WRITTEN QUESTION E-0203/00 by Niels Busk (ELDR) to the Commission. Customs stamps in non-Community countries.
C 26 E/18 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 26. 1. 2001 (2001/C 26 E/020) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0203/00 by Niels Busk (ELDR) to the Commission (4 February 2000) Subject: Customs stamps in non-Community countries When customs stamps in non-Community countries are changed, the intervention bodies frequently withhold export refunds and guarantees, and European exporters are thus made responsible for events outside their control. Will the Commission ensure that the responsibility for recording changes to official customs stamps in non-Community countries as they occur is borne by the authorities alone? Will the Commission establish a set procedure with all non-Community countries for which there is an entitlement to refunds to ensure that all alterations in their customs stamps are reported to a central unit in Brussels for subsequent notification to the intervention bodies in the individual Member States? Does the Commission believe that the actual usefulness of customs stamps ü which can be stolen, copied or illicitly used in other ways ü as a means of verification, is in reasonable proportion to their economic importance? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (15 March 2000) When the rate of the refund is differentiated according to the destination of the products exported, Community legislation requires the recipient of the refund to provide proof that the product in question was imported into the non-member country for which the differentiated rate of refund was fixed. In a large number of cases, this proof is provided by the customs documents of importation issued by the various countries whose authenticity is usually validated by the seals and signatures of the customs authorities of those countries. National paying agencies normally have a compendium of specimens of the most usual customs seals. When they find changes in the seals, they take steps to check the validity of the new seal in order to verify the validity of the documents provided to support the application for payment of the refunds. The Commission does not intend to create a centralised catalogue of the forms and customs stamps used in the customs procedures of non-member countries. Application of the Community rules on the payment of export refunds is a matter for the national paying agencies, which have considerable experience of this matter and maintain regular contacts with the customs authorities of non-member countries. Such a catalogue could be drawn up by the World Customs Organisation. (2001/C 26 E/021) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0208/00 by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission (4 February 2000) Subject: Human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo Is the Commission aware of the recent Amnesty report on human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo? The report catalogues evidence of the often brutal targeting of opposition politicians, journalists and other government officials. What action does the Commission intend to take and will it press for the reinforcement of UN human rights field monitors in the Great Lakes region, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo?