In the Official Gazette no. 812 of August 24, 2021, the Order no. 1241/2021 of ANAF was published for the approval of the Technical Norms regarding the administration of tariff quotas in Romania.
We mention that the norms establish the functioning in Romania of the management system of tariff quotas opened by EU regulations, administered by the European Commission – General Directorate of Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD), in accordance with the chronological order of data acceptance of customs declarations for the free movement of goods, according to the principle “first come, first served”.
For the purposes of these technical norms, tariff quota refers to the volume of goods expressed in quantity or value that can be released for free circulation with a favorable tariff treatment, consisting in the reduction or exemption of customs duties, established by DG TAXUD.
According to the document, the request for allocation of the tariff quota is drawn up by the customs declarant only if the following conditions are cumulatively fulfilled:
- the tariff quota is opened by a union regulation in force;
- its balance is not exhausted.
The allocation request is submitted by completing the customs declaration in electronic form, with the following data:
- box 31 – the quantity and the code of the additional unit of measure, in case the tariff quota is expressed quantitatively in another unit of measure than the one provided in box 35, 38 or 41;
- box 36 – the tariff preference code, by which the benefit of the tariff quota is requested;
- box 39 – the serial number of the tariff quota, established by the regulation of the European Union that establishes the tariff quota;
- box 44 – the codes and references of the documents and certificates whose presentation is conditioned by the allocation of the tariff quota;
- box 48 – type of payment, type of guarantee, reference number of the guarantee (GRN) and date of issue, in the situation mentioned in articol 4 para.(1).
The allocation request is submitted by completing the customs declaration in electronic form.
If the tariff quota is considered critical in accordance with Article 53 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015 / 2,447, in application of the provisions of Article 153 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015 / 2,446, the customs clearance for goods is conditioned by the establishment of a guarantee. The guarantee must cover the difference in the amount of import duties and other duties applicable in the event that the favorable tariff treatment provided for in the tariff quota is not granted.
The allocation request is considered to be submitted together with the acceptance at the customs office of the customs declaration in electronic form, accompanied by the supporting documents, according to the provisions of articol 9 paragraph (1) of the annex to OPANAF no. 1885/2016.
Following acceptance by the customs office, the customs declaration containing a request for the allocation of a tariff quota is subject to documentary control.
The customs office verifies:
- a) the validity and balance of the tariff quota by consulting the Quota (database for the management of tariff quotas), on the website of the European Commission, or of the RCDPS application (Romanian system for automatic processing of import customs declaration), as well as the fulfillment of specific conditions provided by the regulation of the European Union that establishes it;
- b) payment of import duties and other taxes due on the release for free circulation of goods and, where appropriate, the provision of a security in accordance with Article 4.
If, following the documentary control, it is found that the tariff quota is exhausted or the customs declaration is improperly completed, the customs office does not grant customs clearance for the goods in question, and the customs declaration is rejected, according to Article 15 of the Annex to OPANAF no.1885 / 2016.
In this situation, the declaration procedure may be resumed by submitting another customs declaration, with or without a request for the allocation of a tariff quota.
We specify that the allocation request is considered valid at the moment of granting the customs clearance, according to the provisions of articles 194 and 195 of the Customs Code of the Union and of articles 246 and 247 of the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015 / 2.447.
The allocation request, automatically taken from the RCDPS system at the customs office, is verified by BC and sent to the European Commission, within the established deadline, through the COTA2 application (national IT application that supports the administration of tariff quotas by the Romanian customs authority).
The communication of the allocation request is made according to the tariff quota allocation program and the tariff quota allocation schedule. The decision of the European Commission regarding the total, partial allocation or rejection of the valid request for allocation of the tariff quota is automatically taken in the COTA2 application and retransmitted, through RCDPS, to the customs office in whose evidence the customs declaration is located.
According to ANAF Order 1241/2021, the customs office verifies the receipt in RCDPS of the European Commission’s decision and processes a new version of the customs declaration, with the changes occurred as a result of total or partial allocation or rejection of the tariff quota allocation by the European Commission.
Within 7 working days from the moment of allocating the tariff quota, the customs office proceeds to regularize the situation, by:
a) drawing up the decision for regularizing the situation with the differences to be collected and communicating the debtor, in order to collect these differences;
b) unblocking, if necessary, the guarantee constituted according to article 4.
Exceptional situations:
If, after granting customs clearance, the subsequent control finds that the goods did not meet the conditions for granting favorable tariff treatment under the tariff quota, the customs office proceeds to collect the amount of import duties and other taxes, by drawing up the decision for regularization of the situation and immediately informs BC (central office responsible for managing tariff quotas in Romania). BC returns without delay to the European Commission, through the COTA2 application, the quantity or value from the tariff quota allocated incorrectly.
We mention that the customs declarant can submit to the customs office a written request for retroactive allocation of a tariff quota, with the cumulative observance of the following conditions:
- a) the customs declaration has been submitted within the validity term of the European Union regulation establishing the tariff quota;
- b) all the conditions provided by the regulation establishing the tariff quota are fulfilled;
- c) the balance of the tariff quota from the date of acceptance of the customs declaration is not exhausted at the date of submission of the application for retroactive allocation.
The application shall specify the registration number of the customs declaration and the date of acceptance, the TARIC code of the goods, the serial number of the tariff quota, the origin of the goods and, as the case may be: net weight, gross weight, value or quantity in the additional unit of measure. request from the volume of the tariff quota.
The retroactive allocation request and the customs declaration are verified by the customs office, and if the request meets all the conditions provided above, it is sent on the same day to BC, which, after verifying it, communicates to the European Commission the data contained in the retroactive allocation request.
The decision of the European Commission regarding the total allocation, the partial allocation or the rejection of the request for retroactive allocation of the tariff quota shall be communicated to the customs office, which shall proceed to regularize the situation.
Alternative procedures:
In case of temporary unavailability of the RCDPS, which prevents the processing of the request for the allocation of the tariff quota, proceed as follows:
- on the date of granting the customs clearance, the customs office transmits to BC, by e-mail, an information regarding the use of the alternative procedure, accompanied by a copy of the paper customs declaration, and mentioning the following data: registration number of the customs declaration and the date of acceptance, the serial number of the tariff quota, the origin of the goods, the tariff preference, the net weight or, if applicable, the value or quantity in the additional unit of measure requested from the volume of the tariff quota;
- BC transmits on the same day to the European Commission, by e-mail, the data contained in the allocation request received from the customs office;
- the decision of the European Commission regarding the approval of the total or partial allocation or the rejection of the request for allocation of the tariff quota is sent to the customs office, immediately after its receipt;
- the customs office proceeds accordingly to the regularization of the situation within 7 working days from the receipt of the decision of the European Commission;
- the paper customs declaration is taken over in the computer system within maximum 24 hours from the restoration of the RCDPS application, in which case it is necessary to communicate with BC, in order to avoid retransmission of the allocation request, automatically taken over in the system.
In case of unavailability of the COTA2 application, which prevents the electronic transmission of the allocation request, BC immediately informs the Commission, by e-mail, about the functioning problems of SIIV, and the allocations for that day are suspended, in accordance with article 51 par. (1) of the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015 / 2.447.
The provisions of these Technical Norms shall be supplemented by the provisions of the Customs Code of the Union and of the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015 / 2.447.
Legal basis:
– ANAF Order 1885/2016 for the approval of the Technical Norms for the use of the Romanian System for automatic processing of the customs declaration on import;
– Romanian Customs Code;
– ANAF Order 1241/2021 for the approval of the Technical Norms regarding the administration of tariff quotas in Romania.