Article 77

The customs authorities may grant the debtor payment facilities other than deferred payment on condition that a guarantee is provided. Where facilities are granted pursuant to the first subparagraph, credit interest shall be charged on the amount of import or export duty. The rate of credit interest shall be the interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operation carried out before the first calendar day of the half-year in question (the reference rate), plus one percentage point. For a Member State which is not participating in the third stage of economic and monetary union, the reference rate referred to above shall be the equivalent rate set by its national central bank. In that case, the reference rate in force on the first calendar day of the half-year in question shall apply for the following six months. The customs authorities may refrain from requiring a guarantee or from charging credit interest where it is established, on the basis of a documented assessment of the situation of the debtor, that this would create serious economic or social difficulties. The Commission may, in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 184(2), adopt measures for the implementation of paragraphs 1 and 2.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-07 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.