Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1225 of 27 July 2021 specifying the arrangements for the data exchanges pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, as regards the Member State of extra-Union export and the obligations of reporting units (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics ¹, and in particular Articles 5(5) and 7(1) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) It is necessary to specify the arrangements for the data exchange of statistical information related to exports and imports of goods to be provided by the customs and tax authorities of each Member State to the competent National Statistical Authorities (NSAs).

• (2) Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 sets out the exchange of microdata from customs declarations between the NSAs of the Member States for statistical purposes, in order to produce harmonised statistics on international trade in goods and to improve the quality of those statistics. It is necessary to specify the arrangements for this exchange of microdata between the NSAs, to define its scope, to list the microdata to be exchanged and to establish the format, the security measures and the procedure for exchanging these data.

• (3) It is necessary to amend Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 ² as regards the first reference period for the application of the definition of the Member State of extra-Union export, deferring its application by two years. This is to ensure that NSAs are capable of identifying goods in quasi-export and determining the Member State of actual export coherently, with the help of the microdata to be exchanged, and to enable NSAs to assure the quality of the statistics produced.

• (4) It is also necessary to amend Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 as regards the obligations of importers and exporters to assist NSAs in clarifying data quality issues.

• (5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the European Statistical System Committee, established by Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ³,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation specifies the arrangements for the data exchanges between customs authorities and national statistical authorities (NSAs), and for the data exchanges between tax authorities and NSAs. It also specifies the arrangements for the exchange of microdata from customs declarations related to exports and imports of goods between the NSAs.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

• (a) ‘centralised clearance in the transitional period’ means centralised clearance within the meaning of Article 179 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁴, which involves customs authorities of more than one Member State, and where the means of exchange of information between the customs authorities is set out by Article 18 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/341 ⁵;

• (b) ‘sending Member State’ means the Member State where the customs declaration is lodged, where the records from customs declarations refer to centralised clearance in the transitional period or to goods in quasi-export;

• (c) ‘receiving Member State’ means the Member State that obtains microdata from the sending Member State.

Article 3

Data exchange arrangements between customs authorities and NSAs

Article 4

Data exchange arrangements between tax authorities and national statistical authorities

Article 5

Arrangements for exchange of microdata from customs declarations between Member States for statistical purposes

• (a) where the records from customs declarations refer to imports under centralised clearance in the transitional period, the microdata as set out in column C1 of the Annex;

• (b) where the records from customs declarations refer to exports under centralised clearance in the transitional period, the microdata as set out in column C2 of the Annex;

• (c) where the records from customs declarations refer to goods in quasi-export, the microdata as set out in column C3 of the Annex.

Article 6

Timetable for the exchange of microdata between Member States

Article 7

Security measures

In accordance with Article 10(2) of Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 ⁶, in order to be entitled to receive microdata and metadata in accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation, the NSAs receiving or processing this microdata and metadata in the receiving Member State must ensure that their IT systems are protected at a level equivalent to the Commission’s communication and information systems security policy, as set out in Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 ⁷, its implementing rules and corresponding security standards.

Article 8

Data protection

With regard to the processing of personal data, the NSAs shall carry out their tasks for the purposes of this Regulation in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁸.

With regard to the processing of personal data by the Commission (Eurostat), it shall comply with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁹.

Article 9

Format of the microdata and metadata exchanged and procedure for the exchange

Article 10

Amendment to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 is amended as follows:

• (a) in Annex V, Section 2(2), point (a) is replaced by the following:

• ‘(a) ‘Member State of extra-Union export’ means the Member State in the statistical territory of which the goods are located at the time of release into the customs procedure or at the time of re-export.

However, in the case of goods in quasi-export, if the ‘Member State of actual export’ as specified in the second subparagraph of Section 17(2) of this Annex can be determined, the ‘Member State of extra-Union export’ from reference period January 2024 onwards shall be the Member State of actual export.’;

• (b) in Annex V, Section 8(3) is replaced by the following:

• ‘3. The importer in the Member State of import or the exporter in the Member State of export shall be obliged to assist the NSA in the Member State of import or in the Member State of export, respectively, in clarifying data quality issues related to statistical information, exclusively for the purpose of quality assurance of the data on international trade in goods.’.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2022.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 27 July 2021.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

ANNEX

Microdata to be exchanged

Items marked ‘M’ are mandatory, items marked ‘C’ are mandatory if available in the national customs system and items marked ‘O’ are optional. Items marked ‘-’ are not applicable.