1. Member States shall issue to any applicant, regardless of his place of establishment in the Union, refund certificates which are valid throughout the Union.
The refund certificates shall guarantee payment of the refund, provided that the conditions set out in Chapter V are met. Those conditions may include advance fixing of the refund rates. Certificates shall be valid in a single budget period only.
2. The granting of refunds for exports of basic products in the form of goods listed in Annex II to this Regulation or for cereals placed under customs control for the production of spirit drinks referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1670/2006 shall be conditional on production of a refund certificate issued in accordance with Article 24 of this Regulation.
The cereals referred to in the first subparagraph shall be deemed to be exported.
The first subparagraph shall not apply to the supplies referred to in the third indent of the second subparagraph of Article 4(1), Articles 33(1), 37(1), 41(1) and 43(1) of Regulation (EC) No 612/2009, or to the exports referred to in Chapter IV of this Regulation.
3. The granting of the refund under the advance fixing system provided for in Article 20(2) shall be conditional on production of a refund certificate showing advance fixing of the refund rates.
1. Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 shall apply to the refund certificates referred to in this Regulation.
2. The provisions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 on the rights and obligations stemming from refund certificates denominated in quantities shall apply mutatis mutandis to the rights and obligations stemming from the refund certificates referred to in this Regulation for amounts denominated in euros, taking into account Annex VI to this Regulation.
3. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, Article 7(2) and (4), Articles 8, 11 and 13, Article 17(1), Articles 20, 23, 31, 32 and 34, Article 35(6) and Articles 41, 45, 46 and 48 of Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 shall not apply to the refund certificates referred to in this Regulation.
4. For the purposes of Articles 39 and 40 of Regulation (EC) No 376/2008, certificates valid until 30 September may not be extended.
In such cases, the certificate shall be cancelled for any amounts not applied for due to force majeure and the relevant security shall be released.
1. Applications for refund certificates, except those in respect of food aid operations referred to in Article 36, shall be valid only if a security equal to 10 % of the amount applied for has been lodged in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 376/2008.
2. The security shall be released in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 40 of this Regulation.
1. The application for a refund certificate and the refund certificate itself shall be based on the form ‘Export Licence or Advance Fixing Certificate’ set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 and shall indicate the amount in euros.
Those documents shall be completed in accordance with the instructions set out in Annex VI to this Regulation.
2. Where the applicant does not have the intention to export from a Member State other than that in which he is applying for the refund certificate, the competent authority may keep the ensuing refund certificate, notably in electronic format. In such cases, the competent authority shall inform the applicant that his refund certificate has been registered and provide him with the information set out on the holder’s copy of the refund certificate, hereinafter ‘Copy No 1’. The issuing authorities’ copy of the refund certificate, hereinafter ‘Copy No 2’, shall not be issued.
The competent authority shall record all the information from the refund certificates referred to in Sections III and IV of Annex VI and the amounts claimed under the certificate.
1. Obligations deriving from certificates shall not be transferable. Rights deriving from certificates may be transferred by their titular holder during the period of their validity, provided that the rights deriving from each certificate or extract thereof are transferred to a single transferee only. Such transfer shall relate to the amounts not yet attributed to the certificate or extract.
2. Transferees may not further transfer their rights but may transfer them back to the titular holder. Transfers back to the titular holder shall relate to amounts not yet attributed to the certificate or extract. In such cases, one of the entries set out in Annex VIII shall be made by the issuing authority in box 6 of the certificate.
3. In the event of a request for transfer by the titular holder or in the event of a transfer back to the titular holder by the transferee, the issuing authority or the agency or agencies designated by each Member State shall enter the following on the certificate or, where appropriate, on the extract thereof:
(a)
the name and address of the transferee as indicated in accordance with paragraph 1 or the entry referred to in paragraph 2.
(b)
the date of transfer or transfer back to the titular holder certified by the stamp of the authority or agency.
4. The transfer or transfer back to the titular holder shall take effect from the date of the entry referred to in point (b) of paragraph 3.
1. Applications for advance fixing of the refund rates shall concern all the applicable refund rates.
2. The application for advance fixing may be submitted either at the time of the application for the refund certificate or at any time from the day on which the refund certificate is granted.
3. Applications for advance fixing shall be made in accordance with Section II of Annex VI using the form set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 376/2008. The advance fixing shall not apply to exports taking place before the date on which the application was submitted.
4. Applications for advance fixing submitted on a Thursday shall be deemed to have been submitted on the following working day.
1. The holder of a refund certificate may apply for an extract of the certificate, drawn up in the form set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 376/2008. The application shall contain the information referred to in point 3 of Section II of Annex VI to this Regulation.
The amount for which the extract is requested shall be recorded on the original certificate.
2. Without prejudice to Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 376/2008, extracts valid throughout the Union may be taken from certificates registered as valid in a single Member State.
1. Each exporter shall complete a specific application for payment within the meaning of Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 612/2009. It shall be presented to the authority responsible for payment, accompanied by the corresponding certificates, except in the case of registration of the certificates as provided for in Article 24(2) of this Regulation or in the case of exports not covered by refund certificates.
The competent authority may consider that the specific application is not the payment documents referred to in Article 46(2) of Regulation (EC) No 612/2009.
The competent authority may consider the specific application to be the export declaration within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 612/2009. In that case, the date of receipt of the specific application by the authority responsible for payment referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be the date on which that authority received the export declaration. In all other cases, the specific application must contain particulars of the export declaration including the reference number of the export declaration.
2. The authority responsible for payment shall determine the amount requested on the basis of the information contained in the specific application, taking as sole basis the quantity and nature of the basic product(s) exported and the applicable refund rate(s). That data shall be indicated or referred to clearly in the export declaration.
The authority responsible for payment shall record that amount on the refund certificate within six months of the date of receipt of the specific application.
The certificates shall be attributed on the reverse of Copy No 1. Boxes 28, 29 and 30 shall contain the amount in euros instead of the quantity.
The third subparagraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to certificates kept in electronic format.
3. After attribution, if the refund certificate is not registered as provided for in Article 24(2), Copy No 1 of the certificate shall be returned to the holder or kept by the paying authority at the request of the exporter.
4. The security retained in respect of the amount for which the refund certificate has been attributed for goods exported may be released or may be transferred to guarantee advance payment of the refund in accordance with Chapter 2 of Title II of Regulation (EC) No 612/2009.
1. Refund certificates issued for a single budget period may be applied for separately in six tranches. Applications for certificates may be submitted at the latest on:
(a)
7 September for certificates for use from 1 October;
(b)
7 November for certificates for use from 1 December;
(c)
7 January for certificates for use from 1 February;
(d)
7 March for certificates for use from 1 April;
(e)
7 May for certificates for use from 1 June;
(f)
7 July for certificates for use from 1 August.
2. Operators may submit an application for a refund certificate only in respect of the tranche corresponding to the first closing date, as set out in paragraph 1, following the date of submission.
The deadline for the notification by the Member States to the Commission of applications for certificates shall be the following:
(a)
14 September for certificates referred to in point (a) of Article 29(1);
(b)
14 November for certificates referred to in point (b) of Article 29(1);
(c)
14 January for certificates referred to in point (c) of Article 29(1);
(d)
14 March for certificates referred to in point (d) of Article 29(1);
(e)
14 May for certificates referred to in point (e) of Article 29(1);
(f)
14 July for certificates referred to in point (f) of Article 29(1).
1. The total amount in respect of which refund certificates may be issued for each budget period shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 2.
2. From the figure representing the maximum amount of refunds, as determined in accordance with Article 9(2) of the Agreement, the following elements shall be deducted:
(a)
the amount exceeding the maximum amount and unduly granted during the previous budget year;
(b)
the amount reserved to cover the exports referred to in Chapter IV of this Regulation;
(c)
the amounts in respect of which refund certificates valid during the budget period concerned have been issued.
3. The amount in respect of which certificates issued, as referred to in Article 41, have been returned shall be added to the figure obtained in accordance with paragraph 2.
4. Any amount reserved to cover the exports referred to in Chapter IV which remains unused shall be added to the figure obtained in accordance with paragraph 2.
5. Where there is uncertainty regarding any of the amounts referred to in paragraph 2, that shall be taken into account when determining the final amount.
The total amount in respect of which certificates may be issued for each of the tranches referred to in Article 29 shall be:
(a)
30 % of the amount calculated in accordance with Article 31, as determined on 14 September, in the case of the tranche referred to in point (a) of Article 29(1);
(b)
27 % of the amount calculated in accordance with Article 31, as determined on 14 November, in the case of the tranche referred to in point (b) of Article 29(1);
(c)
32 % of the amount calculated in accordance with Article 31, as determined on 14 January, in the case of the tranche referred to in point (c) of Article 29(1);
(d)
44 % of the amount calculated in accordance with Article 31, as determined on 14 March, in the case of the tranche referred to in point (d) of Article 29(1);
(e)
67 % of the amount calculated in accordance with Article 31, as determined on 14 May, in the case of the tranche referred to in point (e) of Article 29(1);
(f)
100 % of the amount calculated in accordance with Article 31, as determined on 14 July, in the case of the tranche referred to in point (f) of Article 29(1).
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
