Key Benefits:
Original text
(State 1 Er January 2011)
The Swiss Confederation
On one hand,
And the European Community
On the other hand,
Hereinafter referred to as "Switzerland" and "the Community" respectively and, together, "the Contracting Parties",
Having regard to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation on the facilitation of controls and formalities in the transport of goods 2 On 21 November 1990, hereinafter referred to as the 1990 Agreement;
Whereas it is appropriate to extend the scope of the 1990 agreement to the customs security measures by adding a new chapter on this subject;
Whereas, for the sake of clarity and increased legal certainty, the content of the 1990 Agreement is included in this Agreement which replaces the 1990 Agreement;
Whereas the Free Trade Agreement concluded on 22 July 1972 between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation 3 ;
Whereas the Joint Declaration adopted on 9 April 1984 by the Ministers of the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Member States of the Community and the Commission of the European Communities in Luxembourg, and the Declaration by the Ministers of the EFTA countries and the Ministers of the Member States of the Community of Brussels, of 2 February 1988, aiming at the creation of a dynamic European economic area, benefiting their countries;
Whereas Contracting Parties have ratified the International Convention on the Harmonization of Frontier Controls of Goods 4 ;
Having regard to the need to maintain the existing level of facilitation of controls and formalities during the passage of goods at the borders between Switzerland and the Community and thus ensure the fluidity of trade between the two Two parts;
Whereas such facilitation is to be gradually developed;
Whereas the veterinary and phytosanitary controls are now governed by the Agreement of 21 June 1999 between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products 5 ;
Recognising that the conditions for the exercise of controls and formalities can be broadly harmonised without affecting their purpose, their proper implementation and their effectiveness;
Whereas no provision of this Agreement may be construed as exempting Contracting Parties from obligations entered into under other international agreements;
Whereas the Contracting Parties undertake to guarantee an equivalent level of safety in their respective territories, by means of measures based on the legislation in force in the Community;
Whereas it is desirable for Switzerland to be consulted on the development of Community rules on customs security measures, participates in the work of the Committee of the Customs Code in this field, established by Art. 247 Bis Regulation (EEC) No O 2913/92 of the Council of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, and being informed of the implementation of those rules;
Whereas Contracting Parties are determined to improve security in the exchange of goods entering or leaving their territory without hindering the fluidity of such exchanges;
Whereas, in the interests of the Contracting Parties, equivalent customs measures should be introduced for the transport of goods to or from third countries;
Whereas these customs security measures concern the declaration of safety data relating to the goods prior to entry and exit, the management of security risks and the customs controls therein And the granting of a recognised economic operator status in the field of mutually recognised safety;
Whereas Switzerland has a level of protection of adequate personal data;
Whereas, in the case of customs security measures, appropriate rebalancing measures, including the suspension of the relevant provisions, should be provided for in cases where the equivalence of customs security measures does not Would be more secure,
Have decided to enter into this Agreement:
For the purposes of this Agreement:
1. Without prejudice to the specific provisions in force in the framework of agreements concluded between the Community and Switzerland, this Agreement shall apply to the controls and formalities relating to the carriage of goods called to cross Border between Switzerland and the Community, as well as customs security measures to be applied to the carriage of goods from or to third countries.
(2) This Agreement shall not apply to controls or formalities relating to vessels and aircraft as means of transport; however, it shall apply to vehicles and goods transported by such means of transport.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the Community customs territory and, on the other hand, to the Swiss customs territory and its customs enclaves.
2. This Agreement extends its effects to the Principality of Liechtenstein as long as it is linked to Switzerland by a customs union treaty.
Without prejudice to the specific provisions of this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall take the necessary measures to ensure that:
2. For the application of s. 1 second indent, the basis of the survey shall consist of all shipments taking a border post, presented to a customs office or other control service during a given period, and not by all Goods that make up each shipment.
3. The Contracting Parties shall facilitate, at the place of departure and destination of the goods, the use of simplified procedures and the use of information technology and telematics in the export, transit and import of Goods.
4. The Contracting Parties shall endeavour to allocate the establishment of customs offices, including within their territory, so as to take account of the best way of the needs of commercial operators.
The Contracting Parties shall ensure that, by express delegation of the competent authorities and on behalf of the competent authorities, one of the other services represented and preferably Customs may carry out the checks carried out by these authorities. And, to the extent that they concern the requirement of the documents required, the examination of the validity and authenticity of those documents and the checking of the identity of the goods declared in those documents. In this case, the authorities concerned will ensure that the necessary means are provided for these controls.
For the purposes of the application of this Agreement and without prejudice to the possibility of carrying out spot checks, the Contracting Parties shall, in the case of the import or transit of goods, recognize the controls And documents drawn up by the competent authorities of the other Contracting Party, which certify that the goods meet the conditions laid down in the legislation of the country of import or equivalent conditions in the country Export.
Where the volume of traffic warrants it, the Contracting Parties shall ensure that:
2. In the event that several border posts are located in close proximity to the same border area, the Contracting Parties may, for some of them, provide for derogations from subs. 1, provided that the other stations in that area may actually clear the goods and vehicles in accordance with the provisions of that paragraph.
3. For border posts and customs offices and services referred to in s. 1, and under the conditions laid down by the Contracting Parties, the competent authorities shall, in exceptional cases, provide for the possibility of carrying out checks and formalities outside the hours of operation on a specific and justified request, Provided during business hours and, if applicable, remuneration for services rendered.
The Contracting Parties shall endeavour to carry out at the frontiers, wherever technically possible and where the volume of traffic justifies it, fast lanes reserved for goods placed under a customs procedure of Transit, to their means of transport, to vehicles in a vacuum, as well as to any goods subject to checks and formalities which do not exceed those required for goods placed under a transit procedure.
1. The Contracting Parties undertake to set up and apply to the carriage of goods from or to third countries the customs security measures defined in this Chapter and thus to ensure a level of safety Equivalent to their external borders.
2. The Contracting Parties shall waive the application of the customs security measures defined in this Chapter when transporting the goods between their customs territories.
3. The Contracting Parties shall consult each other prior to the conclusion of any agreement with a third country in the fields covered by this Chapter, in order to ensure consistency with this Agreement, in particular if the agreement envisaged Includes provisions derogating from the customs security measures defined in this Chapter.
1. Goods entered into the customs territory of Contracting Parties from a third country shall be the subject of a declaration of entry for security purposes (hereinafter 'the entry summary declaration') , with the exception of goods on board means of transport which only transit, without interruption, by the territorial waters or airspace of the customs territory.
2. Goods released from the customs territory of Contracting Parties to third countries shall be the subject of a declaration of exit for security purposes (hereinafter 'the summary declaration of exit'), with the exception of goods Carried by means of transport which only transact, without interruption, by the territorial waters or airspace of the customs territory.
The summary declaration of entry or exit shall be filed prior to the introduction of the goods in the customs territory of the Contracting Parties or their exit from that territory.
4. The presentation of the entry and exit declarations referred to in s. 1 and 2 is optional until 31 December 2010, provided that transitional measures derogating from the obligation to submit such declarations are applicable in the Community.
Where, under the terms of para. 1, there is no summary declaration of entry or exit, the security risk analysis as referred to in Art. 12 shall be conducted by the customs authorities at the latest in the presentation of the goods on arrival or at the exit on the basis of the customs declarations covering the said goods or on any other information available to them.
(5) Each Contracting Party shall define the persons who are required to file the summary declaration of entry or exit and the competent authorities to receive that declaration.
6. Annex I to this Agreement establishes:
7. A customs declaration may be used as a summary declaration of entry or exit provided that it meets the conditions laid down for that summary declaration.
1. A Contracting Party shall grant, subject to the criteria set out in Annex II to this Agreement, the status of a "registered economic operator" in the field of security to any economic operator established in its customs territory.
However, derogations may be made, subject to certain conditions and for specific categories of authorised economic operators, to the obligation to be established in the customs territory of the Contracting Party in which the granting of the Staff Regulations is sought, taking into account, In particular, agreements with third countries. In addition, each Contracting Party shall determine whether and under what conditions an airline or maritime company not established in its territory but having a regional office in its territory may be granted such status.
The authorised economic operator shall be granted facilities with regard to customs controls relating to safety.
Subject to the rules and conditions set out in subs. 2, the status of authorised economic operator granted by a Contracting Party shall be recognised by the other Contracting Party, without prejudice to customs controls, in particular with a view to the implementation of agreements with third countries providing for Mechanisms for mutual recognition of the statutes of approved economic operators.
2. Annex II to this Agreement:
1. Customs security checks other than random checks should be based on an analysis of risks using computer processes.
2. Each Contracting Party shall define a risk management framework, risk criteria and priority customs control areas for this purpose.
3. The Contracting Parties acknowledge the equivalence of their security risk management systems.
4. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in order to:
The Joint Committee shall adopt any provision necessary for the application of this Article.
The Joint Committee shall define the terms and conditions under which the Contracting Parties intend to follow up the implementation of this Chapter and to verify compliance with its provisions and those of the Annexes to this Agreement.
2. The follow-up referred to in s. 1 may be provided by
The Joint Committee shall ensure that the measures taken pursuant to this Article respect the rights of the economic operators concerned.
The information exchanged by the Contracting Parties in the framework of the measures introduced in this Chapter shall enjoy the protection of professional secrecy and the protection of personal data as defined by the applicable laws In the matter in the territory of the Contracting Party receiving them.
In particular, such information may not be transferred to other persons other than the competent bodies in the Contracting Party concerned or to be used by organs of that Contracting Party for purposes other than those provided for in this Agreement.
1. In order to facilitate the crossing of borders, the Contracting Parties shall take the necessary measures to develop cooperation at both national and regional or local level between the authorities responsible for the organisation of controls And between the various services carrying out checks and formalities on both sides of these borders.
(2) The Contracting Parties, each in so far as it is concerned, shall ensure that persons participating in an exchange covered by this Agreement shall be able to inform the competent authorities promptly of any problems encountered during a Border crossing.
3. The collaboration referred to in s. 1 concerns in particular:
4. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in order to harmonise the hours of operation of the various services carrying out checks and formalities on both sides of the border.
Where a Contracting Party intends to apply a new control or formality in a field other than that governed by chap. III, it shall inform the other Contracting Party.
The Contracting Party concerned shall ensure that the measures taken to facilitate border crossing are not rendered ineffective by the application of these new controls or formalities.
The Contracting Parties shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the waiting times caused by the various checks and formalities do not exceed the time required for their proper implementation. To this end, they organise the hours of operation of the services called to carry out the checks and formalities, the staff available and the practical arrangements for the processing of the goods and the documents relating to the execution of the goods. Controls and formalities, so as to reduce the waiting times in the course of traffic to the maximum extent possible.
2. The competent authorities of the countries in the territory of which serious disturbances concerning the transport of goods may jeopardise the objectives of facilitating and accelerating the crossing of borders are Promptly inform the competent authorities of the other countries concerned by these disturbances.
3. The competent authorities of each concerned country shall without delay take appropriate measures to ensure, as far as possible, the fluidity of the traffic. The measures shall be notified to the Joint Committee, which shall meet, as appropriate, on request of a Contracting Party to discuss such measures.
1. In order to ensure the proper functioning of trade between the Contracting Parties and to facilitate the detection of any irregularity or infringement, the customs authorities of the countries concerned shall communicate to each other, upon request or, if they Believe that this is in the interests of the other Contracting Party, on their own initiative, any information in their possession (including the findings and administrative reports) useful for the proper implementation of this Agreement.
2. Assistance may be suspended or refused, in whole or in part, where the requested country considers that such assistance would be injurious to its security, public order or other essential interests or would constitute a breach of a secret Industrial, commercial or professional.
3. Any decision to suspend or refuse assistance and the reasons for that decision must be notified without delay to the requesting country.
4. If the customs authority of a country requests assistance which itself would not be in a position to provide in the event of an application, it shall mention that element in its application. The follow-up to such a request shall be at the discretion of the customs authority to which the request has been made.
5. Any information obtained in accordance with paragraph 5. 1 shall be used exclusively for the purposes of this Agreement and shall receive the same protection from the beneficiary country as that whose information of the same nature enjoys under the national law of that country. The information thus obtained may be used for other purposes only with the written consent of the customs authority which has communicated it and subject to any restriction established by that authority.
1. A Joint Committee shall be established in which the Contracting Parties are represented.
2. The Joint Committee shall decide by mutual agreement.
The Joint Committee shall meet as required and at least once a year. Each Contracting Party may request the convening of a meeting.
The Joint Committee shall establish its rules of procedure, which shall contain, among other provisions, the arrangements for the convening of meetings, the appointment of its President and the definition of its term of office.
The Joint Committee may decide to establish any sub-committee or working group to assist it in the performance of its functions.
The competent authorities of the countries concerned may establish any working group to deal with practical, technical or organisational issues at regional or local level.
2. The focus groups referred to in s. 1 meet, if necessary, at the request of the competent authorities of a country. The Joint Committee shall be regularly informed of their work by the Contracting Parties of which they report.
The Joint Committee shall be responsible for the management and proper application of this Agreement. To this end, it formulates recommendations and adopts decisions.
(2) The Joint Committee may amend by decision the chap. III and annexes.
(3) In addition to the cases expressly provided for in this Agreement, it shall adopt by decision the measures of application of a technical and administrative nature with a view to reducing the controls and formalities.
4. Decisions shall be executed by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their own rules.
5. For the purposes of the proper implementation of the Agreement, the Joint Committee shall be regularly informed by the Contracting Parties of the experience acquired in the application of this Agreement and, at the request of one of the Parties, shall consult each other The Joint Committee.
1. As soon as the Community develops new legislation in a field governed by chap. III, it informally seeks the opinion of Swiss experts, in the same way as it requests the opinion of experts from the Member States.
2. When the European Commission sends its proposal to the Member States or to the Council of the European Union, it shall send a copy of it to Switzerland.
At the request of one of the Contracting Parties, a preliminary exchange of views shall take place within the Joint Committee.
3. The Contracting Parties shall again consult each other, at the request of one of them, within the Joint Committee during the phase preceding the adoption of the Community Act in an ongoing process of information and consultation.
4. The amendments to chap. III, necessary to take account of the development of the relevant Community legislation with regard to the matters covered by this Chapter, shall be decided as soon as possible so as to enable them to be applied simultaneously to those covered by the In accordance with the internal procedures of the Contracting Parties.
If the decision cannot be adopted in such a way as to permit simultaneous application, the modifications provided for in the draft decision subject to the approval of the Contracting Parties shall be applied provisionally where possible, In accordance with the internal procedures of the Contracting Parties.
5. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate during the information and consultation phase in order to facilitate, at the end of the process, decision-making within the Joint Committee.
The Community shall provide the Swiss experts with the participation, as an observer and in matters relating to them, in meetings of the Customs Code Committee which assists the European Commission in the exercise of its implementing powers in The matters covered by the chap. III.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Art. 29, any dispute between the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be submitted to the Joint Committee for the amicable settlement of the dispute.
The Contracting Parties agree that the agreements concluded by one of them with a third country in an area covered by chap. III may not create obligations for the other Contracting Party, unless the Joint Committee decides otherwise.
The Contracting Parties shall ensure that any amounts owing when carrying out the controls and formalities in trade may also be paid in the form of guaranteed international bank cheques or Certified, denominated in the currency of the country in which these amounts are due.
Each Contracting Party shall adopt appropriate measures to ensure the effective and harmonious application of the provisions of this Agreement, taking into account the need to facilitate the movement of goods at the border and to resolve, to the Mutual satisfaction, any difficulties which may arise from the application of those provisions.
If a Contracting Party wishes to revise this Agreement, it shall submit a proposal to that effect to the other Contracting Party. The revision shall enter into force after the completion of the respective internal procedures of the Parties.
1. A Contracting Party may, after consultation with the Joint Committee, take appropriate rebalancing measures, including the suspension of the application of the provisions of chap. III of this Agreement where it finds that the other Contracting Party does not comply with the conditions or where the equivalence of the customs security measures of the Contracting Parties is no longer ensured.
Where any delay is likely to endanger the effectiveness of customs security measures, provisional interim measures may be adopted without prior consultation, provided that consultations are undertaken immediately thereafter. The taking of such measures.
2. If the equivalence of the customs security measures of the Contracting Parties is no longer ensured because the amendments provided for in Art. 22, para. 4 of this Agreement have not been decided, a Contracting Party may suspend the application of provisions of the Chapter. III from the date of application of the Community legislation concerned, unless the Joint Committee, having examined the means of maintaining its application, decides otherwise.
3. The scope and duration of the above measures shall be limited to what is necessary to resolve the situation and to ensure a proper balance between the rights and obligations arising from this Agreement. A Contracting Party may request the Joint Committee to consult on the proportionality of those measures and, where appropriate, to decide to submit a dispute to arbitration in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Annex III. No question of interpretation of the provisions of this Agreement, identical to the corresponding provisions of Community law, can be settled in this context.
The provisions of this Agreement shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on the import, export or transit of goods, as enacted by the Contracting Parties or by the Member States of the Community and justified for Reasons of public order, public safety and public morality, the protection of the health and life of persons, animals, plants or the environment, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historical or artistic value; Protection of industrial or commercial property.
Each Contracting Party may terminate the agreement by notification to the other Contracting Party. The Agreement shall cease to be in force twelve months after the date of such notification.
The Annexes to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.
(1) This Agreement shall be approved by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their own procedures. It shall enter into force on 1 Er July 2009, provided that the Contracting Parties have notified each other of the completion of the necessary procedures to that effect before that date.
2. If this Agreement does not enter into force on 1 Er July 2009, it will enter into force on the day following the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other of the completion of the procedures necessary for that purpose.
3. Pending completion of the procedures referred to in s. 1 and 2, Contracting Parties shall apply this Agreement provisionally from 1 Er July 2009 or a later date agreed upon by the Contracting Parties.
4. As soon as it enters into force, this Agreement replaces the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation on the facilitation of controls and formalities in the transport of goods of 21 November 1990.
This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the German, English, Bulgarian, Danish, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian languages. Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish and Czech, each of these texts being equally authentic.
Done at Brussels on 25 June 2000, two thousand nine.
1. The entry or exit summary declaration shall be made by computer. It is also possible to use commercial, port or transport documents, provided that they contain the necessary data.
2. The entry or exit summary declaration shall contain the data provided for this declaration in Annex 30 Bis Regulation (EEC) No O 2454/93 of the Commission of 2 July 1993 laying down certain implementing provisions of Regulation (EEC) No O 2913/92 of the Council establishing the Community Customs Code (hereinafter referred to as " Regulation (EEC) No O 2454/93) 1 It shall be completed in accordance with the explanatory notes set out in that Annex. Bis It is authenticated by the person who establishes it.
The customs authorities shall not accept the filing of an entry or exit summary declaration made on paper or by any other means other than in one of the following circumstances:
Provided that they apply a risk management level equivalent to that applied to the summary declarations of entry or exit by computer.
Summary declarations of entry or exit in hard copy are signed by the person who established them. They shall be accompanied, where appropriate, by loading lists or other appropriate lists and shall contain the data referred to in paragraph 1. 2.
4. Each Contracting Party shall define the terms and conditions under which the person required to file an entry or exit summary declaration is authorized to amend one or more data of that declaration, after it has been Filed.
1 OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No O Commission of 17 November 2008, 1192/2008 (OJ L 329, 6.12.2008, p. 1).
1. An entry or exit summary declaration is not required for the following goods:
(2) A summary declaration of entry or exit shall not be required in the cases provided for by an international agreement between a Contracting Party and a third country in the field of security, subject to the procedure laid down in Art. 9, para. 3, of this Agreement.
3. A summary declaration of entry or exit is not required in the Community in respect of the goods referred to in Art. 181 Cc , let. (i) and (j), 592 Bis , let. (i) and (j) and 842 Bis , para. 2, let. (b) Regulation (EEC) No O 2454/93.
4. A summary declaration of exit is not required in Switzerland for:
Which were previously placed in a customs warehouse located in the Swiss airport premises and are then transferred to aircraft in accordance with the provisions laid down by Switzerland, provided that they do not affect them The level of security guaranteed by this Agreement.
The entry summary declaration shall be filed with the competent authority of the Contracting Party on the customs territory of which the goods are introduced from third countries. This authority shall carry out the risk analysis on the basis of the data set out in that declaration and the customs controls deemed necessary in the field of security, including where such goods are destined for the other Contracting Party.
2. The exit summary declaration shall be filed with the competent authority of the Contracting Party on the customs territory of which the exit formalities to third countries are carried out. However, an export customs declaration used as an exit summary declaration shall be filed with the competent authority of the Contracting Party in the customs territory of which the export formalities are made to Destination of third countries. The competent authority in either case shall carry out the risk analysis on the basis of the data set out in that declaration and the customs controls deemed necessary in the field of security.
3. Where goods leave the customs territory of a Contracting Party to a third country through the customs territory of the other Contracting Party, the data referred to in Art. 1, para. 2, shall be transmitted by the competent authority of the first Contracting Party to the competent authority of the second.
However, the Joint Committee may determine cases in which the transmission of such data is not necessary in so far as they do not affect the level of security guaranteed by this Agreement.
The Contracting Parties shall endeavour to connect and use a common system of data transmission containing the information necessary for the summary declaration of exit of the goods in question.
In the event that the Contracting Parties are unable to carry out the transmission referred to in para. 1 to the date of application of this Agreement, the summary declaration of exit of goods leaving a Contracting Party to a third country by crossing the customs territory of the other Contracting Party, excluding traffic Direct air, is filed exclusively with the competent authority of that second Contracting Party.
1. The time limits for filing the summary declaration of entry or exit are those referred to in s. 184 Bis And 592 Ter Regulation (EEC) No O 2454/93.
2. By way of derogation from s. 1, each Contracting Party may decide on different time limits:
1. The criteria for the granting of authorised economic operator status include:
(2) Each Contracting Party shall determine the procedure for the application and grant of the status of a registered economic operator and the legal effects of that status.
3. The Contracting Parties shall ensure that their customs authorities monitor compliance by the authorised economic operator with the conditions and criteria applicable to it and carry out a review of those conditions and criteria, in particular in the case of Substantial modification of the relevant legislation or of the existence of reasonable grounds for believing that the authorised economic operator no longer fulfils the applicable conditions.
1. A history of compliance with customs requirements shall be considered satisfactory if, in the last three years preceding the application, none of the following persons have committed a serious offence or Repeated infractions of customs regulations:
2. The history of compliance with customs requirements may be considered satisfactory if the competent customs authority considers these infringements to be of negligible importance in relation to the number or scope of the Customs operations and do not give rise to doubts as to the applicant's good faith.
3. If the persons exercising control over the applicant's company are established or resident in a third country, the customs authorities shall assess their compliance with customs requirements on the basis of the available entries and information.
4. If the applicant has been established for less than three years, the customs authorities shall assess the applicant's compliance with customs requirements on the basis of the available entries and information.
In order to enable the customs authorities to establish that the applicant has an efficient system for managing commercial entries and, where appropriate, transport entries, the applicant must meet the following requirements:
For the purposes of this Article, solvency shall mean a sound financial situation, sufficient to enable the applicant to fulfil its obligations, taking into account the characteristics of the type of commercial activity.
2. The condition relating to the financial solvency of the applicant is deemed to be satisfied if that solvency can be certified for the last three years.
3. If the applicant has been established for less than three years, his financial solvency shall be judged on the basis of the available entries and information.
The safety and security standards of the applicant shall be considered satisfactory if the following conditions are met:
2. If the applicant, established in the Community or in Switzerland, has a recognised international security and/or safety certificate, issued on the basis of international conventions, of a safety and/or security certificate Issued on the basis of Community legislation, an international standard of the International Organisation for Standardisation or a European standard of European standardisation bodies, or another recognised certification, The criteria set out in s. 1 shall be deemed to be completed to the extent that the criteria used for the grant of such certificates are identical or comparable to those provided for in this Annex.
The customs authorities shall, in particular, grant the following facilities to authorised economic operators:
1 OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No O Commission of 17 November 2008, 1192/2008 (OJ L 329, 6.12.2008, p. 1).
The issuing customs authority shall suspend the status of authorised economic operator in the following cases:
2. In the case referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph, the customs authority may, however, decide not to suspend the status of authorised economic operator if it considers that an infringement is of negligible importance in relation to the number or volume Customs operations and there is no doubt as to the good faith of the authorised economic operator.
The suspension shall take effect immediately when the nature or level of the threat to the safety and security of citizens, public health or the environment requires it.
4. The suspension does not affect customs procedures initiated before the date of suspension and still in progress.
5. Each Contracting Party shall determine the duration of the period of suspension in such a way as to enable the registered economic operator to regularize its situation.
Where the economic operator has taken, to the satisfaction of the customs authorities, the measures necessary to comply with the conditions and criteria to be complied with by any authorised economic operator, the issuing customs authority shall cancel the Suspension.
The issuing customs authority shall revoke the certificate of authorised economic operator in the following cases:
2. However, in the case referred to in point (a), the customs authority may decide not to revoke the authorised economic operator's certificate if it considers that the infringement is of negligible importance in relation to the number or volume of transactions No doubt as to the good faith of the authorised economic operator concerned.
The revocation shall take effect on the day following that of its notification.
The Commission and the Swiss competent authority shall regularly exchange the identity of their authorised economic operators in the field of security by including the following information:
(1) If a dispute is referred to arbitration, three arbitrators shall be appointed, unless the Contracting Parties decide otherwise.
2. Each Contracting Party shall appoint an arbitrator within thirty days.
(3) The two arbitrators shall appoint by common accord an over-arbitrator who is not a national of one of the Contracting Parties. If the arbitrators cannot agree, within two months of their appointment, the arbitrators shall select the arbitrator from a list of seven persons established by the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee shall establish and maintain this list in accordance with its rules of procedure.
(4) Unless the Contracting Parties decide otherwise, the arbitral tribunal shall determine its own rules of procedure. It takes decisions by a majority.
