(8)

Between 15 July 2020 and 30 March 2022, the Commission received from the parties listed in Tables 1 and 2 requests for exemption with the information required to determine whether these requests were admissible in accordance with Article 4 of the exemption Regulation.

(9)

The parties requesting exemption were given an opportunity to comment on the Commission’s conclusions concerning the admissibility of their requests. Their comments have been addressed in recitals (22) to (27).

(10)

In accordance with Article 5(1) of the exemption Regulation, pending a decision on the merits of requests from the parties requesting exemption, the payment of the extended duty in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by these parties listed in Tables 1 and 2 below was suspended as from the day on which the Commission received their respective duly substantiated requests pursuant to Article 4(1) and (2) of the exemption Regulation.

(11)

The examination of the merits of the request from the parties listed in Table 1 has been concluded.

Table 1

(12)

The Commission established during its examination that the value of the parts originating in China constituted less than 60 % of the total value of the parts of all the bicycles assembled by the parties listed in Table 1.

(13)

Consequently, the Commission concluded that the assembly operations of the parties listed in Table 1 respectively fall outside the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036.

(14)

For that reason, and in accordance with Article 7(1) of the exemption Regulation, the parties listed in Table 1 fulfilled the conditions for exemption from the extended duty.

(15)

In accordance with Article 7(2) of the exemption Regulation, the exemption should take effect as from the date of receipt of the duly substantiated request pursuant to Article 4(1) and (2) of the exemption Regulation. The customs debts in respect of the extended duty from the parties requesting exemption should therefore be considered void from the same date.

(16)

The interested parties were informed of the Commission’s conclusions on the merits of their requests respectively and were given an opportunity to comment thereon.

(17)

Since the exemption applies only to the parties specifically referred to in Table 1, the exempted parties should notify the Commission (7) without delay of any changes to this exemption (for instance, following a change in the name, legal form or address or following the setting up of new assembly entities).

(18)

In case of change in reference, the exempted party should provide relevant information, including on any modification in its activity linked to assembly operations. Where appropriate, the Commission will update the references accordingly.

(19)

The examination of the merits of the requests from the parties listed in Table 2 is ongoing. Pending a decision on the merits of their requests, the payment of the extended duty by these parties is suspended.

(20)

Since the suspensions apply only to the parties specifically referred to in Table 2, these parties should notify the Commission (8) without delay of any changes to these (for instance following a change in the name, legal form or address or following the setting up of new assembly entities).

(21)

In case of change in reference, the party concerned should provide all relevant information, including on any modification in its activities linked to assembly operations. Where appropriate, the Commission will update the references to such party.

Table 2

(22)

Decathlon Sp. z o.o. Poland (‘Decathlon’) listed in Table 2 commented by requesting the Commission to reconsider the date of effect of the suspension of payments of the duties for parties under examination.

(23)

Decathlon claimed that the request for exemption was lodged on 1 December 2021 together with the necessary documents and information in order for the Commission to determine its admissibility and therefore, the suspension of payments of the duties should take effect as from that date.

(24)

In this regard, Article 4(3) of the exemption Regulation states that the admissibility of requests of exemption is determined when it is duly substantiated pursuant to Article 4(1) and (2) of the same Regulation.

(25)

The request of exemption lodged by Decathlon on 1 December 2021 was not duly substantiated to determine its admissibility. The Commission informed Decathlon accordingly and requested additional information as well as missing documentation pursuant to Article 4(2) of the exemption Regulation.

(26)

Decathlon provided the missing documentation and information on 31 January 2022 and 21 March 2022. Therefore, the request for exemption lodged by Decathlon was considered duly substantiated only as of 21 March 2022 and accordingly this is the date of effect of the suspension of payment of the extended duties.

(27)

For the above, the date of 21 March 2022, as previously disclosed, is confirmed and the request of Decathlon dismissed.

(28)

Between 16 November 2021 and 24 May 2022, the exempted parties listed in Table 3 notified the Commission of changes in their addresses. The Commission, after having examined the information submitted, concluded that those changes do not affect the assembly operations with regard to the conditions of exemption or suspension set forth in the exemption Regulation.

(29)

While the exemption of these parties from the extended duty authorised in accordance with Articles 5(1) or 7(1) of the exemption Regulation remains unaffected, the references to these parties should be updated.

Table 3

(30)

The suspension of payment of the duties for the parties under examination should be lifted for the parties listed in Table 4.

Table 4

(31)

On 27 July 2020 and on 25 November 2020 the Commission received from the parties listed in Table 4 a request for exemption with the information required to determine whether the respective requests were admissible in accordance with Article 4(1) of the exemption Regulation.

(32)

In accordance with Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, pending a decision on the merits of the requests, the payment of the extended duty in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by the parties listed in Table 4 was suspended as from the day on which the Commission received their requests for exemption respectively.

(33)

TARIC additional codes C557 and C609 were assigned to Berria Bike S.L. Spain (‘Berria Bike’) and Nextbike GmbH, Germany (‘Nextbike’) respectively, in order to identify the imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation and subject to the suspension of the payment of the extended duty.

(34)

On 25 March 2022 the Commission received from Berria Bike a request to withdraw the application for an exemption while the examination of its merits was ongoing and the payment of the extended duty was suspended.

(35)

The Commission accepted the withdrawal and consequently the suspension of the payment of the extended duty should be lifted. The extended duty should be collected as from the date of receipt of the request for exemption submitted by Berria Bike, namely the date on which the suspension took effect, that is 27 July 2020.

(36)

On 30 March 2022 the Commission received from Berria Bike a new request for exemption with the information required to determine whether this request was admissible in accordance with Article 4(1) of the exemption Regulation.

(37)

In accordance with Article 5(1) of the exemption Regulation, pending a decision on the merits of the new request, the payment of the extended duty in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by Berria Bike was suspended as from the day on which the Commission received its new duly substantiated request for exemption pursuant to Article 4(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 88/97, that is 30 March 2022.

(38)

Accordingly, pending a decision on the merits of the latest exemption request, the new date on which the suspension of the extended duty took effect should be changed to 30 March 2022.

(39)

On 5 May 2022 the Commission received from Nextbike a request to withdraw the application for an exemption while the examination of its merits was ongoing and the payment of the extended duty was suspended.

(40)

The Commission accepted the withdrawal and consequently the suspension of the payment of the extended duty should be lifted. The extended duty should be collected as from the date of receipt of the request for exemption submitted by Nextbike, namely the date on which the suspension took effect, that is 25 November 2020.

(41)

The parties listed in Table 4 were informed of the Commission’s conclusions and were given an opportunity to comment thereon. No comments were received,