11. 1. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 8/11 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 31/96 of 10 January 1996 on the excise duty exemption certificate THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products ('), as last amended by Direc- tive 94/74/EC (%), and in particular Article 23 (1a) thereof, Whereas Member States are to exempt from excise duty products subject to excise duty delivered to the armed forces and organizations referred to in Article 23 (1) of Directive 92/12/EEC; Whereas in accordance with Article 23 (1a) of Directive 92/12/EEC, the armed forces and organizations referred to in Article 23 (1) are to be authorized to receive products from other Member States under excise-duty suspension arrangements under cover of an accompa- nying document, provided that the document is accompa- nied by an exemption certificate ; whereas it is necessary to establish the form and content of the exemption certi- ficate ; Whereas Member States should be allowed to extend the provisions of this Regulation to other fields of indirect taxation ; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Excise Duties, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 The document set out in the Annex shall be used as the exemption certificate within the meaning of Article 23 (1a) of Directive 92/12/EEC, subject to the explanatory notes set out in the Annex. Article 2 Member States may adapt the exemption certificate referred to in Article 1 to cover other fields of indirect taxation and to ensure that the exemption is compatible with conditions and limitations for the grant of exemp- tions in their national law. () OJ No L 76, 23. 3. 1992, p. 1. () OJ No L 365, 31. 12. 1994, p. 46. Article 3 A Member State wishing to adapt the exemption certifi- cate shall inform the Commission and shall also provide the Commission with all relevant or necessary informa- tion. The Commission shall inform the other Member States. Article 4 The exemption certificate shall be drawn up in duplicate : — one copy to be kept by the consignor, — one copy to accompany the administrative accompa- nying document specified in Article 18 of Directive 92/12/EEC. Member States may require an additional copy for admi- nistrative purposes. Article 5 1. An authorized warehousekeeper, delivering products under excise-duty suspension arrangements to the armed forces and organizations referred to in Article 23 (1) of Directive 92/12/EEC, is required to keep a duty exemp- tion certificate as part of his records. 2. The duty exemption certificate, duly stamped by the competent authorities of the host Member State, shall be given by the consignee to the authorized warehousekeeper for the purposes of paragraph 1. However, if the delivered goods are intended for official use, Member States may exempt the consignee from the requirement to have the certificate stamped under such conditions as they may lay down. Article 6 1. Member States shall inform the Commission of the service that is responsible for stamping the duty exemp- tion certificate. 2. A Member State which dispenses with the obligation on the consignee to have the certificate stamped in ac- cordance with the second subparagraph of Article 5 (2) shall inform the Commission. 3. The Commission shall inform the other Member States of the information received from Member States in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 within one month. Article 7 This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.