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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) >> D. Wandel (Free movement of goods) [2001] EUECJ C-66/99 (01 February 2001) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2001/C6699.html Cite as: EU:C:2001:69, [2001] ECR I-873, ECLI:EU:C:2001:69, Case C-66/99, [2001] EUECJ C-66/99 |
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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)
1 February 2001 (1)
(Community Customs Code and implementing regulation - Incurrence of a customs debt on importation - Relevant time - Concept of removal from customs supervision of goods liable to import duty - Production of certificates of origin - Effect)
In Case C-66/99,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Finanzgericht Bremen (Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
D. Wandel GmbH
and
Hauptzollamt Bremen
on the interpretation of Article 75, Article 201(1)(a) and (2), Article 203(1) and Article 204(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1),
THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),
composed of: C. Gulmann, President of the Chamber, V. Skouris, J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen (Rapporteur) and F. Macken, Judges,
Advocate General: G. Cosmas,
Registrar: H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator,
after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:
- D. Wandel GmbH, by H. Kühle and G. Schemmann, Steuerberater,
- the Finnish Government, by H. Rotkirch and T. Pynnä, acting as Agents,
- the Commission of the European Communities, by J.C. Schieferer, acting as Agent,
having regard to the Report for the Hearing,
after hearing the oral observations of D. Wandel GmbH, represented by K. Masorsky and M. Zitzmann, Steuerberater, of the French Government, represented by C. Vasak, acting as Agent, and the Commission, represented by J.C. Schieferer, at the hearing on 13 July 2000,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 28 September 2000,
gives the following
Community legislation
'For the purposes of this Code, the following definitions shall apply:
...
(20) Release of goods means the act whereby the customs authorities make goods available for the purposes stipulated by the customs procedure under which they are placed.
'1. Goods brought into the customs territory of the Community shall, from the time of their entry, be subject to customs supervision. They may be subject to control by the customs authority in accordance with the provisions in force.
2. They shall remain under such supervision for as long as necessary to determine their customs status, if appropriate, and in the case of non-Community goods and without prejudice to Article 82(1), until their customs status is changed, they enter a free zone or free warehouse or they are re-exported or destroyed in accordance with Article 182.
'1. Goods in temporary storage shall be stored only in places approved by the customs authorities under the conditions laid down by those authorities.
2. The customs authorities may require the person holding the goods to provide security with a view to ensuring payment of any customs debt which may arise under Articles 203 or 204.
'Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 42, goods in temporary storage shall be subject only to such forms of handling as are designed to ensure their preservation in an unaltered state without modifying their appearance or technical characteristics.
'1. Declarations in writing shall be made on a form corresponding to the official specimen prescribed for that purpose. They shall be signed and contain all the particulars necessary for implementation of the provisions governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared.
2. The declaration shall be accompanied by all the documents required for implementation of the provisions governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared.
'The customs authorities shall, at the request of the declarant, invalidate a declaration already accepted where the declarant furnishes proof that goods were declared in error for the customs procedure covered by that declaration or that, as a result of special circumstances, the placing of the goods under the customs procedure for which they were declared is no longer justified.
Nevertheless, where the customs authorities have informed the declarant of their intention to examine the goods, a request for invalidation of the declaration shall not be accepted until after the examination has taken place.
'Save as otherwise expressly provided, the date to be used for the purposes of all the provisions governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared shall be the date of acceptance of the declaration by the customs authorities.
'For the verification of declarations which they have accepted, the customs authorities may:
(a) examine the documents covering the declaration and the documents accompanying it. The customs authorities may require the declarant to present other documents for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the particulars contained in the declaration;
(b) examine the goods and take samples for analysis or for detailed examination.
'1. The results of verifying the declaration shall be used for the purposes of applying the provisions governing the customs procedure under which the goods are placed.
2. Where the declaration is not verified, the provisions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be applied on the basis of the particulars contained in the declaration.
'1. Where acceptance of a customs declaration gives rise to a customs debt, the goods covered by the declaration shall not be released unless the customs debt has been paid or secured. However, without prejudice to paragraph 2, this provision shall not apply to the temporary importation procedure with partial relief from import duties.
2. Where, pursuant to the provisions governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared, the customs authorities require the provision of a security, the said goods shall not be released for the customs procedure in question until such security is provided.
'Any necessary measures, including confiscation and sale, shall be taken to deal with goods which:
(a) cannot be released because:
- it has not been possible to undertake or continue examination of the goods within the period prescribed by the customs authorities for reasons attributable to the declarant; or,
- the documents which must be produced before the goods can be placed under the customs procedure requested have not been produced; or,
- payments or security which should have been made or provided in respect of import duties or export duties, as the case may be, have not been made or provided within the period prescribed; or
- they are subject to bans or restrictions.
'Release for free circulation shall confer on non-Community goods the customs status of Community goods.
It shall entail application of commercial policy measures, completion of the other formalities laid down in respect of the importation of goods and the charging of any duties legally due.
'A customs debt on importation shall be incurred through:
(a) the release for free circulation of goods liable to import duties.
'A customs debt shall be incurred at the time of acceptance of the customs declaration in question.
'1. A customs debt on importation shall be incurred through:
(a) the unlawful introduction into the customs territory of the Community of goods liable to import duties, or
(b) the unlawful introduction into another part of that territory of such goods located in a free zone or free warehouse.
For the purpose of this Article, unlawful introduction means any introduction in violation of the provisions of Articles 38 to 41 and the second indent of Article 177.
2. The customs debt shall be incurred at the moment when the goods are unlawfully introduced.
'1. A customs debt on importation shall be incurred through:
- the unlawful removal from customs supervision of goods liable to import duties.
2. The customs debt shall be incurred at the moment when the goods are removed from customs supervision.
'1. A customs debt on importation shall be incurred through:
(a) non-fulfilment of one of the obligations arising, in respect of goods liable to import duties, from their temporary storage or from the use of the customs procedure under which they are placed, or
(b) non-compliance with a condition governing the placing of the goods under that procedure or the granting of a reduced or zero rate of import duty by virtue of the end-use of the goods,
in cases other than those referred to in Article 203 unless it is established that those failures have no significant effect on the correct operation of the temporary storage or customs procedure in question.
2. The customs debt shall be incurred either at the moment when the obligation whose non-fulfilment gives rise to the customs debt ceases to be met or at the moment when the goods are placed under the customs procedure concerned where it is established subsequently that a condition governing the placing of the goods under the said procedure or the granting of a reduced or zero rate of import duty by virtue of the end-use of the goods was not in fact fulfilled.
'Without prejudice to the provisions in force relating to the time-barring of a customs debt and non-recovery of such a debt in the event of the legally established insolvency of the debtor, a customs debt shall be extinguished:
...
(c) where, in respect of goods declared for a customs procedure entailing the obligation to pay duties:
- the customs declaration is invalidated in accordance with Article 66.
'The following documents shall accompany the customs declaration for release for free circulation:
...
(c) the documents required for the application of preferential tariff arrangements or other measures derogating from the legal rules applicable to the goods declared.
'The presentation of a customs declaration for the goods in question, or any other act having the same legal effects, and the production of a document for endorsement by the competent authorities, shall be considered as removal of goods from customs supervision within the meaning of Article 203(1) of the Code, where these acts have the effect of wrongly conferring on them the customs status of Community goods.
The dispute in the main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling
'1. Is Article 201(1)(a), in conjunction with Article 201(2), of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1) to be construed as meaning that a customs debt on importation is incurred once a customs declaration for the release of non-Community goods into free circulation satisfying the requirements of Article 62 of the Customs Code has been received by the competent customs office and its acceptance evidenced by the attachment of a customs registration stamp?
2. If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative:
Is Article 75 of the Customs Code to be construed as meaning that the customs office which has accepted such a customs declaration is entitled to treat the declaration as invalid or to invalidate it without a request by the declarant to that end, with the result that a customs debt incurred under Article 201(1)(a) of the Customs Code is deemed not to have been incurred or is extinguished under the first indent of Article 233(c) of the Customs Code, if the declared goods cannot be released to the declarant because they were removed, before the customs examination ordered was carried out, from their prescribed place of storage and from the area for which the customs office is responsible?
3. If Question 1 is answered in the negative or Question 2 in the affirmative:
Is Article 203(1) of the Customs Code to be construed as meaning that there is a removal from customs supervision where the non-Community goods declared for release for free circulation are removed from the prescribed place of storage/examination and consequently from the local area for which the customs office in question is responsible, even though the customs office had ordered a customs examination?
4. If Question 3 is answered in the negative:
Is Article 204(1) of the Customs Code to be construed as meaning that the unauthorised removal of the goods from their place of storage has had no significant effect on the correct operation of the temporary storage if, after their removal, the goods could, on request, have been presented at another customs office?
5. Can there be no question of a customs debt on importation being incurred
(a) under Article 201(1)(a), in conjunction with Article 201(2), of the Customs Code, where the customs declaration is merely received by the customs office, or
(b) under Article 203(1) of the Customs Code, or
(c) under Article 204 of the Customs Code,
if technically correct certificates of origin corresponding to Form A were attached to the customs declaration received by the customs office and a zero preferential tariff applied to the goods covered by the declaration?
The first and third questions
The second and fourth questions
The fifth question
Costs
58. The costs incurred by the French and Finnish Governments and by the Commission, which have submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the proceedings pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.
On those grounds,
THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),
in answer to the questions referred to it by the Finanzgericht Bremen by order of 2 February 1999, hereby rules:
1. Where an examination of goods has been ordered by the customs authority for the purposes of verifying a declaration which has been accepted and it has proved impossible to carry out the examination because the goods have been removed from the place of temporary storage without the authorisation of the relevant customs authority, the customs debt on importation is incurred under Article 203(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code.
2. It is possible for a customs debt on importation to be incurred under Article 203(1) of Regulation No 2913/92 where the customs declaration received by the customs office was accompanied by technically correct certificates of origin corresponding to Form A and where the zero preferential tariff applied to the goods covered by the declaration.
Gulmann
Puissochet
|
Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 1 February 2001.
R. Grass C. Gulmann
Registrar President of the Sixth Chamber
1: Language of the case: German.