2005/632/EC: Decision No 4/2005 of the EC/EFTA Joint Committee on Common Transit of 15 August 2005 amending the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure (European Union)

2005/632/EC: Decision No 4/2005 of the EC/EFTA Joint Committee on Common Transit of 15 August 2005 amending the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure

Published: 2005-08-15

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31.8.2005

Official Journal of the European Union

L 225/29

DECISION No 4/2005 OF THE EC/EFTA JOINT COMMITTEE ON COMMON TRANSIT

of 15 August 2005

amending the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure

(2005/632/EC)

THE JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure (1), and in particular Article 15(3)(a) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)	The computerised transit system is fully operational in all the Contracting Parties of the Convention on common transit and the system has been proven to be reliable and satisfactory both for customs administrations and for economic operators.

(2)

Under these circumstances it is no longer economically justified to permit formalities to be carried out on the basis of a transit declaration made in writing, the use of which implies that the competent authorities are obliged to enter manually the declaration data into the computerised system. In general, all transit declarations should therefore be lodged using data processing technology.

(3)	However, the decision to allow for transit declarations made in writing should be left within the discretion of each Contracting Party in order to allow for better compliance with the general requirements in the Contracting Party.

(4)	The use of transit declarations made in writing should be permitted in exceptional cases where customs' computerised transit system or the operator's application is not functioning in order to allow economic operators to carry out transit operations.

(5)	In order to allow travellers to carry out transit operations the competent authorities should authorise the use of transit declarations made in writing, where the travellers cannot directly access the computerised transit system.

(6)	Since some countries need to develop and implement necessary tools and links in order to allow all economic operators to be linked to the computerised transit system, a transitional period permitting the use of transit declarations made in writing should be envisaged.

(7)

Except in cases where customs' computerised transit system or the principal's application is not functioning, the competent authorities accepting transit declarations made in writing should ensure that the transit data is exchanged between the competent authorities using information technology and computer networks.

(8)	The Convention should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Appendix I of the Convention of 20 May 1987 shall be amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

It shall be applicable from 1 July 2005.

However, the competent authorities may continue to accept transit declarations made in writing until 31 December 2006 at the latest.

Where the competent authorities decide to accept transit declarations made in writing after 1 July 2005, the decision shall be communicated in advance to the Commission in writing. In this case the competent authorities of the countries concerned shall ensure that the transit data is exchanged between the competent authorities using information technology and computer networks.

Done at Bern, 15 August 2005.

For the Joint Committee

The President

Rudolf DIETRICH

(1) OJ L 226, 13.8.1987, p. 2. Convention as last amended by Decision No 3/2005 (OJ L 189, 21.7.2005, p. 61).

ANNEX

Appendix I is amended as follows:

Article 17 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 17

1. Transit declarations shall be lodged at the office of departure by means of data processing technology.

2. Transit declarations lodged by the exchange of EDI standard messages shall comply with the structure and particulars set out in Appendix III.

3. Where a transit declaration is lodged by entering in the data processing system of the competent authorities the information required for completing formalities, the particulars of the written declaration referred to in Appendix III shall be replaced by transmission for computer processing, to the competent authorities designated for that purpose, of data in coded or any other form specified by those authorities and equivalent to the particulars required for written declarations.

4. Where the common transit procedure in the country of departure succeeds another customs approved treatment or use, the office of departure may request production of these documents.

5. The goods shall be presented together with the transport document. The office of departure may waive the requirement to produce this document when the customs formalities are completed, on condition the document is kept at its disposal.’;

Article 18 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 18

1. Goods may be placed under the common transit procedure by means of a transit declaration made out on a form corresponding to one of the specimens set out in Appendix III and in accordance with the procedure defined by the Contracting Parties in agreement with each other

(a)	where the competent authorities' computerised transit system is not functioning;

(b)	where the principal's application is not functioning.

2. The use of a written transit declaration under paragraph 1, point (b) shall be subject to the approval of the competent authorities.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply

(a)	where a Contracting Party so decides;

(b)

where the goods are transported by travellers who have no direct access to the customs' computerised system and so have no means of lodging the transit declaration using data processing technology at the office of departure. The competent authorities shall authorise the goods to be placed under the common transit procedure by means of a transit declaration made out on a form corresponding to one of the specimens set out in Appendix III.

In these cases, the competent authorities shall ensure that the transit data is exchanged between the competent authorities using information technology and computer networks.

4. The transit declaration may be supplemented by one or more continuation sheets corresponding to one of the specimens set out in Appendix III. The forms shall be an integral part of the declaration.

5. Loading lists drawn up in accordance with the specimen in Appendix III may be used instead of continuation sheets as the descriptive part of a transit declaration, of which they shall be an integral part.

6. The forms referred to in paragraphs 1, 3 to 5 shall be completed in accordance with Appendix III. They shall be printed and completed in one of the official languages of the Contracting Parties accepted by the competent authorities of the country of departure. Where necessary, the competent authorities of a country concerned in the common transit operation may request a translation into the official language, or one of the official languages, of that country.

7. Article 17(4) and (5) shall be applicable mutatis mutandis.’