Controls
Article 26
1. Relevant products placed under the customs procedure ‘release for free circulation’ or ‘export’ shall be subject to the controls and measures laid down in this Chapter. The application of this Chapter is without prejudice to any other provisions of this Regulation as well as to other Union legal acts governing the release for free circulation or export of goods, in particular Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 and its Articles 46, 47, 134 and 267. Chapter VII of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 shall however not apply to controls on relevant products entering the market in so far as the application and enforcement of this Regulation is concerned. 2. Competent authorities shall be responsible for the overall enforcement of this Regulation with regard to a relevant product entering or leaving the market. In particular, competent authorities shall be responsible, in accordance with Article 16, for identifying checks to be carried out based on a risk-based approach and for establishing, through the checks referred to in Article 16, whether any such relevant product complies with Article 3. The competent authorities shall carry out those responsibilities in accordance with the relevant provisions of Chapter 3. 3. Without prejudice to paragraph 2 of this Article, customs authorities shall carry out controls on the customs declarations lodged in relation to relevant products entering or leaving the market in accordance with Articles 46 and 48 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. Such controls shall primarily be based on risk analysis, as established in Article 46(2) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. 4. The reference number of the due diligence statement shall be made available to customs authorities before the release for free circulation or export of a relevant product entering or leaving the market. For that purpose, except where the due diligence statement is made available through the electronic interface referred to in Article 28(2), the person lodging the customs declaration for release for free circulation or export of a relevant product shall make available to customs authorities the reference number of the due diligence statement assigned to that relevant product by the information system referred to in Article 33. 5. For the purpose of taking into account compliance with this Regulation on allowing a relevant product to be released for free circulation or exported: (a) until the electronic interface referred to in Article 28(1) is in place, paragraphs 6 to 9 of this Article shall not apply, and customs authorities shall exchange information and cooperate with competent authorities in accordance with Article 27, and, where necessary, shall take into account such exchange of information and cooperation on allowing relevant products to be released for free circulation or exported; (b) once the electronic interface referred to in Article 28(1) is in place, paragraphs 6 to 9 of this Article shall apply, and notifications and requests under paragraphs 6 to 9 of this Article shall take place by means of that electronic interface. 6. When carrying out controls on customs declarations for release for free circulation or export of a relevant product entering or leaving the market, customs authorities shall examine, using the electronic interface referred to in Article 28(1), the status assigned to the corresponding due diligence statement by competent authorities in the information system referred to in Article 33. 7. Where the status referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article indicates that the relevant product entering or leaving the market has been identified, pursuant to Article 17(2), as requiring to be checked before it is placed or made available on the market or exported, customs authorities shall suspend the release for free circulation or export of that relevant product. 8. Where all other requirements and formalities under Union or national law relating to the release for free circulation or export have been fulfilled, customs authorities shall allow a relevant product entering or leaving the market to be released for free circulation or exported in any of the following circumstances: (a) the status referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article does not indicate that the relevant product has been identified, pursuant to Article 17(2), as requiring to be checked before it is placed or made available on the market or exported; (b) the release for free circulation or export has been suspended in accordance with paragraph 7 of this Article, and the competent authorities have not requested to maintain the suspension in accordance with Article 17(3); (c) the release for free circulation or export has been suspended in accordance with paragraph 7 and the competent authorities have notified customs authorities that the suspension of the release for free circulation or export of the relevant products can be lifted. 9. Where the competent authorities conclude that a relevant product entering or leaving the market is non-compliant, they shall notify the customs authorities accordingly and the customs authorities shall not allow the release for free circulation or export of that relevant product. 10. The release for free circulation or export shall not be deemed proof of compliance with Union law and, in particular, with this Regulation.