Member States shall conduct physical checks at the point of import on products imported under the conditions set out in this Section for conformity with the standards by carrying out conformity checks for each third country concerned on a significant proportion of the consignments and quantities imported under those conditions. This proportion shall be sufficient to ensure compliance with the Community rules by the third country inspection bodies. Member States shall ensure that the measures laid down in Article 20(3) are applied to the lots checked where those lots do not comply with the marketing standards.

Where checks reveal significant irregularities, Member States shall immediately inform the Commission, and the inspection bodies shall increase the proportion of consignments and quantities checked in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

If a Member State levies a fee to cover the costs of the checks referred to in this paragraph, the level of this fee shall be such as to reflect the lower proportion of consignments and quantities checked for these checks than for those mentioned in Article 12.

Whenever doubts arise as to the authenticity of a certificate as referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 14(1) or the accuracy of the information contained therein, an a posteriori check shall be carried out.

The competent authority in the Community shall return the certificate or its copy thereof to the official correspondent in the third country, as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 13(2), giving, where appropriate, the reasons for the enquiry and any information obtained suggesting that the certificate is not authentic or that the details it contains are incorrect. Requests for a posteriori checks shall be brought to the attention of the Commission as quickly as possible, together with the results of each request.

Where a request is made for an a posteriori check, the importer of the products concerned may ask the competent inspection bodies to carry out a conformity check as referred to in Article 12.