S.I. No. 114/1996:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS) REGULATIONS, 1996.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS) REGULATIONS, 1996.

I, RUAIRÍQUINN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), as amended, and for the purposes of giving effect to provisions regarding the completion of customs declaration formalities by a data processing technique contained in Title IV of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 of 12 October 1992⁽¹⁾ and in Articles 4a, 4b, 222 and 223 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 of 2 July 1993, as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3665/93 of 21 December 1993^(2), hereby make the following Regulations:

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L302, 19.10.1992, p.1

⁽²⁾ O.J. No. L253, 11.10.1993, p.1; O.J. No. L335, 31.12.1993, p.1.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Customs Declarations) Regulations, 1996

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of May, 1996.

3. (1) in these Regulations--

"the Community Customs Code" means the Community Customs Code established by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92, as amended;

"the Implementing Regulation" means Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 of 2 July, 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended;

"the Commissioners" means the Revenue Commissioners;

"accompanying documents" means any documents required, under the terms of the Community Customs Code or the Implementing Regulation, to accompany a customs declaration.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Community Customs Code or the Implementing Regulation has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Community Customs Code and the Implementing Regulation.

(3) (a) A reference in these Regulations to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations unless it is indicated that a reference to some other enactment is intended.

(b) A reference in these Regulations to a paragraph is to a paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

4. (1) A person may apply to the Commissioners for authority to make customs declarations using a data processing technique.

(2) The Commissioners shall grant an application under paragraph (1), subject to such terms and conditions as they may determine, having regard to the provisions of the Community Customs Code.

(3) Where a customs declaration is made in accordance with an authority granted under paragraph (2), the declaration shall conform to the EDI standard message approved by the Commissioners for that purpose and shall contain the data corresponding to the particulars required for a written declaration.

5. (1) Where a customs declaration is made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2), the declarant shall, in accordance with the technical conditions laid down by the Commissioners for making such declarations, include in the declaration a trader account number and a password, which shall be notified to him for that purpose by the Commissioners.

(2) The Commissioners shall not notify a particular trader account number and password to more than one person and shall not, save as otherwise required by law, disclose details of a trader account number and password notified to a person to any other person.

(3) Where a declaration made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2) includes a trader account number and password as provided for in paragraph (1), the said trader account number and password shall have the same legal effect in relation to the declaration as a handwritten signature of the declarant, or a representative of the declarant, to whom the said trader account number and password was notified in accordance with paragraph (1) would have if the declaration had been made in writing, as the case may be, by the said declarant or by a representative of the said declarant.

6. (1) A customs declaration made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2) shall be considered to have been lodged when the EDI standard message containing the data referred to in Regulation 4 (3) is received by the Commissioners.

(2) Acceptance of a custom declaration made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2) shall be communicated to the declarant by the Commissioners by means of a response message containing the registration number of the customs declaration and the date of acceptance of that declaration.

(3) Where the customs declaration is made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2), the release of the goods shall be notified to the declarant by the Commissioners, and the said notification shall indicate the identification details of the declaration and the date of release.

7. Where a customs declaration and accompanying documents are selected for verification or are required to be verified prior to release of the goods for the customs procedure concerned or where the goods are selected for official examination, the basis and results of such verification or examination and such other endorsements as are required to be made in accordance with Article 247 of the Implementing Regulation shall be indicated on a paper reproduction of the customs declaration made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2), and reproduced for the said purpose by the Commissioners.

8. (1) Subject to such conditions as they may see fit to impose, the Commissioners may authorise a declarant to store accompanying documents on their behalf.

(2) Accompanying documents stored in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be retained by the declarant for the period specified in Article 16 of the Community Customs Code: provided, however, that the said documents shall be produced on request to an officer of Customs and Excise and such officer may remove or make copies of such documents.

(3) Subject to the agreement of the Commissioners, accompanying documents may be stored, maintained, or reproduced, as the case may be, by any electronic, photographic or other process approved of by the Commissioners, and in circumstances where the use of such process has been agreed by them and subject to such conditions as they may impose.

(4) Where, in pursuance of paragraph (3), accompanying documents are preserved by electronic, photographic or other process, a statement contained in a document produced by any such process shall, subject to the rules of court, be admissible in evidence in any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, to the same extent as the accompanying documents themselves.

9. In any proceedings, a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Commissioners stating that a document is a true reproduction of a declaration made in accordance with an authority granted under Regulation 4 (2) shall be evidence of the fact that the document is a true reproduction of the said declaration, until the contrary is shown.

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

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 23rd day of April 1996.

RUAIRÍQUINN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of these Regulations is to implement the provisions regarding the completion of customs declaration formalities by a data processing technique contained in Title IV of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 and in Articles 4a, 4b, 222 and 223 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3665/93.