Article 7 Formalities for release for free circulation
United Kingdom
The customs offices at which the import declarations are lodged with a view to the release into free circulation of bananas shall:
keep a copy of each import licence and extract therefrom endorsed on acceptance of a declaration of release into free circulation; and
forward at the end of each fortnight a second copy of each import licence and extract endorsed to their Member State authorities listed in the Annex.
The authorities referred to in paragraph 1(b) shall, at the end of each fortnight, forward a copy of the licences and extracts received to the competent authorities of the Member States listed which issued those documents.
Where there is doubt as to the authenticity of the licence, the extract, or any information in or signatures on the documents presented, or as to the identity of the operators completing the formalities for release into free circulation or for the account of whom those formalities are completed, and where irregularities are suspected, the customs offices at which those documents were presented shall immediately inform the competent authorities of their Member State thereof. The latter shall immediately forward that information to the competent authorities of the Member State which issued the documents and to the Commission, for the purposes of a thorough check.
On the basis of the information received under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, the Member States' competent authorities listed in the Annex shall carry out the additional checks needed to ensure the proper administration of the tariff quota arrangements, in particular verification of the quantities imported under those arrangements, by means of a precise comparison of the licences and extracts issued with the licences and extracts used. To that end, they shall verify in particular the authenticity and conformity of the documents used and that the documents have been used by operators.