1. Background
What is the EORI system?
The EORI system (Economic Operator Registration and Information System) intends to implement the security measures of the Regulation (EC) nr. 2913/92, amended by the Regulation (EC) nr. 648/2005 of the European Parliament and Council, that will be more effective if the persons involved in the customs operations could be identified by a unique number of registry, unique for each person, and valid throughout the European Community – The EORI number.
What is the legal base of the EORI?
Regulation nr 312/2009, of the European Commission, of 16th of April 2009.
When it will be applied?
It is foreseen that the EORI will be applied on 1 of July of 2009.
What are the required data for the EORI registry?
The registry data are defined in the 38D annex of the Customs Code Implementing Provisions (CCIP), in the sense given by the Regulation 312/2009.
Who will assign the EORI number?
The EORI number is assigned by the responsible authority for attribution of the EORI on the Member State where the economic operator is established. The economic operators established outside of the community territory (third country operators), and that are not yet registered in a Member State, should require his registration on the member-state where he first perform an operation covered in the nr. 3, article 4 L of the CCIP.
The list of the Responsible authorities for attribution of the EORI numbers will be publicised in the Web site of the DG TAXUD.
The EORI number should be always applied?
In order to reduce the costs with the introduction of the EORI system, the Member-states can use a number of the economic operator already existent. In such cases, the economic operator doesn’t need to apply for an EORI number.
In what situations should it be used?
Once the EORI number has been granted, this unique number must be used in all customs transactions and activities throughout the Community whenever an identifier is required, independently of the Member State where the economic operator is registered.
Particulars required in customs declarations of import, export and transit, as well as in summary declarations of the entrance and exit, are laid down in 30, 37, 37a, 38 annexes of de CCIP (Customs Code Implementation Provisions) in the sense given by the regulation 312/2009 (see also articles 183.º, 212.º, 216.º, 787.º and 842.ºb of the CCIP).
In some cases the EORI number is an optional or conditional element in a summary, exit/entry summary or customs declaration. However, in order to benefit from facilitations provided by an AEO certificate, it is necessary to provide an EORI number in a summary, exit/entry summary or customs declaration. Moreover, an EORI number should be entered in the application form for an AEO certificate (field 9).
For the economic operators not established in the customs territory of the Community, the EORI number must be required to be use in the following situations:
• In summary declarations of entrance and exit, in the import and export and transit declarations, except the temporary import declarations and the declaration foreseen in the CCIP articles n.os 225.º to 238.º, and the customs declaration made for the temporary importation procedure ( e.g. for an exhibition, or re-export of temporarily imported goods in accordance with article 137.º of the CC);
• In the extent of a temporary storage facility or to the privileged operations pursuant to article 185.º 1 of the CCIP;
• In the extent of an authorization pursuant to articles 324.ºa or 372.º of the CCIP;
• In the extent of an application to an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certificate pursuant to Article 14.ºa of the CCIP.
The EORI number is, either, used in the Exchange of information between customs administrations and other authorities, in a casuistic base, when the access to this data is necessary to the compliment of the legal obligations of those authorities, related with the movement of goods under customs control, and the access of such data must be restricted uniquely to the EORI data, name, address and identification number. Those authorities are basically veterinary, statistic, economic, tax and revenue, antifraud and border control and health authorities.
Where is the EORI data storage?
To grant that the economic operator, indicated in the customs declarations or other operations where the EORI number is required, exists and is recognized in the European community territory, the Commission developed a central system to store all EORI registries assigned by 27 Member-states, in order that all Customs administrations of the 27 Member States can access in a reliable and easy way to the registry and identification of the economic operators.
Each Member-state must assure a regular actualization of your EORI registries, make an export in a regular basis to the central system, whenever is assigned a new EORI number, or whenever the registry data is altered, or an economic operator ends his activity.
Relevant concepts to assign an EORI number
“Economic operator” means: “a person who, in the course of his business, is involved in activities covered by customs legislation”.
“Person” means: “natural persons, legal persons, and, when such definition is established the rules in force, an association of persons recognised as having the capacity to perform legal acts but lacking the legal status of a legal person.”
“Person established in the community” means: (a) for a natural person, “every person with the residence in the community”; (b) for a legal person or an association of persons, “every person with his Headquarter, central administration or a permanent establishment in the community territory”.
Where can I obtain more information about EORI?
The European Commission developed an e-learning course to the economic operators and Member State customs administrations in the EORI implementation, who is accessible in following URL:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/elearning/general_overview/index_en.htm
2. EORI implementation in Portugal (PT)
Which is the Portuguese responsible authority for the EORI?
The management of the EORI is on the responsibility of Customs Administration (AT), and is assured by:
Direcção de Serviços de Regulação Aduaneira (DSRA)
Rua da Alfândega, n.º 5 - r/c
1149-006 Lisboa
Tel.: +(351) 217 206 707 (Option 2, followed by Option 1 and then by Option 2 - Importation, exportation and other customs procedures)
Fax: +(351) 218 813 984
e-mail: dsra@at.gov.pt
How is the EORI number adopted by PT?
For operative convenience, namely to limit the modifications in the existent registry applications, and in order to dispense bureaucracy in the internal operation context, the AT, that assures since long time ago the registry of his economic operators, have adopted for EORI number the Tax identification number (NIF) precede by PT.
So, the EORI number for the economic operators established in Portugal will be “PT+NIF”.
Example: To the economic operator with NIF=123456789, corresponds automatically the EORI Number PT123456789.
For economic operators established outside community that make his first operation that requires a EORI number with European community in Portugal, the EORI number will have the following structure: PT + ISO country Code (2) + 6 digit number + 1 Check digit.
How to get EORI registry?
The economic operators established in Portugal don’t need to apply for EORI number, because it will be obtain automatically by his NIF.
In the start up phase of the EORI system, that will occur in 1 July of 2009, Portugal have already sent to the central system of the European Commission, the actualized list of all economic operators recognized and registered in AT systems (namely, the person list that are classified as economic operator, accordingly nr. 12 of the article 1 of CCIP, that have made at least 1 custom declaration in the last three years).
As default, in the start up phase of the system, it was assumed as “contact person and address” the available information existent in the Tax systems, and it was also assumed there is no consent for publication, because this consent must be expressed by the economic operator. For this reason, it is recommend to the all economic operators to make, after 1 July, a consultation in the portal of the electronic declarations of the AT, in “EORI menu” - whose login/password is the same that is in use now, and with a login correspondent to his NIF -, in order to make the actualization/complement of the registry data assumed by default, or, in future, to request the revocation of his EORI number, if his activity covered by customs legislation is finished.
In the same way, new economic operators established in Portugal (operators identified by an national NIF and for the first time come to do a declarative contact with the customs after 1 July), don’t need to apply for an EORI number, because this is also assured automatically via an interface with Tax systems, by the declarative systems used, whenever this declarative system detect the need of the indication of the EORI number in the fields 2,8,14 and 50 of the customs declaration, according the declaration is an export, import or transit declaration. Despite of, it is also recommended to confer in the portal of the AT, for the effects that are referred in the last string of the previous paragraph.
The economic operator established outside European community, that do for the first time in the territory of the community one operation that requires a EORI number, and in the condition that this first operation is made in Portugal, must always require a EORI number, in the electronic declaration portal of the AT, “menu EORI - Third Country operators registry”.
In a first contact, this operators established outside European community, indicate only his e-mail address and will receive, after, in his mailbox a message with an identifier that will give the access to the EORI form that they must have to fill and submit to the DSRA (via Web and by mail). In this first access to the EORI form, it is necessary to choose a password for use in future login access.
Additionally, it is also available a manual form for the use by the operators that haven’t e-mail address or internet access. This manual form is available for download in the AT site, in the menu “Formulários”.
However, in both cases, the application registry will be complete only after the reception, in the DSRA, of the proof documents of the legal status of the economic operator, with the agreement form were he assumes that he haven’t another EORI number assigned and he won’t request it in another Member State, as well with the written consent for publication (of his EORI and respective name and address), in the internet site of the European community, if he want to give this consent.
Only after assurance of the validity of the sent documents, the EORI manager will validate the registry, and the EORI number will be automatically assigned and exported, with the respective data information, to the central system of the European Commission.
As the quality process of these registries requires a data validation, namely to the effects of identity confirmation and confirmation in central system that there isn’t yet another EORI number assigned by another member state, this economic operators are advised to require a EORI number, before they made any operation, because the registry can take several days to be finalized. The confirmation of the registry by the EORI manager, and the communication of the assigned EORI number, it will by made by post or e-mail to the contact person, after the confirmation of the registry by the central system.
How to update an EORI registry?
The Commission advises the economic operators to keep his information actualized, in order to keep on a good quality in his relationship with customs administrations.
The modifications of the EORI data, as well the request to cancel his EORI number in the case that the economic operator close his activities related to the customs legislation, it will be made in the site of the electronic declarations, “menu EORI – update”, that will be available since 1 of July.
The modifications related to the operators established outside community territory, is done in the site of the electronic declarations of the AT, menu EORI, option “Login – Third Country Operators”, and must be used the password previously defined at the moment of the submission of the filled registration form, combined with the login, that will be the EORI number assigned. If they use the manual form they must submit the request of update to the EORI manager in DSRA.
What is the periodicity of the actualization in the EORI Central System?
Every day, it will be assured by PT an upload with the new EORI information to the central database of the European commission, as well as actualizations of the registered data, and will be expected that the central system will be actualized in conformity after 24 hours.
What are the impacts in the declarative systems of the customs and of the economic operators?
The EORI system is, by nature, a registry and information system of economic operators, that can’t and must not interfere with any of the operational procedures of the other existent systems. So, the EORI Database is deeply linked to the Economic operators tables used for validation by other declarative systems, but don’t interfere with them, and there was maintained the basic identification procedures of the economic operators in spite of the necessary modifications made in context of the EORI.
In the extent of the declarative systems (STADA Import System, STADA Export System, NCTS and Summary Declarations), we refer that the modifications that are justified to make, to assure the consistency with EORI, are related only with the automatic validation procedures of the identification numbers of the operator, indicated in the fields 2, 8, 14, and 50 of the Customs Declaration, and this implicates that we expect that isn’t required any deep adaptations in the economic operator systems. We also clarify that in the situations where now figures in field 14 the number of the Card to Work (Cédula), it will be not necessary to adapt the economic operator systems, because the necessary conversion is assured automatically for each one of the declarative systems.
The declarative systems, as well as various support database systems related to the economic operators have been adapted to the EORI context, in order to, since 1 July of 2009, everything could run without operational problems. Among those modifications are necessary the interface optimizations with the Tax systems for the automatic actualization of the registries, whenever are detected in the Tax Systems modification of the information related to the EORI registries of the AT, and are, also, the optimizations that seek a better information integration e management of data located in various database tables, related, namely with status and authorizations.
Which is the Impact of the EORI in the AEO (Authorized Economic Operator)?
Since 1 July of 2009, every AEO must have necessary an EORI number assigned, so the operator must use this number in the application for an AEO certificate.
To benefit of the facilities given by an AEO certificate, in processing customs declarations, the AEO operator must indicate his EORI number the fields where is necessary this number, and in the field 44 of must indicate the number and type of AEO certificate. Also in the summary declarations of entrance/exit the EORI number is required, as well the type and number of AEO certificate.
How is the validations process of the EORI number?
If an NIF identifier (that belongs to a legal person or natural person with active VAT status) is invoked in a customs declaration it is used to verify if the related operator already exists in the national EORI database. If negative, the related declarative system verifies in the Tax System and downloaded a basic set of data and assigned automatically an EORI number.
In the case that the NIF invoked (operator) don’t exist neither in the national EORI system nor in the Tax systems, competes to the declarative system where that NIF was invoked, make the adequate action for that occurrence.
If the EORI number invoked in the declaration was assigned by a different Member State it is used automatically a Web service of the central EORI system of the European Commission, to verify if operator exists and if it is valid, and if affirmative, return this information to the declarative system that invokes this EORI number. This operator registry is also marked as information to import to the national EORI database in the diary procedure of actualization from the central system (smart replication), and in the futures movements, for that economic operator, it will be not necessary new consultations to the central system, because his information was already imported to the national database. If the operator doesn’t exist in the EORI central system, the declarative system where the identification number was evoked must take the adequate decisions.
In parallel, a diary procedure checks in the Tax systems alterations to the information of the EORI economic operator’s existent in the database of the AT, and actualize the related registries.
When an assigned EORI number is considered extinct?
The EORI number is always associated to a status indicator (active or inactive), that gives information when an economic operator is valid or not.
The decision for this occurrence (valid or invalid), in national registries, is taken in a automatic way for the other systems of information, and from the Tax system of the Taxation Services (namely in the case of the decease, dissolution or bankruptcy of the society) or, in extreme cases, for the EORI manager of the DSRA (for example, after analysis of the operator application to put a end date in his EORI registry).
For economic operators registered in another Member States this information (active or inactive) is checked by the interface with the central system.
A registry is never physically deleted, safe in the cases specially defined. The validity date (or status of an EORI economic operator) will be determined by the control systems, and after be analysed the various support database tables (economic operators, representatives, statute, authorizations, etc).
What happens in case of economic activity suspension in Tax Systems, followed by opening of a new economic activity?
If Economic Operator keeps on the same NIF, the EORI number will be the same, and will be automatically regenerated via Tax System, with the new economic activity and a new “Date of the end” of the registry.
There is a National Help Desk for EORI?
Yes. The Help Desk for EORI is available by the following e-mail address:
dsra-eori@at.gov.pt
What are the EORI procedures adopted by other Member States?
The information about procedures developed in each of the 27 Member States, for the assign of EORI numbers, could be consulted in the official websites of customs administrations via:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/links/customs/index_en.htm
