37Finally, should it be held that a customs debt was in fact incurred following the happening of one of the events referred to above, the Bundesfinanzhof considers, unlike the Finanzgericht, that there are special circumstances in this case which justify repayment of the duties paid by BAT. In the first place, the infringement of the Community transit system was provoked by the activities of the undercover agent, with the result that the principal found itself, in accordance with the case-law of the Court — and, in particular, the judgments in Case C-86/97 Trans-Ex-Import [1999] ECR I-1041 and Case C-61/98 De Haan [1999] ECR I-5003 — in an exceptional situation as compared with other operators engaged in the same business. The findings of the Finanzgericht also showed that BAT itself had not committed any fault or shown any obvious negligence, only the persons who carried out the carriage on its behalf being possibly guilty of blameworthy conduct.
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