| Effective date | - The provisions of Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 came into force on 1 January 2014.
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| Orientation | - A structured overview of the procedure
- Legal clarification of the administrative processes
- Retention of proven settlement practice, and modifications based on experience and current developments
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| Structure | - The role of the Customs Administration remains unchanged.
- Action by the customs authorities continues to be on the basis of an application, at the cost of, and on the responsibility of a right holder.
- In all cases it is, in principle, possible to settle a case without instituting civil proceedings.
- More transparency for the parties involved in the customs authorities’ actions because of tighter deadlines and clear rules on information obligations for the Customs Administration and the economic operator.
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| Scope | - The Regulation applies to goods that are under customs supervision or in a free zone.
Exceptions:
- parallel imports and production over-runs,
- goods that have been released for free circulation pursuant to the "end-use" regime;
- o non-commercial goods that are being transported in travellers’ private luggage.
- The previous scope of industrial property rights has been broadened to include semiconductor topographies, utility models, products used to circumvent copy protection, trade names, and certain geographical indications.
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| Definitions | - • A supporting catalogue of definitions; it includes definitions of terms such as "Union application", "small consignment", "perishable goods", "exclusive licence", and "owner of goods".
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| Application procedure |
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| Baseline procedure | - Generally corresponding to the previous simplified destruction procedure.
- Must be applied in all Member States.
- Notification of clearance information and samples sent on request of the holder of the decision.
- Samples relating to patent rights, utility model, semiconductor topographies, and trade names cannot be sent.
- Civil proceedings need only be instituted when the declarant or the owner of the products objects to the destruction.
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| Early release of goods | - Insofar as a design, a patent, a utility model, a topography of a semiconductor product, or a plant variety right has been infringed, the detained products can be released at the request of the declarant or owner of the products before establishing whether an intellectual property right has been infringed.
- There is no express period for the submission of an interim measure against release by the customs authorities.
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| Intervention prior to submission (ex officio) | - Extended deadline for submitting an application (four working days)
- Short period before granting an application (two working days)
- The ten working day period begins with the notification or the detention of the products.
- The application is initially only granted for the consignment in question. The validity of the period of application can, however, be extended if all the required product and risk analysis data have been supplied within ten working days.
- Not possible under the procedure for the destruction of goods in small consignments
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| Destruction |
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| Prohibition |
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| Non-compliance | - The customs authorities may not take any actions if the intellectual property rights are no longer valid, or in the absence of an entitlement to submit an application.
- The decision holder’s failure to comply with his notification obligations can result in the suspension of the custom’s actions until expiration of the period for which an application has been granted.
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