SECTION I — ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS FOR MONITORING AND CERTIFICATION OF WINE PRODUCTS
General rules
1. For the purposes of Article 147(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, each transport operation of wine products carried out between winegrowers, harvesters, producers, processors, bottlers or merchants, or from them to retailers, shall be covered by an accompanying document.
The operators referred to in the first subparagraph shall be able to present the accompanying document to the competent authorities throughout the transport operation.
2. The accompanying document may only be used for a single consignment.
3. Member States shall draw up and keep up-to-date a list of the operators referred to in this Article. Where such a list or register already exists for other purposes, it may also be used for the purposes of this Regulation.
Exemptions
1. By way of derogation from
Article 8
, no accompanying document shall be required in the following cases:
(a)
wine products transported from the vineyard to the winemaking premises, between two premises of the same undertaking or between the premises belonging to a group of producers, without change of the owner, provided that the transport is effected for the purpose of winemaking, processing, storage or bottling, the total road distance does not exceed 70 km and the transport takes place exclusively within the territory of a single Member State or has been approved by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned;
(b)
grape marc and wine lees:
(i)
transported to a distillery or a vinegar production plant, where the product is accompanied by a delivery note of the producer under the conditions laid down by the competent authorities of the Member State where the transport begins, or
(ii)
where the transport is effected for the purpose of withdrawing the product from the winemaking process or from any other processing of grapes under supervision by the competent authorities, as provided for in Articles 14(1)(b)(vii) and 18(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/274;
(c)
grape juice and must falling within CN codes 2009 61 and 2009 69 delivered to operators not involved in winemaking, where the product is accompanied by a commercial document;
(d)
wine products produced and transported exclusively within the territory of Member States that are not subject to the obligation to maintain a vineyard register in accordance with Article 145(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013;
(e)
the following cases of wine products transported exclusively within the territory of a Member State in containers of a nominal volume of not more than 60 litres:
(i)
wine products in labelled containers of a nominal volume of 10 litres or less fitted with a non-reusable closing device, where the total quantity does not exceed:
—
5 litres or 5 kilograms in the case of concentrated grape must, whether or not rectified,
—
100 litres for all other products;
(ii)
wine or grape juice intended for diplomatic representations, consulates and similar establishments, within the limits of the allowances granted them;
(iii)
wine or grape juice:
—
contained in private household removals, and not intended for sale,
—
on board ships, airplanes or trains to be consumed there;
(iv)
wine, partially fermented wine, partially fermented grape must and grape must transported by private individuals and intended for the personal consumption of the consignee or the consignee's family, where the quantity transported does not exceed 30 litres;
(v)
any product intended for scientific or technical experiments, where the total quantity transported does not exceed one hectolitre;
(vi)
commercial samples;
(vii)
samples for a competent authority or designated laboratory.
2. Where an accompanying document is not required, consignors shall be able at any time to prove the accuracy of all the information recorded in their inward and outward register provided for in Chapter V or other registers required by the Member State where the transport operation begun.
Recognised accompanying documents
1. Competent authorities shall recognise the following documents as accompanying documents, provided that they comply with the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 to 5 and in Annex V:
(a)
for the wine products dispatched within a Member State or among Member States, without prejudice to point (b) of this subparagraph:
(i)
one of the documents referred to in Article 21(6) or Article 26(1)(a) of Directive 2008/118/EC for products transported under duty suspension arrangements within the Union, provided that it states in a clearly identifiable manner the unique administrative reference code referred to in Article 21(3) of that Directive (‘ARC number’), it is drawn up in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 684/2009 ( 14 ) and, where the document referred to in Article 26(1)(a) of Directive 2008/118/EC is used, the consignor complies with that paragraph 1;
(ii)
for excise goods transported within the Union, after release for consumption in the Member State where the transport operation began, the simplified accompanying document referred to in Article 34(1) of Directive 2008/118/EC, drawn up and used in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3649/92 ( 15 ) ;
(iii)
for wine products subject to excise duty dispatched by small producers pursuant to Article 40 of Directive 2008/118/EC and for wine products not subject to excise duty, one of the following documents, drawn up under the conditions laid down by the Member State of dispatch:
—
where the Member State uses an information system, a printed copy of the electronic administrative document thus established or any commercial document stating, in a clearly identifiable manner, the specific administrative code (‘MVV code’) assigned to the electronic administrative document by that system, provided that the document is established in compliance with the applicable national rules,
—
where the Member State does not use an information system, an administrative document or a commercial document bearing the MVV code assigned by the competent authority, provided that the document and a copy thereof are validated in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article;
(b)
for wine products dispatched to a third country or to a territory referred to in Article 5(2) and (3) of Directive 2008/118/EC, one of the documents referred to in point (a)(i) or (iii).
The documents referred to in the second indent of point (a)(iii) of the first subparagraph may be used only until 31 December 2020.
2. The documents referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall include the information indicated in Section A of Annex V, or allow the competent authorities to have access to that information.
Where those documents bear an ARC number assigned by the computerised system referred to in Article 21(2) of Directive 2008/118/EC or a MVV code assigned by the information system set up by the Member State of dispatch as referred to in the first indent of point (a)(iii) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the information referred to in Section A of Annex V to this Regulation shall be held in the system used.
3. The documents referred to in the second indent of point (a)(iii) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 and a copy thereof shall be validated prior to dispatch:
(a)
by the date, the signature of an official of the competent authority and the stamp affixed by that official; or
(b)
by the date, the signature of the consignor and the affixing by the consignor, as appropriate:
(i)
of a special stamp in accordance with the model referred to in Section C of Annex V;
(ii)
of a stamp prescribed by the competent authorities, or
(iii)
of a mark of a stamping machine approved by the competent authorities.
The special stamp or the prescribed stamp referred to in point (b) may be pre-printed on the forms where printing is carried out by a printer approved for that purpose.
4. In the case of wine products imported from a third country, the documents referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall make reference to the certificate drawn up in the country of origin in accordance with Article 20.
5. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may recognise other documents as accompanying documents, including documents produced using a computerised procedure intended to simplify the procedure with regard to the transport of wine products carried out exclusively on their territory and when directly exported from their territory.
Certification of the origin or provenance, characteristics, vintage or wine grape variety and PDO or PGI
1. The documents referred to in point (a)(i) and (iii) of the first subparagraph of Article 10(1) shall be regarded as certifying the origin or provenance, quality and characteristics of the wine product, the vintage year or the grape variety or varieties from which it is produced and, where applicable, the PDO or PGI. To this effect, the consignor or an authorised person acting on behalf of the consignor shall fill in in box 17l of those documents the relevant information set out in Part I of Annex VI.
2. The consignor shall certify the accuracy of the information required pursuant to paragraph 1 on the basis of the inward and outward register to be kept in accordance with Chapter V or the certified information in the documents accompanying the previous consignments of the product in question and official conformity checks carried out by the competent authorities in accordance with Chapter VII.
3. Where, in respect of wine products produced in their territory, Member States require a PDO or PGI certificate to be drawn up by a control body designated for that purpose, the accompanying document shall include a reference to that certificate, the name and, where applicable, the electronic address of the control body.
Certification of exported wine products
1. Whenever the competent authorities of the third country of destination require a certification as referred to in Article 11 for wine products dispatched to that third country, that certification shall take one of the following forms:
(a)
the electronic administrative document or any other commercial document used in accordance with Article 21(6) of Directive 2008/118/EC or a document as referred to in Article 10(1)(a)(iii) of this Regulation, provided that the consignor or an authorised person acting on behalf of the consignor indicates the relevant information set out in Part I of Annex VI to this Regulation;
(b)
a specific certificate for export drawn up on the basis of the template provided for and the requirements set out in Part II of Annex VI to this Regulation.
2. The certificate referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 shall be deemed to be authentic when validated by the date and the signature of the consignor or an authorised person acting on behalf of the consignor and when the ARC number or MVV code assigned by the competent authority to the accompanying document has been indicated by the consignor on the certificate as administrative reference.
3. Article 11(2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the certification referred to in paragraph 1.
Documents used as proof of export
1. Where the wine products circulate under cover of a document referred to in point (a)(i) of the first subparagraph of Article 10(1), proof of exit from the customs territory of the Union shall be constituted by the report of export referred to in Article 28 of Directive 2008/118/EC, drawn up by the customs office of export in accordance with Article 334 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 ( 16 ) .
2. Where the wine products circulate under cover of a document referred to in point (a)(iii) of the first subparagraph of Article 10(1), proof of exit from the customs territory of the Union shall be established in accordance with Article 334 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447. In that case, the consignor or an authorised person acting on behalf of the consignor shall record the reference of the export declaration referred to in Article 331 of that Regulation and issued by the customs office of export on the accompanying document, using one of the indications set out in Section D of Annex V to this Regulation.
3. Wine products which are temporarily exported under the outward processing arrangements provided for in Article 210(d) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 in accordance with Chapters I and V of Title VII of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 ( 17 ) and Chapter I of Title VII of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 to one of the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to undergo storage, ageing and/or packaging operations shall be accompanied, in addition to the accompanying document, by the information sheet laid down by the recommendation of the Customs Cooperation Council of 3 December 1963. That sheet shall show in the boxes reserved for the description of the product, the description in accordance with Union and national rules and the quantities of wine carried.
That information shall be taken from the original of the accompanying document under cover of which the wine was transported to the customs office where the information sheet is issued. The type, date and number of the document which accompanied the consignment previously shall also be noted on the information sheet.
Where the products referred to in the first subparagraph are being brought back into the customs territory of the Union, the information sheet shall be duly completed by the competent EFTA customs office. That document shall be regarded as equivalent to the accompanying document for transport as far as the customs office either of destination in the Union or of release for consumption, provided that the document contains, in the box ‘Description of goods’, the information specified in the first subparagraph.
The relevant customs office in the Union shall stamp a copy or photocopy of the document provided by the consignee or his representative and return it to him for the purposes of this Regulation.
Consignment of unpackaged wine products
1. Where the computerised system or information system referred to in the first indent of point (a)(iii) of the first subparagraph of Article 10(1) or in Article 10(5) is not used or where this system does not allow the competent authority at the place of unloading to be informed, the consignor of a consignment of unpackaged wine products shall forward, at the latest on the departure of the means of transport, a copy of the accompanying document to the competent authority in the territory of which the place of loading is situated, in respect of the following products:
(a)
products originating in the Union, of a quantity of more than 60 litres:
(i)
wine intended for processing into wines with a PDO or PGI, a varietal or vintage year wine, or intended for packaging to be marketed as such;
(ii)
partially fermented grape must;
(iii)
concentrated grape must, whether or not rectified;
(iv)
fresh grape must with fermentation arrested by the addition of alcohol;
(v)
grape juice;
(vi)
concentrated grape juice;
(b)
products not originating in the Union, of a quantity of more than 60 litres:
(i)
fresh grapes, excluding table grapes;
(ii)
grape must;
(iii)
concentrated grape must, whether or not rectified;
(iv)
partially fermented grape must;
(v)
fresh grape must with fermentation arrested by the addition of alcohol;
(vi)
grape juice;
(vii)
concentrated grape juice;
(viii)
liqueur wine for the preparation of products not falling within CN code 2204;
(c)
products, irrespective of their origin and the quantity transported, without prejudice to the exemptions referred to in Article 9:
(i)
wine lees;
(ii)
grape marc intended for distillation or another form of industrial processing:
(iii)
piquette;
(iv)
wine fortified for distillation;
(v)
wine from grapes of varieties not listed as wine-grape varieties in the classification drawn up by the Member States under Article 81 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the administrative unit in which they were harvested;
(vi)
products that may not be offered or supplied for direct human consumption.
The competent authority in the territory of which the place of loading is situated shall inform the competent authority in the territory of which the place of unloading is situated that the transport has begun.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may fix different periods for forwarding a copy of the accompanying document with respect to consignments of wine products that are transported exclusively within their territory.
Consignments of third country products or of Union products initially exported to a third country
1. For the transport within the customs territory of the Union of a consignment of third country products released into free circulation, the accompanying document shall be based on the VI-1 document referred to in Article 20 or an equivalent document as referred to in Article 26 or 27 and shall include the following information or allow the competent authorities to have access to this information:
(a)
the number of the VI-1 document or the reference to one of the documents referred in Articles 26 and 27;
(b)
the name and address of the body of the third country which completed the document referred to in point (a) or authorised its completion by a producer;
(c)
the date on which the document referred to in point (a) was completed.
The operator shall be able to present the VI-1 document, an equivalent document as referred to in Article 26 or 27 or the VI-2 extract referred to in Article 22 whenever requested by the competent authorities of the Member States.
2. For the transport within the customs territory of the Union of a consignment of wine products originating within the Union, initially exported to a third country or a territory referred to in Article 5(2) and (3) of Directive 2008/118/EC, the accompanying document shall include the following information or allow the competent authorities to have access to this information:
(a)
the reference to the accompanying document referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 10(1) of this Regulation, drawn up for the initial dispatch; or
(b)
the references to the other supporting documents produced by the importer evidencing the origin of the product and deemed satisfactory by the competent authority when released for circulation in the Union.
3. Where the computerised system referred to in Article 21(2) of Directive 2008/118/EC or an information system set up by the Member State of dispatch is used, the information indicated in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be held in the system used.
Refusal by the consignee
Where all or part of a product transported under cover of an accompanying document is refused by the consignee, the latter shall write the words ‘refused by the consignee’ on the back of the document, together with the date and the consignee's signature, plus, where appropriate, an indication of the quantity refused, in litres or kilograms.
In that case the product may be returned to the consignor under cover of the same accompanying document or may be kept on the premises of the carrier until a new document is completed to accompany the product when it is re-dispatched.
Validation of the accompanying document in case of a serious infringement or non-compliance
1. Where a competent authority finds, or has a justified reason for suspecting, that a consignor transports or has transported a wine product which does not comply with the Union provisions, or national provisions adopted pursuant thereto, as regards its production conditions or its composition or a wine product in relation to which a serious infringement relating to the accompanying documents has been committed, it may require the consignor to complete a new accompanying document for that wine product and get it validated by the competent authority.
Validation, when granted, may be linked to conditions on the future use of the product or a ban on marketing the product. It shall comprise the stamp, the signature of an official of the competent authority and the date.
2. The authority referred in paragraph 1 shall inform the authority with territorial responsibility for the place of loading. In the case of transport within the Union, mutual assistance or notification of suspicion of non-compliance under Articles 43 and 45 shall apply.
Measures in case of infringements relating to the accompanying documents other than serious infringements
1. Where a competent authority finds that a consignment requiring an accompanying document is being transported without such a document or under cover of a document containing erroneous or incomplete particulars, it shall take the measures necessary to regularise such transport, either by correcting any material errors or by completing a new document.
The authority referred to in the first subparagraph shall stamp the documents corrected or completed under that provision. Regularisation of irregularities must not delay the transport operation in question for longer than is strictly necessary.
In the event of repeated irregularities by the same consignor, the authority referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall inform the authority with territorial responsibility for the place of loading. In the case of transport within the Union, mutual assistance or notification of suspicion of non-compliance under Articles 43 and 45 shall apply.
2. Where it is impossible to regularise transport operations pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the authority referred to in that subparagraph shall hold up the transport. It shall inform the consignor that the transport is being held up and of the measures taken as a consequence. Those measures may include a ban on marketing the product.
Force majeure or unforeseen incidents
If during transport, by reason of force majeure or some unforeseen incident, a consignment for which an accompanying document is required must be split up or is wholly or partially lost, the carrier shall request the competent authority nearest to the place where the incident or the case of force majeure took place to make a statement of the facts and to take the necessary steps to regularise the transport operation in question.
SECTION II — ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS FOR RELEASE OF IMPORTED WINE PRODUCTS INTO FREE CIRCULATION
Certification of compliance of imported wine products
1. The accompanying document for the import of wine products shall comprise the certificate and the analysis report referred to in Article 90(3)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, respectively, and shall constitute a single document, hereinafter referred to as ‘VI-1 document’. However, the analysis report section of the VI-1 document does not need to be completed where the products are not intended for direct human consumption.
The competent bodies and designated bodies or departments referred to in Article 90(3)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be those referred to in Article 51(1)(a) and (b) of this Regulation in respect of the third countries concerned.
2. The VI-1 document shall be drawn up and used in accordance with Articles 22 to 25 and shall be regarded as certifying that the imported product:
(a)
has the characteristics of a wine product in accordance with Union law or in compliance with a bilateral agreement in force between the Union and a third country;
(b)
was made from grapes of a specific vintage year or has been produced from the wine grape variety or varieties designated;
(c)
where applicable, complies with the specifications of the geographical indication in conformity with either the Agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights of the World Trade Organisation (‘TRIPS Agreement’), Union legislation on geographical indications or an agreement on recognition and protection of geographical indications between the Union and the third country from which the wine originates.
Exemptions
By way of derogation from Article 90(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the following exemptions shall apply:
(a)
no VI-1 document needs to be presented for:
(i)
products in labelled containers of a nominal volume of 10 litres or less fitted with a non-reusable closing device, where the total quantity transported, whether or not made up of separate consignments, does not exceed 100 litres;
(ii)
wine and grape juice forming part of the personal property of private individuals transferring their normal place of residence from a third country to the Union within the meaning of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009;
(iii)
wine sent in consignments from one private individual to another, within the meaning of Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 up to a maximum of 30 litres per consignment;
(iv)
wine, grape must and grape juice contained in the personal luggage of travellers within the meaning of Article 41 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 up to a maximum of 30 litres per traveller;
(v)
wine and grape juice for trade fairs as defined in Article 90 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, provided that the products in question are put up in labelled containers of not more than two litres fitted with a non-reusable closing device;
(vi)
quantities of wine, grape must and grape juice in containers other than those referred to in point (v), imported for the purpose of scientific and technical experiments up to a maximum of 100 litres;
(vii)
wines and grape juice imported in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations of 18 April 1961, the Vienna Convention on consular relations of 24 April 1963 or other consular conventions, or the New York Convention of 16 December 1969 on special missions;
(viii)
wines and grape juice held in stores on board of ships and airplanes operating in international transport;
(ix)
wines and grape juice originating and bottled in the Union, exported to a third country and returned to the customs territory of the Union and released for free circulation;
(b)
in the case of wine put up in labelled containers of a capacity not exceeding 60 litres, fitted with non-reusable closing devices, and provided that the wine originates in a country which has offered special guarantees accepted by the Union, as listed in Section A of Part IV of Annex VII, the analysis report section of the VI-1 document needs to be completed only in respect of:
(i)
the actual alcoholic strength by volume;
(ii)
the total acidity;
(iii)
the total sulphur dioxide content.
Rules for drawing up the VI-1 document and the VI-2 extract
1. The VI-1 document shall be drawn up on a form corresponding to the specimen shown in Part I of Annex VII in accordance with the technical rules set out in that Annex.
It shall be signed by an official of a competent body and by an official of a designated body or department included in the list provided for in Article 51(1).
The original and a copy of the VI-1 document shall accompany the product.
An extract, hereinafter referred to as ‘VI-2 extract’, may be drawn up in accordance with the specimen shown in Part II of Annex VII, containing the data appearing on the VI-1 document or, in case a VI-2 extract was presented, on that VI-2 extract, and stamped by a Union customs office. The original and two copies of the VI-2 extract shall accompany the product.
2. VI-1 documents and VI-2 extracts shall bear a serial number assigned, in the case of VI-1 documents, by the competent body whose official signs the document and, in the case of VI-2 extracts, by the customs office which stamps them.
Use of VI-1 document and VI-2 extracts
The original and the copy of the VI-1 document or the original and the copies of the VI-2 extract shall be handed over to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the customs formalities required for putting into free circulation the consignment to which they relate are carried out, on completion of those formalities as follows:
(a)
the customs authorities shall endorse the back of both the original and the copy of the VI-1 document or the original and the copies of the VI-2 extract, return the original of the VI-1 document or the original and a copy of the VI-2 extract to the person concerned and keep a copy of the VI-1 document or of the VI-2 extract for at least five years;
(b)
where a consignment is to be reconsigned before entry into free circulation, the new consignor shall give the customs authorities supervising the consignment the VI-1 document and the VI-2 extract relating to that consignment or, where that consignment is covered by a VI-2 extract completed previously and a VI-2 extract completed consecutively, those two VI-2 extracts.
In case a VI-2 extract is given together with the VI-1 document, the customs authorities shall verify that the particulars entered on the VI-1 document correspond to those entered on the VI-2 extract. In case a VI-2 extract completed consecutively is given together with a VI-2 extract completed previously, the customs authorities shall verify that the particulars entered on that VI-2 extract completed previously correspond to those entered on the VI-2 extract completed consecutively and shall stamp the latter, which shall then be equivalent to the VI-2 extract completed previously.
The customs authorities shall endorse the back of both the original and the copy of the VI-1 document or of the VI-2 extract completed previously.
The customs authorities shall return the original of the VI-1 document and of any VI-2 extract to the new consignor and shall keep the copies for at least five years.
However, a VI-2 extract does not need to be completed where a consignment of a product is re-exported to a third country;
(c)
where a consignment is split before it enters into free circulation, the person concerned shall give the original and the copy of the VI-1 document or of the VI-2 extract completed previously relating to the consignment to be split to the customs authorities supervising that consignment, together with the original of the VI-2 extract completed consecutively for each new consignment and two copies of them.
The customs authorities shall verify that the particulars entered on the VI-1 document or on the VI-2 extract completed previously correspond to those on the VI-2 extract completed consecutively for each new consignment. If they correspond, the customs authorities shall stamp the latter, which shall then be equivalent to the VI-2 extract completed previously, and endorse the back of both the original and the copy of the VI-1 document or of the VI-2 extract completed previously. They shall return the original of the VI-2 extract completed consecutively together with the original of the VI-1 document or of the VI-2 extract completed previously to the person concerned and keep a copy of each of those documents for at least five years.
Use of VI-1 document in case of indirect imports
In cases where a wine has been exported from the third country in the territory of which it was produced (hereinafter referred to as ‘the country of origin’) to another third country (hereinafter referred to as ‘the exporting country’) before being exported to the Union, the VI-1 document for the wine concerned shall be deemed to be valid for import into the Union if it has been drawn up by the competent bodies of the exporting country, without further analyses on that wine, on the basis of a VI-1 document or equivalent drawn up by the competent bodies of the country of origin, provided that the wine:
(a)
has been bottled and labelled in the country of origin and remains so; or
(b)
is exported in bulk from the country of origin and bottled and labelled in the exporting country without any further processing.
The VI-1 document of the exporting country shall bear the certification by the competent body of that country that the wine in question is a wine to which the first paragraph refers and that it fulfils the conditions set out therein.
The original or a certified copy of the VI-1 document or equivalent of the country of origin shall be attached to the VI-1 document of the exporting country.
The competent bodies of the third countries for the purposes of this Article shall be those included in the list provided for in Article 51(1).
Special rules on certification for particular wines
1. In the case of liqueur wines and wines fortified for distillation, the VI-1 documents shall be recognised as valid only where a competent body included in the list provided for in Article 51(1) has entered the following in box 14:
‘the alcohol added to this wine is certified as being wine alcohol’.
2. The VI-1 document may be used as certifying that an imported wine bears a geographical indication in conformity with either the TRIPS Agreement, Union legislation on geographical indications or an agreement on recognition and protection of geographical indications between the Union and the third country from which the wine originates.
In such a case, box 14 shall indicate the following:
‘the wine covered by this document is certified as having been produced in the wine-growing region and was given the geographical indication shown in box 6 in accordance with the provisions of the country of origin’.
3. The certification in box 14 referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be accompanied by the following information:
(a)
the full name and address of the issuing competent body;
(b)
the signature of an official of the competent body;
(c)
the competent body's stamp.
Simplified procedure
1. VI-1 documents drawn up by wine producers in the third countries that have offered special guarantees accepted by the Union, as listed in Section B of Part IV of Annex VII, shall be considered as VI-1 documents drawn up by competent bodies and designated bodies or departments included in the list provided for in Article 51(1) in respect of the third countries concerned, provided that the producers have received individual authorisation from the competent bodies of those third countries and are subject to inspection by the latter.
2. Authorised producers as referred to in paragraph 1 shall use and complete VI-1 documents, entering in particular:
(a)
in box 1, their names and addresses and their registration numbers in the third countries listed in Section B of Part IV of Annex VII;
(b)
in box 9, the name and address of the competent body of the third country which authorised them;
(c)
in box 10, at least the particulars provided for in Article 21(b).
The producers shall sign in the space provided in boxes 9 and 10, after striking out the words ‘name and title of official’.
Neither stamps nor the name and address of a designated body or department shall be required.
Electronic document
1. The VI-1 document may be replaced by an electronic document for the import into the Union of wine products from third countries which have in place a system of checks accepted by the Union, in accordance with the second subparagraph, as equivalent to that set up for the same products under Union legislation.
A system of checks in a third country may be accepted as equivalent to that set up for the same products by the Union if it fulfils at least the following conditions:
(a)
it offers sufficient guarantees as to the nature, the origin and the traceability of the wine products produced or traded on the territory of the third country concerned;
(b)
it guarantees access to the data held in the electronic system used with regard to the registration and the identification of operators, competent bodies and designated bodies or departments;
(c)
it guarantees the possibility to check the data referred to in point (b) within the framework of a mutual administrative cooperation.
Third countries having in place a system of checks accepted by the Union as equivalent in accordance with the second subparagraph shall be included in the list set out in Section C of Part IV of Annex VII.
2. The electronic document provided for in paragraph 1 shall contain at least the information necessary for drawing up the VI-1 document and a unique administrative reference code assigned by or under the control of the competent bodies of the third country of export. That code shall be indicated on the commercial documents required for the import into the customs territory of the Union.
3. Access to the electronic document or to the data necessary for its establishment shall be given by the third country of export at any request of the competent authorities of the Member State where the goods are to be released into free circulation. Where access to the relevant electronic systems is not available, such data may also be requested in the form of a paper document.
4. The VI-2 extracts referred to in Article 22(1) may also be issued and used using computerised systems in accordance with detailed rules laid down by the competent authorities of the Member States. The content of an electronic VI-2 extract shall be identical to the one on paper.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
