4.The order making the reference was received at the Court Registry on 4 September 1981.Pursuant to Article 20 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EEC, written observations were submitted by Miss Senta Einberger, the plaintiff in the main action, represented by Rainer Endriss, Rechtsanwalt, Freiburg, and by the Commission of the European Communities, represented by its Legal Adviser, Rolf Wägenbaur, acting as Agent.By order of 3 February 1982 the Court decided to join Cases 221/81 and 240/81 for the purpose of the oral procedure.By order of 1 April 1982 the Court (First Chamber) decided, pursuant to Article 104 (3) of the Rules of Procedure, to grant, as legal aid, assistance for the purpose of facilitating the representation of the plaintiff in the main action.On hearing the report of the Judge-Rapporteur and the views of the Advocate General, the Court decided to open the oral procedure without any preparatory inquiry. However, it invited the Commission to provide the Court with a description of the laws and regulations and custom practices governing, in each of the Member States,On the one hand, the illegal importation of drugs the use and marketing of which are strictly forbidden within their territory; and,On the other hand, the illegal importation of products the marketing of which is not prohibited as such within national territory but which are or have been smuggled into that territory.The information collected by the Commission from the Member States may be summarized as follows :The illegal importation of drugs the use and marketing of which are strictly prohibited gives rise to liability to pay customs duties and the levying of import duties in Belgium, Such imports give rise to liability to pay customs duties in the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.However, in the Federal Republic of Germany, since the judgment of the Court of 5 February 1981 in Case 50/80 cited above, import duties are not levied after discovery of the drugs in the event of their destruction, and there is moreover a presumption that they have been destroyed. In Ireland, the liability to pay customs duties is regarded as extinguished by reason of the fact that unlawfully imported drugs are confiscated and destroyed. In the Netherlands, import duties are levied where the drugs have been consumed and the illegal importation can be proved, but they are not levied in the event of confiscation and destruction.In Italy, the illegal importation of drugs gives rise to liability to pay customs duties, except in the case of re-export or destruction by official order.The illegal importation of drugs does not give rise to any liability to pay customs duties in Greece or Luxembourg, where drugs which are discovered are confiscated and destroyed. In Luxembourg, however, liability to pay customs duties arises if the drugs have been consumed.Finally, the illegal importation of drugs does not give rise to the levying of duties in Denmark, France or the United Kingdom. However, in France, in those cases where illegally imported drugs are not destroyed by official order but are sold, for example to approved laboratories, duties are levied upon such sale. In the United Kingdom, duties are not levied in any case, regardless of whether the offending importer sold, consumed or re-exported the drugs.The illegal importation of products the marketing of which is not per se prohibited gives rise to liability to pay customs duties in all the Member States, except in Greece where illegally imported goods are confiscated.However, import duties are not levied in Denmark in those cases where the party liable to duty is unknown and the products are destroyed or sold.In Ireland, import duties are regarded as having been paid where a smuggled product is returned to the person concerned against payment of a sum determined by arrangement and in cases where the product is confiscated and subsequently sold; on the other hand, the liability to pay customs duties is regarded as extinguished if the products are destroyed by official order or reexported.In Luxembourg, products smuggled into the country are as a rule confiscated and sold. Import duties are levied upon the sale if the products are sold with a view to consumption within the country; duties are also levied where the products in question have been consumed.In the United Kingdom, duties are not levied when the products are confiscated unless they are returned to the importer or sold by official order. On the other hand, duties are levied in the case of sale or re-export by the importer.
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