Council Regulation (EC) No 274/2008
of 17 March 2008
amending Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 setting up a Community system of relief from customs duty
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 26 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas:
Imports of household effects for furnishing a secondary residence are subject to the same restrictions and controls as the same goods imported by natural persons transferring their normal place of residence from a third country. Although creating the same administrative burden for the importing persons and the customs administrations in the Member States, the former types of importations do not benefit from exemption from value added tax (VAT) whereas the latter ones do. Furthermore, the economic benefits of a duty relief for imports of household effects for furnishing a secondary residence is small in comparison with the supplementary costs of controls. It is therefore appropriate to delete the provisions concerning the customs duty relief for those goods.
The value limit of ECU 22 set out in Article 27 of Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 has not been increased since 1991, whereas at the same time customs duties have been significantly reduced or even abolished. Accordingly, it is appropriate to increase the value limit for consignments of negligible value.
Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: