Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio and Others v Amministrazione delle finanze dello Stato.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61994CC0246
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1996:89
• Docket Number: C-248/94,C-249/94,C-246/94,,C-247/94,
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Date: 07 March 1996

Important legal notice

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61994C0246

Opinion of Mr Advocate General Léger delivered on 7 March 1996. - Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio and Others v Amministrazione delle finanze dello Stato. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Corte suprema di Cassazione - Italy. - Commission Regulations (EEC) Nos 612/77 and 1384/77 - Special import arrangements in respect of certain young male bovine animals for fattening - Council Directive 79/623/EEC. - Joined cases C-246/94, C-247/94, C-248/94 and C-249/94.

European Court reports 1996 Page I-04373

Opinion of the Advocate-General

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1 Reference has been made to the Court by the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation) for a preliminary ruling in four cases concerning the application of the special import arrangements in respect of young male bovine animals for fattening. The Italian court is essentially seeking a ruling, first, on the interpretation of certain provisions of Council Directive 79/623/EEC of 25 June 1979 on the harmonization of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to customs debt (1) and of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 612/77 of 24 March 1977 laying down rules for the application of the special import arrangements in respect of certain young male bovine animals for fattening, (2) as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1384/77 of 27 June 1977, (3) and, second, on the validity of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1121/87 of 23 April 1987 amending Regulations (EEC) No 612/77 and No 1136/79 as regards the release of the security for certain special import arrangements in the beef and veal sector. (4)

The relevant provisions of Community law

A - The market in beef and veal

2 Article 13 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal, (5) as amended by Article 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 425/77 of 14 February 1977, (6) sets out the terms of a special arrangement whereby the import levy normally applicable to young male bovine animals intended for fattening may be totally or partially suspended.

3 The rules for the application of such arrangements are laid down in Regulation No 612/77. Under Article 1 of that regulation, entitlement to total or partial suspension of the import levy is subject to completion of two essential formalities. The importer must first produce a written declaration, at the time of importation, that the young bovine animals are intended for fattening in the importing Member State for a period of 120 days from the day on which they were put into free circulation and, second, lodge a security in the sum of the amount of the levy suspended. (7) The same article also provides that that security may not be released in whole or in part unless proof is furnished by the importer to the competent authorities of the importing Member State that the young bovine animal has not been slaughtered before the expiry of the period of 120 days, unless it was necessary to slaughter it for certain strictly defined reasons. (8) Lastly, Article 1(4) of Regulation No 612/77 provides that such proof must be furnished within 180 days from the day on which the animal is put into free circulation, otherwise the security will be forfeit and retained as a levy.

4 Regulation No 1384/77 amends the rules for the application of the special arrangements in certain respects. Under Article 7(1) of that regulation, the importer is also required to inform the competent authorities in the importing Member State, within one month following the date of importation, of the production unit or units where the young bovine animals are intended to be fattened.

5 That regulation also makes release of the security subject to an additional formality. Proof must be furnished by the importer that the young bovine animal has in fact been fattened in the production unit or units indicated to the competent authorities. (9)

6 The Community legislature tempered the rigour of the system by adopting Regulation No 1121/87. Although it was published after the events in the main proceedings occurred, the regulation applies to the facts of the case pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 3, which provides that: `[Regulation No 1121/87] shall apply to securities lodged on or after [23 April 1987] and, at the request of the party concerned, to securities lodged before [23 April 1987] which have not yet been definitively released or forfeited'.

B - Incurring of customs debt

7 The moment when the customs debt is incurred, the moment when it is extinguished and the moment at which payment of the amount of the customs debt may be demanded by the competent authorities were harmonized by Directive 79/623.

8 Article 2(d) of that directive provides that:

`A customs debt on importation shall be incurred by:

[...]

(d) the non-fulfilment of one of the obligations arising, in respect of goods liable to import duties, from their temporary storage or from the use of the customs regime under which they are placed, or non-compliance with a condition to which the grant of the regime is subject, unless the competent authorities are satisfied that these failures have no significant effect on the correct operation of the temporary storage procedure or customs regime in question.'

9 That directive was replaced, after the events in the main proceedings occurred, by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2144/87 of 13 July 1987 on customs debt, (10) which incorporates and supplements the provisions of the directive.

Facts and procedure in the proceedings before the national courts

10 Between 1982 and 1985, three Italian agricultural holdings, Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio (Case C-246/94), Cooperativa Lomellina di Cerealicoltori Srl (Cases C-247/94 and C-248/94) and Azienda Agricola Cavicchi Bruno e Fratelli, with Cassa di Risparmio di Trieste SpA acting as guarantor (Case C-249/94), imported consignments of young male bovine animals into Italy from Eastern Europe for fattening.

11 For various reasons, the agricultural holdings failed to fulfil the obligation, laid down in the Community import arrangements in respect of young male bovine animals, to inform the competent Italian customs authorities of the location of the fattening unit within one month from the date of importation. Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio was several days late in informing the competent customs authorities; Azienda Agricola Cavicchi did not inform them at all; while Cooperativa Lomellina di Cerealicoltori produced the information within the prescribed period but sent it to the local authorities in the district where the fattening unit was located. Moreover, it appears from the order for reference in the last case (11) that that particular cooperative also failed to produce a declaration certifying that the bovine animals intended for fattening were still alive 120 days after the date on which they were imported.

12 Considering that, in view of this failure to fulfil their obligations, the holdings in question were no longer entitled to suspension of the import levy, the Italian customs authorities demanded payment of the relevant customs duties and claimed that the securities lodged at the time of importation should be forfeited in their entirety.

13 The three holdings in question brought separate actions against the Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato (State Finance Administration) before the Tribunale (District Court), Trieste, claiming that its demands were unlawful under Community law. The Tribunale dismissed the claims of Cooperativa Lomellina di Cerealicoltori and Azienda Agricola Cavicchi and upheld those of Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio in part.

14 Separate appeals were then brought by the three holdings before the Corte d'Appello (Court of Appeal), Trieste, which by judgment of 23 February 1990 confirmed the Tribunale's ruling in the case of Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio. It considered that Directive 79/623 was subordinate to and predated a higher rule of law, namely Regulation No 1121/87, and was consequently not applicable. However, in the case of the appeals brought by Cooperativa Lomellina di Cerealicoltori and Azienda Agricola Cavicchi, it considered in its judgments of 6 June 1992 and 19 January 1993 that failure to comply with the obligations laid down in Regulation No 612/77, as amended by Regulation No 1384/77, had had no significant effect on the correct operation of the customs regime governing the importation of bovine animals. It accordingly held that Article 2(d) of Directive 79/623 was directly applicable in Italy, despite the fact that it had not been transposed into Italian law, and it therefore reversed the judgments handed down by the court of first instance in those two cases.

15 Cooperativa Agricola Zootecnica S. Antonio and the Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato applied to the Corte Suprema di Cassazione for a review of the judgments of the Corte d'Appello, Trieste, seeking to have them set aside.

16 The Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato contends that Article 1 of Regulation No 612/77, as amended by Regulation No 1384/77, and Article 2 of Directive 79/623 have been infringed and misapplied. It also considers that Article 2(d) of Directive 79/623 (not transposed into Italian law) is not directly applicable. Even if it were, the Amministrazione delle Finanze contends that the correct operation of the customs regime established by the Community for the importation of young male bovine animals intended for fattening requires fulfilment of the obligation that the Corte d'Appello itself considered had not been complied with, namely the obligation to inform the competent authority of the location of the fattening unit within the prescribed period, this being essential for the purposes of the requisite inspection.

17 Cooperativa...