Tariff reference document
1. The Combined Nomenclature (CN) and
Common Customs Tariff (CCT)
2. The Tarif Intégré de la Communauté (TARIC)
3. Updates
4. The basic conception of the TARIC
5. History and legal basis
6. Taric structure
7. Contents
8. General responsibilities
9. Definition of the notion of 'integration'
1. The Combined Nomenclature (CN) and Common Customs
Tariff (CCT)
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are published in October of each year to be applied from 1 January
of the following year. The OJ of the L-series contains the CN which serves
for the classification of all imported or exported goods. Customs is able
to identify which duty applies and measure quantities for statistical purposes.
The CCT indicates the normal third country duty rates to be applied
for all goods classified under a given CN code.
The CN+CCT is the legal instrument.
The CN publication in October/November is only applicable as from the
following 1 January.
Paper and CD edition in 4 Languages.
2. The Tarif Intégré de la Communauté
(TARIC)
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contains, in addition to normal third country duty rates,
all duty
rates applicable under the preferential agreements for goods from nearly
all over the world except of the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and
Japan, or autonomously to developing countries under the Generalised System
of Preferences. The TARIC contains all agricultural and commercial trade
policy measures from embargoes, textile restrictions, licenses to all other
measures considered by the European Council. (All preferential rates and
all commercial policy measures such as quotas, suspensions, anti-dumping,
embargoes.)
The TARIC is the daily working instrument for all Customs officers and is the basis of their automated Customs clearance systems. It constitutes an instrument for practical use and information, but does not have a legal status in itself. The TARIC serves as a direct basis for the preparation of Member States working tariffs and for the application of TARIC codes in automated customs clearance. The use of the TARIC codes is obligatory in customs and statistical declarations in trade with third countries (Article 5(2) of R 2658/87). It has to be entered in box 33 of the Single Administrative Document (SAD).
The TARIC publication of April includes the CN/CTT data and always shows
the rates and measures that are applicable at the present moment.
Paper and CD edition in 11 languages.
3. Updates
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The Uruguay Round reductions are completed and the agricultural chapters
1 – 24 are no longer re-published mid-year. Updates to the
Taric are reflected in Community legislation published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities (see Portal to EU Law at europa.eu.int/lex/lex),
and at the
Taxation and Customs Union's Taric website at
europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/home.htm
4. The basic conception of the TARIC
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DG Taxation and Customs Union
09.12.1999
The Treaty
The Treaty gives a clear indication in its Article 9 about the basis of the European Communities: it is a Customs Union. The main characteristic of a Customs Union is the application of a common external Customs tariff and the absence of duties in trade between the Member States. Without the establishment of a Customs Union, there would never have been any further development like the Internal Market or even the Economic and Monetary Union.Legislation involved
While in the beginning, it was important that the Common Customs Tariff was applied in the Customs Union in a uniform way, any further political integration required a larger and deeper harmonization of legislation. In the end, the Customs administrations have been entrusted, in addition to their original tasks, with the application of the international trade aspects of the agricultural and commercial policy of the Community. Additionally, the Community has concluded preferential agreements leading to Customs Unions or Free-Trade Areas with a large number of third countries. To others, preferential treatment is granted autonomously (GSP, OCT)Working tariffs
Such a growth of importance and competence of Customs resulted in an ever-rising number of legal acts to be applied by them, from which came the risk that their application would be wrong, incomplete or would even be omitted in practice. This was the reason for the creation of so-called working tariffs in the Member States. These tariffs contained Community and national legislation on trade and presented it in an integrated form for daily use by the national Customs services.The electronic working tariff of the Community: the TARIC
The maintenance of such a national approach by each individual Member State would still lead to divergent application of Community trade policy measures and would also involve the same costs in each of our, presently, 15 Member States. The solution to this problem was to transfer the responsibility of interpretation, integration and codification of this multitude of legal acts to the Commission.Legal basis
The Integrated Tariff of the Community (TARIC = acronym for "Tarif Intégré de la Communauté") is an instrument which was created at the same time as the CN by Regulation 2658/87 (Article 2). The TARIC contains a nomenclature in all 11 official languages with about 21.000 tariff lines. It shows all duty rates actually applicable, as well as all tariff-related commercial and agricultural policy measures.Structure
Its structure is based on the 8 digit CN code which it extends by further 2 digits to the 10 digit TARIC code (Article 3 (3) of R 2658/87). In special cases, one or two 4 digit additional codes may be added (e.g. for anti-dumping duties relating to particular companies, CITES, dual-use goods, export refunds).TARIC codes
As Article 3 (3) of R 2658/87 stipulates, the TARIC code shall always be 00 when there is no Community subdivision of the CN code. As far as possible, TARIC codes end with a 0 (10, 20, 30 ... 90). Thus, there are 99 possible codes, a number which can even sometimes be exhausted (certain tariff suspensions under 8542 reached that limit in former times). The final 90 or 99 is always reserved for "other", i.e. products not covered by earlier codes at the same level.TARIC additional codes
A TARIC additional code consists of 4 digits and is used in the case of special measures which can not be integrated with normal TARIC codes (e.g. complex anti-dumping duties, agricultural components, reference prices or trade restrictions). The first digit indicates the nature of the measure, the other 3 are the actual codification (all restrictions start with a 4, AD duties with an 8). This numeric coding system only allows for a maximum of 9 different measure types. With the ever increasing types and number of external trade measures to be coded, this system will be amplified, where necessary, by the use of alpha numerical codes (A001-A999, B001-B999, ... Z001-Z999: e.g. the export refunds nomenclature starts with an R***).The TARIC service
Commission unit TAXUD-B-5 is responsible for the TARIC. They participate in the preparation of tariff-related Community legislation by other Commission services (DGs External Relations, Trade, Enterprise, Agriculture, Development, Environment, Fishery) and are consulted as to the practical applicability of the drafted legal acts. They examine the drafts for possible errors and request changes whenever necessary. In the case of doubts or differences of interpretation, they consult the Legal Service.Principles
The TARIC data must be correct, complete and be transmitted to the Member States in time. As far as possible, legal acts are already transmitted as drafts. Following a Gentlemen's Agreement and by means of a special "approval code" which can be attributed to drafts and legal acts, all Member States apply legislation which has retroactive effect or which is published long after its adoption in a synchronized way.Use of the TARIC
The TARIC comprises the Community legislation as published in the OJ. It constitutes an instrument for information and practical use, but does not have legal status in itself. The use of the TARIC codes is, however, obligatory in customs and statistical declarations in trade with third countries (Article 5(2) of R 2658/87). It has to be entered in box 33 of the Single Administrative Document (SAD). The TARIC is published once a year in the C-series of the OJ and on CD-ROM.The TARIC database
Amendments to trade policy legislation and thus to the TARIC must be communicated immediately to the Member States. This is an obligation for the Commission by virtue of Article 6 d) of R 2658/87. Such constant updating in order to reflect the changes in Community legislation proved to be impossible without the help of a database. This was the birth of the TARIC. It has been developed and is operated together with Commission unit TAXUD-D-3 (Information technology).Transmissions
Regular updates of data are nowadays sent to the Member States by electronic message on a daily basis or, in urgent cases, even several times a day. Drafts of future legislation can also be sent out under a special procedure, so that Member States are able to prepare their administrations and users for things to come.National working tariffs
The TARIC serves as a direct basis for the preparation of the Member States working tariffs as far as they still exist. It also maintains an archive-based "historical" part by which situations in the past can be simulated at either HS, CN or TARIC level.Automated customs clearance
Another field for the application of TARIC codes is in the Member States' automated customs clearance systems. The TARIC code leads immediately to the correct tariff line to be applied. Furthermore, the TARIC code indicates immediately the latest information about all trade policy measures which are linked to it.Future developments
It is intended to add to the TARIC all parts of Community legislation governing international trade which are still missing. As soon as VAT and excise duties are harmonized at a sufficient level, they could also be included. Furthermore a so-called " dissemination database" is being developed to which third countries Customs administrations, chambers of commerce, trade associations, companies and other interested parties will be given direct access. The first step in this direction is to present the TARIC, QUOTA and ECICS on the Commission EUROPA server in the WWW of the Internet. Later the EBTI and any other tariff-related legislation and information could be added. The TARIC will also be among the first Commission databases to which the candidate countries for accession will be connected in order to prepare themselves for their future obligations. The TARIC will continue to play a key role as the basic instrument of the Customs Union by ensuring that the tariff and trade legislation are applied in a correct and uniform way.
5. History and legal basis
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GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed 30
October 1947
135 contracting parties (= 90 % of international trade) 36 observers since 1995: WTO (World Trade Organization)
HS Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System = Harmonized System signed 14 June 1983 in Brussels in the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC, now WCO) 4 - 6 digit numerical coding system 5000 nomenclature lines
CN Combined Nomenclature (tariff and statistical nomenclature) Council Regulation No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 (revised by R 254/2000 - OJ L 28, p. 16) (latest CN edition in R 2204/99 - OJ No L 278)
HS + 2 digit code = 8 digit numerical coding system 10.500 lines for tariff and statistical purposes
CCT Customs Tariff Of The European Community
(Article 20 para. 3 Community Customs Code)
= Combined Nomenclature
+ normal duty rates (autonomous and
conventional)
+ preferential duty rates based on agreements
+ preferential duty rates granted autonomously
+ autonomous duty suspensions and tariff quotas
+ any other tariff-related measure based on Community legislation (e.g.
Anti-Dumping duties)
The TARIC is an instrument which was created at the same time as the Combined Nomenclature (CN) by Regulation 2658/87 (Art. 2).
6. Taric Structure
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TARIC "Tarif Intégré de la Communauté"
(Article 2 of Basic Regulation 2658/87)
= Combined Nomenclature
+ 2 digit code and 4 digit additional codes
+ subheadings for specific Community measures
+ customs duty rates actually applicable
+ any other information for implementation or management of Community
legislation
SAD Single Administrative Document
Box 33:
123456 78 910 11121314 15161718 19202122
HS CN TAR TAR add TAR add national
7. Contents
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The TARIC contains a nomenclature in all 11 official languages with
about 15,000 tariff lines. It shows all third country and preferential
duty rates actually applicable as well as all commercial policy measures.
OJ C and the database
columns 1-3: CN lines plus all necessary additional TARIC lines and
their codes
columns 5a and 5b: import and export restrictions and prohibitions
on trade, incl. Anti-Dumping
column 6: TARIC code
column 7: normal MFN duty rates, erga omnes tariff suspensions and
tariff quotas
column 8: Generalized System of Preferences
column 9: EFTA, EEA and CEEC preferences, including tariff quotas and
ceilings
column 10: Customs Unions (Andorra, San Marino, Turkey), incl. tariff
quotas and ceilings
column 11: Mediterranean and ACP preferences
Integrated as annexes to the chapters to the TARIC or only in the database:
8. General responsibilities
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Legal obligations from Article 6:
Management and publication by the Commission
Integration of measures
Attribution of TARIC codes
Updating of the TARIC
Immediate information of Member States of changes
Legal and economic importance:
Codification of all tariff-related legislation
Interpretation of legislation by the Commission
Preparation of legislation "prêt-à porter"
Correct, uniform and synchronized application by all
Maximum transparency for trade and partners
9. Definition of the notion of 'integration'
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The integration of a measure into the TARIC database comprises the
following actions:
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1. Classification of all goods covered by a measure in the CN and the TARIC (according to the normal rules for classification laid down in Title IA of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87)2. Exact description of all goods covered by the measure in 11 languages (definition of the scope of the measure)
3. Creation of new TARIC sub-positions (9th and 10th digit) (insertion of new sub-positions into the existing TARIC nomenclature)
4. Attribution of TARIC additional codes (applicable for many agricultural sectors and anti-dumping duties)
5. Addition of footnotes, conditions and annotations in 11 languages (insertion of details for the application in free text format)
6. Attribution of business codes to all elements of the measure (cf. codification rules in documents XXI/763/92 and XXI/416/95)
7. Codification of the legal act concerned (cf. codification rules in documents XXI/763/92 and XXI/416/95)
8. Introduction of the start and end date of the measure (cf. codification rules in document XXI/763/92)
9. Codification of the origin(s) concerned (cf. countries and country groups in document XXI/416/95)
10. Codification of requested certificates and licenses (codification of documentary conditions to be fulfilled for the measure)
11. Calculation of duty rates to be applied (cf. GATT rules and rules under Title IB of R (EEC) No 2658/87)
12. Completion of a borderau containing all necessary elements (cf. forms in use)