Commission Regulation (EEC) No 986/89 of 10 April 1989 on the accompanying documents for carriage of wine products and the relevant records to be kept

• Published date: 18 April 1989
• Subject Matter: Wine
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 106, 18 April 1989

|

31989R0986

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 986/89 of 10 April 1989 on the accompanying documents for carriage of wine products and the relevant records to be kept

Official Journal L 106 , 18/04/1989 P. 0001 - 0020

*****

COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 986/89

of 10 April 1989

on the accompanying documents for carriage of wine products and the relevant records to be kept

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4250/88 (2), and in particular Articles 18 (4), 19 (8), 21 (4), 23 (4), (3) and 81 thereof,

Whereas in view of the establishment of the single market in the Community, which will entail the abolition of economic boundaries between Member States, it is important to endow the authorities responsible for supervising the stocking and marketing of wine products with the means necessary to carrry out effective checks in accordance with uniform rules laid down at Community level;

Whereas Article 71 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 provides that wine products may be put into circulation within the Community only with an officially checked accompanying document; whereas paragraph 2 of the said Article 71 provides that natural or legal persons who hold wine products are to be obliged to keep goods inwards and outwards registers in respect of those products; whereas the Commission therefore adopted Regulation (EEC) No 1153/75 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 418/86 (4);

Whereas in order to lay down uniform rules applicable throughout the Community and to simplify the administrative formalities for the public, the existing Community rules on the subject to date should be revised in the light of experience and taking into account the requirements of the single market;

Whereas supervision of the carriage of wine products in bulk requires special attention, particularly as regards authenticity; whereas the approved commercial document differs from a simple commercial document in that it bears a serial number allocated by the competent authority and a reference to that authority and, as a standardized document based on the framework form drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, is immediately suitable for use in supervising the movement of wine products; whereas use of the approved commercial document, in conjunction with the recording in registers of entry and withdrawal, makes it possible to retrace the route taken by the product so transported; whereas it is therefore desirable to provide that this approved commercial document accompany all wine products carried in bulk; whereas, in order to allow the parties concerned to adapt gradually to the new system, the use of accompanying documents as provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 1153/75 should be permitted during a transitional period;

Whereas, in comparison with the carriage of wine products in bulk, the danger of illegal operations with respect to wine products in labelled containers of a nominal volume of not more than five litres fitted with a recognized non-reusable closing device is relatively small; whereas the consignor should be allowed to transport such products under cover of a simple commercial document from 1 January 1991; whereas a list of non-reusable closing devices recognized by the competent authorities of at least one Member State, which could be amended where necessary at the request of a Member State, should be drawn up;

Whereas, in order to avoid needlessly complicating administrative formalities, provision should be made for no document to be required to accompany the carriage of wine products answering certain criteria;

Whereas, for the purpose of ensuring that the documents accompanying the carriage of wine products constitute an effective means for supervising the movement and stocking of these products, rules must be laid down concerning the completion and use of such documents;

Whereas a certificate of origin for quality wines produced in specified regions or of provenance for table wines entitled to a geographical ascription is required for export and, in some cases, for intra-Community trade; whereas, in order to simplify administrative formalities and release the competent authorities from routine work, rules should

be laid down allowing the approved commercial document to be considered, under certain conditions, as attesting to the origin of the abovementioned wines;

Whereas documents accompanying the carriage of wine products and the relevant entries made in the registers constitute a whole; whereas, in order to ensure that by consulting the registers the competent authorities are able effectively to monitor the movement and stocking of wine products, in particular in the course of cooperation between those authorities in the different Member States, the rules concerning the keeping of records should be harmonized at Community level;

Whereas the substances used in certain oenological practices, especially enrichment, acidification and sweetening, are particularly open to the danger of fraudulent use; whereas records must therefore be kept concerning those substances to enable the competent authorities to supervise the movement and use thereof;

Whereas an accompanying document completed in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 1153/75 may be required, under provisions adopted by some Member States in accordance with the abovementioned Regulation, to include additional particulars for purposes other than those of this Reguation, in particular in connection with the application of tax laws in the Member State in question; whereas, until such a time as tax provisions are harmonized at Community level for the purposes of completing the internal market, Member States should be able to require, for carriage of wine products on their territory, additional particulars to be entered on the document accompanying carriage;

Whereas in order to achieve a smoother transition from the rules in force until this Regulation becomes applicable to the rules laid down herein, the Member States should be authorized to derogate from certain rules in this Regulation during a transitional period; whereas, in order to increase the effectiveness of the controls, the Member States should be authorized to lay down certain additional provisions concerning documents accompanying carriage operations starting on their territory or consisting in an obligation for the consignee;

Whereas certain provisions of Commission Regulations (EEC) No 1594/70 (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 418/86 (2), (EEC) No 1698/70 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 807/73 (4), (EEC) No 2152/75 (5) and (EEC) No 2247/73 (6), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 418/86, should be incorporated in this Regulation and amended where necessary in the light of experience;

Whereas the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 1153/75 are replaced by those of this Regulation; whereas, however, in order to facilitate transition from the arrangements applicable before the entry into force of this Regulation to the arrangements laid down herein, provision should be made for Regulation (EEC) No 1153/75 to be repealed in two stages, thereby permitting the continued use of the accompanying document provided for in that Regulation during the transitional period;

Whereas the Management Committee for Wine has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Carriage within the customs territory of the Community of the products referred to in Article 1 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 shall be accompanied by the following documents:

- a commercial document, or

- an approved commercial document, or

- up to 31 December 1990, an accompanying document.

Article 2

1. For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) 'competent authority' means an authority made responsible by a Member State for the implementation of this Regulation;

(b) 'producer' means any natural or legal person or group of such persons who has or has had in his possession fresh grapes, grape must or new wine still in fermentation, and who processes them or has them processed on his behalf into wine;

(c) 'retailer' means any natural or legal person or group of such persons whose business activity includes the sale of wine in small quantities - to be defined by each Member State, having regard to the special features of trade and distribution - directly to the consumer, but not those who use cellars equipped for storing and, if appropriate, for bottling wines in large quantities, who have packaging facilities or who engage in itinerant trading in wine transported in bulk;

(d) 'commercial document' means an invoice or delivery note, containing at least the following particulars:

- in the case of invoices, the complete names and addresses of the seller and the buyer, and of the consignee if be is not the buyer,

- in the case of delivery notes, the complete names and addresses of the consignor and the consignee,

- the date of issue,

- a number enabling the document to be identified,

- a description of the product transported in accordance with Community and national provisions in force,

- the total quantity dispatched,

- the number and nominal capacity of the containers holding the product;

(e) 'approved commercial document' means a commercial document which is in accordance with the model and instructions in Annexes I and II. In addition to the particulars listed in (d) above, except the fourth indent, it shall include:

- a pre-printed serial number forming part of a continuous series allocated by the competent authority or a body empowered for the purpose and a...