Question 8433 — foreign trade

Summary

Customs agreements between the European Union and its partners allow partial or total exemption from customs duties on imports, on condition of presenting a certificate of origin. In order to control the validity of this financial advantage from which our companies benefit, the European Union customs code provides for the possibility for customs services to control operations after the entry of the goods. in the territory of the Union. In this case, customs calls upon its counterparts in the country of export who can verify the authenticity of the certificate presented. The latter can also check the supporting documents at the exporter's premises proving the originating status of the exported goods. In this regard, it is important that our importers be vigilant about the seriousness and ability of their suppliers to ensure themselves the rigorous conservation of these supporting documents. Otherwise, the benefit of the exemption from duties may be called into question. However, the new free trade agreements negotiated provide for the abolition of certificates of origin in favor of self-certification via the REX system. This development, if it does not eliminate the a posteriori control, results in the end of the authenticity control of the document to the extent where the third party supplier will itself issue the proof of origin which will accompany its goods. The economic action centers of the regional customs directorates are available to operators to support them in the implementation of this new system. The time limit available to the administration to establish the existence of a customs debt is provided for by Article 103§ 1 of the Union Customs Code which sets this time limit. recovery 3 years from the date of birth of the customs debt. However, paragraph 2 of the same article specifies that "when the customs debt arose as a result of an act which, at the time it was carried out, was punishable by criminal legal proceedings, the three-year period set out in paragraph 1 is increased to a minimum of five years and a maximum of ten years in accordance with national law". These European rules are of direct application in France.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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