40Article 70 of the VAT directive lays down the principle that the chargeable event occurs and the tax becomes chargeable at the moment when the goods are imported. Thus, Article 71(1) of the VAT directive provides, in particular in its first subparagraph, that, where, on entry into the European Union, goods are placed under customs warehousing arrangements, the chargeable event occurs and the tax becomes chargeable only when the goods cease to be covered by those arrangements. However, the second subparagraph of Article 71(1) covers the specific situation in which, for imported goods subject to customs duties, to agricultural levies or to charges having equivalent effect established under a common policy, the chargeable event occurs and the tax becomes chargeable when the chargeable event in respect of those duties occurs and those duties become chargeable.
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