Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is amended as follows:

1.

The following Article 1a is inserted:

Article 1a

For the purposes of applying Articles 16 to 34 and 291 to 308, the countries of the Benelux Economic Union shall be considered as a single Member State.

2.

In Title I of Part I the following Chapter 3 is inserted:

Chapter 2 of Title VII of Part I is replaced by the following:

CHAPTER 2 Customs declarations made using a data-processing technique

Article 222

1.Where the customs declaration is made by a data-processing technique, the particulars of the written declaration referred to in Annex 37 shall be replaced by sending to the customs office designated for that purpose, with a view to their processing by computer, data in codified form or data made out in any other form specified by the customs authorities and corresponding to the particulars required for written declarations.

2.A customs declaration made by EDI shall be considered to have been lodged when the EDI message is received by the customs authorities.

Acceptance of a customs declaration made by EDI shall be communicated to the declarant by means of a response message containing at least the identification details of the message received and/or the registration number of the customs declaration and the date of acceptance.

3.Where the customs declaration is made by EDI, the customs authorities shall lay down the rules for implementing the provisions laid down in Article 247.

4.Where the customs declaration is made by EDI, the release of the goods shall be notified to the declarant, indicating at least the identification details of the declaration and the date of release.

5.Where the particulars of the customs declaration are introduced into customs data-processing systems, paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 223

Where a paper copy of the customs declaration is required for the completion of other formalities, this shall, at the request of the declarant, be produced and authenticated, either by the customs office concerned, or in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 199 (2).

Article 224

Under the conditions and in the manner which they shall determine, the customs authorities may authorize the documents required for the entry of goods for a customs procedure to be made out and transmitted by electronic means.

The heading of Chapter 1 of Title IX of Part I is replaced by: the following:

In Article 434, paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) are replaced by the following:

2.The office of departure shall indicate clearly in the box reserved for customs on sheets 1, 2, 3A and 3B of the TR transfer note:

The symbol “T2”, “T2ES” or “T2PT” shall be authenticated by application of the stamp of the office of departure.

3.Where a TR transfer note relates both to containers containing goods moving under the external Community transit procedure and containers containing goods moving under the internal Community transit procedure, in accordance with Article 165 of the code and with point (b) of Article 311, the office of departure shall enter in the box reserved for customs on sheets 1, 2, 3A and 3B of the TR transfer note separate references to the container(s), depending upon which type of goods they contain, and shall enter the symbol “T1” and the symbol “T2”, “T2ES” or “T2PT” respectively, alongside the reference to the corresponding container(s).

4.In cases covered by paragraph 3, where lists of large containers are used, separate lists shall be made out for each category of container and the reference thereto shall be indicated by entering in the box reserved for customs on sheets 1, 2, 3A and 3B of the TR transfer note, the serial number(s) of the list(s). The symbol “T1” or the symbol “T2”, “T2ES” or “T2PT”shall be entered alongside the serial number(s) of the list(s) according to the category of containers to which they relate.

In Article 601 the following paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 are added:

4.Simplified procedures may be established for specific triangular trade flows at the request of firms with a sufficiently large number of anticipated export operations.

This procedure shall be requested, by the holder of the authorization, from the customs authorities of the Member State in which the authorization was issued.

This derogation shall provide for the aggregation of anticipated exports of compensating products over a given period, with a view to the issuing of an Information Sheet INF 5 covering the total quantity of the exports over the said period.

5.The request shall be accompanied by any supporting documents or evidence necessary for its appraisal. Such documents or evidence shall inter alia show the frequency of the exports, give an outline of the procedures envisaged and include particulars showing that it will be possible to verify whether the conditions for equivalent goods are satisfied.

6.When the customs authorities are in possession of all the necessary particulars they shall forward the request to the Commission, together with their opinion.

As soon as the Commission receives the request it shall communicate the particulars to the Member States.

The Commission shall decide, in accordance with the Committee procedure, whether and on what conditions an authorization may be issued, specifying inter alia the control measures to be used to ensure the proper conduct of operations under the equivalent compensation system.

Article 674 is replaced by the following:

Article 674

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

(a)pedagogic material and scientific equipment;

(b)spare parts and accessories for such material or equipment;

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

2.“Pedagogic material” means any material 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 pedagogic materials is set out in Annex 91. An illustrative list of other goods imported in connection with educational, scientific or cultural activities is given in Annex 91a.

3.“Scientific equipment” means equipment intended for the sole purpose of scientific research or teaching, and in particular models, instruments, apparatus and machines.

4.The temporary importation procedure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be granted provided that the pedagogic material or scientific equipment, 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 numbers, having regard to the 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.

5.The period during which such pedagogic material or scientific equipment may remain under the temporary importation procedure shall be 12 months.

Article 680 is amended as follows:

The following subsection is added to Section 2 of Chapter 5 in Part II, Title III;

Subsection 9 Renewal of ATA carnets

Article 716a

1.Where it is foreseen that the temporary importation operation might exceed the period of validity of the ATA carnet because the holder is unable to re-export the goods, the issuing association may issue a replacement carnet. The holder shall return the original carnet to the issuing association.

2.The replacement carnet shall be submitted to the competent customs office for the place where the goods are located, which shall carry out the following formalities:

(a)it shall discharge the original carnet using the re-exportation voucher which it shall return without delay to the initial customs office of temporary importation;

(b)it shall receive the replacement carnet and retain the importation voucher, first entering on the said voucher the final date for re-exportation as shown on the original carnet plus any extension, and the number of the original carnet.

3.When the temporary importation procedure is discharged the office of re-exportation shall carry out the formalities laid down in Article 706 (3) using the re-exportation voucher of the replacement carnet, which it shall return without delay to the customs office which received the replacement carnet.

4.The issue of replacement carnets is the responsibility of the issuing association. If an ATA carnet expires and the holder is unable to re-export the goods, and the issuing association refuses to issue a replacement carnet, the customs authorities shall require completion of the customs formalities laid down in Articles 691 to 702.

The heading of Chapter 3 of Title II of Part IV is replaced by the following:

Article 2

The following Regulations shall be repealed:

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1994.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 21 December 1993.

For the Commission

Christiane Scrivener

Member of the Commission