COUNCIL DECISION

of 28 May 1996

on the post-clearance recovery of the customs debt

(96/C 170/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 152 thereof,

Whereas preferential arrangements are a part of common commercial policy and, where applicable, of development cooperation policy;

Whereas preferential customs arrangements are based on mutual trust between the authorities of the parties concerned;

Whereas, in the context of these arrangements, acts of third-country authorities may lead to irregularities which, as the law stands at present, can be corrected only by charging the customs debt to Community traders;

Whereas this situation is unfair to Community traders who could not reasonably detect irregularities in the acts of third-country authorities;

Whereas the European Parliament and the Council have before them a proposal for a Regulation amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), Article 12 of which enables Community traders to obtain binding origin information which they may use for a specified period;

Whereas this new possibility improves the situation of Community traders but does not resolve all problems,

REQUESTS the Commission to carry out a study with a view to finding an overall solution to the recovery problems mentioned above and to submit to it by 31 December 1996 any appropriate proposal covering both past and future situations.

Done at Brussels, 28 May 1996.

For the Council

The President

G. BOGI

(1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. Regulation as amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.