Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2573 of 13 December 2022 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/323 as regards the messages relating to the movements of excise goods under duty suspension pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) No 389/2012

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) No 389/2012 of 2 May 2012 on administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2073/2004 ¹, and in particular Article 9(2), Article 15(5) and Article 16(3) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Council Directive 2008/118/EC ² lays down the procedure to be followed for movements of excise goods under a duty suspension arrangement under the computerised system (‘the computerised system’) established by Article 1 of Decision No 1152/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ³.

• (2) Directive 2008/118/EC will be repealed and replaced by Council Directive (EU) 2020/262 ⁴ with effect from 13 February 2023. From that date, movements of excise goods under a duty suspension arrangement, as well as excise goods which have been released for consumption in the territory of one Member State and are moved to the territory of another Member State in order to be delivered there for commercial purposes, are to be monitored by the computerised system referred to in Article 1 of Decision (EU) 2020/263 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁵.

• (3) As from 13 February 2023, movements of excise goods which have been released for consumption in the territory of one Member State, and are moved to the territory of another Member State, in order to be delivered there for commercial purposes, are to take place under cover of an electronic simplified administrative document submitted by the consignor. Up to 13 February 2023, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3649/92 ⁶ applies, in accordance with which such movements take place outside the computerised system and under cover of a document in paper form, which is a simplified accompanying document.

• (4) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/323 ⁷ sets out the rules on cooperation and exchange of information between Member States regarding only goods that are under an excise duty suspension arrangement. As a result of changes introduced by Directive (EU) 2020/262, the scope of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/323 needs to be amended to include the movements of excise goods which have been released for consumption in the territory of one Member State and are moved to the territory of another Member State in order to be delivered there for commercial purposes.

• (5) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/323 should therefore be amended accordingly.

• (6) In order to align the application date of this Regulation with the application date of the relevant provisions of Directive (EU) 2020/262, the application of this Regulation should be deferred.

• (7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Excise Duty,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/323 is amended as follows:

• (1) the title is replaced by the following:

‘Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/323 of 24 February 2016 laying down detailed rules on cooperation and exchange of information between Member States regarding excise goods pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) No 389/2012’;

• (2) in Article 1, the introductory wording is replaced by the following:

‘For the purposes of cooperation and exchange of information between Member States regarding the movements of excise goods as referred to in Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Council Directive (EU) 2020/262[^ntr*-L_2022334EN.01000101-E0008] this Regulation lays down detailed rules concerning the following:

[^ntr*-L_2022334EN.01000101-E0008]: Council Directive (EU) 2020/262 of 19 December 2019 laying down the general arrangements for excise duty (OJ L 58, 27.2.2020, p. 4).’;"

• (3) Article 2 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘movement’ means a movement of excise goods between two or more Member States as referred to in Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Directive (EU) 2020/262.’;

• (4) in Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   Where codes are required for the completion of certain data fields in the mutual administrative assistance documents in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation, the codes listed in Annex II to this Regulation, Annex II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 612/2013[^ntr-L_2022334EN.01000101-E0009] and Annex II to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1636[^ntr*-L_2022334EN.01000101-E0010] shall be used as set out in the tables of Annex I to this Regulation.

[^ntr*-L_2022334EN.01000101-E0009]: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 612/2013 of 25 June 2013 on the operation of the register of economic operators and tax warehouses, related statistics and reporting pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) No 389/2012 on administrative cooperation in the field of excise duties (OJ L 173, 26.6.2013, p. 9)."

[^ntr**-L_2022334EN.01000101-E0010]: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1636 of 5 July 2022 supplementing Council Directive (EU) 2020/262 by establishing the structure and content of the documents exchanged in the context of movement of excise goods, and establishing a threshold for the losses due to the nature of the goods (OJ L 247, 23.9.2022, p. 2)’;"

• (5) Article 4 is amended as follows:

• (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1.   Where the administrative reference code of the electronic administrative document or the electronic simplified administrative document, under cover of which a movement takes place, assigned in accordance with Article 20(3), third subparagraph, or Article 36(2), third subparagraph, of Directive (EU) 2020/262, is known to the requesting authority, it may make a request for any document referred to in Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1636 and any other document relating to the movement.

For that purpose the requesting authority shall send a ‘Movement download request’ document, as set out in Table 1 of Annex I, to the requested authority in the Member State of dispatch. The request shall state the administrative reference code of the electronic administrative document or the electronic simplified administrative document under cover of which the movement takes place.’;

• (b) in paragraph 2, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The requested authority shall also send a ‘History of a movement’ document, as set out in Table 3 of Annex I, containing a copy of the electronic administrative document, or the electronic simplified administrative document, under cover of which the movement takes place and of any other documents relating to that movement.’;

• (6) Article 5 is amended as follows:

• (a) in paragraph 1, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘Where the administrative reference code or codes of one or more electronic administrative documents, or electronic simplified administrative documents, for which the requesting authority is searching, are not known, and the requesting authority believes that another Member State is the Member State of dispatch, the requesting authority may request a search to be carried out by the competent authority of that other Member State for a list of electronic administrative documents or electronic simplified administrative documents under cover of which relevant movements take place.’;

• (b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   The requested authority shall respond to requests made in accordance with paragraph 1 by returning a list of electronic administrative documents, or electronic simplified administrative documents, matching the search criteria selected in accordance with paragraph 1, second subparagraph, identified by their administrative reference codes using the ‘List of e-AD/e-SAD as a result of a general query’ document, as set out in Table 5 of Annex I.’;

• (7) in Article 6, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1.   Requests for information regarding excise goods as referred to in Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Directive (EU) 2020/262 that is not contained in the computerised system shall be made by sending an ‘Administrative cooperation common request’ document, as set out in Table 7 of Annex I to this Regulation. The request type shall be set to ‘Administrative cooperation’.’;

• (8) Article 6a is replaced by the following:

‘Article 6a

Request for manual closure

For the purposes of Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) No 389/2012, when the movement of excise goods as referred to in Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Directive (EU) 2020/262 cannot be closed under Articles 24, 25 or 37 of that Directive, the requesting authority may request the competent authority of the Member State of dispatch to close a movement of excise goods as referred to in Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of that Directive manually. Such a request shall be made by sending a ‘Manual Closure Request’ document set out in Table 15 of Annex I to this Regulation.’;

• (9) Article 10 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 10

Mandatory exchange of information — Administrative cooperation results

Where one of the cases referred to in Article 15(1), points (a) to (e), of Regulation (EU) No 389/2012 is detected as a result of a documentary or physical control of goods at the premises of a registered consignee, within the meaning of Article 3(9) of Directive (EU) 2020/262 (‘registered consignee’), of an authorised warehouse keeper within the meaning of Article 3(1) of that Directive (‘authorised warehouse keeper’), of a certified consignor, within the meaning of Article 3(12) of that Directive (‘certified consignor’), or of a certified consignee, within the meaning of Article 3(13) of that Directive (‘certified consignee’), the mandatory transmission of the necessary information shall be carried out using an ‘Administrative cooperation results’ document, as set out in Table 10 of Annex I to this Regulation.

The ‘Administrative cooperation results’ document shall be sent to the competent authorities in the Member State concerned within seven days of the control.’;

• (10) Article 13 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 13

Mandatory exchange of information — alert or rejection notification

Where a competent authority becomes aware that excise goods which are dispatched within the meaning of Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Directive (EU) 2020/262 had not been requested, or that the content of the electronic administrative document or the electronic simplified administrative document is incorrect, and the competent authority suspects that this is due to one of cases referred to in Article 15(1), points (a), (b), (c) or (e), of Regulation (EU) No 389/2012, it shall send an ‘Alert or rejection of an e-AD/e-SAD’ document, as set out in Table 14 of Annex I to this Regulation, to the competent authority of the Member State of dispatch.

The ‘Alert or Rejection of an e-AD/e-SAD’ document shall be sent to the competent authority of the Member State of dispatch within one day of the moment when the competent authority becomes aware of the facts referred to in the first paragraph.’;

• (11) in Article 14a, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘For the purpose of Article 15(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 389/2012, where a competent authority of the Member State of dispatch has received evidence of the completion of a movement of excise goods within the meaning of Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Directive (EU) 2020/262, and the movement cannot be closed under Articles 24, 25 or 37 of that Directive, it shall decide whether to close the movement of excise goods manually.’;

• (12) Annex I is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;

• (13) Annex II is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 2

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 13 February 2023.

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

Done at Brussels, 13 December 2022.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

ANNEX I

Annex I is amended as follows:

• (1) the subheading is replaced by the following:

‘ Electronic messages used for the purpose of information exchange concerning excise goods as referred to in the meaning of Chapter IV, and Section 2 of Chapter V, of Directive (EU) 2020/262 ’;

• (2) the Explanatory Notes are amended as follows:

• (a) in point (1), the introductory wording is replaced by the following:

‘The data elements of the electronic messages used for the purpose of information exchange concerning excise goods within the meaning of Chapter IV and Chapter V, Section 2, of Directive (EU) 2020/262 using the computerised system referred to in Article 1 of Decision (EU) 2020/263 and in Article 2, point (17), of Regulation (EU) No 389/2012 are structured in data groups and, where applicable, data subgroups. Details regarding the data and their use are presented in the tables of this Annex, in which:’;

• (b) in point (2), the following second indent is inserted:

• ‘— e-SAD: electronic simplified administrative document,’;

• (3) tables 1 to 16 are replaced by the following:

‘Table 1

(referred to in Article 4)

Movement Download Request

Table 2

(referred to in Article 4)

Movement Download Answer

Table 3

(referred to in Article 4)

History of a movement