Article 125 Verification of proofs of origin(Article 64(1) of the Code)

Subsequent verifications of movement certificates EUR.1 and of invoice declarations shall be carried out at random or whenever the customs authorities in the importing Member State or the competent governmental authorities of the beneficiary countries or territories have reasonable doubts as to the authenticity of such documents, the originating status of the products within the meaning of Title II, Chapter 1, Section 2, Subsections 4 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 concerned or the fulfilment of the other requirements of Title II, Chapter 1, Section 2, Subsection 5 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446.

For the purposes of implementing the provisions of paragraph 1, the competent authorities in the importing Member State or beneficiary country or territory shall return the EUR.1 movement certificate and the invoice, if it has been submitted, the invoice declaration, or a copy of these documents, to the competent authorities in the exporting beneficiary country or territory or Member State, giving, where appropriate, the reasons for the enquiry. Any documents and information obtained suggesting that the information given on the proof of origin is incorrect shall be forwarded in support of the request for verification.

If the customs authorities in the importing Member State decide to suspend the granting of the tariff preferences referred to in Article 59 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 while awaiting the results of the verification, release of the products shall be offered to the importer subject to any precautionary measures judged necessary.

When an application for subsequent verification has been made in accordance with paragraph 1, such verification shall be carried out and its results communicated to the customs authorities of the importing Member States or to the competent governmental authorities of the importing beneficiary country or territory within a maximum of 6 months. The results shall be such as to establish whether the proof of origin in question applies to the products actually exported and whether these products can be considered as originating in the beneficiary country or territory or in the Union.

If in cases of reasonable doubt there is no reply within the 6 months specified in paragraph 3 or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products, a second communication shall be sent to the competent authorities. If after the second communication the results of the verification are not communicated to the requesting authorities within 4 months, or if these results do not allow the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products to be determined, the requesting authorities shall, except in exceptional circumstances, refuse entitlement to the tariff preferences.

Where the verification procedure or any other available information appears to indicate that the provisions of Title II, Chapter 1, Section 2, Subsections 4 and 5 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 are being contravened, the exporting beneficiary country or territory shall, on its own initiative or at the request of the Union, carry out appropriate inquiries or arrange for such inquiries to be carried out with due urgency to identify and prevent such contraventions. For this purpose, the Union may participate in the inquiries.

For the purposes of the subsequent verification of movement certificates EUR.1, copies of the certificates as well as any export documents referring to them shall be kept by the competent governmental authorities of the exporting beneficiary country or territory or by the customs authorities of the exporting Member State for at least 3 years from the end of the year in which the movement certificates were issued.