where this is authorized by the customs authorities of the Member State where entry for the procedure is requested.

3. Containers placed under the temporary importation procedure may remain in the customs territory of the Community for a period of 12 months.

4. Containers placed under the temporary importation procedure may be used in internal traffic before being re-exported from the customs territory of the Community. However, the containers may be used only once during each stay in a Member State, for transporting goods which are loaded within the territory of that Member State and are intended to be unloaded within the territory of the same Member State, where the containers would otherwise have to make a journey unladen within that territory.

5. Without prejudice to Article 729 (1), container accessories and normal container equipment may be imported either with a container for subsequent re-export separately or with another container, or separately for subsequent re-export with a container.

Article 726

1. Article 725 (1) shall apply to containers, whether or not they have been approved for transport under customs seal, on which the following information has been durably marked in an appropriate and clearly visible place:

(a) the identity of the owner or operator;

(b) the identification marks and numbers of the container, given by the owner or operator;

(c) the tare weight of the container, including all its permanently fixed equipment; and

(d) the country to which the container belongs.

However, the information referred to in subparagraph (c) shall not be marked on swap bodies used for combined rail-road transport and the information referred to in subparagraph (d) shall not be marked on containers used for transport by air.

2. The country to which the container belongs may be shown either in full or by means of the ISO alpha-2 country code provided for in International Standard ISO 3166 or by the distinguishing initials used to indicate the country of registration of motor vehicles in international road traffic, or in numbers, in the case of swap bodies used for combined rail-road transport. The identity of the owner or operator may be shown by either his full name or an established identification, symbols such as emblems or flags being excluded.

3. Where a container marked in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 is shown as belonging to a Member State, it shall be deemed to satisfy the conditions laid down in Articles 9 and 10 of the Treaty.

However, the user of the procedure shall, at the request of the customs authorities of the Member State where the container is kept, provide information concerning the customs status of the container.

Article 727

1. Containers which:

(a) bear, in addition to the information provided for in Article 726 (1), the following details, which shall be put on the approval plate in accordance with the rules referred to in paragraph 2:

• (a) the manufacturer's serial number (manufacturer's number), and

• if they are covered by type approval, the identification numbers or letters of the type;

(b) comply with the technical conditions referred to in paragraph 2; and

(c) have been approved by a Member State or by one of the countries listed in Annex 99 in accordance with the procedures provided for in paragraph 2,

shall be recognized as approved for transport under customs seal.

2. The technical rules applying to containers which may be approved for transport under customs seal and the procedures concerning such approval shall be in accordance with those contained respectively in Part I and Part II of Annex 7 to the TIR Convention annexed to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2112/78(11). Any amendment which has entered into force relating to Annex 7 to the TIR Convention shall also apply for the purposes of this Regulation.

These rules shall be applied in accordance with the Explanatory Notes in Part III of the said Annex 7.

3. Where it is found that containers which have been approved do not comply with the technical rules referred to in paragraph 2, or where a container has a major defect and so no longer complies with the standards under which it was approved for transport under customs seal, the customs office shall act in accordance with Annex 100.

Article 728

Article 725 (4) shall apply in accordance with the explanatory note in Annex 101.

(g) Spare parts, accessories and normal equipment

Article 729

1. The temporary importation procedure shall be granted for normal spare parts, accessories and equipment, including the gear used to stow, secure or protect goods, imported with or separately from the means of transport for which they are intended.

2. Spare parts imported together with or separately from the means of transport for which they are intended shall be used solely to carry out minor repairs and routine maintenance of those means of transport.

3. Routine maintenance operations and repairs to means of transport which have become necessary during the journey to or within the customs territory of the Community shall not constitute a change for the purposes of Article 137 of the Code and may be carried out during the period of temporary importation.

Subsection 2 Authorizing use of the procedures

(a) General

Article 730

Except where Articles 724 (3) and 725 (2) apply, and without prejudice to Article 728, admission of means of transport under the procedure shall be authorized without written application or authorization.

In that case the act provided for in Article 233 shall be considered to be an application for temporary importation and the absence of intervention by the customs authorities to be an authorization.

Article 731

Use of the procedure may be authorized for the pallets referred to in Article 724 (2) and the containers referred to in Article 725 (1) in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 730 provided the user of the procedure:

(a)

is represented in the customs territory of the Community and provides the designated customs authorities of each Member State in which pallets or containers are to be kept with particulars allowing identification of his representative and the extent of that person's powers;

(b)

at the request of the designated customs authorities of the Member State in which pallets or containers are kept, provides information concerning the place and date of entry of the pallets and containers into the customs territory of the Community, the place and date of their exit from that territory and the movements of the pallets or containers within that territory.

(b) Special cases

Article 732

1. Where Articles 724 (3) and 725 (2) apply, in order to use the temporary importation procedure the operator or his representative shall apply to the competent customs office of the Member State where the containers or the pallets to be placed under the procedure are brought into the customs territory of the Community.

2. The application shall be made in writing in any form acceptable to the customs authorities. It shall contain the following information:

(a) the name, business name and address of the operator or his representative;

(b) an undertaking to comply with Article 731 (b);

(c) where Article 724 (3) applies, the number and description of the pallets.

3. The application may be of a general nature and cover more than one temporary importation operation.

4. For a single temporary importation operation the application shall be replaced by presentation of the list provided for in Article 736 (1) (b).

Article 733

1. The customs office to which application is made shall take a decision thereon and shall where appropriate issue ‘a temporary’ importation authorization, hereinafter referred to as the authorization.

2. Authorization shall be granted only for containers which can be identified when they are re-exported.

3. The authorization shall be signed by the competent customs office, which shall retain a copy. It shall indicate inter alia the method by which the operator shall supply the information provided for in Article 731 (b).

4. The authorization may be of a general nature and cover more than one temporary importation operation.

5. For a single temporary importation operation, acceptance by the customs authorities of the list provided for in Article 736 (1) (b) shall be equivalent to authorization.

(c) Periods referred to in Article 140 of the Code

Article 734

For the purposes of Article 140 (3) of the Code, Article 694 (2) shall apply to means of transport. Where the user of the procedure can show that the pallets referred to in Article 724 (3) and (4) or the containers referred to in Article 725 (1) and (2) have not been used for some time, such non-use shall be considered to be an exceptional circumstance justifying an extension of the period.

Subsection 3 Entry of goods for the procedure

Article 735

1. Means of transport shall be entered for the temporary importation procedure as provided for in Article 232 (1).

2. Pursuant to Article 88 of the Code, the entry for the temporary importation procedure of means of transport which are not declared shall not be subject to the provision of a security.

Article 736

1. By way of derogation from Article 735 (1), where the supervising customs office considers at the time of entry for the procedure or when carrying out controls that there is a serious risk of non-compliance with the obligation to re-export a means of transport, the temporary importation procedure shall apply subject to:

(a) production of a declaration made out in accordance with Article 205 (1) or of a document provided for by an international convention as referred to in Article 205 (3);

(b) in the case of containers, an oral declaration as referred to in Article 229 (1), accompanied by a list.

The list shall indicate:

(i)

the name, business name and address of the operator or his representative;

(ii)

the means of identifying the containers;

(iii)

the number of containers and the quantity and type of normal spare parts, accessories and equipment.

2. By way of derogation from Article 735 (1), items referred to in Article 729 (1) which are imported separately from the means of transport for which they are intended shall be subject to the formalities laid down in paragraph 1 (a), without prejudice to more extensive facilities provided for by agreements in force.

3. By way of derogation from Article 735 (2), where the supervising customs office considers that paragraph 1 applies and that the payment of the customs debt which may be incurred is not certain, the provision of a security shall be required.

Article 737

1. Means of transport entered for the temporary importation procedure upon discharge of the inward processing procedure shall be treated as means of transport which have been brought into the customs territory of the Community.

2. The date of entry for the temporary importation procedure of the means of transport referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the date on which they are first used under the procedure.

3. For the purposes of drawing up the bill of discharge provided for under the inward processing procedure, the user of the temporary importation procedure shall issue the holder of the inward processing authorization with a certificate replacing the documents provided for in Article 595 (3).

Subsection 4 Discharge of the procedure

Article 738

Parts replaced following repairs or maintenance and new spare parts which are damaged or defective shall be assigned to a customs approved treatment or use permitted for the import goods.

Article 739

In the case of means of rail transport referred to in Article 721 and pallets referred to in Article 724 used jointly under an agreement, the procedure shall also be discharged when means of rail transport of the same type or pallets of the same type as or equivalent value to those which were put at the disposal of a person established in the customs territory of the Community are assigned to a permitted customs-approved treatment or use.

Article 740

1. Where means of transport are entered for the temporary importation procedure as provided for in Article 735, the procedure shall be discharged:

(a) in the case of re-exportation, in the manner referred to in Article 232 (2);

(b) in the case of declaration for any other customs-approved treatment or use, in the manner specified for declarations for the treatment or use in question.

2. Where Article 736 has been applied, the temporary importation procedure shall be discharged in respect of the means of transport concerned by presenting the means of transport for a permitted customs-approved treatment or use together with the declaration or the document referred to in Article 736 by the time limit laid down by the customs office where the said document was produced or the declaration was lodged.

Subsection 5 Final provisions

Article 741

This section shall not affect provisions in force in the field of transport, in particular those governing conditions of access and operation.

Article 742

The customs authorities may revoke a temporary importation authorization in respect of means of transport where, without prejudice to derogations provided for by this Chapter or to any more extensive facilities provided for by agreements in force, it finds inter alia:

• that means of road transport for commercial use have been used in internal traffic,

• that means of transport for private use have been used for commercial purposes in internal traffic,

• that means of transport have been hired, lent or made available subsequent to their importation or, if they were on hire, on loan or made available at the time of importation, have been re-hired or sub-hired or lent or made available to another person in the customs territory of the Community for any purpose other than immediate re-exportation.

Section 4 Special arrangements for discharge

Article 743

For the purposes of this Chapter, it shall always be possible with the agreement of the customs authorities to abandon goods to the Exchequer in exceptional substantiated cases.

Section 5 Commercial policy measures

Article 744

Where Community acts provide for commercial policy measures on:

(a)

release of goods for free circulation, the said measures shall not apply on entry of the goods for the temporary importation procedure nor for such time as they remain under the procedure;

(b)

goods brought into the customs territory of the Community, the said measures shall apply when the goods are entered for the temporary importation procedure;

(c)

exports, the said measures shall not apply when non-Community goods are re-exported from the customs territory of the Community after being placed under the temporary importation procedure.

Article 745

The release of import goods for free circulation shall be subject to the application by the customs authorities of any commercial policy measures in force for those goods at the time when the declaration for release for free circulation was accepted.

Section 6 Exchange of information

Article 746

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) cases in which Article 696 is applied pursuant to Article 229 (1) (c);

(b) the information referred to in Annex 102 in respect of each authorization where the value of the import goods exceeds ECU 4 000 and temporary importation was authorized pursuant to Article 688;

(c) the information referred to in Annex 103 in respect of each authorization where temporary importation was authorized pursuant to Article 689.

2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 (b) and (c) shall be communicated by 15 March and 15 September each year in respect of authorizations issued during the preceding six-month period. It shall be circulated by the Commission to the other Member States and shall be examined by the Committee in cases where this is judged necessary.

Article 747

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) the list of customs authorities to which applications must be presented, other than under Articles 695, 696 and 697;

(b) the list of customs offices empowered to accept declarations for the procedure pursuant to Articles 695, 696 and 697.

2. The provisions of Article 649 (2) and (3) shall apply.

CHAPTER 6 Outward processing

Section 1 General provisions

Article 748

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

main compensating products means: the compensating products for the production of which the use of the outward processing procedure was authorized;

(b)

secondary compensating products means: compensating products other than those for which the procedure was authorized, which necessarily result from the outward processing operation;

(c)

losses means: the proportion of the temporary export goods destroyed and lost during the processing operation, in particular by evaporation, desiccation, venting as gas or leaching;

(d)

quantitative scale method means: calculation of the proportion of temporary export goods incorporated in the various compensating products by reference to the quantity of such goods;

(e)

value scale method means: calculation of the proportion of temporary export goods incorporated in the various compensating products by reference to the value of such compensating products;

(f)

prior importation means: the system provided for in Article 154 (4) of the Code;

(g)

triangular traffic means: the system under which the compensating products are released for free circulation with partial or total relief from import duties with a customs administration other than that from which the goods were temporarily exported;

(h)

amount to be deducted means: the import duties which would have been applicable to the temporary export goods if they had been imported into the customs territory of the Community from the country in which they underwent the processing operation or the last processing operation;

(i)

loading, transport and insurance costs means: all costs incurred in connection with the loading, transport and insurance of the goods including:

• commissions and brokerage, except buying commissions,

• the cost of containers not integral to the temporary export goods,

• the cost of packing, including labour and materials,

• handling costs incurred in connection with transport of the goods.

Subsection 1 Authorizing use of the procedure — normal procedure

Article 749

1. For the purposes of Article 148 (b) of the Code, the customs authorities shall satisfy themselves that it is possible to establish that the compensating products have been manufactured from temporary export goods, by means, in particular, of the following:

(a) the statement or description of special marks or manufacturer's numbers;

(b) the affixing of plombs, seals, clip-marks or other distinctive marks;

(c) the taking of samples, illustrations or technical descriptions;

(d) the carrying out of analyses;

(e) the examination of supporting documents relating to the transaction under consideration (such as contracts, correspondence or invoices) which show clearly that the compensating products are to be manufactured from the temporary export goods.

The customs authorities may also use the ‘information document to facilitate the temporary exportation of goods sent from one country for manufacture, processing or repair in another’ provided for by the Customs Cooperation Council recommendation of 3 December 1963 and contained in Annex 104.

2. Where the procedure is requested for the repair of goods, whether or not with the standard exchange system, the customs authorities shall satisfy themselves that the temporary export goods are capable of being repaired. If the customs authorities consider that this condition is not fulfilled, they shall refuse authorization.

3. Where the standard exchange system is requested, the customs authorities shall, inter alia, make use of the verification methods listed in paragraph 1 (a), (c), (d) or (e). In the case of paragraph 1 (e), supporting documents shall indicate clearly that the repair in question will be carried out by supplying a replacement complying with the conditions set out in Article 155 (1) of the Code.

4. For the purposes of paragraph 3, the customs authorities shall, in particular, satisfy themselves that the use of the procedure to carry out a replacement as provided for in Article 154 (1) of the Code is not authorized as a means of improving the technical performance of the goods.

To that end they shall check:

• the contracts and other supporting documents relating to the repair, and

• the sales or leasing contracts and/or invoices relating to the temporary export goods or the goods incorporating temporary export goods, in particular the terms set out therein.

5. Where it is not possible to establish whether the compensating products will be manufactured from the temporary export goods and a request is made to the customs authorities for a derogation under Article 148 (b) of the Code, the authorities shall submit the application to the Commission.

Article 750

1. The application shall be made in conformity with Article 497 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 67/E, and presented by the person to whom the authorization may be granted under Article 86, 147 and 148 of the Code.

2. (a) The application shall be presented to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where the goods for temporary exportation are located.

(b) Where it is expected that the goods will be exported from several Member States, application for a single authorisation may be made. This application shall be presented to the customs authorities designated by the Member State where part of the goods are located.

In that case, the application shall include particulars of the sequence of operations and the expected places of temporary exportation.

Article 751

1. Without prejudice to Articles 760 and 761, authorizations shall be issued by the customs authorities to which the application was presented under Article 750 (2) and shall be made out in conformity with Article 500 and in accordance with the specimen in Annex 68/E.

By way of derogation from Article 500 (3) and in duly substantiated exceptional cases, the customs authorities may issue a retroactive authorization. The retroactive effect of such authorization may not go back beyond the time when the application was lodged. This derogation shall not apply to standard exchange with prior importation.

2. Where Article 750 (2) (b) applies, the authorization may not be issued without the agreement of the customs authorities designated by the Member States in which the places indicated in the application are located. The following procedure shall apply:

(a) the customs authorities to which the application was presented, after satisfying themselves that the economic conditions can be considered fulfilled in respect of the planned operation, shall communicate the application and the draft authorization to the other customs authorities concerned; the said draft shall include, at least, the rate of yield, the approved methods of identification, the customs offices referred to at point 11 of the model authorization in Annex 68/E, if appropriate the customs office responsible for the arrangements (‘supervising office’) and any simplified procedures used for entry for the arrangements or release for free circulation under the arrangements as well as the rules to be observed inter alia as regards notification to the supervising office;

(b) the other customs authorities concerned shall notify the existence of any objections as soon as possible, and in any case within two months of the date of communication of the application and draft authorization;

(c) the customs authorities referred to in subparagraph (a) may issue the authorization if they have received no information concerning the existence of objections to the draft authorization within the period referred to in subparagraph (b);

(d) the Member State issuing the authorization shall send a copy thereof to all the Member States referred to above.

Authorizations issued in this way shall be valid only in the Member States referred to above.

The Member States shall communicate, to the Commission, the names and addresses of the customs authorities designated to receive the application and the draft authorization mentioned in subparagraph (a). The Commission shall inform the other Member States accordingly.

Article 752

1. An authorization for use of the standard exchange system without prior importation may also be used for the reimportation of compensating products instead of the replacement products, provided that all the conditions are fulfilled.

2. Where circumstances so warrant and all the conditions for authorizing use of the standard exchange system without prior importation are fulfilled, the customs authorities may allow the holder of an outward processing authorization which does not provide for use of this system to import replacement products.

The persons concerned shall submit a request to this effect no later than the time the products are imported.

Article 753

The period of validity of an authorization shall be set by the customs authorities having regard to the economic conditions and the specific needs of the applicant.

Where the period of validity exceeds two years, the economic conditions on the basis of which the authorization was issued shall be reviewed periodically at intervals specified therein.

Article 754

1. The period within which compensating products must be reimported into the customs territory of the Community shall be determined with reference to the time required to complete the processing operations and to transport the temporary export goods and the compensating products. This period shall be calculated from the date of acceptance of the declaration of entry for the procedure.

2. Under the standard exchange system without prior importation, the period within which replacement products must be imported into the customs territory of the Community shall be determined with reference to the time required for the substitution of the temporary export goods and for transport of the temporary export goods and of the replacement products. This period shall be calculated from the date of acceptance of the declaration of entry for the procedure.

3. The reimportation of compensating products referred to in paragraph 1 and the importation of replacement products referred to in paragraph 2 shall be deemed to have been accomplished when the products are:

• released for free circulation, or

• placed in a free zone or free warehouse or under the customs warehousing or inward processing procedures,

• placed under the external Community transit procedure.

4. The date to be taken into account for the application of this Article shall be the date of acceptance of the declaration for release for free circulation or the declaration entering the products for one of the customs-approved treatments or uses referred to in paragraph 3, or the date of entry into a free zone or free warehouse.

Article 755

Where circumstances so warrant the period referred to in Article 754 may be extended, even if the initial period has already expired.

Article 756

1. Where circumstances so warrant, the period referred to in Article 157 of the Code may be extended even after the original period has expired.

2. For the purposes of Article 157 (1) of the Code, the placing of goods in a free zone or free warehouse or under the customs warehousing procedure for subsequent export shall be treated as export.

Article 757

Without prejudice to Article 758, the rate of yield referred to in Article 149 (2) of the Code shall be fixed no later than the time when the goods are entered for the procedure, taking into account the technical data concerning the operation or operations to be performed where these are available, or, where they are not, data available in the Community relating to operations of the same type.

Article 758

Where circumstances so warrant, the customs authorities may fix the rate of yield after the goods have been entered for the procedure, but not later than the time when the declaration for release for free circulation of the compensating products is accepted.

Article 759

1. For the purposes of Article 147 (2) of the Code, the authorization referred to in Article 751 shall be issued at the request of the person exporting the temporary export goods even where he is not the person carrying out the processing operations. This derogation shall be requested in the application presented to the customs authorities of the Member State in which the applicant is established. It shall also apply in the case of triangular traffic.

The authorization shall be issued to the applicant.

The derogation shall enable a person other than the holder of the authorization to declare compensating products for free circulation and to be authorized to use the procedure.

2. The application must be accompanied by all supporting documents required for its examination. These documents must show in particular:

• the advantages which would result from application of Article 147 (2) of the Code in terms of an increase in sales of the export goods compared with sales carried out under normal conditions,

• evidence that the requested derogation would not cause damage to the essential interests of Community producers of products identical or similar to the compensating products to be reimported.

3. When the customs authorities have all the necessary information they shall transmit the application to the Commission together with its opinion.

On receipt of the application the Commission shall communicate the information to the Member States.

The Commission shall decide in accordance with the Committee procedure whether and on what conditions an authorization may be issued, and shall in particular specify control measures to ensure that the relief referred to in Article 151 of the Code is granted only for compensating products in which the temporary export goods are actually incorporated.

Subsection 2 Authorizing use of the procedure — simplified procedures

Article 760

1. Where the simplified procedures for entry for the procedure laid down in Article 76 of the Code are not applied, and the processing operations concern the repair of goods, a customs office empowered by the customs authorities to issue authorizations using the simplified procedure shall allow the lodging of the declaration of entry for the procedure to constitute an application for authorization.

In this case acceptance of the declaration shall constitute the authorization, and the said acceptance shall be subject to the conditions governing the granting of the authorization.

2. Declarations presented under paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by a document made out by the declarant containing the following information, as necessary, unless such information can be entered in box 44 of the form used for the declaration itself:

(a) where the person applying to use the procedure is not the same as the declarant, the name or business name and address of the applicant;

(b) the trade and/or technical description of the compensating products;

(c) the nature of the processing operations;

(d) the time required to reimport the compensating products;

(e) the rate of yield or, where appropriate, the manner of establishing the rate of yield;

(f) the means of identification.

Article 498 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

3. Article 502 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 761

1. Where the processing operations concern repairs of a non-commercial nature, whether for a consideration or free of charge, the customs office designated by the customs authorities shall, at the request of the declarant, allow the declaration for release for free circulation to constitute the application for authorization. In these cases, acceptance of the declaration shall constitute authorization and the said acceptance shall be subject to the conditions governing the granting of the authorization.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 ‘repairs of a non-commercial nature’ means repairs to goods, including restoring them to their original condition and putting them in order, which:

• are carried out on an occasional basis, and

• relate exclusively to goods for the personal use of the importer or his family, which do not by their nature or quantity reflect any commercial interest.

3. It shall be for the applicant to prove the non-commercial nature of the goods. The customs office shall not grant the facilities provided for in paragraph 1 unless all the conditions are fulfilled.

Section 2 Entry of goods for the procedure

Article 762

The procedures governing the entry of goods for the outward processing procedure shall apply to temporary export goods, including temporary export goods used under the standard exchange system whether with prior importation or not.

Subsection 1 Normal procedure

Article 763

1. Except where Articles 760 and 761 apply, the declaration entering temporary export goods for the outward processing procedure (export declaration) shall be lodged at one of the offices of entry for the procedure specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 760 applies, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged at a duly empowered customs office.

Article 764

1. The declaration referred to in Article 763 shall be made in accordance with the provisions laid down for exportation.

2. Without prejudice to the application of Article 761, the description of the goods in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. The provisions of Article 658 (3) shall apply.

Subsection 2 Simplified procedures

Article 765

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply in accordance with Article 277.

Section 3 Entitlement to relief under the procedure

Article 766

Without prejudice to Article 754 (running of period provided for in Article 149 (1) of the Code), entitlement to relief under the outward processing procedure shall be subject to the lodging of a declaration for release for free circulation.

Article 767

1. Except where Articles 760 and 761 are applied, the declaration for release for free circulation shall be lodged at one of the offices of discharge specified in the authorization.

2. Where Article 760 is applied, the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be lodged with the customs office which issued the authorization.

3. Where Article 761 is applied, the declaration for release for free circulation shall be lodged with a customs office duly empowered by the customs authorities.

4. However, the supervising office may allow the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 to be presented at a customs office other than the ones referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 768

1. The declaration referred to in Article 767 shall be made in accordance with Articles 198 to 252.

2. Without prejudice to the application of Article 761, the description of the compensating products or replacement products in the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall correspond to the specifications in the authorization.

3. For the purposes of Article 62 (2) of the Code, the documents to accompany the declaration shall be those whose production is necessary for the release of the goods for free circulation, as provided for in Articles 218 to 221 and:

• a copy of the declaration of entry for the procedure, or, in the case of triangular traffic, the INF 2 form as provided for in Article 781, and

• where the declaration for release for free circulation is lodged after the expiry of the periods fixed in accordance with Article 149 (1) of the Code, and Article 754 (3) is applied, any supporting documents making it possible to verify that the compensating or replacement products were assigned to the customs-approved treatments or uses within the said period.

Article 769

The simplified procedures provided for in Article 76 of the Code shall apply to release for free circulation under the procedure in accordance with Articles 254 to 267 and 278.

Section 4 Provisions relating to the application of charges

Article 770

In the calculation of the amount to be deducted referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 151 (2) of the Code, no account shall be taken of:

(a)

the charges provided for in:

• Article 14 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2727/75 on the market in cereals(12),

• Article 13 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75 on the market in pigmeat(13),

• Article 8 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2771/75 on the market in eggs(14),

• Article 8 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2777/75 on the market in poultrymeat(15),

• Articles 25 and 25a of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 on the fruit and vegetable sector(16),

• Article 53 (3) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 on the market in wine(17);

(b)

anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties,

which would have been applicable to the temporary export goods if they had been imported into the Member State concerned from the country where they underwent the processing operation or the last such operation.

Article 771

1. Where the second subparagraph of Article 151 (2) of the Code is applied, the loading, transport and insurance costs for the temporary export goods to the place where the processing operation or the last such operation took place shall not be included in:

• the value of the temporary export goods which is taken into account when determining the customs value of the compensating products in accordance with Article 32 (1) (b) (i) of the Code,

• the processing costs, where the value of the temporary export goods cannot be determined by application of Article 32 (1) (b) (i) referred to in the first indent.

2. The processing costs referred to in paragraph 1 shall include the loading, transport and insurance costs for the compensating products from the place where the processing operation or the last processing operation took place to the place where they enter the customs territory of the Community.

3. The repair costs referred to in Article 153 of the Code shall consist of the total payment made or to be made by the holder of the authorization to or for the benefit of the person carrying out the repairs for the repairs carried out and shall include all payments made or to be made as conditions of the repair of the temporary export goods by the holder of the authorization to the person carrying out the repairs or by the holder of the authorization to satisfy an obligation of the person carrying out the repairs.

Such payment need not necessarily take the form of a transfer of money. Payment may be made by way of letters of credit or negotiable instruments and may be made directly or indirectly.

Article 143 shall apply for the appraisal of the relationship between the holder of the authorization and the operator.

Article 772

1. The proportion of temporary export goods incorporated in the compensating products shall be calculated by one of the methods referred to in Articles 773 to 775 where all the compensating products, other than secondary compensating products referred to in Article 774 (3) resulting from a given processing operation are not released for free circulation at the same time.

2. The calculations referred to in Articles 773 to 775 shall be worked out on the basis of the examples set out in Annex 105 or by any other method giving the same results.

Article 773

1. Where one kind of compensating product only is derived from the outward processing operations from one or more kinds of temporary export goods, the quantitative scale method (compensating products) shall be used to determine the amount to be deducted on release for free circulation of the compensating products.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the quantity of each kind of temporary export goods corresponding to the quantity of compensating products released for free circulation to be taken into account for determining the amount to be deducted shall be calculated by applying to the total quantity of each kind of the said goods a coefficient corresponding to the ratio of the quantity of compensating products released for free circulation to the total quantity of compensating products.

Article 774

1. Where several kinds of compensating product are derived from the outward processing operations from one or more kinds of temporary export goods and all elements of the said goods are found in each of the different kinds of compensating product, the quantitative scale method (temporary export goods) shall be used to determine the amount to be deducted on the release for free circulation of the compensating products.

2. In deciding whether the method referred to in paragraph 1 applies, no account shall be taken of losses.

3. In determining the proportion of temporary export goods, secondary compensating products which constitute waste, scrap, residues, offcuts and remainders shall be treated as losses.

4. Where paragraph 1 is applied, the quantity of each kind of temporary export goods used in the manufacture of each kind of compensating product shall be determined by successively applying to the total quantity of each kind of temporary export goods a coefficient corresponding to the ratio of the quantity of the said goods found in each kind of compensating product to the total quantity of the said goods found in the compensating products as a whole.

5. The quantity of each kind of temporary export goods corresponding to the quantity of each kind of compensating product released for free circulation to be taken into account for determining the amount to be deducted shall be calculated by applying the coefficient arrived at by the method indicated in Article 773 (2) to the quantity of each kind of temporary export goods used in the manufacture of each kind of the said products, calculated in accordance with paragraph 4.

Article 775

1. Where Articles 773 and 774 do not apply, the value scale method shall be used.

However, with the agreement of the holder of the authorization and for the purposes of simplification, the customs authorities may apply the quantitative scale method (temporary export goods) instead of the value scale method where either method would give similar results.

2. In order to determine the quantity of each kind of temporary export goods used in the manufacture of each kind of compensating product, successive coefficients corresponding to the ratio of the customs value of each compensating product to the total customs value of those products shall be applied to the total quantity of temporary export goods.

3. Where one type of compensating product is not reimported, the value of such products for the purposes of the value scale shall be the recent selling price in the Community of identical or similar products, provided such price is not influenced by a relationship between the buyer and seller.

Article 143 shall apply for the appraisal of the relationship between the buyer and seller.

If the value cannot be determined by application of the above provisions, it shall be determined by the customs authorities by any reasonable method.

4. The quantity of each kind of temporary export goods corresponding to the quantity of each kind of compensating product released for free circulation to be taken into account for determining the amount to be deducted shall be calculated by applying the coefficient arrived at by the method indicated in Article 773 (2) to the quantity of each kind of temporary export goods used in the manufacture of those products, calculated in accordance with paragraph 2.

Article 776

1. Where an outward processing authorization is issued which does not provide for a repair and the customs authorities is able, by agreement with the holder of the authorization, to set an approximate amount of duty payable under the provisions on partial relief from import duties, the said authority may set an average rate applicable to all processing operations to be carried out under that authorization (aggregated discharge) in the case of undertakings which frequently carry out outward processing operations.

2. The rate referred to in paragraph 1 shall be determined for each period not exceeding six months on the basis of:

• an approximate estimate made in advance of the sum payable for that period, or

• experience gained with regard to the collection of the amount paid in respect of an earlier equivalent period.

The rate shall be increased as appropriate with a view to ensuring that the amount of import duty entered in the accounts is not less than the amount legally due.

3. The rate referred to in paragraph 1 shall apply provisionally to the processing charges for compensating products released for free circulation for a reference period identical to that used for the calculations referred to in paragraph 2, and it shall not be necessary to calculate precisely the amount of import duty payable every time items are released for free circulation.

4. The amount of import duty obtained by applying this Article shall be entered in the accounts under the conditions and within the periods provided for in Articles 217 to 232 of the Code.

5. At the end of each reference period the customs authorities shall undertake the aggregated discharge of the procedure and make the final calculation in accordance with the provisions relating to partial relief from import duties.

6. If it emerges from the final calculation that the amount of import duty which has been entered in the accounts is too high, or that, in spite of the increase effected in accordance with paragraph 2, the amount of import duty entered in the accounts is less than the amount legally due, an adjustment shall be made.

Section 5 Triangular traffic

Article 777

1. The customs authorities referred to in Article 751 shall permit use of the triangular traffic system either:

(a) in connection with the authorization referred to in Article 147 or Article 152 of the Code; or

(b) at the special request of the holder of the authorization, presented after the authorization has been granted but before the compensating or replacement products have been released for free circulation.

2. Use of the triangular traffic system shall not be authorized under the standard exchange system with prior importation.

Article 778

1. Without prejudice to Article 783, where the triangular traffic system is used the information sheet known as ‘INF 2’ shall be used.

2. Information sheet INF 2, corresponding to the specimen and provisions in Annex 106, shall comprise one original and one copy which shall be presented together at the office of entry.

Information sheet INF 2 shall be made out for the quantity of goods entered for the procedure. Where it is expected that the compensating or replacement products will be reimported in more than one consignment at different customs offices, the office of entry shall, at the request of the holder of the authorization, issue the requisite number of INF 2 sheets made out for the quantity of goods entered for the procedure.

3. In the event of theft, loss or destruction of information sheet INF 2, the holder of the outward processing authorization may ask the customs office which endorsed it for a duplicate to be issued. The said office shall comply with this request provided it can be shown that the temporary export goods in respect of which the duplicate is requested have not been reimported.

The duplicate so issued shall bear one of the following indications:

• DUPLICADO,

• DUPLIKAT,

• DUPLIKAT,

• ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟ,

• DUPLICATE,

• DUPLICATA,

• DUPLICATO,

• DUPLICAAT,

• SEGUNDAVIA.

4. The request for the issue of information sheet INF 2 shall constitute the consent of the holder of the authorization referred to in Article 150 (1) (b) of the Code.

Article 779

1. The office of entry for the procedure shall endorse the original and the copy of information sheet INF 2. It shall retain the copy and return the original to the declarant.

2. Where the office of entry for the procedure considers that the customs office where the declaration for free circulation will be presented requires certain authorization particulars which do not appear on the information sheet, it shall enter such particulars on the information sheet.

3. The original of information sheet INF 2 shall be presented to the customs office where the goods leave the customs territory of the Community. That office shall certify on the original that the goods have left the said territory and shall return it to the person presenting it.

Article 780

1. Where the office of entry for the procedure is called upon to endorse information sheet INF 2, it shall indicate in box 16 the means used to identify the temporary export goods.

2. Where samples are taken or illustrations or technical descriptions are used, the office referred to in paragraph 1 shall authenticate such samples, illustrations or technical descriptions by affixing its customs seal either on the goods, where their nature permits it, or on the packaging, in such a way that it cannot be tampered with.

A label bearing the stamp of the office and reference particulars of the export declaration shall be attached to the samples, illustrations or technical descriptions in a manner which prevents substitution.

3. The samples, illustrations or technical descriptions, authenticated and sealed in accordance with paragraph 2, shall be returned to the exporter, who shall present them with the seals intact when the compensating or replacement products are reimported.

4. Where an analysis is required and the results will not be known until after the customs office has endorsed information sheet INF 2, the document containing the results of the analysis shall be given to the exporter in a sealed tamper-proof envelope.

Article 781

1. The importer of the compensating or replacement products shall present the original of information sheet INF 2 and, where appropriate, the means of identification referred to in Article 780 (3) and (4) to the office of discharge when he lodges the declaration for release for free circulation.

2. Where the compensating or replacement products are released for free circulation in a single consignment or in more than one consignment but at the same customs office, that office shall note on the original of information sheet INF 2 the quantities of temporary export goods corresponding to the quantities of compensating or replacement products released for free circulation. When information sheet INF 2 is discharged, it shall be annexed to the corresponding declaration. Failing this, it shall be returned to the declarant and this fact noted in box 44 of the IM form provided for in Article 205.

3. Where the compensating or replacement products are released for free circulation in more than one consignment at more than one customs office and Article 779 (2) has not been applied, the customs office where the first declaration for release for free circulation is lodged shall, at the request of the declarant, replace the initial information sheet INF 2 with further INF 2 sheets made out for the quantity of temporary export goods not yet released for free circulation. The customs office shall indicate on the replacement information sheet or sheets the number of the initial information sheet and the customs office which issued it. The quantities entered on the replacement information sheet or sheets shall be set off against the quantities entered on the initial information sheet INF 2 which, once discharged in this way, shall be annexed to the initial declaration for release for free circulation. As each of the replacement information sheets is discharged, it shall be annexed to the declaration for free circulation to which it refers.

Article 782

The office of discharge shall be empowered to ask the customs office which endorsed information sheet INF 2 for post-clearance verification of the authenticity of the information sheet and the accuracy of the particulars which it contains and any additional information entered on it.

The latter customs office shall comply with this request as soon as possible.

Article 783

Simplified information and control procedures may be used for specific triangular traffic flows.

The Member States concerned shall send the Commission in advance a draft of the proposed procedures for the flow in question. The Commission shall inform the other Member States.

The simplified procedures communicated to the Commission may be implemented unless the Commission notifies the Member States concerned within two months of the date of receipt of the draft that there are objections to implementation of the procedures.

Section 6 Commercial policy measures

Article 784

1. Commercial policy measures on exports shall apply at the time of acceptance of the declaration of entry for the procedure.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not affect decisions allowing ashes and residues of copper and copper alloys falling within CN code 2620 and waste of copper and copper alloys falling within CN code 7404 00 not to be charged against export quotas.

Article 785

1. When the compensating products referred to in Article 145 (1) of the Code are released for free circulation, the specific commercial policy measures in force for such products at the time when the declaration for release for free circulation is accepted shall apply only where such products do not originate in the Community within the meaning of Articles 23 and 24 of the Code.

2. Commercial policy measures for imports shall not apply where the standard exchange system is used, nor in the case of repairs or of additional processing operations to be carried out in accordance with Article 123 of the Code.

Section 7 Administrative cooperation

Article 786

1. For every application for authorization which is rejected because the economic conditions are not considered to be fulfilled, the Member States shall send the Commission the information in Annex 107.

2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be sent during the month following that in which the application was rejected. The Commission shall circulate such information to the other Member States and it shall be examined by the Committee where this is considered necessary.

Article 787

1. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

(a) the list of customs authorities to which applications for authorization are to be presented, except under Articles 760 and 761;

(b) the list of customs offices empowered to issue authorizations pursuant to Articles 760 and 761.

2. The provisions of Article 649 (2) and (3) shall apply.

(1)

OJ No L 62, 7. 3. 1980, p. 5.

(2)

OJ No L 323, 29. 11. 1980, p. 1.

(3)

OJ No L 323, 29. 11. 1980, p. 27.

(4)

OJ No L 351, 14. 12. 1987, p. 1.

(5)

OJ No L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1.

(6)

OJ No L 205, 3. 8. 1985, p. 5.

(7)

OJ No L 86, 31. 3. 1989, p. 34.

(8)

OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 13.

(9)

OJ No L 258, 11. 9. 1981, p. 16.

(10)

OJ No L 370, 30. 12. 1978, p. 72.

(11)

OJ No L 252, 28. 9. 1978, p. 1.

(12)

OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 1.

(13)

OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 1.

(14)

OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 49.

(15)

OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 77.

(16)

OJ No L 118, 20. 5. 1972, p. 1.

(17)

OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1.