WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3185/97 by Luigi CALIGARIS to the Commission. Applicability of the special customs arrangements at the free port of Trieste
30. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 134/109 (98/C 134/141) WRITTEN QUESTION P-3185/97 by Luigi Caligaris (ELDR) to the Commission (9 October 1997) Subject: Applicability of the special customs arrangements at the free port of Trieste The Trieste court has recently confirmed the applicability of the special customs arrangements authorized for the free port of Trieste by Annex VIII to the 1947 Paris peace treaty. The judgment affirms that the provisions do not conflict with the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Community or the Community customs code which exclude other provisions laid down in international conventions previously concluded. According to some, the provisions apply not only to the free transit of totally customs-free goods (unloading, loading, warehousing, trading, processing) but also to all operations concerning goods subject to quotas in the EU, the importation and processing of heavily taxed products, the processing for export of goods and equipment for EU stamping, and the processing of extra-Community products subject to EU protectionist rules and readmitted to EU territory as approved finished products. Is this interpretation consistent with European legislation? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (28 October 1997) The basic rules governing free zones in Member States of the Community are set by the Community Customs Code (1) and the provisions implementing it (2). They lay down the principle that European free zones are included in the customs territory, meaning that they are subject › with exceptions which are exhaustively laid down › to general measures applying in the rest of the customs territory. Exceptions are predominantly concerned with exemption from import duties and charges and from commercial policy measures in respect of third-country products. And Community products in a free zone are allowed to enjoy the tax benefits attaching to exportation. The Community rules lay down very simple procedures for customs control of the transhipment and storage of goods in free zones and for handling carried out in them. They provide in principle for declaration and presentation of goods to customs to be abolished and require stock records to be kept. Industrial processing may also be carried out in free zones, subject to the rules for customs procedures with economic impact and processing traffic in particular. According to the Commission’s information, Italian law poses a problem with respect to Community law particularly as regards time to pay and industrial processing. The 1947 Treaty of Paris (Annex VIII) and the 1975 Osimo bilateral agreement (between Italy and Yugoslavia) do not seem to permit facilities not provided for in the abovementioned Community rules to be allowed in the Trieste free zone. The Italian authorities have been approached in order to clarify the situation. Should it be confirmed that there is failure to comply with Community rules, the Italian authorities would not be authorised to permit the derogations in question unless the Community Customs Code is amended. (1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 (OJ L 302, 19. 10. 1992). (2) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 (OJ L 253, 11. 10. 1993)