No L 78/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 26.3.91 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 719/91 of 21 March 1991 on the use in the Community of TIR carnets and ATA carnets as transit documents THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, " Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), In cooperation with the European Parliament (3, Having regard to the opim'ori of the Economic and Social Committee (%), ' Whereas, pursuant to the rules on Community transit, goods may be carried within the Community under cover of TIR carnets (Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR camets (TIR Convention), done at Geneva on 14 November 1975) or under cover of ATA carnets (Customs Convention on the ATA carnet for the temporary admission of goods (ATA Convention), done at Brussels on 6 December 1961) within the limits laid down by those rules; Whereas, pursuant to Article 48 of the TIR Convention, Contracting Parties which form a customs or economic union may enact special provisions in respect of transport operations commencing or terminating in, or passing through, their territories, provided that such provisions do not attenuate the facilities provided for by that Conven- tion ; whereas, pursuant to Article 14 of the ATA Conven- tion, the territories of Contracting Parties which form a customs or economic union may be taken to be a single territory ; Whereas designating the Community as a single territory for the purposes of the rules governing the use of TIR or ATA carnets would entail the abolition of all formalities and checks for crossing the Community’s internal front- iers provided for in those rules and would mark a further - step towards progressive elimination of these frontiers; whereas, to this end, the necessary measures should be adopted and provision made for them to be implemented before the scheduled date for completion of the internal market ; Whereas the incorporation of this reform in the operation of the TIR and ATA procedures requires the adoption of implementing provisions; whereas, to that end, close cooperation between the Member States and the Commis- sion must be established within a Committee, () OJ No C 142, 12. 6. 1990, p. 6. () OJ No C 324, 24. 12. 1990 and Decision of 20 February 1991 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (’) OJ No C 41, 18. 2. 1991, p. 36. HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : CHAPTER I TIR Convention Article 1 Where, in accordance with the provisions in force, goods are transported from one point in the Community to another under the procedure for the international trans- port of goods under cover of TIR carnets (TIR Conven- tion), the Community shall, for the purposes of the rules governing the use of the TIR carnet for such transport, be considered to form a single territory, as defined by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2151/84 of 23 July 1984 on the customs territory of the Community (%), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4151/88 (°). Article 2 Within the meaning of Article 1 (h) of the TIR Conven- tion, ‘customs office en route’ shall mean any customs office through which a road vehicle, combination of vehicles or container, as defined in the TIR Convention, is imported into or exported from the customs territory of the Community in the course of a TIR operation. ' Article 3 Where, in the course of transport from one point in the Community to another, goods pass through the territory of a third country, the checks and formalities associated with the TIR procedure shall be carried out at the points where the goods leave the customs territory of the Community temporarily and where they re-enter that territory. Article 4 For the purposes of applying Article 8 (4) of the TIR Convention, where a consignment enters the customs territory of the Community or transport thereof commences at a customs office of departure situated in the customs territory of the Community, the guaranteeing association shall become or shall be responsible to the authorities of each Member State, the territory of which the TIR consignment enters up to the point at which it leaves the customs territory of the Community.or up to the customs office of destination in that territory. () OJ No L 197, 27. 7. 1984, p. 1. () OJ No L 367, 31. 12. 1988, p. 1.