Opinion of Mrs Advocate General Rozès delivered on 9 November 1983

1 Translated from the French.

2 The legislation governing exemptions from customs duties (customs duties and import charges applicable to agricultural products) consists of the following: Regulation (EEC) No 1544/69 of the Council of 23 July 1969 (Official Journal, English Special Edition 1969 (II), p. 359), as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3313/81 of 17 November 1981 (Official Journal 1981, L 334, p. 1); Regulation (EEC) No 1818/75 of the Council of 10 July 1975 (Official Journal 1975, L 185, p. 3), as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2780/78 of 27 November 1978 (Official Journal 1978, L 333, p. 7). The legislation governing tax exemptions (turnover tax and excise duty) consists of the following: Council Directive 69/I69/EEC of 28 May 1969 (Official Journal, English Special Edition 1969 (I), p. 232), as last amended by Council Directive 82/443/EEC of 29 June 1982 (Official Journal 1982, L 206, p. 35).

3 Case 158/80 [1981] ECR 1805.

4 The purpose of the amendment was to restrict the obligation to show that the goods transported were acquired subject to the general conditions governing taxation on the domestic market of a Member State and do not qualify for any refund of turnover tax or excise duty solely to the case of transit without stopping through the territory of a non-member country or where the journey begins in a part of the territory of a Member State in which taxes are not chargeable on goods which are consumed there (Articles 2 (4) and 4 (4) of Directive 69/169).

5 Adopted by the Council on 12 June 1972.

6 The amendment was proposed to the Council by the Commission on 30 July 1971 (Journal Officiel 1971, C 106, p. 19).

7 Official Journal 1978, L 366, p. 28: Without prejudice to rules relating to sales made at airport shops under customs control and on board aircraft, Member Slates shall take the necessary steps with regard to sales at the retail stage to permit in the cases and under the conditions provided for in paragraphs (3) and (4) the remission of turnover tax on deliveries of goods carried in the personal luggage of travellers leaving a Member Slate. No remission may be granted in respcel of excise duly. The proposal for the Third Directive submitted by the Commission to the Council on 31 December 1976 (Official Journal 1977, C 31, p. 5) did not include the exception.

8 See the judgment of the Court of 9 October 1980 in Case 823/79, Criminal proceedings against Giovanni Cardati, [1980] ECR 2773, paragraph 10 of the decision at p. 2780:As regards the prohibition imposed by a Member State on persons resident in its territory on the use of vehicles imported temporarily tax-free, it is an effective way of preventing tax frauds and ensuring that taxes are paid in the country of destination of the goods.

9 Opinion in Case 158/80 REWE-Handelsgesellschaft Nord mbH and REWE-Markt Stellen ν Hauptzollamt Kiel [1981] ECR 1805, at p. 1848.

10 Paragraph 2 of the operative part of the judgment.

11 Judgment of 5 May 1982 in Case 15/81 Scimi ν Inspecteur der Invoerrechten en Accijnzen [1982] ECR 1409, paragraph 13 of the decision at p. 1427: It is right to stress that the directives bring about only a partial harmonization of the system of value-added tax.

12 Directive 77/388/EEC (Official Journal 1977, L 145, p. 1).

13 Article 16 of Directive 77/388.

14 Journal Officiel 1972, C 113, p. 15.

15 Official Journal 1983, C 114, p. 7.

16 Letter SG (82) D/5388.

17 C (82) 545.

18 C (82) 768.

19 Paragraph 3 (5) of the Verordnung über die Eingangsabgabenfreiheit von Waren im persönlichen Gepäck der Reisenden [Order on Tax Exemptions on the Importation of Goods contained in Travellers' Personal Luggage] of 3 December 1974 (Bundesgesetzblatt 1974 I, p. 3377), as amended by the Verordnung of 28 September 1982 (Bundesgesetzblatt 1982 I, pp. 1378 and 1379) provides as follows: Where a person enters the territory by boat... tax exemptions in respect of tobacco products, in so far as they exceed the quantities referred to in the first sentence of subparagraph (4) hereof [that is to say the minor transit allowance (kleine Transitration) in frontier-zone travel] and in respect of alcoholic beverages, coffee and tea arc also subject, on the crossing of the maritime customs frontier, to the requirement that the ship must come from the high seas and either have last sailed from a foreign port or have remained outside the customs area for at least eight hours.

20 Document 6041/82 FISC 16.

21 Opinion submitted in Case 8/81 Becker ν Finanzamt Münster-Innenstadt [1982] ECR 53, at p. 80.