S.I. No. 61/1993:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (TIR CARNET AND ATA CARNET -- TRANSIT) REGULATIONS, 1993.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (TIR CARNET AND ATA CARNET -- TRANSIT) REGULATIONS, 1993.

I, BERTIE AHERN, 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 Regulation (EEC) No. 719/91⁽¹⁾, hereby make the following Regulations.

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L 78/6 26.3.91.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (TIR Carnet and ATA Carnet--Transit) Regulations, 1993.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

"the Council Regulation" means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 719/91 on the use in the Community of TIR Carnets and ATA Carnets as transit documents;

"the Commission Regulation" means Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1593/91⁽²⁾ providing for the implementation of the Council Regulation;

⁽²⁾ O.J. No. L 148/11 13.6.91.

"TIR Carnet" means the document provided for in the TIR Convention;

"TIR Convention" means the Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) done at Geneva on 14 November, 1975;

"ATA Carnet" means the document provided for in the ATA Convention when it is used as a transit document within the meaning of Article 7 of the Council Regulation;

"ATA Convention" means the Customs Convention on the ATA Carnet for the Temporary Admission of Goods (ATA Convention) done at Brussels on 6 December, 1961;

"Customs Office at the point of exit from the Community" means the Customs Office through which the goods leave the customs territory of the Community when en route to a destination outside the customs territory of the Community;

"office of destination in the Community" means the customs office situated in the customs territory of the Community at which the TIR Carnet must be presented in order to complete the transport operation or where the ATA Garnet must be presented in order to complete the transit operation.

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

3. For the purpose of these Regulations and the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation the competent authority in the State shall be the Revenue Commissioners.

4. ( a ) Any person who fails to produce any goods covered by a TIR Carnet or by an ATA carnet at the Customs Office at the point of exit from the Community or at the office of destination in the Community, as the case may be, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding £1,000 and the goods in respect of which the offence was committed shall be liable to forfeiture.

( b ) Any person who aids or abets the commission of an offence contrary to paragraph (a) of this Regulation shall, without prejudice to any other fine to which he may be liable, be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

( c ) It shall be a defence to any prosecution under this Regulation for an accused person to show that the operation in question was conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation.

( d ) In any prosecution for a breach of this Regulation it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that any document purporting to be a declaration is in fact a declaration and that any signature thereon is the signature of the person who purports to sign same.

5. The provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907, shall not apply to an offence under these Regulations.

6. Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of or to have been facilitated by any connivance on the part of any person who, when the offence was committed, was a Director, Member of the Committee of Management or other controlling authority thereof, or Manager, Secretary or other Officer thereof, that person or persons shall also be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

7. These Regulations shall be construed together with the Customs Acts.

8. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

      GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 2nd day of March, 1993.

BERTIE AHERN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations impose fines for offences committed when the transport or transit of goods is being effected under cover of a TIR Carnet or an ATA Carnet.