EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL TAXATION AND CUSTOMS UNION Customs Policy, Legislation, Tariff Customs Legislation Brussels, 27-04-2016 TAXUD/A2/TRA/003/2016-EN Working document TRANSIT MANUAL Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË [email protected] Preface The plan for transit in Europe1 called for a Manual containing a detailed description of the common and the Union transit procedure and clarifying the role of both administrations and traders. The purpose of the Manual is to provide a tool to promote a better understanding of how the transit procedure works and the roles of the various participants. It is also a tool to better ensure a harmonised application of the transit regulations and an equal treatment of all operators. The present text is a consolidated version incorporating the various updates made since it was first published in May 2004 and aligned with the Union Customs Code which will be applied as of 1 May 2016. The Manual is presented in nine main parts as follows: General Introduction; Status of Goods; Guarantees; Standard Transit Procedure NCTS (new computerised transit system); Business continuity procedure; Simplifications; Discharge and enquiry; Debt and Recovery; and the TIR procedure. The Manual is updated whenever new developments in the common and Union transit systems make this necessary. It must be stressed that the Manual does not constitute a legally binding act and is of an explanatory nature. The Manual gives, however, a common interpretation of the transit regulations by all the customs authorities applying common/Union transit. Legal provisions on transit as well as other customs legislation take precedence over the contents of the Manual and should always be consulted. The authentic texts of the Conventions and the EU legal instruments are those published in the Official Journal of the European Union. As regards judgements of the Court of Justice of the European Communities the authentic texts are those given in the reports of cases before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. In addition to this Manual national instructions or national explanatory notes may also exist. These may be incorporated in the paragraph 6 of each chapter of the Manual as published in the respective country or they may be published separately. Please contact your national customs administration for further details. Brussels, 27-04-2016 1 COM(97) 188 final, 30.4.1997. 2 General table of contents Preface General table of contents Part I: General introduction Part II: Status of goods Part III: Guarantees Part IV: Standard transit procedure Part V: Business continuity procedure Part VI: Simplifications Part VII: Discharge of the transit operation, the enquiry procedure Part VIII: Debt and Recovery Part IX: : The TIR Procedure List of commonly used abbreviations List of definitions General information sources 3 TRANSIT MANUAL .......................................................................................................... 1 PART I GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 31 1. Brief history of transit ............................................................................................... 32 2. Status of goods .......................................................................................................... 35 3. Common Transit ........................................................................................................ 36 3.1. Legislation ........................................................................................................... 36 3.2. Description of the procedure ............................................................................... 36 4. Transit within the Union ............................................................................................ 38 4.1. Union transit ........................................................................................................ 38 4.1.1. Legislation ........................................................................................................... 38 4.1.2. Description of the procedure ............................................................................... 39 4.1.2.1 External Union transit procedure ........................................................................ 40 4.1.2.2. Internal Union transit procedure ......................................................................... 41 4.1.3. New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) ....................................................... 42 4.1.3.1. Main items or messages used in an NCTS operation .......................................... 43 4.1.3.2. Customs office of departure ................................................................................ 44 4.1.3.3. Customs office of destination .............................................................................. 45 4.1.3.4. Customs office of transit ..................................................................................... 46 4.1.3.5. Change of customs office of transit or destination .............................................. 46 4.1.3.6. Simplified procedures: authorised consignor and authorised consignee ............ 47 4.2. Other transit systems within the European Union ............................................... 48 4.2.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 48 4.2.2. TIR (Transport Internationaux Routiers) procedure ........................................... 48 4.2.3. ATA (Temporary Admission) ............................................................................. 50 4.2.3.1. Background and legislation ................................................................................. 50 4.2.3.2. Description of the procedure ............................................................................... 51 4.2.4. Rhine manifest ..................................................................................................... 52 4.2.4.1. Background and legislation ................................................................................. 52 4.2.4.2. Description of the procedure ............................................................................... 52 4.2.5. NATO movements .............................................................................................. 53 4.2.5.1. Background and legislation ................................................................................. 53 4.2.5.2. Description of the procedure ............................................................................... 53 4.2.6. Postal packages ................................................................................................... 55 4.2.6.1. Background and legislation ................................................................................. 55 4.2.6.2. Description of the procedure ............................................................................... 56 5. Exceptions (pro memoria) ......................................................................................... 58 6. Specific national instructions (reserved) ................................................................... 58 7. Restricted part for customs use only ......................................................................... 58 8. Annexes ..................................................................................................................... 58 8.1. Rules and principles governing the adoption of Union transit legislation .......... 59 4 8.2. Rules and principles governing the adoption of common transit legislation. ........................................................................................................... 59 PART II - STATUS OF GOODS ...................................................................................... 64 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 64 2. General theory and legislation ................................................................................... 64 3. Proof of the customs status of Union goods .............................................................. 65 3.1. Regular shipping service ..................................................................................... 67 3.1.1. Definition ............................................................................................................ 67 3.1.2. Procedure for authorising regular shipping services ........................................... 67 3.1.3. Part-charter arrangements ................................................................................... 70 3.1.4. Regular shipping service or non-regular shipping service .................................. 70 4. Proof of the customs status of Union goods .............................................................. 73 4.1. Proof of the customs status of Union goods by an authorised issuer .................. 77 4.2. Proof of the customs status of Union goods by means of a shipping company's manifest ............................................................................................. 78 4.3. Proof of the customs status of Union goods in case of transhipment ................. 80 4.4. Proof of the customs status of Union goods through the invoice or transport document .............................................................................................