Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/611 of 17 March 2023 amending Regulation (EC) No 88/97 on the authorisation of the exemption of imports of certain bicycle parts originating in the People’s Republic of China from the extension by Council Regulation (EC) No 71/97 of the anti-dumping duty imposed by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93

1 As from the date of receipt of a request that has been declared admissible pursuant to Article 4, and pending a decision on its merits pursuant to Articles 6 and 7, payment of the customs debt in respect of the extended duty pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Reference Regulation shall be suspended in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by the party under examination. A period of not less than 6 months prior to the receipt of the request is taken into consideration in order to establish prima facie compliance with the conditions set out in Article 4(1) and (2).

2 The competent authorities of the Member States shall make the suspension of payment of the extended duty subject to the provision of a guarantee of the extended duty in accordance with Title III, chapter 2 of the Union Customs Code , in the event that the request is subsequently held inadmissible pursuant to Article 4(4), withdrawn pursuant to Article 7(5), or rejected pursuant to Article 7(3) or (4).

1 Where the facts as finally ascertained show that the applicant’s assembly operations do not fall within the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, the applicant’s exemption from the extended duty shall be authorised in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036.

2 The decision shall have retroactive effect as from the date of receipt of the duly substantiated request referred to in Article 4(1). The applicant’s customs debt pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Reference Regulation shall be considered void from that date.

3 Where the criteria for exemption are not fulfilled, the request shall be rejected in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 and the suspension of the payment of the extended duty referred to in Article 5 shall be lifted.

4 Any breach of obligations under Article 6(2) or any false declaration relating to a decision may constitute a reason for rejecting the request.

5 Where a request for exemption is withdrawn, it shall be considered not to have been lodged and the suspension of the payment of the extended duty referred to in Article 5 shall be lifted.’;

1 The Commission may on its own initiative review the situation of an exempted party to verify that it respects its obligations under Article 8, including any matters related thereto.

2 A review shall consist of an examination covering a period which may be shorter than 6 months.

3 A review shall be initiated by Commission regulation after informing Member States. As of the date of the initiation of the review, imports from the party under review shall be registered pursuant to Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation, to ensure that, should the review result in a revocation of the exemption, measures may subsequently be applied against those imports from the date of such registration.

4 If an exempted party engages in customs misdeclaration of essential bicycle parts of Chinese origin, the Commission may initiate a review within the meaning of the first paragraph.

5 Investigations shall be carried out by the Commission. The Commission may be assisted by customs authorities and the investigation shall be concluded by Commission regulation acting in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036.’;

An exemption shall be revoked in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, after the exempted party has been given an opportunity to comment: where a review has shown that the exempted party’s assembly operations fall within the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, or where the exempted party is not using essential bicycle parts for the assembly operations in quantities above the threshold set out in Article 14(c), including where the party has been wound up or has otherwise ceased its assembly operations, or at any rate, in the event of a repeated customs misdeclaration of any bicycle part, or in the event of a breach of the party’s obligations pursuant to Article 8, or in the event of a lack of cooperation after the adoption of the exemption decision.’;

The relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 concerning: the conduct of investigations (Article 6(2), (3), (4) and (5)), verification visits (Article 16), non-cooperation (Article 18), and confidentiality (Article 19), shall apply to examinations pursuant to this Regulation.’

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply to all exempted parties as of its entry into force. For the avoidance of doubt, the obligations introduced pursuant to Article 1(15) only apply to records held by previously exempted parties 24 months after the entry into force of this Regulation. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.