Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

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Agriculture - Monetary compensatory amounts - Payment by the exporting Member State of compensatory amounts which should be granted upon importation by another Member State - Repayment of amounts unduly paid - Declaration of weight entered in the control copies - A posteriori correction by the authorities of the importing State - Binding on the customs authorities of the exporting State - Permissibility of control by the national court
( Council Regulations Nos 729/70, Art . 8(1 ), 974/71, Art . 2a, and 1468/81, Art . 5; Commission Regulation No 1380/75, Art . 11(2 ) )

The exporting Member State which, under an agreement concluded pursuant to Article 2a of Regulation No 974/71, pays monetary compensatory amounts on importation that another Member State must grant, pays those amounts on behalf of the latter State, which retains the responsibility of granting them ( judgment of 18 September 1980 in Case 797/79 Pesch v Hoofsproduktschap voor Akkerbouwprodukten (( 1980 )) ECR 2705 ). The exporting State cannot therefore depart from the indications of weight which the customs authorities of the importing State provide it upon returning the control copies . The exporting State which so pays those amounts on behalf of the importing State is, however, solely responsible for that payment with regard to the Community authorities ( judgment of 15 October 1985 in Case 125/84 Continental Irish Meat Ltd v Minister for Agriculture (( 1985 )) ECR 3441 ). Whilst the customs authorities of the exporting Member State, in order to satisfy the obligation imposed upon them by Article 8(1 ) of Regulation No 729/70, are to require the repayment of monetary compensatory amounts unduly paid, they are bound by corrections to weights communicated to them by the customs authorities of the importing State in the framework of the mutual assistance between national administrative authorities provided for by Article 5 of Regulation No 1468/81, whether or not such corrections are entered in the control copies .
A national court hearing a dispute between an exporter and the customs authorities of the exporting State concerning the repayment of monetary compensatory amounts on importation is not bound by corrections to weights communicated by the customs authorities of the importing State to the authorities of the exporting State in so far as it retains the power to appraise, in application of national rules of procedure, the evidential value of the information transmitted .

In Case 233/87
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht Hamburg ( Federal Republic of Germany ) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Merkur Aussenhandel GmbH & Co . KG
and
Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas
on the interpretation of Article 11(2 ) of Commission Regulation No 1380/75 of 29 May 1975 laying down detailed rules for the application of monetary compensatory amounts ( Official Journal 1975, L 139, p . 37 ),
THE COURT ( First Chamber ),
composed of : R . Joliet, President of Chamber, Sir Gordon Slynn and G . C . Rodríguez Iglesias, Judges,
( the grounds of the judgments are not reproduced )
in answer to the question referred to it by the Finanzgericht Hamburg, by decision of 12 May 1987, hereby rules :

The customs authorities of the exporting State which claim the repayment of monetary compensatory amounts on importation are bound by the corrected weights notified to them by the customs authorities of the importing State, whether or not they are entered in the control copies .
A national court hearing an action between the exporter and the customs authorities of the exporting State concerning the repayment of monetary compensatory amounts on importation is not bound by the corrected weights notified to the customs authorities of the exporting State by the customs authorities of the importing State .