S.I. No. 144/1965:

RELIEF FROM CUSTOMS DUTIES (PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT) ORDER, 1965.

RELIEF FROM CUSTOMS DUTIES (PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT) ORDER, 1965.

I, JOHN LYNCH, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by subsection (1) of section 31 of the Finance Act, 1963 (No. 23 of 1963), hereby order as follows:

1.--(1) This Order may be cited as the Relief from Customs Duties (Professional Equipment) Order, 1965.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on the 16th day of July, 1965.

2. In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires--

"appointed period" means, in relation to any equipment imported by virtue of this Order, the period within which it is required by virtue of Article 5 of this Order to be exported;

"carnet" means a Carnet de Passages en Douanes for Temporary Admission which is in force;

"the Convention" means the Customs Convention on the Temporary Importation of Professional Equipment, done at Brussels on the 8th day of June, 1961, as amended from time to time;

"customs duty" includes turnover tax;

"officer" means the proper officer of customs and excise;

"professional equipment" means equipment necessary for the exercise of the calling, trade or profession of a person visiting a country to perform a specified task, but does not include equipment intended to be used for internal transport or the industrial manufacture or packaging of goods or (except in the case of hand-tools) for the exploitation of natural resources, the construction, repair or maintenance of buildings or earth-moving or like projects;

"temporary admission" means temporary importation free of customs duty subject to re-exportation.

3. The provisions of this Order shall apply to component parts imported for use in the repair of equipment imported pursuant to this Order.

4.--(1) Where professional equipment of a kind specified in the First Schedule to this Order or such other equipment as is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners to be professional equipment for the purposes of the Convention is imported into the State and the importer satisfies the Revenue Commissioners that the equipment--

(a) is owned by a person who is principally resident outside the State and whose principal place of business (if any) is outside the State or by a body corporate which is incorporated outside the State and has its principal place of business outside the State,

(b) is being imported by a person who is principally resident outside the State and whose principal place of business (if any) is outside the State,

(c) will be used while in the State solely by or under the personal supervision of the importer,

(d) will not be the subject of a hire contract or similar arrangement to which an individual residing in the State or a firm carrying on business in the State is a party,

(e) is intended to be exported within the appointed period, and

(f) will be capable of identification on exportation,

the following provisions shall have effect--

(i) if the importer complies with the conditions relating to importation specified in paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule to this Order, he shall not be required to pay, at the time of importation, the customs duty chargeable on the equipment, and

(ii) if he exports the equipment within the appointed period and complies with the conditions relating to use and exportation specified in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Second Schedule to this Order, the equipment shall be deemed to have been exempt from any customs duty chargeable thereon.

(2) Where equipment is imported for use in the production of a film under a contract which--

(a) provides for its co-production by a person residing in the State or a person carrying on business in the State and a person not so resident or a firm not carrying on business in the State, and

(b) is approved of by the appropriate Irish authority under an intergovernmental agreement concerning cinematographic co-production,

paragraph (1) of this Article shall have effect in relation to the equipment as if it did not include subparagraph (c).

(3) Where equipment is imported temporarily for use in the provision of sound or television programmes in collaboration with a broadcasting authority established in the State, paragraph (1) of this Article shall have effect in relation to the equipment as if it did not include subparagraph (d).

5. Equipment imported pursuant to this Order shall, subject to Article 6 of this Order, be exported either--

(a) (i) within six months of the date of importation, or

(ii) in the case of equipment delivered on importation on production of a carnet, before the expiration of the period of validity of the carnet or within six months of the date of importation, whichever is the earlier,

or

(b) within such other period as the Revenue Commissioners may, in special circumstances, fix.

6. Upon application being made to them by the importer, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to such conditions as they see fit to impose, permit equipment imported pursuant to this Order to be disposed of otherwise than by exportation.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

1. Equipment for the press including--

Typewriters;

Photographic or cinematographic cameras;

Sound or image transmitting, recording or reproducing apparatus;

Blank sound or image recording media.

2. Sound broadcasting equipment including--

Transmission and communication apparatus ;

Sound recording or reproducing apparatus ;

Testing and measuring instruments and apparatus ;

Operational accessories (clocks, stop-watches, compasses, generating sets, transformers, batteries and accumulators, heating and ventilating apparatus) ;

Blank sound recording media.

3. Television broadcasting equipment including--

Television cameras ;

Telekinema ;

Testing and measuring instruments and apparatus ;

Transmission and retransmission apparatus ;

Communication apparatus ;

Sound or image recording or reproducing apparatus ;

Lighting equipment ;

Operational accessories (clocks, stop-watches, compasses, generating sets, transformers, batteries and accumulators, heating and ventilating apparatus) ;

Blank sound or image recording media ;

Unedited pieces of film taken in the course of the production of a film and intended to be wholly or partly incorporated in the film;

Musical instruments, costumes, scenery and other stage properties.

4. Cinematographic equipment including--

Cameras of all kinds ;

Testing and measuring instruments and apparatus ;

Camera dollies and booms ;

Lighting equipment ;

Sound recording or reproducing apparatus ;

Blank image or sound recording media ;

Unedited pieces of film taken in the course of the production of a film and intended to be wholly or partly incorporated in the film ;

Operational accessories (clocks, stop-watches, compasses, generating sets, transformers, batteries and accumulators, heating and ventilating apparatus) ;

Musical instruments, costumes, scenery and other stage properties.

5. Other Professional equipment including--

Equipment for erection, testing, commissioning, checking, control, maintenance or repair of machinery, plant, means of transport, including--

Tools ;

Measuring, checking or testing equipment and instruments (temperature, pressure, distance, height, surface, speed) including electrical instruments (voltmeters, ammeters, measuring cables, comparators, transformers, recording instruments) and jigs ;

Apparatus and equipment for taking photographs of machines and plant during or after erection, and

Apparatus for survey of ships ;

Equipment necessary for businessmen, business efficiency consultants, productivity experts, accountants and members of similar professions including--

Typewriters,

Sound transmitting, recording or reproducing apparatus, and

Calculating instruments and apparatus ;

Equipment necessary for experts undertaking topographical surveys or geophysical prospecting work including--

Measuring instruments and apparatus,

Drilling equipment, and

Transmission and communication equipment ;

Instruments and apparatus necessary for doctors, surgeons, veterinary surgeons, midwives and members of similar professions ;

Equipment necessary for archeologists, palaeontologists, geographers, zoologists and other scientists ;

Equipment necessary for entertainers, theatre companies and orchestras, including all articles used for public or private performances (musical instruments, costumes, scenery, animals, etc.) ;

Equipment necessary for lecturers to illustrate their lectures.

6. Vehicles designed or specially adapted for use in connection with any of the equipment specified in paragraphs 1 to 5 of this Schedule, including mobile inspection units, travelling workshops and travelling laboratories.

SECOND SCHEDULE

Conditions Relating to Importation, Use and Exportation of Equipment

1. The importer shall at the time of importation--

(a) claim exemption from the customs duty chargeable on the equipment,

(b) produce the equipment to the officer for examination,

(c) deposit in accordance with the officer's directions such sum of money or other security as the officer may require to secure any customs duty that may become payable on the equipment and to secure compliance with this Order,

(d) allow the officer to fix to the equipment such seals and marks of identification as the officer may deem necessary,

(e) furnish to the officer such documents in such form and containing such particulars as the officer may require, and

(f) give such additional information relating to the equipment, the circumstances of its importation and its intended use as the officer may require.

2. While in the State--

(a) the equipment shall not be used except in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of this Order.

(b) save as the Revenue Commissioners may allow, the equipment shall not be altered and any seals or marks of identification placed on it in accordance with subparagraph (d) of paragraph 1 of this Schedule shall not be removed or altered, and

(c) the equipment shall be produced at any time the officer may require and the importer or other person having charge of the equipment shall keep and furnish to the officer on request such records and documents relating to the equipment as the officer may require.

3. The importer shall at the time of exportation--

(a) produce the equipment and the relevant import documents to the officer for examination.

(b) satisfy the officer that the requirements of this Order, so far as applicable, have been in all respects fulfilled, and

(c) give such additional information and make such declaration relating to the equipment and the circumstances of its use in the State as the officer may require.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 1st day of July, 1965.

JOHN LYNCH,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order provides for the admission without payment of customs duty or turnover tax of professional effects temporarily imported by persons visiting Ireland for professional purposes.

The Order gives effect in Ireland to the Customs Convention on the temporary importation of professional equipment, done at Brussels, 8th June, 1961.