Case C‑387/13

VAEX Varkens- en Veehandel BV

v

Productschap Vee en Vlees

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Agriculture — Regulation (EC) No 612/2009 — Export refunds — Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 — System of export licences — Export declaration submitted before the export licence was issued — Export carried out during the period of validity of the export licence — Rectification of irregularities’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 16 October 2014

1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Conditions for granting — Presentation of the export declaration for the goods before they leave the customs territory — Exporter not having a valid export licence at the date on which the declaration was accepted — No refund entitlement — Export carried out during the period of validity of an export licence — No effect

   (Commission Regulations Nos 376/2008, No 382/2008 and No 612/2009)

2. Customs union — Customs declarations — Ex post checks — Amendment of the export declaration — Amendment of the date of the declaration and the date of its acceptance — Lawfulness

   (Council Regulation No 2913/92, Art. 78; Commission Regulations No 376/2008, No 382/2008 and No 612/2009)

1.  The provisions of Regulation No 612/2009 on laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products and of Regulation No 376/2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products and Regulation No 382/2008 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector must be interpreted as precluding, as a rule, the payment of an export refund and the release of the security lodged in that connection when the exporter concerned did not have a valid export licence at the date the export declaration was accepted, even though the actual export of the goods concerned took place during the period of validity of the export licence issued to it.

   (see para. 42, operative part 1)

2.  The provisions of Regulation No 612/2009 on laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products and of Regulation No 376/2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products and Regulation No 382/2008 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector, read in conjunction with Article 78 of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code must be interpreted as not precluding, as a rule, post-clearance regularisation of the export declaration, enabling the exported quantity to be entered on the export licence, the export refund to be paid on the basis of that licence and, as the case may be, the security lodged to be released.

   Since the words ‘incorrect or incomplete information’ in Article 78(3) of that code must be interpreted as covering both clerical errors or omissions and errors of interpretation of the applicable law, the customs authorities may, on their own initiative or at the request of the declarant, amend the date of the declaration and, consequently, the date of its acceptance. However, the customs authorities, in the assessment they make when the date of the declaration or the date of its acceptance is amended on the basis of Article 78(1) of the code in question, are to take into account, in particular, the possibility of reviewing the statements contained in the declaration to be amended and in the application for amendment. Thus, if the amendment indicates that the objectives of the legislation at issue are not threatened, particularly in that the goods for which the export declaration was submitted were actually exported and sufficient evidence available to the competent authorities allows the connection between the quantity exported and the licence actually covering the export to be established, the customs authorities must, in accordance with Article 78(3) of the Customs Code, take the measures necessary to regularise the situation, taking account of the information available to them.

   (see paras 50, 52-55, operative part 2)

Case C‑387/13

VAEX Varkens- en Veehandel BV

v

Productschap Vee en Vlees

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Agriculture — Regulation (EC) No 612/2009 — Export refunds — Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 — System of export licences — Export declaration submitted before the export licence was issued — Export carried out during the period of validity of the export licence — Rectification of irregularities’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 16 October 2014

1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Conditions for granting — Presentation of the export declaration for the goods before they leave the customs territory — Exporter not having a valid export licence at the date on which the declaration was accepted — No refund entitlement — Export carried out during the period of validity of an export licence — No effect

   (Commission Regulations Nos 376/2008, No 382/2008 and No 612/2009)

2. Customs union — Customs declarations — Ex post checks — Amendment of the export declaration — Amendment of the date of the declaration and the date of its acceptance — Lawfulness

   (Council Regulation No 2913/92, Art. 78; Commission Regulations No 376/2008, No 382/2008 and No 612/2009)

1.  The provisions of Regulation No 612/2009 on laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products and of Regulation No 376/2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products and Regulation No 382/2008 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector must be interpreted as precluding, as a rule, the payment of an export refund and the release of the security lodged in that connection when the exporter concerned did not have a valid export licence at the date the export declaration was accepted, even though the actual export of the goods concerned took place during the period of validity of the export licence issued to it.

   (see para. 42, operative part 1)

2.  The provisions of Regulation No 612/2009 on laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products and of Regulation No 376/2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products and Regulation No 382/2008 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector, read in conjunction with Article 78 of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code must be interpreted as not precluding, as a rule, post-clearance regularisation of the export declaration, enabling the exported quantity to be entered on the export licence, the export refund to be paid on the basis of that licence and, as the case may be, the security lodged to be released.

   Since the words ‘incorrect or incomplete information’ in Article 78(3) of that code must be interpreted as covering both clerical errors or omissions and errors of interpretation of the applicable law, the customs authorities may, on their own initiative or at the request of the declarant, amend the date of the declaration and, consequently, the date of its acceptance. However, the customs authorities, in the assessment they make when the date of the declaration or the date of its acceptance is amended on the basis of Article 78(1) of the code in question, are to take into account, in particular, the possibility of reviewing the statements contained in the declaration to be amended and in the application for amendment. Thus, if the amendment indicates that the objectives of the legislation at issue are not threatened, particularly in that the goods for which the export declaration was submitted were actually exported and sufficient evidence available to the competent authorities allows the connection between the quantity exported and the licence actually covering the export to be established, the customs authorities must, in accordance with Article 78(3) of the Customs Code, take the measures necessary to regularise the situation, taking account of the information available to them.

   (see paras 50, 52-55, operative part 2)