5.4. Person requesting invalidation (including the role of representatives)

The invalidation of the customs declaration can only be requested by the declarant, in accordance with article 174 of the CAU .

In the context of the import of EEV , the following situations may normally arise in relation to the declarant:

1. the declaration is filed by the consignee (i.e. the importer) in the EU (in his own name and on his own account);
2. The declaration is submitted by a direct representative ( e.g. , a postal service operator, an express transport company or a customs agent) in the name and on behalf of the recipient (i.e. the importer) in the EU;
3. the declaration is submitted by an indirect representative (for example, a postal service operator, an express transport company or a customs agent) on his own behalf, but on behalf of the recipient (i.e. the importer) in the EU;
4. In the event that the postal service, express transport company or customs agent fails to declare that it is acting as a representative, it will be deemed to be acting in its own name and on its own account and will assume all responsibilities that come with being a declarant. , including being a debtor of VAT .

In the situations referred to in letters a) and b), the declarant is usually a natural person, that is, the consumer located in the EU. In the case contemplated in letter c), the indirect representative becomes the declarant.

When the goods cannot be delivered or have been rejected by the recipient (i.e. the consumer located in the EU), the customs declaration of release for free circulation must be invalidated to remove the obligation to pay VAT. The declarant must submit the application after the return of the goods under a new contract of carriage that includes a cross-reference to the contract of carriage used for the importation of the goods, as well as to the customs import declaration in the operator's records (to the address of the original sender).

Persons requesting the invalidation of the customs declaration for release for free circulation in the situations described in letters a) to d) shall be, respectively, the following:

1. If delivery of the goods fails and the carrier expects the consumer to lodge the customs declaration for release for free circulation, but that person refuses to take delivery of the goods, then no customs declaration for release for free circulation has been lodged and the goods shall be held in temporary storage at the carrier's premises and re-exported as non-Union goods. In this (rather theoretical) case, there is no customs declaration that needs to be invalidated.
2. If the goods have been refused or could not be delivered to the recipient, and the customs declaration for release for free circulation was submitted by the postal service operator, express transport company, etc. , as a direct representative, the consignee (i.e. the consumer located in the EU) probably does not wish to be involved in the request for invalidation of the customs declaration of release for free circulation. Therefore, if the conditions of the power of attorney allow the representation to be applied to the entire life cycle of the customs declaration (from its preparation and delivery to receipt of the decision on its invalidation), the representative (direct or indirect) may, on behalf of the declarant (i.e. the importer), request the invalidation of the import declaration at customs.
3. In this case, the indirect representative becomes the declarant and may therefore request the invalidation of the customs declaration for release for free circulation on his own behalf if the goods could not be delivered or have been rejected by the consignee.
4. If the postal service, express transport company or customs agent fails to declare that it is acting as a representative and is therefore deemed to be acting in its own name and on its own account, it may request the invalidation of the customs declaration for release for free circulation in its own name as declarant.