Section I — Competent authorities
Enforcement of decisions
1. Where, within the reasonable time limit referred to in Article 22(1), point (b), an economic operator has failed to comply with the decision referred to in Article 20, the competent authorities shall be responsible for the enforcement of that decision and shall ensure all of the following:
(a)
the prohibition on the placing or making available of the products concerned on the Union market and on the export of them;
(b)
the withdrawal from the Union market by relevant authorities of products that have already been placed or made available on the market, in accordance with Union and national law;
(c)
the disposal of withdrawn products and products remaining with the economic operator in accordance with Article 25, at the expense of that economic operator;
(d)
the restriction of access to the products concerned and to listings referring to those products by requesting the relevant third party to implement such restriction.
2. If the economic operator has failed to comply with the decision referred to in Article 20, the competent authority shall impose either directly, in cooperation with other authorities, or by way of an application to the competent judicial authorities, penalties on the economic operator concerned pursuant to Article 37.
Withdrawal and disposal of products made with forced labour
1. An order to withdraw and dispose of products placed or made available on the Union market pursuant to Article 20(4) of this Regulation shall be communicated, through the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1) of this Regulation, to the market surveillance authorities referred to in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and any other relevant authorities for the products concerned.
2. The enforcement of the withdrawal and disposal of the products referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the responsibility of the competent authority, in coordination with any other relevant authorities for the products concerned.
Manner of disposal of products made with forced labour
In line with the waste hierarchy set out in Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 27 ) , economic operators and the Member States competent authorities responsible for the disposal of products, as required by Article 20(4), point (c), and Article 23(1), point (c), of this Regulation, respectively, shall dispose of those products by recycling them or, when that is not possible, by rendering those products inoperable. Perishable products, shall be donated for charitable or public interest purposes or, when that is not possible, be rendered inoperable.
Section II — Customs authorities
Controls by customs authorities
1. Products entering or leaving the Union market shall be subject to the controls and measures laid down in this Section.
2. The application of this Section is without prejudice to any other Union legal act governing customs risk management, customs controls and the release of goods for free circulation and export, in particular Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.
3. The lead competent authority shall, without delay, communicate to the customs authorities of Member States decisions referred to in Article 20 to prohibit the placing or making available of products on the Union market and their export.
4. Customs authorities shall rely on the decisions communicated pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article to identify products that may not comply with the prohibition laid down in Article 3 of this Regulation. For that purpose, they shall carry out controls on products entering or leaving the Union market based on risk management as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.
5. The lead competent authority shall, without delay, communicate to the customs authorities of Member States any withdrawal of, as well as any changes to a decision pursuant to a review in accordance with Article 21.
Additional information to be provided or made available to customs authorities
1. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 33 to supplement this Regulation by identifying the products or product groups for which the information referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be provided to customs authorities. The products or product group concerned shall be chosen following a proportionate approach, building, inter alia, on the information available in the database, information encoded in the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1), and substantiated information exchanged in the Network.
2. The person intending to place a product, covered by a delegated act adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, under the customs procedures ‘release for free circulation’ or ‘export’ shall provide or make available to customs authorities information identifying the product, information about the manufacturer or the producer and information about the product suppliers, unless the provision of such information is already required pursuant to customs legislation referred to in Article 5, point 2, of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.
3. The Commission may adopt implementing acts specifying the detailed arrangements for implementing paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, and defining the details of the information to be provided or made available to customs authorities pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2).
4. Where a specific product has been identified in a decision referred to in Article 20, in order for the customs authorities to be able to act immediately on that specific product, the procedure provided for in Article 34 shall apply to delegated acts adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article.
Suspension
Where customs authorities identify, through their relevant risk management system, that a product entering or leaving the Union market might, according to a decision communicated pursuant to Article 26(3), be in violation of Article 3, they shall suspend the release of that product for free circulation or export. Customs authorities shall immediately notify the competent authorities of their Member State of that suspension and transmit all relevant information to enable them to establish whether the product is covered by a decision communicated pursuant to Article 26(3).
Release for free circulation or export
1. Where the release for free circulation or the export of a product has been suspended in accordance with Article 28, that product shall be released for free circulation or exported where all the other requirements and formalities relating to such a release or export have been fulfilled and where either of the following conditions is satisfied:
(a)
within 4 working days of the suspension, if the competent authorities have not requested the customs authorities to maintain the suspension; in case of perishable products, animals and plants that time limit shall be 2 working days;
(b)
the competent authorities informed the customs authorities of their approval for release for free circulation or export pursuant to this Regulation.
2. The release for free circulation or export pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not be deemed proof of compliance with Union law and, in particular, with this Regulation.
Refusal to release for free circulation or export
1. Where the competent authorities conclude that a product, which has been notified to them in accordance with Article 28, is a product made with forced labour pursuant to a decision referred to in Article 20, they shall require customs authorities not to release it for free circulation or to allow its export.
2. Competent authorities shall immediately enter the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article in the information and communication system referred to in Article 7(1) and notify the customs authorities accordingly. Upon receipt of such notification, customs authorities shall not allow the release for free circulation or export of that product and shall also include the following notice in the customs data-processing system and, where possible, on the commercial invoice accompanying the product and any other relevant accompanying document:
‘Product made with forced labour – release for free circulation/export not authorised – Regulation (EU) 2024/3015’.
3. Where the release for free circulation or export of a product has been refused in accordance with paragraph 1, customs authorities shall dispose of that product in accordance with national law in compliance with Union law.
4. Upon the request of a competent authority, and on behalf and under the responsibility of that competent authority, customs authorities may alternatively seize the product the release for free circulation or export of which has been refused and put it at the disposal of and under the authority of that competent authority. In such cases, that competent authority shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the product concerned is disposed of in accordance with Article 25.
Exchange of information and cooperation
1. To enable a risk-based analysis of products entering or leaving the Union market and to ensure that controls are effective and performed in accordance with the requirements of this Regulation, the Commission, competent authorities and customs authorities shall cooperate closely and exchange risk-related information. To that end, the Commission shall take on a coordination role.
2. Cooperation among authorities and exchange of risk-related information necessary for the fulfilment of their functions under this Regulation, including through electronic means, shall take place in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 952/2013:
(a)
between customs authorities;
(b)
between competent authorities and customs authorities.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
