On June 14, the Department of Administrative Cases of the Senate (Supreme Court) suspended the legal proceedings in the case regarding the customs debt imposed on the applicant SIA "Baltic Container Terminal" by the State Revenue Service (SRS), in order to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In the present case, the SRS Customs Administration had found that the goods placed in the free zone of the Freeport of Riga and included in the free zone inventory, brought in by sea in containers, were taken out of the free zone, without applying the further customs procedure, and the special procedure (storage in the free zone) was not completed. Taking into account the aforementioned, the Customs Administration concluded that, in fact, the disputed goods have been removed from customs supervision, as a result of which the applicant SIA "Baltic Container Terminal" has incurred a customs debt.

The issues to be decided in the case are whether the applicant, when issuing the goods to the carrier in accordance with the submitted bills of lading of goods, which were marked with the status of customs goods (Union goods), carried the signature of the customs official and the stamp of the customs control point, had the right to rely on the fact that the goods were subject to the further customs procedure – release into free circulation, and whether there was also the right to complete the special procedure – storage of goods in the free zone.

Having heard the participants in the proceedings, the Senate found that the participants have differing opinions on the applicable legal provisions, and therefore also different views on the scope of the applicant's obligations of completing the special procedure – storage of goods in the free zone. The Senate has doubts about the possibility of verifying the status of goods and the effectiveness of this verification arising from the circumstances indicated by the applicant, namely that the applicant as a storer of goods in the free zone did not have access to the Electronic Customs Data Processing System (EMDAS). Therefore, the inclusion of the Master Reference Number (MRN) in the goods shipping document would not give the applicant the opportunity to verify that the goods have undergone the appropriate customs procedure. As explained by the applicant, the established practice of the Customs Service (a customs official confirming a change in the status of goods) was aimed directly at eliminating the difficulties that may arise for a natural person when verifying the customs status of goods and the authenticity of relevant documents.

The applicant explained that the current procedure approved by the Customs Service implies that a specific customs official changes the customs status of the goods by connecting to the applicant's electronic accounting system, thus the current procedure provides that it is the customs official who confirms the change of customs status of the goods, and the applicant, relying on this provided information, also completes the special procedure – storage in the free zone. Therefore, the Senate has doubts about the validity and legality of the request of the State Revenue Service, namely the request to register the Master Reference Number (MRN) of the customs declaration of the applicant as a storer of goods in the free zone in the accounting system to certify the change of the customs status of the goods.

The Senate suspended the proceedings in the case and referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union five preliminary questions on the interpretation of the legal provisions of the European Union. The proceedings in the case have been suspended until the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union comes into force.

Senate’s decision in the case No SKA-192/2023 (A420242519)

 

Information prepared by Baiba Kataja, the Press Secretary of the Supreme Court

Tel.: +371 67020396; e-mail: baiba.kataja@at.gov.lv