The beneficiary countries shall inform the Commission of the names and addresses of the governmental authorities situated in their territory which are empowered to issue certificates of authenticity, together with specimens of stamps used by those authorities, and the names and addresses of the governmental authorities responsible for checking the certificates. The stamps shall be valid from the date the Commission receives the specimens. The Commission shall forward this information, if possible by electronic means, to the customs authorities of the Member States. When such information is updating a previous communication, the Commission shall indicate the date when the new stamps become valid according to the instructions given by the competent authorities of the beneficiary countries. This information is confidential; however, when goods are presented for free circulation, the customs authorities in question may allow the importer or his duly authorised representative to consult the specimen impressions of stamps referred to in this paragraph.

The Commission shall publish in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal of the European Communities the names of the authorities in the manufacturing countries entitled to issue certificates of authenticity and, where appropriate, the date on which new beneficiary countries met the obligations set out in paragraph 1.

Subsequent verification of certificates of authenticity shall be carried out at random or whenever the customs authorities in the Community have reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of the document or the accuracy of the information regarding the products in question.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, the customs authorities in the Community shall return a copy of the certificate of authenticity to the competent governmental authority in the exporting beneficiary country, giving, where appropriate, the reasons of form or substance for an inquiry. The invoice or a copy thereof, as well as all other relevant documents, shall be attached to the copy of the certificate of authenticity. The customs authorities shall also forward any information that has been obtained suggesting that the particulars given on the certificate of authenticity are inaccurate.

If the said authorities decide to suspend admission to the tariff quotas pending the results of the verification, they shall offer to release the products to the importer subject to any precautions judged necessary.

When an application for subsequent verification has been made in accordance with paragraph 1, such verification shall be carried out and its results communicated to the customs authorities in the Community within a maximum of six months. The results shall be such as to establish whether the certificate of authenticity in question applies to the products actually exported and whether these products were in fact eligible to benefit from the tariff quota.

If, in cases of reasonable doubt, there is no reply within the six months specified in paragraph 5 or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the accuracy of the information relating to the products concerned, a second communication shall be sent to the competent authorities. If after the second communication the results of the verification are not communicated to the requesting authorities within four months, or if these results do not allow the authenticity of the document in question to be determined, the requesting authorities shall, save in exceptional circumstances, refuse entitlement to the tariff measures.

Where the verification procedure or any other available information appears to indicate that the provisions of this Article are being contravened, the exporting beneficiary country shall, on its own initiative or at the request of the Community, carry out appropriate inquiries or arrange for such enquiries to be carried out with due urgency to identify and prevent such contraventions. For this purpose the Community may participate in the inquiries.

For the purpose of subsequent verification of certificates of authenticity, copies of the certificates as well as any export documents referring to them shall be kept for at least three years by the competent governmental authority of the exporting beneficiary country.