S.L. 433.3 ст. 16AChecks at places of destination.

(1) Without prejudice to regulation 16, the following provisions shall apply only for checks carried out at places of destination:

(a) identity and Plant Health Checks of Plants, Plant Products or other Objects listed in Part B of Schedule V to these Regulations may be carried out at a Place other than point of entry. In case of transit of non-Community goods the inspection may take place at the premises of the official body of destination, or at any place close by, when the conditions referred to in paragraph (b) are met. The inspection may take place at the place of destination such as place of production, when the conditions referred to in sub-regulation (b) are met;

(b) the conditions referred to in sub- paragraph (a) shall be:

(i) when the official bodies of the point of entry and of destination decide, where appropriate by agreement between the responsible official bodies of the Member States, that identity checks and plant health checks (hereinafter referred to as "checks") could more meticulously be carried out at a place other than the point of entry into the Community or at a place close by; and

(ii) when any importer or other person responsible for the places or the premises where the checks are to be carried out (hereinafter referred to as "the applicant") of a consignment composed of the products concerned has the approval, through an approval procedure defined in sub-regulation (2)(b) for checks to be carried out at "an approved place of inspection" which is either:

(A) in the case of transit of non-Community goods at -

(1) the premises of the official body of destination; or

(2) a place close by those premises and designated or approved by the customs authorities and by the responsible official body; or

(B) at a place of destination approved by the official body and the customs authorities responsible for the area where that place of destination is located; and

(C) when specific guarantees and documents as regards the transport of a consignment composed of the products concerned to the approved place of inspection are met, and, where appropriate, minimum conditions concerning the storage of these products on these places of inspection are fulfilled; and

(c) the specific guarantees, documents and minimum conditions referred to in sub-regulation (1)(b)(C) of this regulation shall be:

(i) the packaging of the consignment or the means of transport used for this consignment shall be closed or sealed in such a way that the products concerned cannot cause infestation or infection during their transport to the approved place of inspection and will be such that their identity will remain unchanged. In duly reasoned cases the relevant official bodies of the Member States may allow consignments which are not closed or sealed, provided that the products concerned cannot cause infestation or infection during their transport to the approved place of inspection;

(ii) the consignment shall be sent to the approved place of inspection. No change of the place of inspection is allowed, except following approval by the relevant official bodies of the point of entry and of the requested destination, and the customs authorities responsible for the area where the requested place of inspection is located;

(iii) the consignment shall be accompanied by a PHMD, and contain the required information in accordance with the model in Schedule VIII to these regulations; the document shall be completed by typing or in handwritten legible capital letters or by electronic means in agreement with the relevant official bodies of point of entry and of destination and shall be in at least one of the official languages of the Community;

(iv) the relevant headings of the document referred to in paragraph (iii) shall be filled in and signed by the importer of the consignment under the supervision of the relevant official body of point of entry; and

(v) in the cases referred to in sub-regulation (b)(ii)(A)(1) of this regulation, the storage of the consignment at the approved place of inspection shall be such that it is separated from both Community goods and from consignments infested or suspected to be infested by harmful organisms.

(2) (a) the Directorate shall ensure that an approval procedure be established as specified in sub-regulations (2)(b), (2)(c) and (2)(d) of this regulation to evaluate, and where appropriate to approve, the suitability in phytosanitary terms, of carrying out checks at places proposed as approved places of inspection;

(b) the procedure referred to in sub-regulation (2)(a) of this regulation shall indicate that, if the checks are to be carried out at approved places of inspection, any applicant shall apply to the responsible official bodies in charge of carrying out such checks, requesting that checks be carried out at places mentioned in the request;

(c) the application shall include a technical dossier supplying the information necessary for evaluating the suitability of proposed places as an approved place of inspection, and covering, in particular information relating to the products concerned intended to be imported and the places in which the imported products concerned will be stored or kept awaiting the final results of the checks, and in particular how separation referred to in sub-regulation (1)(c)(v) of this regulation is to be secured; and

(d) the Directorate shall ensure that the application referred to in sub-regulation (2)(b) of this regulation shall be recorded and that:

(i) the information supplied in the application is examined;

(ii) the suitability for carrying out checks at the proposed places of inspection is evaluated, which should fulfil minimum requirements which are at least those laid down in paragraphs (3)(b) and (3)(c) of regulation 16B, or any further requirements which the Director may impose in a non- discriminatory manner and which are justified in order to allow efficient inspections are evaluated; and

(iii) the Director shall respond to the applicant by either:

(A) indicating that the application is acceptable and that the places concerned are designated as approved place of inspection; or

(B) indicating that the application is not acceptable and the reason thereof;

(e) the Director shall keep and provide to the Commission and to the Member States on request, the updated list of the approved places of inspection;

(f) the Director shall ensure that the necessary measures are taken if it is found that there are elements which would militate against the proper functioning of carrying out checks at the approved places of inspection:

Provided that the Director shall notify the Commission and the Member States concerned of all significant cases of non-compliance with the conditions which apply to an approved place of inspection.

(3) Plant Health Inspectors shall ensure that the importer of the consignments for which it was decided that checks of these consignments may be carried out at an approved place of inspection, shall be subject to the following obligations, without prejudice to those already laid down in regulations 6 and 7:

(a) the importer shall notify the introduction of the products concerned sufficiently in advance to the relevant official body of destination, which notification shall contain in particular:

(i) the name, address and the location of the approved place of inspection;

(ii) the scheduled date and time of arrival at the approved place of inspection of the products concerned;

(iii) if available, the individual serial number of the plant health movement document referred to in sub-regulation (1)(c)(iii);

(iv) if available, the date and place at which the plant health movement document referred to in sub-regulation (1)(c)(iii) was drawn up; and

(v) details of the importer and phytosanitary certificate or phytosanitary certificate for re-export as requested in the PHMD as per Schedule VIII; and

(b) the importer shall notify to the relevant official body of destination any changes as regards the information supplied pursuant to paragraph (3)(a).

(4) The Directorate shall ensure that the checks of the products concerned carried out at the approved place of inspection satisfy minimum conditions which are at least those laid down in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3(a) of Regulation 16B, or any further requirements which the Director may impose in a non-discriminatory manner and which are justified in order to allow efficient inspections.

(5) The Directorate may lay down additional requirements deemed necessary to designate a proposed place as an approved place of inspection.

(6) (1) Malta shall ensure co-operation, where applicable, between:

(a) the official body of point of entry and the official body of destination;

(b) the official body of point of entry and the customs office of point of entry;

(c) the official body of destination and the customs office of destination;

(d) the official body of point of entry and the customs office of destination by means of exchange of relevant information on the plants, plant products or other objects intended to be imported, their packaging and means of transport in written or electronic form using the Plant health movement document referred to in sub-regulation 1(b)(c)(iii).

(2) (a) If the point of entry into Malta of the products concerned and the approved place of inspection are situated in different Member States, the consignment may be sent to and the checks may be carried out at an approved place of inspection on the basis of an agreement between the responsible official bodies of the Member States concerned. Evidence of the agreement between the responsible official bodies of the Member States concerned shall be recorded on the Plant health movement document.

(b) after the products have been inspected at the approved place of inspection, the Directorate shall certify on the PHMD, using a service stamp and a date, that the relevant identity and plant health checks referred to in sub-regulation 16 (a) (ii) (ii) and 16 (a) (ii) (iii) have been carried out. The final outcome of these checks shall be shown in the box headed "Decision". This provision applies, if the documentary mutatis mutandis, checks referred to in regulation 15 (b)(ii) have also been complied with;

(c) if the outcome of the checks referred to in sub-regulation (6)(b) is "Release", the consignment and the accompanying PHMD shall be presented to the Customs authorities responsible for the area of the "approved place of inspection" enabling the consignment to be placed under the relevant customs procedure referred to in regulation 15. The PHMD shall no longer be required to accompany the consignment and this document or a copy thereof shall be kept for at least one year by the Directorate;

(d) if the outcome of the checks referred to in sub-regulation (6)(b) leads to the obligation to move the products concerned within the Community to a destination outside the Community, such products shall remain under Customs supervision until the re-export of the products has taken place.