S.I. No. 73/1980:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (AGRICULTURE AND CUSTOMS) (MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AS REGARDS THE RECOVERY OF CLAIMS) REGULATIONS, 1980.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (AGRICULTURE AND CUSTOMS) (MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AS REGARDS THE RECOVERY OF CLAIMS) REGULATIONS, 1980.

I, RAY MacSHARRY, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 76/308/EEC⁽¹⁾ as amended by Council Directive No. 79/1071/EEC⁽²⁾ except in so far as it relates to value added tax, and Commission Directive No. 77/794/ EEC⁽³⁾, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Agriculture and Customs) (Mutual Assistance as regards the Recovery of Claims) Regulations, 1980.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

"another Member State" means a Member State of the European Communities other than the State;

"the Commission Directive" means Commission Directive No. 77/794/EEC of 4th November, 1977;

"the Directive on Mutual Assistance" means Council Directive No. 76/308/EEC of 15th March, 1976, as amended by Council Directive No. 79/1071/EEC of 6th December, 1979.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations the Directive on Mutual Assistance shall be regarded as not applying in relation to value added tax.

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive on Mutual Assistance or in the Commission Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Directive on Mutual Assistance or in the Commission Directive, as the case may be.

3. The amount specified in any request duly made pursuant to the Directive on Mutual Assistance by an authority in another Member State for the recovery in the State of any amount claimed by that authority in such Member State pursuant to a claim referred to in Article 2 of the said Directive shall be recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction by--

( a ) the Minister for Agriculture,

( b ) the Minister for Finance, or

( c ) both of the aforesaid Ministers suing jointly,

and for the purposes of the foregoing the amount shall be regarded as being a simple contract debt due to the Minister for Agriculture by the person against whom the claim is made by such authority, a debt due to the Minister for Finance by such person in respect of a duty or levy under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners or a simple contract debt due by such person to both of the aforesaid Ministers jointly, as may be appropriate.

4. Subject to Regulation 2 (2) of these Regulations, the Rules laid down in--

( a ) Articles 4 to 12 and 14 to 17 of the Directive on Mutual Assistance, and

( b ) Articles 2 to 21 of the Commission Directive,

shall apply in relation to claims referred to in Article 2 of the Directive on Mutual Assistance which arise in another Member State and which are the subject of legal proceedings instituted in pursuance of these Regulations.

5. In any legal proceedings instituted in pursuance of these Regulations any document which is in the form specified in Annex III to the Commission Directive and which purports to be authenticated in the manner specified in Article 11 of that Directive shall be received in evidence without proof of any seal or signature thereon or that any signatory thereto was the proper person to sign it, and such document shall, until the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence of the facts therein stated.

6. (1) Legal preceedings instituted in pursuance of these Regulations for the recovery of any sum shall be stayed if the defendant satisfies the court that legal proceedings relevant to his liability on the claim to which the proceedings so instituted relate are pending, or are about to be instituted, before a court, tribunal or other competent body in another Member State; but any such stay may be removed if the legal proceedings in such a Member State are not prosecuted or instituted with reasonable expedition.

(2) In any legal proceedings instituted in pursuance of these Regulations it shall be a defence for the defendant to show that a final decision on the claim to which the proceedings relate has been given in his favour by a court, tribunal of other body of competent jurisdiction in another Member State, and where in any such legal proceedings the defendant shows that such a decision has been given in respect of part of the claim to which the proceedings relate, it shall be a defence to the proceedings in so far as they relate to that part.

(3) No question shall be raised in any legal proceedings instituted in pursuance of these Regulations as to the defendant's liability on the claim to which the proceedings relate except as provided in paragraph (2) of this Regulation.

(4) For the purposes of this Regulation legal proceedings shall be regarded as pending so long as an appeal may be brought against any decision in the proceedings; and for the said purposes a decision against which no appeal lies or against which an appeal lies within a period which has expired without an appeal having been brought shall be regarded as being a final decision.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 13th day of March, 1980.

RAY MacSHARRY,

Minister for Agriculture.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Regulations provide for the implementation of EEC Directives on mutual assistance between members of the Community for the recovery of claims resulting from operations forming part of the system of financing the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, and of agricultural levies and customs duties.