C. sp. z o.o. sp.k. v Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Gdańsku.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: General Court (European Union)
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:T:2026:53
• Docket Number: T-177/25
• Date: 28 January 2026

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Fifth Chamber, sitting with five Judges)

28 January 2026 (*)

( Reference for a preliminary ruling – Customs union – Union Customs Code – Import and export procedures – Tariff quotas – Exhaustion of the quota on the first day of its opening – No quota number integrated into the TARIC code – Subsequent amendment of the customs declaration in order to benefit from inclusion in the quota – Concept of ‘amendment [permitting] the declarant to comply with his or her obligations relating to the placing of the goods under the customs procedure concerned’ – Article 173(3) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 )

In Case T‑177/25,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny (Supreme Administrative Court, Poland), made by decision of 30 December 2024, received at the Court on 24 February 2025, in the proceedings

C. sp. z o.o. sp.k.

v

Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Gdańsku,

other party:

Prokurator Krajowy,

THE GENERAL COURT (Fifth Chamber, sitting with five Judges),

composed of M. Sampol Pucurull, President, T. Pynnä, J. Laitenberger (Rapporteur), M. Stancu and W. Valasidis, Judges,

Advocate General: J. Martín y Pérez de Nanclares,

Registrar: V. Di Bucci,

having regard to the transmission of the request for a preliminary ruling to the General Court by the Court of Justice on 12 March 2025, pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 50b of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union,

having regard to the fact that the case concerns the area referred to in point (c) of the first paragraph of Article 50b of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union,

having regard to the written part of the procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– C. sp. z o.o. sp.k., by G. Flisiak and P. Kubala, lawyers,

– the Polish Government, by B. Majczyna and D. Lutostańska, acting as Agents,

– the European Commission, by B. Eggers and K. Herrmann, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This request for a preliminary ruling, made by the Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny (Supreme Administrative Court, Poland), concerns the interpretation of Article 2 TEU and of Article 22(3), Article 120(1), and Article 173(3) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ 2013 L 269, p. 1) (‘the Union Customs Code’).

2 The request has been made in proceedings between C. sp. z o.o. sp.k., a company incorporated under Polish law importing inter alia natural honey, and the Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Gdańsku (Director of the Tax Administration Chamber, Gdańsk, Poland) (‘the customs authority’), concerning that authority’s refusal to apply a zero-rate customs duty to goods imported from Ukraine into the European Union by C.

Legal framework

The Union Customs Code

3 Article 15 of the Union Customs Code is worded as follows:

‘…

2. The lodging of a customs declaration, temporary storage declaration, entry summary declaration, exit summary declaration, re-export declaration or re-export notification by a person to the customs authorities, or the submission of an application for an authorisation or any other decision, shall render the person concerned responsible for all of the following:

(a) the accuracy and completeness of the information given in the declaration, notification or application;

…’

4 Article 22 of the Union Customs Code provides as follows:

‘1. Where a person applies for a decision relating to the application of the customs legislation, that person shall supply all the information required by the competent customs authorities in order to enable them to take that decision.

A decision may also be applied for by, and taken with regard to, several persons, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the customs legislation.

Except where otherwise provided, the competent customs authority shall be that of the place where the applicant’s main accounts for customs purposes are held or accessible, and where at least part of the activities to be covered by the decision are to be carried out.

…

3. The competent customs authority shall take a decision as referred to in paragraph 1, and shall notify the applicant without delay, and at the latest within 120 days of the date of acceptance of the application, except where otherwise provided.

Where the customs authorities are unable to comply with the time limit for taking a decision, they shall inform the applicant of that fact before the expiry of that time limit, stating the reasons and indicating the further period of time which they consider necessary in order to take a decision. Except where otherwise provided, that further period of time shall not exceed 30 days.

Without prejudice to the second subparagraph, the customs authorities may extend the time limit for taking a decision, as laid down in the customs legislation, where the applicant requests an extension to carry out adjustments in order to ensure the fulfilment of the conditions and criteria. Those adjustments and the further period of time necessary to carry them out shall be communicated to the customs authorities, which shall decide on the extension.

…’

5 Article 120 of the Union Customs Code is worded as follows:

‘1. In cases other than those referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 116(1) and in Articles 117, 118 and 119 an amount of import or export duty shall be repaid or remitted in the interest of equity where a customs debt is incurred under special circumstances in which no deception or obvious negligence may be attributed to the debtor.

2. The special circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 shall be deemed to exist where it is clear from the circumstances of the case that the debtor is in an exceptional situation as compared with other operators engaged in the same business, and that, in the absence of such circumstances, he or she would not have suffered disadvantage by the collection of the amount of import or export duty.’

6 Article 162 of the Union Customs Code is worded as follows:

‘Standard customs declarations shall contain all the particulars necessary for application of the provisions governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared.’

7 Article 173 of the Union Customs Code is worded as follows:

‘1. The declarant shall, upon application, be permitted to amend one or more of the particulars of the customs declaration after that declaration has been accepted by customs. The amendment shall not render the customs declaration applicable to goods other than those which it originally covered.

2. No such amendment shall be permitted where it is applied for after any of the following events:

(a) the customs authorities have informed the declarant that they intend to examine the goods;

(b) the customs authorities have established that the particulars of the customs declaration are incorrect;

(c) the customs authorities have released the goods.

3. Upon application by the declarant, within three years of the date of acceptance of the customs declaration, the amendment of the customs declaration may be permitted after release of the goods in order for the declarant to comply with his or her obligations relating to the placing of the goods under the customs procedure concerned.’

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447

8 Article 49(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of the Union Customs Code (OJ 2015 L 343, p. 558) provides as follows:

‘Tariff quotas opened in accordance with Union legislation referring to the method of administration in this article and in Articles 50 to 54 of this Regulation shall be managed in accordance with the chronological order of dates of acceptance of customs declarations for release for free circulation.’

9 Article 50 of Implementing Regulation 2015/2447 provides as follows:

‘1. The customs authorities shall examine whether a request to benefit from a tariff quota made by the declarant in a customs declaration for release for free circulation is valid in accordance with the Union legislation opening the tariff quota.

2. Where a customs declaration for release for free circulation containing a valid request by the declarant to benefit from a tariff quota is accepted and all the supporting documents required for the granting of the tariff quota have been provided to the customs authorities, the customs authorities shall transmit that request to the Commission without delay specifying the date of acceptance of the customs declaration and the exact amount for which the request is made.’

10 Article 51(3) of Implementing Regulation 2015/2447 provides as follows:

‘For each tariff quota, the Commission shall allocate quantities on the basis of requests to benefit from that tariff quota received by it following the chronological order of the dates of acceptance of the relevant customs declarations, and to the extent that the remaining balance of the tariff quota...