Due to the specific characteristics of pipeline gas and LNG, and in order to allow for a smooth verification process of the country of production and the conditions for possible temporary exemptions before the gas enters the customs territory of the Union, a prior authorisation procedure should be introduced. Imports should be refused in the absence of an authorisation. Authorising authorities and, where applicable, customs authorities should be informed in advance about intended imports into the Union, and they should be provided with the information necessary to verify the country of production and to determine whether the conditions for a temporary exemption under this Regulation are met. While authorising authorities should strive to issue an authorisation within the period between submission of information by the importer and the planned entry into the customs territory of the Union in order to facilitate imports of gas into the Union, they should also be able to decide at a later stage, in particular where there are doubts concerning the information provided. The prior authorisation should be without prejudice to existing enforcement powers of customs authorities. Imports of natural gas from gas producing countries should be exempted from that obligation if the Union has imported significant volumes from these countries in the past and if those countries either have shown that they do not want to support the Russian gas sector by a prohibition on the import of Russian gas or by restrictive measures targeting Russian gas infrastructure, Russian gas companies or persons managing such companies, or if those countries do not dispose of the necessary infrastructure to import natural gas via pipelines or LNG. The Commission should establish a list of such countries and update it accordingly.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
