Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters
Modified by
Council Regulation (EC) No 807/2003of 14 April 2003adapting to Decision 1999/468/EC the provisions relating to committees which assist the Commission in the exercise of its implementing powers laid down in Council instruments adopted in accordance with the consultation procedure (unanimity), 32003R0807, May 16, 2003
Regulation (EC) No 766/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 9 July 2008amending Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters, 32008R0766, August 13, 2008
Regulation (EU) 2015/1525 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 9 September 2015amending Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters, 32015R1525, September 18, 2015
Regulation (EU) 2021/785 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 29 April 2021establishing the Union Anti-Fraud Programme and repealing Regulation (EU) No 250/2014, 32021R0785, May 17, 2021
Corrected by
Corrigendum to Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters, 31997R0515R(03), October 27, 1998
Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97of 13 March 1997on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural mattersTITLE IASSISTANCE ON REQUESTArticle 41.At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall transmit to it any information which may enable it to ensure compliance with the provisions of customs or agricultural legislation, and in particular those concerning:the application of customs duties and charges having equivalent effect together with agricultural levies and other charges provided for under the common agricultural policy or the special arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products,operations forming part of the system of financing by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.2.In order to obtain the information sought, the requested authority or the administrative authority to which it has recourse shall proceed as though acting on its own account or at the request of another authority in its own country.Article 5At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall supply it with any attestation, document or certified true copy of a document in its possession or obtained in the manner referred to in Article 4 (2) which relates to operations covered by customs or agricultural legislation.Article 61.At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall, while observing the rules in force in the Member State in which it is based, notify the addressee or have it notified of all instruments or decisions which emanate from the administrative authorities and concern the application of customs or agricultural legislation.2.Requests for notification, mentioning the subject of the instrument or decision to be communicated, shall be accompanied by a translation in the official language or an official language of the Member State in which the requested authority is based, without prejudice to the latter's right to waive such a translation.Article 7At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall as far as possible keep a special watch or arrange for a special watch to be kept within its operational area:(a)on persons, and more particularly their movements, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that they are breaching customs or agricultural legislation;(b)on places where goods are stored in a way that gives grounds to suspect that they are intended to supply operations contrary to customs or agricultural legislation;(c)on the movements of goods indicated as being the object of potential breaches of customs or agricultural legislation;(d)on means of transport, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that they are being used to carry out operations in breach of customs or agricultural legislation.Article 8At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall make available any information in its possession or obtained in the manner referred to in Article 4 (2), and particularly reports and other documents or certified true copies or extracts thereof, concerning operations detected or planned which constitute, or appear to the applicant authority to constitute, breaches of customs or agricultural legislation or, where applicable, concerning the findings of the special watch carried out pursuant to Article 7.However, original documents and items shall be provided only where this is not contrary to the legislation in force in the Member State in which the requested authority is based.Article 91.The requested authority shall at the request of the applicant authority carry out, or arrange to have carried out, the appropriate administrative enquiries concerning operations which constitute, or appear to the applicant authority to constitute, breaches of customs or agricultural legislation.The requested authority or the administrative authority to which it has recourse shall conduct administrative enquiries as though acting on its own account or at the request of another authority in its own country.The requested authority shall communicate the results of such administrative enquiries to the applicant authority.2.By agreement between the applicant authority and the requested authority, officials appointed by the applicant authority may be present at the administrative enquiries referred to in paragraph 1.Administrative enquiries shall at all times be carried out by staff of the requested authority. The applicant authority's staff may not, of their own initiative, assume powers of inspection conferred on officials of the requested authority. They shall, however, have access to the same premises and the same documents as the latter, through their intermediary and for the sole purpose of the administrative enquiry being carried out.In so far as national provisions on criminal proceedings reserve certain acts to officials specifically designated by national law, the applicant authority's staff shall not take part in such acts. In any event, they shall not participate in particular in searches of premises or the formal questioning of persons under criminal law. They shall, however, have access to the information thus obtained subject to the conditions laid down in Article 3.Article 10By agreement between the applicant authority and the requested authority and in accordance with the arrangements laid down by the latter, officials duly authorized by the applicant authority may obtain, from the offices where the administrative authorities of the Member State in which the requested authority is based exercise their functions, information concerning the application of the law on customs and agricultural matters which is needed by the applicant authority and which is derived from documentation to which the staff of those offices have access. These officials shall be authorized to take copies of the said documentation.Article 11Staff of the applicant authority present in another Member State in accordance with Articles 9 and 10 must at all times be able to produce written authority stating their identity and their official functions.Article 12Without prejudice to Article 51, information, including documents, certified true copies of documents, attestations, all instruments or decisions which emanate from administrative authorities, reports and any intelligence, obtained by the staff of the requested authority and communicated to the applicant authority in the course of the assistance provided for in Articles 4 to 11 may constitute admissible evidence in the same way as if they had been obtained in the Member State where the proceedings take place:(a)in administrative proceedings of the Member State of the applicant authority, including subsequent appeal procedures;(b)in judicial proceedings of the Member State of the applicant authority, unless otherwise explicitly stated by the requested authority at the time of communication of the information.