Changes from adopted text to adopted text

RemovedArticle 193 Repayment and remission

Removed1. Subject to the conditions laid down in this Section, the customs authorities shall repay or remit amounts of import or export duty on any of the following grounds:

Removed(a) overcharged amounts of import or export duty;

Removed(b) defective goods or goods not complying with the terms of the contract;

Removed(c) error by the competent authorities;

Removed(d) equity;

Removed(e) invalidation of the data on the basis of which the customs debt was established for the corresponding goods or, where applicable, of the corresponding customs declaration.

Removed2. The customs authorities shall repay or remit the amount of import or export duty referred to in paragraph 1 where it is EUR 10 or more, except where the person concerned requests the repayment or remission of a lower amount.

Removed3. Where the customs authorities consider that repayment or remission should be granted on the basis of Articles 196 and 197, the Member State concerned shall transmit the file to the Commission for decision in any of the following cases:

Removed(a) where the customs authorities consider that the special circumstances are the result of the Commission failing in its obligations;

Removed(b) where the customs authorities consider that the Commission committed an error within the meaning of Article 196;

Removed(c) where the circumstances of the case relate to the findings of a Union investigation carried out under Regulation (EC) No 515/97, or under any other Union legislation or any agreement concluded by the Union with countries or groups of countries in which provision is made for carrying out such Union investigations;

Removed(d) where the amount for which the person concerned may be liable in respect of one or more import or export operations equals or exceeds EUR 500 000 as a result of an error or special circumstances.

RemovedNotwithstanding the first subparagraph, files shall not be transmitted in either of the following situations:

Removed(a) where the Commission has already adopted a decision on a case involving comparable issues of fact and of law;

Removed(b) where the Commission is already considering a case involving comparable issues of fact and of law.

Removed4. Subject to the rules of competence for a decision, where the customs authorities themselves discover within the periods referred to in Article 198(1) that an amount of import or export duty is repayable or remissible pursuant to Articles 194, 196 and 197, they shall repay or remit on their own initiative.

Removed5. No repayment or remission shall be granted when the situation which led to the notification of the customs debt results from deception by the debtor.

Removed6. Repayment shall not give rise to the payment of interest by the customs authorities concerned, except in the cases referred to paragraph 1, points (a) and (c).

RemovedHowever, in those cases repayment shall not give rise to the payment of interest by the customs authorities concerned if the customs authorities repay an amount of import or export duty without undue delay after it has been discovered that the amount is repayable. In case the customs authorities fail to repay that amount without undue delay and the debtor initiates proceedings with the view to obtaining repayment, the interest shall be paid for the period from the date of payment of those duties to the date of their repayment.

RemovedIn addition, interest shall be paid where a decision granting repayment is not implemented within three months of the date on which that decision was taken, unless the failure to meet the deadline was outside the control of the customs authorities.

RemovedIn such cases, the interest shall be paid from the date of expiry of the three-month period until the date of repayment. The rate of interest shall be established in accordance with Article 190.

Removed7. Where the customs authorities have granted repayment or remission in error, the original customs debt shall be reinstated insofar as it is not time-barred under Article 182.

RemovedIn such cases, any interest paid under the second subparagraph of paragraph 6 shall be reimbursed.

Removed8. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 261, to supplement this Regulation by laying down the rules with which it has to comply when taking a decision referred to in paragraph 3 and in particular on the following:

Removed(a) the conditions for the acceptance of the file;

Removed(b) the time-limit to take a decision and the suspension of that time-limit;

Removed(c) the communication of the grounds on which the Commission intends to base its decision, before taking a decision which would adversely affect the person concerned;

Removed(d) the notification of the decision;

Removed(e) the consequences of a failure to take a decision or to notify such decision.

Removed9. The Commission shall specify, by means of implementing acts, the procedural rules for repayment and remission and for the decision referred to in paragraph 3. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 262(2).

RemovedWhere the opinion of the committee referred to in Article 262(1) is to be obtained by written procedure, Article 262(6) shall apply.

RemovedArticle 194 Overcharged amounts of import or export duty

Removed1. An amount of import or export duty shall be repaid or remitted insofar as the amount corresponding to the customs debt initially notified exceeds the amount payable, or the customs debt was notified to the debtor contrary to Article 181(1), points (c) and (d).

Removed2. Where the application for repayment or remission is based on the existence, at the time where the goods were released for free circulation, of a reduced or zero rate of import duty on the goods under a tariff quota, a tariff ceiling or other favourable tariff measures, repayment or remission shall be granted provided that, at the time of lodging, the application was accompanied by the necessary documents and either of the following conditions is fulfilled:

Removed(a) in the case of a tariff quota, its volume has not been exhausted;

Removed(b) in other cases, the rate of duty normally due has not been re-established.

RemovedArticle 195 Defective goods or goods not complying with the terms of the contract

Removed1. The customs authorities shall repay or remit an amount of import duty where the following conditions are met:

Removed(a) the notification of the customs debt relates to goods which the importer has rejected because, at the time of release, they were defective or did not comply with the terms of the contract on the basis of which they were imported;

Removed(b) the goods have not been used, except for such initial use as may have been necessary to establish that they were defective or did not comply with the terms of the contract;

Removed(c) the goods are taken out of the customs territory of the Union or, upon application by the person concerned, the customs authorities have authorised that the goods are placed under the inward processing procedure, including for destruction, or under the external transit, the customs warehousing or the free zone procedure.

Removed2. The customs authorities shall not repay or remit an amount of import duty in any of the following cases:

Removed(a) the goods, before being released for free circulation, were placed under a special procedure for testing, unless it is established that the fact that the goods were defective or did not comply with the terms of the contract could not normally have been detected in the course of such tests;

Removed(b) the defective nature of the goods was taken into consideration in drawing up the terms of the contract, in particular the price, before the goods were placed under a customs procedure involving the incurrence of a customs debt;

Removed(c) the goods are sold by the applicant after it has been ascertained that they are defective or do not comply with the terms of the contract.

Removed3. Defective goods shall be deemed to include goods damaged before their release.

RemovedArticle 196 Error by the customs authorities

Removed1. In cases other than those referred to in Article 193(1), point (e) and in Articles 194, 195 and 197, the customs authorities shall repay or remit an amount of import or export duty where, as a result of an error on their part, they have notified an amount corresponding to the customs debt lower than the amount payable, provided the following conditions are met:

Removed(a) the debtor could not reasonably have detected that error;

Removed(b) the debtor was acting in good faith.

Removed2. Where the conditions laid down in Article 194(2) are not fulfilled, the customs authorities shall repay or remit where failure to apply the reduced or zero rate of duty was as a result of an error on their part and the data based on which the goods were released, or where applicable, the customs declaration for release for free circulation contained all the particulars and was accompanied by all the documents necessary for application of the reduced or zero rate.

Removed3. Where the preferential treatment of the goods is granted on the basis of a system of administrative cooperation involving the authorities of a third country, the issue of a certificate by those authorities, should it prove to be incorrect, shall constitute an error which could not reasonably have been detected within the meaning of paragraph 1, point (a).

RemovedThe issue of an incorrect certificate shall not, however, constitute an error where the certificate is based on an incorrect account of the facts provided by the exporter, except where it is evident that the issuing authorities were aware or should have been aware that the goods did not satisfy the conditions laid down for entitlement to the preferential treatment.

RemovedThe debtor shall be considered to be in good faith if he or she can demonstrate that, during the period of the trading operations concerned, he or she has taken due care to ensure that all the conditions for the preferential treatment have been fulfilled.

RemovedThe debtor may not rely on a plea of good faith if the Commission has published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union stating that there are grounds for doubt concerning the proper application of the preferential arrangements by the beneficiary country or territory.

RemovedArticle 197 Equity

Removed1. In cases other than those referred to in Article 193(1), point (e) and in Articles 194, 195 and 196, the customs authorities shall repay or remit an amount of import or export duty in the interest of equity where a customs debt is incurred under special circumstances in which no deception or obvious negligence may be attributed to the debtor.

Removed2. The special circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 shall be deemed to exist where it is clear from the circumstances of the case that the debtor is in an exceptional situation as compared with other operators engaged in the same business, and that, in the absence of such circumstances, he or she would not have suffered disadvantage by the collection of the amount of import or export duty.

RemovedArticle 198 Procedure for repayment and remission