Article 16

1. Notwithstanding Article 15 (1), the consignee may be a professional trader without authorized warehousekeeper status. This trader may, in the course of his business, receive products subject to excise duty from other Member States under duty-suspension arrangements. However, he may neither hold nor dispatch such products under excise duty-suspension arrangements. Subject to Community law, Member States may lay down specific rules for applying this provision to products subject to excise duty that are covered by special national distribution arrangements compatible with the Treaty. 2. The above trader may request, prior to the receipt of goods, to be registered by the tax authorities of his Member State. A registered trader must comply with the following requirements: guarantee payment of excise duty under the conditions set by the tax authorities of his Member State, without prejudice to Article 15 (4) laying down the liability of the authorized warehousekeeper of dispatch and, if the case arises, of the transporter; keep accounts of deliveries of products; produce the products whenever so required; consent to all monitoring and stock checks. For this type of trader excise duty shall be chargeable at the time of receipt of the goods and shall be paid in accordance with the procedure laid down by each Member State. 3. If the trader referred to in paragraph 1 above is not registered with the tax authorities of his Member State, he must comply with the following requirements: before the goods are dispatched, make a declaration to the tax authorities of the Member States of destination and guarantee the payment of excise duty, without prejudice to Article 15 (4) laying down the liability of the authorized warehousekeeper of dispatch and, if the case arises, of the transporter; pay the excise duty of the Member State of destination at the time of receipt of the goods in accordance with the procedure laid down by that Member State; consent to any check enabling the administration of the Member State of destination to satisfy itself that the goods have actually been received and that the excise duty to which they are liable has been paid. 4. Subject to the provisions set out in paragraphs 2 and 3, the provisions of this Directive relating to the movement of products subject to excise duty under duty-suspension arrangements shall apply.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-31 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.