Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Customs Warehousing Regulations 1991 and shall come into force on 1st January 1992.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations-�

"the Act" means the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979(3);

"the customs and excise Acts" has the same meaning as in section 1(1) of the Act;

"relevant Community provision" means any provision of a Community Regulation specified in the first and second columns of the Schedule.

Amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

3.-(1) Subject to regulation 4 below the Act shall be amended as follows.

(2) In section 1(1) (interpretation)-�

(a)the definition of "customs warehouse" shall be omitted; and

(b)there shall be inserted the following definition:

""victualling warehouse" means a place of security approved by the Commissioners under subsection (2) (whether or not it is also a place approved under subsection (1) of section 92 below)."

(3) In section 27 (officers' powers of boarding), there shall be inserted after subsection (1)(4) the following-�

"(1A) For the purposes of subsection (1) above "customs warehouse" means a victualling warehouse or a place approved by the Commissioners under Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2561/90."

(4) In section 92(5) (approval of warehouses)-�

(a)for subsection (2) there shall be substituted the following-�

"(2) Functions with respect to the approval of warehouses for the purposes of Article 38 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3665/87(6) shall be exercised by the Commissioners; and a warehouse approved by them for such purposes is referred to in this Act as a "victualling warehouse"."

(b)in subsection (3), for "customs" there shall be substituted "victualling"; and

(c)in subsection (4), for "customs warehouse" there shall be substituted "victuall ing warehouse".

(5) In section 98(4) (definition of prescribed period for purposes of procedure when warehouse ceases to be approved) for "customs warehouse" there shall be substituted "victualling warehouse".

Value Added Tax

4. The amendments made to the Act by regulation 3 above shall not have effect in relation to the application of the Act by virtue of section 24(1) of the Value Added Tax Act 1983(7).

Offences, penalty and forfeiture

5. In the event of any contravention or failure to comply with-�

(a)any relevant Community provision; or

(b)any requirement or condition imposed by or under any such provision; or

(c)any undertaking given pursuant to any such provision or requirement,

the person responsible for the contravention or failure shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty of level 3 on the standard scale(8) together with a penalty of £40 for each day on which such contravention or failure continues; and any goods in respect of which such offence was committed shall be liable to forfeiture.

Supplementary

6.-(1) Section 139 of and Schedule 3 to the Act(9) (detention, seizure and condemnation of goods) shall apply to any goods liable to forfeiture under regulation 5 above as if the goods were liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts.

(2) Sections 144 to 148 and 150 to 155 of the Act(10) (proceedings for offences, mitigation of penalties, proof and other matters) shall apply in relation to offences and penalties under regulation 5 above and proceedings for such offences or for condemna tion of any thing as being forfeited under that regulation as they apply in relation to offences and penalties and proceedings for offences or for condemnation under the customs and excise Acts.

Regulation 2

SCHEDULERELEVANT COMMUNITY PROVISIONS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

From 1st January 1992 the approval and administration of customs warehouses will be governed by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2503/88 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2561/90, except in the case of victualling warehouses which will continue to be approved under section 92(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 for the purposes of Article 38 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3665/87.

These Regulations substitute a new subsection for section 92(2) and amend section 1 (interpretation) to the effect that provisions of the 1979 Act which hitherto applied to all customs warehouses will apply only to victualling warehouses. This is with the exception of the powers of search conferred by section 27 which will operate in respect of warehouses approved under the EC Regulations as well as victualling warehouses. The provisions which will lose their application to customs warehouses will continue to operate where appropriate for excise purposes and, under regulation 4 of these Regulations, for the warehousing of goods on which value added tax is chargeable on importation.

Certain other consequential amendments are made to the 1979 Act.

These Regulations provide for penalties and forfeiture for contravention of require ments set out in the EC instruments.