REGULATIONS FOR DECLARATION AND DISPOSAL OF UNCLAIMED ITEMS OF THE PIRAEUS CONTAINER TERMINAL S.A. IN THE PIRAEUS FREE ZONE

Transcription

1 REGULATIONS FOR DECLARATION AND DISPOSAL OF UNCLAIMED ITEMS OF THE PIRAEUS CONTAINER TERMINAL S.A. IN THE PIRAEUS FREE ZONE Article 1 Goods declared unclaimed deadlines Goods unloaded and received by the Piraeus Container Terminal S.A. (to be referred to hereinafter for the sake of brevity as SEP or SEP SA ) in the context of its business activities, and placed in the storage areas it manages within the Piraeus Free Zone, where the owner or recipient of these goods has not appeared to take delivery of them within three months of the date of unloading, or where no documentation has been lodged giving the goods a new customs destination and the storage fees have not been paid at the dates set by SEP, or where the owner of the goods states in writing that he abandons them, are declared unclaimed by the Managing Director of SEP, after the passage of a month from the date of written notification to the owner or recipient of the goods, or from the date of submission of the statement of their abandonment, and at the recommendation of the competent director of SEP. In all cases of abandonment, the owner of the goods in question must pay to SEP S.A. all the storage fees as well as any other costs it may have incurred from the abandonment of the goods. In respect of goods to be declared unclaimed and sold off to the highest bidder in accordance with these Regulations, if the successful bidder does not re-export the goods he must pay to the competent customs office the relevant tax and duties for the goods in accordance with article 5 below, and after furnishing SEP S.A. with the relevant documentation proving the payment of said taxes and duties he will be able to take delivery of the goods he has purchased. Article 2 Records and protocols of unclaimed goods In respect of goods remaining in the storage areas of the Free Zone three months after the date of their unloading, the Director of the Free Zone must submit to the Unclaimed Goods Section, within twenty days, a list of the goods referred to in article 1.

2 The above three-month time limit is indicative and has no effect on the legality of collection of the relevant storage and other fees by SEP S.A. for any period beyond this time limit. The lists of unclaimed goods are verified by the Unclaimed Goods Section, which checks them against the relevant documentation, and the relevant protocols are then compiled. To each protocol of unclaimed goods issued a copy of the debit note for storage and other fees owed to SEP S.A. will be attached. All documents relating to the goods, and any other material of use in enabling due collection of SEP S.A. fees will also be attached to the protocols of unclaimed goods. Three copies of each manifest and dispatch sheet will be issued and given a serial number for each financial use. A copy of each protocol of unclaimed goods shall be delivered to the competent customs control office. Goods declared unclaimed as described above are to be taken to the unclaimed goods warehouse of SEP S.A. within no more than twenty days from the date of compilation of the relevant protocol of unclaimed goods. A transportation protocol will be prepared to certify the movement of these goods to the unclaimed goods warehouse of SEP S.A. Goods which cannot, in the view of SEP, be transported for some reason to the unclaimed items warehouse, or which it is not deemed expedient to transport to the warehouse, will remain in their original location, with a statement to this effect by the competent managers on the relevant unclaimed goods protocol. It should be understood that these goods too (those not transported to the unclaimed goods warehouse) must be checked by the competent committee within twenty (20) days of the date of issue of the relevant protocol of unclaimed goods, as described in article 3 below. Article 3 Verification Committee and instrument All goods for which an unclaimed goods protocol has been issued shall be checked within twenty (20) days by a three-member committee, consisting of the Director of the Free Zone, the Head of the Unclaimed Goods Section and one administrative clerk, appointed by decision of the Managing Director of SEP S.A. The Managing Director of SEP S.A. also appoints the Chairman of the Committee or his legal deputy. In cases where the Committee feels that the opinion of an expert (technical, chemical or other) is necessary to ascertain the type of goods involved, their nature, use and

3 condition, a fourth member will be invited to join the Committee, to be appointed by decision of the Chairman. The field from which the technical expert is to be chosen will be decided in accordance with the type of goods. More than one committee may be set up when many checks need to be carried out. Large quantities or volumes of similar goods are checked by the Committee in terms of weight or quantity. If a difference of more than 10% from the details declared is ascertained, an instrument is drawn up to justify this difference. An instrument by the Verification Committee, compiled on the unclaimed goods protocol, certifies the identity of the details of the above goods, the state of their packaging and their gross weight. There will also be a description of the content of the packages, the type, quantity and condition of the goods and the net weight of their contents will be ascertained, if necessary. At the end of the verification process the minute of the relevant instrument will be signed by all members of the Committee. A copy of the relevant instrument shall remain in the Free Zone Section and the original shall be submitted the same day by the Chairman of the Committee to the Unclaimed Goods Section, together with all the documentation and small samples of the goods, where deemed possible and necessary by the Committee. Article 4 Announcement of auction Selling-off of goods After completion of the formalities in the preceding article, the Managing Director of SEP S.A. shall issue, within twenty days, an announcement that the unclaimed goods are to be sold off at auction, in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations. The announcement shall state the starting price for bidding, the details of the goods being auctioned, the time and place of the auction. A summary of the announcement shall be published at least five days before the day of the auction in at least two Athens daily papers. The costs of the publication will be paid by the highest bidder or the owner of the goods, in the case of the latter taking delivery of them after they have been declared unclaimed. A copy of the announcement must be posted outside the auction room. A copy must also be sent for posting at the Athens Commercial and Industrial Chamber, the Piraeus Commercial Chamber, the Municipality of Perama, the Economic Chamber, the Association of Shipping Agents, the Association of Custom Brokers, the Directorate of

4 the 5 th Customs House Piraeus, and wherever else is deemed necessary by the SEP S.A. Managing Director. Article 5 Condition of Goods Obligations of Interested Parties SEP S.A. accepts no liability for the quality or condition of the goods being auctioned, nor for any inaccuracy in the description of their type and nature, given that its responsibility is confined to storage of the goods under the arrangements laid out above. Interested bidders may inspect the verification instrument and examine the goods at their place of storage during the last five days before the auction. The unclaimed goods are sold off as described below, as specified in the verification instrument and in the condition in which they are at the time of the auction. Unclaimed goods which are sold off and which are subject to taxes, duties and other charges to the State will be made over to the purchaser only on lodging and completion of the relevant customs documentation, in accordance with the current provisions and following the payment to SEP S.A. of the storage fees due to SEP S.A. from the day of notification of the relevant decision to award the goods to the highest bidder to the day on which delivery is taken of the goods, in accordance with the current tariff of SEP storage fees. The process of selling off the unclaimed goods is subject to all the relevant provisions of Greek law on prohibitions and restrictions on imports. Article 6 Starting Price The starting price for bidding for each item shall be set by the Verification Committee on the basis of research and taking into account the level of storage and other fees and any other costs owed in relation to the goods up until the date of their sale. By way of exception, the price of unclaimed goods located in the unclaimed goods warehouse as a surplus may be set freely by the Managing Director of SEP S.A.. The starting price for bidding may be reduced, for up to two repeat auctions, by 30% of the starting price of the immediately preceding auction, where there has been no bid.

5 Article 7 Participation in auctions The auctions of unclaimed goods may be attended by any natural person or legal entity, with the exception of employees of SEP S.A. SEP S.A. may participate in the auctions through its Procurement Division, by decision of its Managing Director. To acquire the right to participate in the auction procedure, the interested party must furnish a guarantee equivalent to 10% of the starting price, depositing with the competent section either a letter of guarantee or a cheque made out to SEP S.A., to be returned to him immediately in the event of another bidder being successful, while in the case of the successful bidder the letter of guarantee will be returned after payment of the value of the goods he has purchased or, if he has furnished a cheque, the amount of the cheque will be credited to SEP on the day after the auction and deducted from the sum represented by the final bid. Article 8 Sale Committee Minute The auction sale of the unclaimed goods shall be conducted by means of sealed bids which the interested parties lodge with a Committee made up of three SEP S.A. employees and an equal number of deputies and within a time period specified in the announcement of the auction. This Committee will be appointed by decision of the Managing Director of SEP S.A., the same decision also appointing the Chairman of the Committee. When the deadline for submission of the sealed bids has passed the Committee unseals, examines and compares the bids. The Chairman of the Committee announces in public the details of the highest bidder, and the level of the bid he has made. In respect of each batch of goods being auctioned, the Committee compiles a minute with details of the successful bidder and the price he has offered. This minute is signed by all members of the Committee. The successful bidder countersigns the minute of sale and must immediately furnish a cheque made out to SEP S.A. in an amount equal to at least one quarter of his bid or the

6 entire amount of the bid. The minute will state the reference number of the collection note issued and the details of the cheque. If the successful bidder does not furnish the above cheque or fails to appear within five days to sign the minute of sale, he will forfeit the aforesaid guarantee equal to 10% of the auction starting price; the provisions of article 10 of the Regulations shall take effect and the bidder shall be disqualified from participation in the repeat auction and from any other auction of unclaimed goods held by SEP. In the event that before payment of the successful bid the owner of the goods should appear and seek to take delivery of said goods, the auction shall be deemed void and the relevant formal procedures activated concerning the destination of the goods that have been claimed. In this case the owner of the goods must pay a deposit in the form of all costs incurred by SEP S.A. in the preparation of the auction, the safekeeping to date of the goods as well as any costs incurred in relation to the auction by the successful bidder. Article 9 Result of auction Award to highest bidder Certification The minute of sale and all relevant documents shall be submitted to the Managing Director of SEP S.A. who, within five (5) working days of the auction, must approve its result or provide a reasoned explanation of his decision to reject that result. The approval decision will be posted at the venue where the auction was held within five (5) working days from the date on which it is issued. The natural person or legal entity in whose name the successful bid was made must, within seven (7) working days of the posting of the approval decision, pay any balance due on the amount of the bid, as well as the costs of publishing the announcements of the auction. If the successful bidder fails to pay the balance of the bid amount due within this period, he will forfeit the aforesaid guarantee in the amount of 10% of the auction starting price as well as the amount of the cheque he has furnished to SEP on acceptance of his bid in accordance with article 8 above. A repeat auction will be held, from which the organizers will exclude the bidder who has failed to pay the previous bid; the above sums (collected by SEP by way of a penalty) will not be offset against the successful bid in the repeat auction.

7 The unclaimed goods sold off in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations must be collected by the successful bidder within a period specified in the announcement of the auction. This period may be extended at the request of the interested party, but this request must be submitted before the deadline set in the announcement of the auction has passed. If these deadlines should pass without the goods being collected, they shall again be regarded as unclaimed goods and the auction process shall be re-initiated. The bid paid shall be forfeit to SEP S.A. as a penalty owed by the bidder who failed to take delivery of the goods. In the case of inflammable and other hazardous goods, the time within which the goods must be collected is reduced to ten (10) days from the date of posting of the result of the auction. On the recommendation of the Auction Committee, and with the consent of the Managing Director, on the basis of pre-existing information, any bidder who fails to meet his obligations under these Regulations shall be excluded from the auction procedure. Article 10 Repeat auction The repeat auction shall be held by order of the Managing Director of SEP S.A. following a recommendation by the competent manager within no more than one (1) month from the date on which a successful bid was accepted in the original auction. The relevant announcement must be posted outside the auction room, stating the details and date of the repeat auction. The goods will be sold by the Committee to the highest bidder, provided that the price he offers is equal to at least 50% of the successful bid at the preceding auction. This amount must be paid in full on completion of the auction; the procedure detailed in article 9 will not be followed. In the event of no bid being received, or the highest bid being lower than 50% of that accepted in the preceding auction, the auction shall again be repeated within no more than one (1) month. If this third auction does not produce a bid equal to at least 40% of the original successful bid, then SEP S.A. will seek to recover the difference between this 40% level and the bid originally accepted from the party whose failure to pay triggered the repeat auction, using all means envisaged in law. In these circumstances the goods may then be disposed of by SEP S.A. as it sees fit.

8 Article 11 Payment of bid Inability to collect goods The amount of the bid shall be paid to the cashier s office of SEP S.A. and the appropriate receipt shall be issued, a copy of which is to be placed together with the relevant auction documentation in the file of the goods being auctioned. In the event of the successful bidder being unable to take possession of the goods, because the provisions on import restrictions do not allow the granting of the necessary license by the competent authority, then the amount of the bid shall be returned, without interest, to the successful bidder, without any liability on the part of SEP S.A. To secure the return of his payment the bidder shall submit an application, within a month of the date of the auction, to which he must attach the relevant documentation from the above authority confirming the prohibition on imports into Greece of the goods in question. Further action will be subject to the provisions of article 13 below. Within fifteen (15) days of the date on which the successful bidder took possession of the goods, the completed file will be passed to the Finance Division of SEP S.A., which shall proceed to settle any fees of any kind owed in relation to the auctioned goods. If, in the process of settling the fees, the Finance Directorate finds that the bid secured is not enough to cover in full all amounts owed in relation to the auctioned goods, it will automatically reduce to the level of the bid all the storage fees which are to be collected, and will issue all the documentation required by law. Once the amount owed in fees has been settled, the files are returned to be filed in the Unclaimed Goods Section. Article 12 Action by the owner of the goods The owner of the goods sold as unclaimed may, in exceptional circumstances, claim the goods even after the announcement, under article 9, of the sale of the goods to the highest bidder, provided that the full amount of the bid has not yet been paid and the goods have not been collected by the bidder, and when the two following conditions are met: a) that he furnishes proof of ownership; and

9 b) that he pays all fees owed to SEP S.A., together with the costs incurred in publishing the relevant announcements. In such circumstances the auction procedure shall be automatically rendered null and void. No right to compensation shall be generated in favour of the successful bidder, while the deposit he has supplied will be returned. The owner of the goods is not entitled to claim the items if the successful bidder has paid in full the amount of his bid before submission of the owner s application. Article 13 Unsold Goods Unclaimed goods which it has proved impossible to sell despite the holding of three (3) auctions shall become, by order of the Managing Director, the property of the company and shall be disposed of under the provisions of article 10 of the Regulations. Goods in this category which are evidently of no commercial value, or goods which have been damaged and cannot be disposed of to cover the fees of SEP S.A., shall be destroyed by decision of the Unclaimed Goods Committee, the same decision appointing the Committee to take charge of the destruction and the relevant procedures to be followed. In the case of edible goods, the competent public health department shall rule on whether they are fit for consumption, in which case the provisions of the preceding subparagraph shall apply. Article 14 Abandoned goods The owner of any goods may declare in writing that he abandons those goods, lodging with SEP S.A. at the same time the relevant titles to those goods. In these cases the goods are to be sold in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations. Owners abandoning goods must pay the fees owed to SEP S.A. for the period up to the date of abandonment. If the goods being abandoned, or part thereof, consist of edible items or other items which may spoil, the owner must lodge with SEP S.A. the relevant certification of the competent public health service and state in his written application the reasons for the

10 abandonment; the competent division of SEP S.A. will then proceed to sell off the goods immediately. If the competent service referred to in article 13 decides that the goods abandoned, or part thereof, are unfit for consumption or a danger to public health, an order will be issued for their destruction while the owner must pay to SEP S.A. the costs of this destruction as well as the storage fees owed to SEP for the goods up to the date of their destruction. Article 15 Containers Loaded containers not collected within at most three (3) months from the date of their unloading shall be emptied of their contents by the competent agency, the contents then being delivered to the stores of SEP S.A. in accordance with current provisions. If the agent or his legal representative refuses to participate in the procedure or fails to appear at the time the containers are to be emptied, even though he has received a legal request to be present, the goods shall be removed from the containers and deposited in the SEP stores in the presence of the head of the competent section and the manager of the store where they are to be deposited, who shall both sign the relevant documentation certifying the handing over and acceptance of the goods. These goods, as well as the containers emptied in the procedure set out above, shall be declared unclaimed when a period of three (3) months has elapsed from the date of unloading, in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations. By way of exception to the above, containers will not be emptied if their manifest indicates that the contents are liable to spoil or become unsuitable for consumption, or where no import license can be secured for the contents from the competent authorities, or where the contents are without commercial value, or where they are unpackaged or in bulk or deep-frozen. In these cases, after three months have passed from the date of unloading, or before this time when requested by the agency or recipient, and following a written opinion by a committee set up by the competent SEP division, the agency or recipient will be invited in writing to collect the loaded containers scheduled for destruction. The absence of the agency representative, despite the proper invitation being issued, shall not constitute an impediment to the destruction procedure.

11 Each loaded container scheduled for destruction shall be liable for the storage fees charged on an empty container for a period of up to one month. If within 20 days of notification the agency does not collect the container scheduled for destruction, SEP S.A. will take the necessary measures to destroy the contents and the agency shall be liable for the storage fees payable on an empty container for a period of two months, as well as the costs of destruction and other charges. Article 16 Transfer of ownership of unclaimed items sold off On full payment of the successful bid further transfer of ownership of the sold unclaimed goods is possible, on application by the successful bidder; the transfer is accompanied by the relevant official invoice. Article 17 Coming into force of Regulations These Regulations will come into force from the date of their publication in the Government Gazette. This decision is to be published in the Government Gazette. Piraeus.. The Managing Director