2024/2135

7.8.2024

DECISION No 1/2024 OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED BY THE AGREEMENT ON THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY

of 16 May 2024

amending the Decision of the Joint Committee No 1/2023 [2024/2135]

THE JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community ( 1 ) (‘the Withdrawal Agreement’), and in particular Article 164(4)(e) thereof, as well as Article 5(2) of the Windsor Framework ( 2 ) ,

Whereas:

(1) Pursuant to Article 166(2) of the Withdrawal Agreement, the decisions adopted by the Joint Committee established under Article 164(1) thereof (‘the Joint Committee’) are binding on the Union and the United Kingdom. The Union and the United Kingdom are to implement such decisions, which have the same legal effect as the Withdrawal Agreement.

(2) Under Article 182 of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Windsor Framework forms an integral part of that Agreement.

(3) As regards the movement of goods, Article 5(2) of the Windsor Framework empowers the Joint Committee to adopt decisions establishing the conditions under which processing is not to be considered as commercial processing and the criteria for considering that a good brought into Northern Ireland from outside the Union is not at risk of subsequently being moved into the Union.

(4) It is desirable to improve the operation of the schemes set out in Decision of the Joint Committee No 1/2023 ( 3 ) , in relation to the application of UK tariff rate quotas as regards the importation into Northern Ireland of the goods specified in the Annex to this Decision, which shall be added as Annex V to the Decision of the Joint Committee No 1/2023.

(5) It is therefore appropriate to amend Decision of the Joint Committee No 1/2023 accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision of the Joint Committee No 1/2023 is amended as follows:

In Article 6, point (b) is replaced by the following:

‘(b)

the processing is in Northern Ireland and is for the sole purpose of:

(i) sale of food to an end consumer in the United Kingdom;

(ii) construction, where the processed goods are to form a permanent part of a structure that is constructed and located in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity;

(iii) direct provision to the recipient of health or care services in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity;

(iv) not for profit activities in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity, where there is no subsequent sale of the processed good;

(v) final use of animal feed on premises located in Northern Ireland by the importer or one subsequent entity; or

(vi) sale to or use by an end consumer in the United Kingdom of goods listed in Annex V.’.

Article 7 is amended as follows:

paragraph 1(b) is replaced by the following:

‘(b)

in the case of goods brought into Northern Ireland by direct transport other than from the Union or another part of the United Kingdom:

(i) the duty payable according to the Union Common Customs Tariff is equal to or less than the duty payable according to the customs tariff of the United Kingdom;

(ii) the importer has been authorised in accordance with Articles 9 to 11 of this Decision to bring that good into Northern Ireland for its sale to, or final use by, end consumers located in Northern Ireland (including where that good has been subject to non-commercial processing in accordance with Article 6 of this Decision before its sale to, or final use by, end consumers), and the difference between the duty payable according to the Union Common Customs Tariff and the duty payable according to the customs tariff of the United Kingdom is lower than 3 % of the customs value of the good; or

(iii) in respect of the goods listed in Annex V, the importer has been authorised in accordance with Articles 9 to 11 of this Decision to bring that good into Northern Ireland for its sale to, or use by, end consumers located in the United Kingdom (including where that good has been subject to non-commercial processing in accordance with Article 6 of this Decision before its sale to, or final use by, end consumers) and,

(aa) both the in-quota and out-of-quota duty rates determined on the basis of the Union Common Customs Tariff and of the customs tariff of the United Kingdom are those set out in Annex V;

(bb) the importer has applied for access to a relevant tariff quota of the United Kingdom, which could be granted under the in-quota customs tariff of the United Kingdom set out in Annex V subject to (cc); and

(cc) the quantity of the good being imported, when aggregated with the quantity of goods under the relevant quota order number brought into Northern Ireland in that year under this paragraph, does not exceed the quantity for the goods under the relevant quota order number set out in Annex V.’;

paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:

‘2. Paragraphs 1(a)(i), 1(a)(iii) and 1(b)(i) shall not apply to the goods referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(iii).

3. Paragraphs 1(a)(ii), 1(a)(iii) and 1(b)(ii) shall not apply to goods subject to trade defence measures adopted by the Union.’ ;

the following paragraph is added:

‘4. For the purposes of this Decision, ‘parcel’ means a package containing:

(a) goods, other than an item of correspondence, with a total gross weight not exceeding 31,5 kg; or

(b) a single item good, other than an item of correspondence, with a total gross weight not exceeding 100 kg, in relation to a commercial transaction.’ .

Article 9 is amended as follows:

paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. For the purposes of Article 7(1)(a)(ii), Article 7(1)(b)(ii), and Article 7(1)(b)(iii) of this Decision, an application for an authorisation to bring goods into Northern Ireland by direct transport for sale to, or final use by, end consumers shall be submitted to the competent authority of the United Kingdom.’ ;

paragraphs 4 to 6 are replaced by the following:

‘4. For the purpose of Article 7(1)(b)(iii), the application shall contain a declaration of the applicant’s intention to move goods under that provision and information regarding planned annual quantities and relevant categories of buyers within the United Kingdom. In addition, no later than 6 weeks after the end of each annual quota period (specified in Annex V) the applicant shall provide:

(a) the quantity of goods that the authorisation holder moved under Article 7(1)(b)(iii) in the last annual quota period, as well as relevant categories of buyers within the UK for that period; and

(b) the quantity of goods that the authorisation holder plans to move under Article 7(1)(b)(iii) in the current annual quota period, as well as relevant categories of expected buyers within the UK for that period.

5. The provisions of Union customs legislation on decisions relating to the application of the customs legislation shall apply to applications and authorisations referred to in this Article, including as regards monitoring.

6. In cases where the competent customs authority of the United Kingdom observes deliberate misuse of an authorisation or breaches of conditions for an authorisation set out in this Decision the authority shall suspend or revoke the authorisation.’ ;

the following paragraph is added:

‘7. The Union representatives may request that the competent customs authority of the United Kingdom verify a specific authorisation. The competent customs authority of the United Kingdom will take appropriate steps in response to such request and will provide information about the action undertaken within 30 days.’ .

Article 10 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 10

General conditions for authorisation

For the purposes of Article 7(1)(a)(ii), Article 7(1)(b)(ii), and Article 7(1)(b)(iii) of this Decision, an authorisation may be granted to applicants who:

(a) meet the following establishment criteria:

(i) they are established in Northern Ireland or they have a fixed place of business in Northern Ireland:

— where human and technical resources are permanently present; and

— from where goods are sold to, or provided for final use by, end consumers; and

— where customs, commercial and transport records and information are available or accessible in Northern Ireland, or

(ii) they are established in parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland and fulfil the following criteria:

— their customs related operations are carried out in the United Kingdom; and

— they have an indirect customs representative in Northern Ireland; and

— their customs, commercial and transport records and information are available or accessible in the United Kingdom to the competent authorities of the United Kingdom and the Union representatives for verifying compliance with the conditions and undertakings given pursuant to this Decision; and

(b) undertake to bring goods into Northern Ireland solely for sale to, or final use by, end consumers in the United Kingdom, including where those goods have been subject to non-commercial processing in accordance with Article 6 of this Decision before their sale to, or final use by, end consumers in the United Kingdom; and, in the case of a sale to end consumers in Northern Ireland, undertake that the sale will be from one or several physical outlets in Northern Ireland from which physical direct sales are made to end consumers.’.

In Article 11, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. For the purposes of Article 7(1)(a)(ii), Article 7(1)(b)(ii), and Article 7(1)(b)(iii) of this Decision, an authorisation to bring goods into Northern Ireland shall only be granted to applicants fulfilling the conditions set out in Article 10 of this Decision as well as the following conditions, as further explained in Annex III to this Decision:

(a) the applicant declares they will declare for release for free circulation goods brought into Northern Ireland in accordance with Article 7(1)(a)(ii), Article 7(1)(b)(ii), or Article 7(1)(b)(iii) of this Decision;

(b) within three years prior to the application, the applicant must not have committed any serious infringement or repeated infringements of customs legislation and taxation rules and must not have any record of serious criminal offences relating to their economic activity;

(c) in respect of goods to be declared as not at risk, the applicant shall demonstrate that they have a high level of control of their operations and of the flow of goods, by means of a system of managing commercial and, where appropriate, transport records, which allows appropriate controls and provision of evidence to support the undertaking in Article 10(b) of this Decision;

(d) the applicant is of good financial standing during the three-year period prior to the application, or in the period since its establishment where less than three years, such as to enable the applicant to fulfil its commitments, with due regard to the characteristics of the type of business activity concerned;

(e) the applicant should be able to show a clear understanding of its obligations under this authorisation and in relation to the movements of goods under the scheme and how to comply with them.’ .

In Article 14, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. At the request of the Union representatives referred to in Decision No 6/2020 of the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and in the case of (a) at least twice a year and in the case of (b) at least once a year at the end of each annual quota period, the competent authorities of the United Kingdom shall provide to these representatives:

(a) information in aggregated and per authorisation form on the authorisations granted pursuant to Articles 9 to 12 of this Decision, including numbers of accepted, rejected and revoked authorisations, and the place of establishment of the authorisation holders; and

(b) in the case of goods moved under Article 7(1)(b)(iii), per authorisation and per quota order number, information on the quantity utilised during the annual quota period and the quantity still available at the end of that period as well as aggregated information on sale or use of such goods with reference to relevant categories of buyers within the United Kingdom.’ .

In Article 15, the following paragraphs are added:

‘5. The Joint Committee shall review Annex V at the request of one of the Parties.

6. Each Party shall inform the other Party without delay regarding planned changes to in-quota or out-of-quota duty rates applicable to goods listed in Annex V.’ .

The text set out in the Annex to this Decision is added as Annex V.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 16 May 2024.

For the Joint Committee

The Co-chairs

Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ

David CAMERON

( 1 ) OJ EU L 29, 31.1.2020, p. 7 .

( 2 ) The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is referred to as the Windsor Framework pursuant to Joint Declaration No 1/2023 of the Union and the United Kingdom in the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of 24 March 2023 ( OJ EU L 102, 17.4.2023, p. 87 ).

( 3 ) Decision No 1/2023 of the Joint Committee established by the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community of 24 March 2023 laying down arrangements relating to the Windsor Framework ( OJ EU L 102, 17.4.2023, p. 61 ).

ANNEX

‘ANNEX V

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ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2024/2135/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)