ANNEX IIISupplementary provisions
ANNEX III Conditions governing the release for free circulation into the European Union of timber and derived products exported from a partner country and covered by a FLEGT licence GENERAL FRAMEWORK Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1024/2008 ( 1 ) of 17 October 2008 laying down detailed measures for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005, laying down detailed measures for the entry onto the Union market of timber and derived products covered by a FLEGT licence and coming from the CAR. The procedures laid out in these regulations anticipate a possible adaptation to the national requirements of Member States and, in particular, the possibility that the competent authorities responsible for accepting FLEGT licences during entry onto the Union market may be the customs authority or another administration. For this reason, the description of the process anticipates two stages in the verification: (1) documentary control of the licence and (2) a check that the shipment actually complies with the corresponding licence. This process established in the European Union aims to strengthen the controls put in place by the CAR and verify that the FLEGT licences presented on entry into the Union are indeed those that were duly issued and registered by the CAR’s licensing authority, and that they cover the shipments that the CAR’s authorities intended them to. The competent authorities do not have a mandate to question the CAR’s legality assurance system and the validity of licence award, these issues being considered, as necessary, by the Joint Implementation Committee. Article 1 Processing licences 1. The FLEGT licence (hereinafter the ‘licence’) shall be submitted to the competent authority of the Member State in which the shipment ( 2 ) covered by that licence is declared for release for free circulation ( 3 ) . 2. Once a licence has been accepted, the competent authorities indicated in paragraph 1 shall inform the customs authorities, in accordance with current national procedures. Article 2 Documentary control of licences 1. Paper-based licences shall conform to the format set out in Annex IV. 2. A licence submitted on a date past its expiry date shall be considered null and void. 3. The licence may not include any deletions or alterations, unless these have been validated by the licensing authority. 4. The extension of the validity of a licence shall not be accepted unless that extension has been validated by the licensing authority. 5. A duplicate or replacement licence shall not be accepted unless it has been issued and validated by the licensing authority. Article 3 Request for additional information 1. In case of doubt concerning a FLEGT licence, a duplicate or replacement, the competent authority may request additional information from the licensing authority. 2. A copy of the licence, duplicate or replacement in question may be forwarded together with the request. Article 4 Physical verification 1. Checks shall be conducted by the competent authorities, as appropriate, to ensure that the shipment actually complies with the corresponding licence. 2. If the competent authorities consider it necessary to further verify the shipment, checks may be carried out to establish whether the shipment in question conforms to the information provided in the licence and to the records relating to the licence in question which are held by the licensing authority. 3. Where the volume or weight of the timber products contained in the shipment presented for release for free circulation does not deviate by more than 10 % from the volume or weight indicated in the corresponding licence, the shipment shall be considered as conforming to the information provided in the licence insofar as volume or weight is concerned. 4. The costs entailed in these checks shall be the responsibility of the importer, unless the national legislation of the Member States in question states otherwise. Article 5 Prior verification A licence lodged prior to the arrival of the shipment it accompanies may be accepted if it satisfies all the requirements stated in Annex IV and if it is not considered necessary to undertake additional checks in accordance with Articles 3 and 4 of this Annex. Article 6 Release for free circulation 1. Reference shall be made, in Box 44 of the Single Administrative Document on which the customs declaration for release for free circulation appears, to the number of the licence covering the timber and derived products subject to this declaration. Where the customs declaration is made via an electronic procedure, the reference shall be provided in the appropriate box. 2. The timber and derived products shall only be released for free circulation when the procedure described in this Annex has been completed. ( 1 ) OJ L 277, 18.10.2008, p. 23 . ( 2 ) Shipment is understood as meaning a quantity of timber or derived products as given in Annexes II and III of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005, accompanied by a FLEGT licence, that is sent by a consignor or a shipper on departure from a partner country and which is presented for release for free circulation at a customs office in the Union. ( 3 ) Release for free circulation is a customs procedure of the Union. Release for free circulation involves: (1) the collection of any import duties due; (2) the collection, as appropriate, of other charges, according to the relevant provisions in force in this regard; (3) the application of commercial policy measures, and prohibitions and restrictions, if these have not been applied at an earlier stage (in fact, it is within these measures that the presence of a FLEGT licence will be verified); (4) the completion of other formalities laid down in respect of the importation of goods. Release for free circulation confers the customs status of Union goods on a non-Union product.