DFFE
Export Refund Department
October 2004
Background
A legal basis has been established for the acceptance of electronic transport documentation in connection with approval of the entitlement to export refunds. However, in discussions with ToldSkat and the DFFE the Commission has emphasised that it is up to the authorities to ensure that matters of auditing are as they should be – including that the control of the electronic data is in accordance with rules and regulations, and that this control can be documented.
Furthermore, any access to historical data and the validity of the data to which access is achieved must be secured by appropriate measures. Thus, it is the Danish authorities’ duty to lay down the more detailed conditions for the use of electronic transport documentation. These include:
The scheme will also be applicable to the basis for completion of the export procedure from the customs territory of the Community (exports without export refund).
The approval procedure proposed by the Danish authorities contains two overall components:
The approval procedure is based on applicable EU legislation in the field of export refunds and, thus, complements the obligations encumbent on the exporter pursuant to regulation 800/99 in terms of providing the necessary information.
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of using electronic transport documentation is to simplify the authorities’ administration and to limit the exporters’ and the carriers’ documentation to the authorities to the bare necessity and to one authority only.
The simplification is as follows:
The authorities are granted access – normally with the exporter’s consent – to the same data regarding the Bill of Lading, transport progress, and container movements as the carriers make available to the exporter. Whether or not the authorities are granted such access is a matter between the exporter and its carrier, as it involves their internal customer relations.
The authorities’ requirement is, as a minimum, a statement in writing from the carrier allowing such access. There are, however, no restrictions on the form of cooperation. It might also involve an agreement or a contract between the relevant parties (carrier and authorities [ToldSkat and the DFFE]).
Restrictions
A revocation of the approval may become relevant if it turns out that the carriers cannot meet the basic conditions laid down in the approval procedure of which the components are outlined in the subsequent checklist.
It should be emphasised that, even if the authorities are given access to the information without any action being required on the part of the exporter, this does not exempt the exporters from fulfilling their obligations under the customs legislation and the refund regulations. The exporters will still be bound to ensure that the necessary details have been provided within twelve months following the acceptance date.
The Granting of Approval
The DFFE and ToldSkat will grant their approval, if any, after having paid visits to and processed the information provided by the firms. The approval will apply solely to the authorities’ access to information concerning exports made in Denmark (exports or refund exports).
The authorities reserve the right to revert with supplementary questions before any final approval is granted (provisional approval).
Information about approved enterprises will be published in the DFFE’s Newsletter, and it is assumed that approved firms will participate in informatory meetings with the exporters concerning this scheme.
Procedure: The checklist will be reviewed in connection with visits to the firm. The reply should be as exhaustive as possible (Yes, No, description).
Supplementary material from the firms is requested and received and may be used in connection with the subsequent processing.
Post-processing: Review and status meeting after each visit – approval or refusal. The result will be accompanied by a number of recommendations to be retried in connection with any future accrediting. The firms are requested to notify the authorities of significant changes to matters relevant to the accrediting.
Contents: The checklist is a guideline, and no weighting of the factors has been made beforehand, nor is there any answer book. The approval, if any, will be made in the light of an overall evaluation of the information available.
Name of the firm:
Address:
Person to contact:
The reference here is solely to the Danish divisions of these carrier undertakings.
1. Maersk Sealand
2. P&O Nedloyd
3. Royal Arctic Line
4. Hapag Lloyd - Fellowships
The departure customs office will grant exit on the single administrative document by means of a special stamp containing the following details:
Copy 1
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Exported out of the Customs Territory of the Community | |
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B/L No. |
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Shipped on board ocean liner |
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Shipped on board feeder boat |
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Copy 2
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Exported out of the Customs Territory of the Community | |
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B/L No. |
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Shipped on board ocean liner |
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Shipped on board feeder boat |
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Officer’s Name: |
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Figure: Control Procedure of Bill of Lading
Figure: Payment Procedure in DFFE (Paying Agency) 
Klik på billedet for at se html-versionen af: ''Figure: Payment Procedure in DFFE (Paying Agency)''
1 The basis can be found in the Annex to regulation 800/99: ”New rules for the application of the provisions in regulation (EC) 800/99”, K(2000) 2255 final version.
2 The model is based on regulation (EC) No. 456/2003 of 12 March 2003 laying down special rules on the prefinancing of export refunds for certain beef and veal products placed under a customs-warehousing or free-zone procedure, from which appears, i.a., that the operator must agree in writing to maintain an electronic database, etc., and that "the database” may be kept by a third party if the latter is acting on behalf of the operator. It is, however, the operator’s responsibility that the information in "the database” is accurate.
3 The model is based on Article 16 (5) of regulation (EC) No. 800/1999 of 15 April 1999 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, from which appears, i.a., that supervisory ahencies are subject to approval by the authorities of the Member State where they are registered, and that the approval covers a period of three years.
4 Exporters are then not normally required to submit transport documentation to the DFFE if the rate of refund per lot of goods does not exceed:
5 Partly doc TAXUD/1234/2001 – rev. 3 as well as regulation (EC) No. 444/2002.
6 When feeder boats leave a Danish port, the customs formalities (including T5) are completed in Danish port, even though the goods will be transhipped in another EU port. Therefore the Bill of Lading must be presented in Danish port. If the T5 formalities are not completed in Danish port, the T5 and the Bill of Lading must be submitted to the customs authorities in the port – e.g., Hamburg or Bremerhaven – where the goods will be transhipped to an ocean liner. In practice the completion of customs formalities occurs at the rate of 100 % for feeder boat traffic in Danish port.
7 The model is referred to in Article 9 (1) (c) of regulation (EC) 800/99.
8 There will be a validation of the declarations in the light of the departure information. Thereafter no D2 demands will be made, as a final payment is made rather than payment in advance. The exception from this is in connection with random sampling (spot checks).
9 Reference is made here to the procedure where the exporter or its representative presents export papers to the departure customs office, which will determine within a certain time horizon whether substitution control is to be performed.
10 Reference is made here to the provisions in regulation 1253/2002, which amends regulation 800/99, where a raising of the limits for the presentation of certificates of arrival in the case of differentiated refund must not result in the exporters artificially splitting up exports with a view to avoiding the duty to provide certificates of arrival.
11 An example of an electronic Bill of Lading is found under point 6 (page 28).
12 The checklist is a minor extension of the existing control procedures with the addition of elements from the DFFE’s checklists for the control of transport documentation. The checklist is available as crude copy in the Annex but will not become part of the EAGGF manual (the customs authorities’ directives in the field of EAGGF) as final instructions until 1 February 2005, when the scheme comes into force.
13 The overall principle in regulation 1663/95 on "the four eye principle” will lapse in connection with electronic processing, where the risk of inadvertent or conscious typing errors, etc., is eliminated.
14 There is, indeed, no demand that the scrutiny of the transport document or the information therein must be made after the time of arrival at the destination. Nor is there any demand that the scrutiny must be made with the most recently issued – and most recently updated – transport document. Therefore the Bill of Lading being processed will probably be the Bill of Lading first issued. A control of this factor could be made only through a third-party hearing of the carrier and an investigation of the terms of payment and contracts for the individual transactions.
15 The situation might be likened to a demand saying that the transport documentation in connection with road carriage must accompany the goods while they are being transported and under any circumstances be endorsed by the official authorities in the recipient country and often also in the countries of transit (if this is normal practice for goods carriage in those countries). There is no legal basis in Community laws (refund and/or customs regulations) for making such a demand. Nevertheless the Danish authorities have chosen to implement such a rule on a strictly administrative basis.
16 The departure customs office grants passage on the single administrative document by means of a special stamp containing the following details:
17 Specification of reference to homepage as well as user number/identification for access to the carrier’s electronic database. The information must appear from the export papers presented to the departure region – Copy 1, YM shipping note, etc.
18 This extra follow-up procedure must be notified via the EAGGF manual. Here the aim will be that all cases are processed as quickly as possible, in that basically all relevant details are available at the time when the Bill of Lading is issued. It is furthermore envisaged that, during the 6-month trial period, there will be a steering group or following group which officers at the customs regions may contact if they encounter problems with the approval of transactions on the available basis. In principle, this procedure is intended to avoid transactions being forwarded as non-approved or giving rise to a customs report or other statement, so that they are subject to a far more comprehensive and resource-heavy follow-up procedure.
19 Instructions will be issued to the effect that, if ToldSkat cannot approve because of inconsistencies, etc., the departure date will have to be inserted together with a special control code indicating that the DFFE introduces a “freeze” and conducts the administrative procedure subsequently.
20 Extension of the time limit may be applied for only for the purpose of submitting the documentation to be delivered in connection with differentiated refunds, cf. Article 16 of regulation 800/99. For other exports and evidentiary documentation therefor, the 12-month time limit applies.
21 The checklist is attached as an Appendix to this Report.
22 I.e., a through bill of lading with final destination outside the customs territory of the Community.
23 Thus, the General Agreement (draft) says: ”To ensure that item 4 (iii) of the Annex to regulation 1663/95 has been fulfilled, ToldSkat shall once annually confirm in writing that they are familiar with the contents of the Commission’s guidelines No. 9 concerning ”Delegation of tasks to other agencies and services” and No. 10 concerning ”Physical inspection”, and that the obligations specified in these guidelines and in this Agreement have been complied with”.
24 An important reason for ensuring a fast track procedure for all normal transactions is that as from the start of 2005 the DFFE will initiate an ongoing licence amortization implying that the amortization sheet will be dispensed with when exporting from a Danish port. Thus, the declaration serves both as proof of exit from the customs territory of the Community and as proof of the use of the licence. Problems with the DFFE’s administrative processing system for continuous and automatic amortization on the licences may occur if the declaration is delayed for, say, more than the 60 days which is the deadline for exit from the customs territory of the Community – but also the deadline for proof of the use of the licence (the former amortization sheet).
25 These will include members of the working group who have been in charge of the accrediting of carriers as well as representatives of the EKSO, Internal Audit at the DFFE, and the Central Customs and Tax Administration.