S.I. No. 78/1983 - European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1983.

S.I. No. 78 of 1983.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CUSTOMS) REGULATIONS, 1983.

I, ALAN M. DUKES, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 81/177/EEC of 24 February, 1981,¹ hereby make the following Regulations:

¹O.J. No. L83, 30.3.1981, p.40.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1983.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1983.

3. (1) In these Regulations—

"appropriate officer" means any officer of customs and excise or any other officer of the Revenue Commissioners;

"Community" means the European Economic Community;

"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 81/177/EEC of 24 February, 1981;

"the Treaty" means the EEC Treaty;

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations goods shall be regarded as having been presented if their presence at a customs office, or at any other place which for the time being stands designated by the Revenue Commissioners, has been notified to an appropriate officer in the manner referred to in Article 5 (3) of the Directive.

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Directive.

4. (1) Without prejudice to any provision which is a special provision referred to in Article 1 (1) of the Directive, these Regulations apply to any export which is an export described in the said Article 1 (1) of goods fulfilling the conditions laid down in Article 9 (2) of the Treaty.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, goods sent to the island of Heligoland shall not be regarded as exports from the customs territory of the Community.

5. (1) An export to which these Regulations apply shall be conditional upon the lodging at a customs office of an export declaration relating thereto.

(2) An export declaration may be lodged pursuant to this Regulation once the relevant goods have been presented at the customs office or if, but only if, the appropriate officer concerned consents, at any time before such goods are so presented.

(3) Where an export declaration is lodged before the time at which the goods to which it relates are presented, the appropriate officer concerned may specify a period, to be determined according to the circumstances, within which such goods are to be presented for export, and if such goods are not presented within the period so fixed the export declaration shall be deemed not to have been lodged.

(4) ( a ) An export declaration may be lodged at a customs office at any time during the hours which for the time being stand appointed by the Revenue Commissioners for the transaction of Customs business.

( b ) An appropriate officer may, at the request of the declarant and at his expense, permit an export declaration to be lodged at a customs office at a time outside the hours referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph.

6. Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as affecting the application to any export to which these Regulations apply of any provision of the Customs Acts, or of any instrument relating to the Customs made under statute, being a provision in respect of the entry and clearance of goods intended for exportation.

7. Where goods intended to be exported comprise an export to which these Regulations apply, for the purpose of making an export declaration and in so far as the goods are subject to a specific customs procedure, an appropriate officer may, subject to its being requested by the person by whom the declaration is intended to be made and to such other conditions as the Revenue Commissioners shall specify, authorise an examination and taking of samples of the goods prior to their being exported.

8. (1) An export declaration shall be accepted for the purposes of these Regulations by an appropriate officer if he is satisfied that it complies with the conditions mentioned in Article 6 (1) of the Directive and if so accepted its acceptance shall be in the manner described in the said Article 6 (1).

(2) Where, pursuant to Regulation 5 (2) of these Regulations an export declaration is lodged before the goods to which it relates are presented, it may be accepted only after the goods to which it relates have been so presented.

(3) The date of acceptance of an export declaration shall be noted by an appropriate officer on the declaration.

9. (1) The declarant shall, at his request, be authorised to correct the export declaration accepted by an appropriate officer under the conditions laid down in Article 6 of the Directive, as regards one or more of the particulars referred to in Article 3 (1) of the Directive, subject to the corrections complying with each of the requirements of subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article 7 (1) of the Directive.

(2) As regards a correction referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation, an appropriate officer may allow or require it to be made by lodging a new declaration intended to replace the original declaration, and where such a new declaration is lodged, the date for determining the export duties relating to the goods in question and for the application of any other export provision shall be that of the acceptance of the original export declaration.

10. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Regulation, for so long as the goods have not left the customs territory of the Community, the declarant may request that the relevant export declaration be cancelled.

(2) Where an appropriate officer has informed the declarant of his intention to examine the goods in respect of which a declaration is made, a request for cancellation of the declaration may not be made until the examination has taken place.

(3) The Revenue Commissioners shall authorise the cancellation of an export declaration if, and only if, the declarant satisfies, in relation to the declaration, the requirements of subparagraphs (a) and (b) of Article 8 (2) of the Directive, and where the requirements of either subparagraph (c) or (d) of the said Article 8 (2) or the requirements of both of those subparagraphs apply in relation to the declaration, the declarant also so satisfies all or such of the requirements of the said subparagraphs (c) and (d) as so apply.

(4) ( a ) Where the goods declared for export are required to leave the customs territory of the Community within a specified period, failure to comply with the requirement shall result in the cancellation of the relevant export declaration except where the time limit is extended by an appropriate officer.

( b ) In case subparagraph (a) of this paragraph operates to cancel an export declaration, the declarant shall, in relation to the declaration, satisfy the requirements of subparagraph (b) of Article 8 (2) of the Directive, and where the requirements of either subparagraph (c) or (d) of the said Article 8 (2) or the requirements of both of those subparagraphs apply in relation to the declaration, the declarant shall also so satisfy all or such of the requirements of the said subparagraphs (c) and (d) as so apply.

(5) The cancellation under these Regulations, whether by virtue of paragraph (4) of this Regulation or otherwise, of an export declaration shall, where appropriate, result in the cancellation of attributions on any export licence or advance-fixing certificate presented in support of the declaration.

(6) The cancellation under these Regulations, whether by virtue of paragraph (4) of this Regulation or otherwise, of an export declaration shall not be construed as in any way affecting the liability of the declarant to any penalty or other sanction for an offence committed by the declarant in relation to Customs.

11. (1) Without prejudice to any other power conferred on him, an appropriate officer may examine all or part of the declared goods in such places and at such times as may be appointed by the Revenue Commissioners for the purpose of such examination.

(2) An appropriate officer may, at the request of the declarant, authorise the examination under this Regulation of goods in places or at times other than those referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation, and in case such goods are so examined, any costs involved shall be borne by the declarant.

(3) Transport of the goods to the places where they are to be examined under this Regulation, unpacking, repacking and all other operations necessitated by such examination shall be carried out by the declarant or on his responsibility. In all cases, any costs involved shall be borne by the declarant.

(4) The declarant shall be entitled to be present at the examination under this Regulation of the goods or to be represented at it. If an appropriate officer sees fit, he may require the declarant to be present at such examination of the goods, or to be represented at it in order to assist with the examination, as necessary.

(5) When examining the goods under this Regulation, an appropriate officer may take samples for analysis or more detailed examination. The costs arising from such analysis or more detailed examination shall not be borne by the declarant.

12. The provisions of Article 10 of the Directive shall apply as regards both the calculation of the duties, refunds and amounts referred to in that article and the application of the other provisions so referred to.

13. The date of acceptance of the declaration shall be the operative date for:

( a ) determining the rates or amounts of export duties to which the goods to which the declaration relates may be subject, as well as other particulars material to the calculation of such duties;

( b ) applying any other Community provisions governing export of such goods.

14. Without prejudice to the application of any measures referred to in Article 13 of the Directive, an appropriate officer may authorise export of the goods declared for export only if he is satisfied that, where appropriate, the export duties have been paid or guaranteed or that payment of them has been deferred under the conditions referred to in the said Article 13.

15. Goods which wholly or partly comprise an export to which these Regulations apply and which have been cleared for exportation shall remain under customs control until they are exported.

16. Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as affecting, in the circumstances mentioned in Article 5 (6) of the Directive, any Regulation made before the commencement of these Regulations for the purpose of giving effect to anything adopted by the State on the basis of Article 36 of the Treaty.

17. These Regulations shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and any instrument relating to the Customs made under statute.

ALAN M. DUKES

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 15th day of March, 1983.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations, which come into operation on 1 April, 1983 implement at national level Community Directive 81/177/EEC which determines general rules for the export of goods from the Customs territory of the Community.