Commission Regulation (EC) No 884/2001 of 24 April 2001 laying down detailed rules of application concerning the documents accompanying the carriage of wine products and the records to be kept in the wine sector

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the application of Article 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 with regard to accompanying documents for the carriage of wine products without prejudice to the application of Directive 92/12/EEC. It lays down:

1. rules for certifying the origin of quality wines produced in specified regions and the provenance of table wines entitled to a geographical indication in the documents accompanying the carriage of these wines, which are also issued under Community rules based on Directive 92/12/EEC;

2. rules for issuing documents accompanying the carriage of the wine products listed in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999:

   • inside a Member State, where such consignments are not accompanied by a document required under Community rules based on Directive 92/12/EEC,

   • on exportation to a third country,

   • in intra-Community trade when:

     • transport is carried out by a small producer not required to draw up a simplified accompanying document by the Member State where transport begins, or

     • when the wine product being transported is not subject to excise duty;

3. additional provisions for drawing up:

   • the accompanying administrative document or the commercial document used in its place,

   • the simplified accompanying document or the commercial document used in its place

   intended to accompany the carriage of the wine products listed in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999.

This Regulation also lays down rules on the keeping of records of entry and withdrawal by persons holding wine products in the course of their occupation.

All natural or legal persons, groups of persons, including traders who do not hold stocks, who have their domicile or registered place of business within the customs territory of the Community and who transport a wine product or have a wine product transported shall draw up on their own responsibility a document to accompany such transport, hereinafter called ‘the accompanying document’.

The accompanying document shall include at least the following information in accordance with the instructions set out in Annex II:

1. name and address of consignor;

2. name and address of consignee;

3. a reference number for the purpose of identifying the accompanying document;

4. the date the document was drawn up and the date of dispatch where this differs from the former;

5. the trade description of the product being carried in accordance with Community and national rules;

6. the quantity of product being transported;

The document shall also include, for carriage in containers of a nominal volume of more than 60 litres:

1. in the case of:

   • wine: the actual alcoholic strength,

   • non-fermented products: the refractive index or the density,

   • new wine still in fermentation and grape must infermentation: the total alcoholic strength;

2. in the case of wines and grape must:

   • the wine-growing zone in accordance with the demarcation shown in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 from which the transported product originates, using the following abbreviations: A, B, CI(a), CI(b), CII, CIII(a) and CIII(b),

   • the operations referred to in Annex II which the products transported have undergone.

The following shall be recognised as accompanying documents:

1. for products subject to the formalities regarding movement laid down by Directive 92/12/EEC:

   • in the case of release into circulation with the suspension of excise duty, an administrative or commercial document drawn up in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2719/92,

   • in the case of intra-Community movement and release for consumption in the Member State of dispatch, a simplified accompanying document or a commercial document completed in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 3649/92;

2. for products not subject to the formalities regarding movement laid down by Directive 92/12/EEC, each document containing as a minimum the information referred to in paragraph 1, as well as any additional information required by the Member States and drawn up in accordance with this Title.

Member States may require the accompanying document for the transport of products as referred to in paragraph 1 commencing on their territory to be drawn up in accordance with the model set out in Annex III.

Where transport begins and ends on their territory, Member States may waive the requirement that accompanying documents be divided into boxes and that the information be numbered as in the model set out in Annex III.

Where an accompanying document is completed to accompany a consignment of a wine product in containers of a nominal volume of more than 60 litres, the reference number of the document must be assigned by the competent authority whose name and address are indicated thereon. That authority may be a tax inspection body.

Reference numbers shall form part of a continuous series. They shall be pre-printed on the documents accompanying the consignment.

The original of the accompanying document referred to in the first subparagraph, duly completed, and the copy thereof shall be validated beforehand and subsequently for each transport operation:

• by means of the stamp of the competent authority of the Member State in which transport begins, or

• by the consignor by means of the prescribed stamp or the mark of a stamping machine approved by the competent authority.

Where an administrative document or commercial document complying with Regulation (EEC) No 2719/92 or a simplified accompanying document or commercial document complying with Regulation (EEC) No 3649/92 is used, copies 1 and 2 shall be validated beforehand in accordance with the procedure laid down in the third subparagraph.