Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof (Germany) lodged on 19 June 2013 – Nordex Food A/S v Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas

(Case C-334/13)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesfinanzhof

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Nordex Food A/S

Defendant: Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas

Questions referred

For the purposes of the decision on the granting of an export refund, must it be assumed that the export licence has been duly presented pursuant to Article 4(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/1999¹ laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products if the export customs office accepted the export declaration without the presentation of the licence but in so doing permitted the exporter to submit the licence later within a certain time-limit and the exporter complied with this?

If the reply to the first question is in the negative: does Article 4(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/1999 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products require, on a mandatory basis, that the export licence must be presented when lodging the export declaration or is it sufficient if the exporter first submits the export licence (granted to him prior to export) in the payment procedure?

Is an exporter, who initially submitted forged customs documents in relation to the arrival of the exported product in the country of destination, able to submit valid customs documents to preserve his entitlement even after the expiry of the time-limits for submission laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/1999 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, if the delayed submission has not delayed or hindered the handling of the payment procedure because the application for a refund was initially rejected as a result of reasons other than the failure to submit such proof of arrival at destination and such proof is submitted after the forgery of those documents has been recognised?

Is a penalty pursuant to Article 51 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/1999 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products incurred even if the export refund applied for did correspond to that which in fact had to be granted but in the payment procedure the exporter initially submitted documents on the basis of which the export refund could not have been granted to him?

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¹     Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/1999 of 15 April 1999 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products (OJ 1999 L 102, p. 11).