TITLE IIEXPORTS TO THIRD COUNTRIES
CHAPTER 1Entitlement to refunds
Section 1General provisions
Article 5
1
‘Day of export’ means the day on which the customs authorities accept the export declaration stating that a refund is to be applied for.
2
The date of acceptance of the export declaration shall determine:
a
the rate of refund applicable where the refund is not fixed in advance;
b
any adjustments to be made to the rate of refund where it is so fixed in advance;
c
the quantity, nature and characteristics of the product exported.
3
Any other act having the same effect in law as acceptance of the export declaration shall be deemed equivalent to such acceptance.
4
The document used on export to qualify for a refund shall include all information necessary to calculate the refund, and in particular:
a
for products:
a description, simplified where appropriate, of the products in accordance with the export refund nomenclature, together with the refund nomenclature code and, where necessary to calculate the refund, the composition of the products concerned or a reference thereto,
the net mass of the products or, where applicable, the quantity expressed in the unit of measurement to be used when calculating the refund;
b
in the case of goods, the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 shall apply.
5
At the time of acceptance or of the act envisaged in paragraph 3, the products shall be placed under customs control in accordance with Article 4(13) and (14) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 until they leave the customs territory of the Community.
6
By way of derogation from Article 282(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, the authorisation to make the export declaration in a simplified form may stipulate that the simplified declaration shall contain an estimate of the net mass of products exported in bulk or in non-standard units, where the exact quantity can only be established once loading onto the means of transport is completed.
The additional declaration indicating the exact net mass must be lodged once loading is completed. It must be accompanied by documentary evidence of the exact net mass loaded.
No refund shall be granted for quantities exceeding 110 % of the estimated net mass. Where the mass actually loaded is less than 90 % of the estimated net mass, the refund for the net mass actually loaded will be reduced by 10 % of the difference between the refund corresponding to 90 % of the estimated net mass and the refund corresponding to the mass actually loaded. However, where export occurs by sea or navigable inland waterway, if the exporter can supply signed proof from the person responsible for the means of transport that constraints peculiar to this type of transport or alternatively overloading on the part of other exporters have prevented the loading of all his goods, the refund shall be paid for the net mass actually loaded. This subparagraph shall apply if the exporter has used the local clearance procedure provided for in Article 283 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, provided that the customs authorities have authorised the correction of the records in which the exported products were entered.
The following shall be considered non-standard units: live animals, (half-) carcases, quarters, fore-ends, legs, shoulders, bellies and loins.
7
All persons exporting products for which they claim a refund shall be required to:
a
lodge the export declaration with the competent customs office in the place where the products are to be loaded for export transport;
b
inform that customs office at least 24 hours prior to starting the loading operations and indicate the anticipated duration of loading. The competent authorities may stipulate a time limit other than 24 hours.
The following may be considered as the place of loading for the transport of products intended for export:
a
in the case of products exported in containers, the place where they are loaded into the containers;
b
in the case of products exported in bulk, sacks, cartons, boxes, bottles, etc. and not loaded into containers, the place where the means of transport, in which they will leave the customs territory of the Community, is loaded.
The competent customs office may authorise the loading operations after having accepted the export declaration, before expiry of the time limit referred to in point (b) of the first paragraph.
The products shall be identified by appropriate means before the indicated time for starting loading. The competent customs office must be able to make physical checks and identify the goods for transport to the office of exit from the customs territory of the Community.
If the first subparagraph cannot be applied for administrative or other duly justified reasons, the export declaration may be lodged only with a competent customs office in the Member State concerned and, where a physical check is carried out in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1276/2008, any goods presented must be fully unloaded. However, the goods do not have to be unloaded completely if the competent authorities can perform a thorough physical check.
8
Goods for which export refunds are claimed shall be sealed by, or under the control of, the customs office of export. Article 340a and paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article 357 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
F1Before affixing seals, the customs office of export shall visually check the conformity of the products with the export declarations. The number of visual checks shall not be less than 10 % of the number of export declarations, other than those in respect of which the products covered by them have been physically checked or selected for a physical check under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1276/2008. The customs office shall note this check in box D of the T5 control copy or equivalent document by using the control code as defined in Article 2(m) of Regulation (EC) No 1276/2008 and as set out in Annex II to this Regulation.