The Maltese Customs authorities have been given until the end of this month to comply with new EU rules concerning the harmonisation of different systems and procedures used by traders, technically known as the Single Administrative Document (SAD).

Issuing a reasoned opinion against Malta, the second stage of EU legal procedures, the Commission said it may decide to refer this pending issue to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) if things are not remedied by the end of this month.

A spokesman for the Commission said the SAD system is the documentary basis used in all the EU member states for customs declarations. In order to take on board the new development in the technological and trade sector, the SAD was redesigned in 2003 and all EU member states had to put in place the necessary changes.

However, after more than four years since the approval of the new changes, Malta is the only EU member state which has still not put in place the new system.

"Malta itself is recognising that it has not implemented in full the provision of regulation (EC) 2286/2003. From the information given by the Maltese authorities, the Maltese customs are still in the process of replacing the current computerised customs clearance system by a new 'SAD-compliant' one. No further information was received from Malta regarding the system chosen and the deployment date," the spokesman said.

In view of the information received by Malta following several warnings, the Commission has concluded that Malta did not take the necessary steps to ensure that the SAD system can be completed in accordance with the new legislation adopted in 2003.

"For this reason, the Commission has now invited Malta to take the necessary measures to comply without further delay by the end of April. If by this date the Maltese customs authorities are still out of line, we may decide to take Malta to court."

SAD harmonisation is considered as a major step by the European Union towards aligning the rules for completion of SAD customs declarations across all EU member states.

It introduces changes to the way that import, export, warehousing, transit and community status declarations are completed.

The introduction of the new SAD completion rules is also a necessary precursor to a number of forthcoming EU initiatives in the customs sector such as a new import and export control systems.