FantasticSearch

Fraud or failure to provide administrative cooperation

1. For the purpose of interpreting Article 42 of the SAA, failure to provide administrative cooperation as required for the verification of evidence of origin shall mean, inter alia:

(a) the absence of administrative cooperation, such as the failure to provide names and addresses of customs or government authorities responsible for issuing and checking certificates of origin, or specimens of stamps used to authenticate the certificates, or the failure to update that information where appropriate;

(b) a repeated lack or inadequacy of action in verifying the originating status of products and the fulfilment of the other requirements of Protocol 4 to the SAA and identifying or preventing contravention of the rules of origin;

(c) a repeated refusal to carry out, or undue delay in carrying out, at the request of the Commission, subsequent verification of the proof of origin and to communicate its results in time;

(d) a repeated refusal to obtain, or undue delay in obtaining, the authorisation to conduct administrative and investigative cooperation missions in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in order to verify the authenticity of documents or the accuracy of information relevant for granting the preferential treatment granted under the SAA, or to carry out, or arrange for, appropriate inquiries to identify or prevent contravention of the rules of origin;

(e) a repeated failure to comply with the provisions of Protocol 5 to the SAA on mutual administrative assistance in customs matters insofar as it is relevant to the application of the trade provisions of the SAA.

2. Where the Commission, on the basis of information provided by a Member State or on its own initiative, finds that the conditions laid down in Article 42 of the SAA are fulfilled it shall:

(a) inform the Council;

(b) enter immediately into consultations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to find an appropriate solution as provided for in Article 42 of the SAA. In addition, the Commission may:

(a) call on the Member States to take such precautionary measures as are necessary in order to safeguard the Union's financial interests;

(b) publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union stating that there are grounds for reasonable doubts about the application of the provisions relevant to the application of Article 42 of the SAA.

3. Pending a mutually satisfactory solution having been reached in the consultations referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, the Commission may decide on other appropriate measures it deems necessary in accordance with Article 42 of the SAA, as well as with the examination procedure referred to in Article 12(4) of this Regulation.