General rules
1. The competent authorities referred to in Section 10 of this Regulation, refer to the competent authorities of the Member States designated pursuant Article 50 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
2. The competent authorities of the Member States shall provide each other with mutual assistance in accordance with this Section, in order to ensure the correct application of the rules of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 in cases which have relevance in more than one Member State.
3. The competent authorities of the Member States shall, upon request, communicate to each other relevant information about the controls performed pursuant to Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
4. The requests for mutual assistance as referred to in Article 62 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 shall be submitted by and to the competent authorities of the Member States.
5. The information to be exchanged between the competent authorities of the Member States with the intention to support control and enforcement activities may include:
(a)
the outcome of controls performed under Article 51(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 and under Article 54(2) of that Regulation;
(b)
self-declarations as referred to in Article 51 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411;
(c)
certificate of authorisation to use as referred to in Article 52(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, and as referred to in Annex III of this Regulation;
(d)
measures taken to remedy non-compliance as referred to in Article 52(4) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411;
(e)
measures as referred to in Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
6. All official communication between the competent authorities of the Member States shall be done in writing, through electronic means. The Commission may make available a computerised information management system, for the integrated operation of the mechanisms through which data, information and documents concerning official controls and other official activities are automatically exchanged. The information management system may be interconnected with other relevant Commission databases used by enforcement authorities in the Union for the safety and compliance of products.
7. Assistance shall include, where appropriate, and subject to the agreement of the competent authorities concerned, participation by the competent authorities of a Member State to on-the-spot official controls that the competent authorities of another Member State perform.
8. This Section shall be without prejudice to national law:
(a)
applicable to the release of documents and information that are the object of, or related to, judicial investigations and court proceedings, including criminal investigations; and
(b)
protecting natural or legal persons’ commercial interests.
9. Member States shall take measures to facilitate the transmission, from law enforcement authorities, public prosecutors and judicial authorities to the competent ones, of information on possible non-compliance with the rules referred to in Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 which is relevant for the application of this Section and which may constitute a risk to human health, or to the environment.
Assistance on request
1. Where the competent authorities of a Member State consider that, for the performance of official controls or for the effective follow-up to such controls in their territory, they require data or information from the competent authorities of another Member State, they shall issue a reasoned request for mutual assistance to the competent authorities of that Member State. The latter competent authorities shall:
(a)
acknowledge receipt of the request without delay;
(b)
where the requesting competent authority so specifies, indicate within 10 working days after the date of receipt of the request, the estimated time necessary to provide an informed response to the request; and
(c)
perform official controls or investigations necessary to provide the requesting competent authorities without delay with all necessary information and documents to enable them to take informed decisions and verify compliance with Union rules within their jurisdiction.
2. By agreement between the requesting competent authorities and the requested competent authorities, staff designated by the former may be present during the official controls and investigations referred to in paragraph 1, point (c), performed by the requested competent authorities.
3. In such cases the staff of the requesting competent authorities shall:
(a)
at all times be able to produce written authority stating their identity and their official capacity;
(b)
be granted access by the operator to the same premises and documents as the staff of the requested competent authorities, through their intermediary, and for the sole purpose of the administrative inquiry being carried out; and
(c)
not, on their own initiative, exercise the powers of inquiry conferred on officials of the requested competent authorities.
Assistance without request in the event of non-compliance
1. When the competent authorities of a Member State become aware of a case of non-compliance, and if such non-compliance may have implications for another Member State, they shall notify such information to the competent authorities of that other Member State without being requested to do so and without undue delay.
2. The competent authorities notified in accordance with paragraph 1 shall:
(a)
acknowledge receipt of the notification without undue delay;
(b)
where the notifying competent authority so specifies, indicate within 10 working days after the date of receipt of the notification:
(i)
what investigations they intend to carry out; or
(ii)
the reasons why they consider that no investigations are necessary; and
(c)
where investigations referred to in point (b) are considered necessary, investigate the matter and inform the notifying competent authorities without delay of the results and, where appropriate, of any measures taken.
3. The information referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 shall be notified to the Commission to a dedicated functional mailbox managed by the Directorate responsible for the craft and industrial geographical indications scheme.
Non-compliance creating a risk or a repeated or potentially serious infringement
1. Where, during official controls performed on goods originating in another Member State, the competent authorities establish that such goods do not comply with the rules of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 in such a way as to create a risk to human health or to the environment, or to constitute a potentially serious infringement of those rules, they shall, without delay, notify the competent authorities of the relevant Member State and of any other concerned Member State in order to enable those competent authorities to undertake appropriate investigations.
2. The notified competent authorities shall without delay:
(a)
acknowledge receipt of the notification;
(b)
where the notifying competent authority so specifies, indicate what investigations they intend to carry out; and
(c)
investigate the matter, take all necessary measures that exist in the Member State concerned to enforce Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 and inform the notifying competent authorities of the nature of the investigations and official controls performed, of the decisions taken and of the reasons for such decisions.
3. If the notifying competent authorities have reason to believe that the investigations performed or the measures taken by the notified competent authorities do not adequately address the non-compliance established, they shall request, when it is reasonable, the notified competent authorities to complement the official controls performed or the measures taken. In such cases, both the notifying competent authorities and the notified competent authorities shall seek an agreed approach with the aim of appropriately addressing the non-compliance, including through joint official controls and investigations performed in accordance with Article 34(2) and (3).
4. When official controls performed on goods originating in another Member State show repeated cases of non-compliance as referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Member State of destination shall inform the competent authorities of the other Member States without delay.
Assistance on the basis of information provided by third countries
1. When competent authorities receive information from a third country indicating non-compliance in the Union with Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 or a risk to humans or the environment, they shall, without delay:
(a)
notify such information to the competent authorities of other concerned Member States; and
(b)
communicate such information to the Commission where it is or may be relevant at Union level.
2. Information obtained through official controls and investigations performed in accordance with this Regulation may be communicated to the third country referred to in paragraph 1, provided that:
(a)
the competent authorities which have provided the information consent to such communication;
(b)
the third country has undertaken to provide the assistance necessary to gather evidence of practices that are or appear to be non-compliant with Union rules or that pose a risk to humans or the environment; and
(c)
relevant Union and national rules applicable to the communication of personal data to third countries are complied with.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
