Requirements

– are used to collect state revenues; or
– are printed in the form of paper tickets, subscription cards and prepaid travel cards for passenger transport, whenever their issue is mandatory under a law or regulation; prepaid parking tickets for the designated parking areas under Article 99(1) of the Road Traffic Act; tickets, fiches, coupons, or other identification marks intended for use in gambling games as specified in the Gambling Act, which shall have permanently printed face value and at least two security features placed on the paper and/or incorporated in the product during the printing process, or
– are related to exercising of state sovereignty, or
– are issued by a governmental authority and serve to certify the exercising of powers by that authority.

2. Securities shall be printed under the control of the Ministry of Finance in specialized printing works, which are in full compliance with the provisions of the Regulation on the Terms and Conditions for Printing and Control of Securities.

Sample documents, forms, templates and identification marks other than those mentioned in the above Regulation may be printed at the same terms and conditions as provided in the Regulation by request of the publisher made in writing.

Securities shall be printed in accordance with the established standards or the approved samples. If there are no such standards or samples, securities may be printed in accordance with the publisher’s design.

3. An entity willing to print lottery tickets, fiches, coupons, or other identification marks intended for use in gambling games as specified in the Gambling Act, and holding a license for launching such gambling game issued by the State Gambling Commission, shall file to the Minister of Finance a written application for printing, which shall contain:

– A detailed description of the total number, the series and the face value of each type of ticket, fiche, coupon or other identification mark intended for use in a gambling game;
– The applicant’s full name, its unified identification code assigned by the Registry Agency, the applicant’s place of registration and head office address, its mailing address, the reference number and date of the State Gambling Commission’s Decision to grant the entity license for launching a gambling game, as well as the number and date of the license to launch a gambling game.

4. An entity willing to print tickets, subscription cards, prepaid travel cards for passenger transport and prepaid parking tickets for the designated parking areas under Article 99(1) of the Road Traffic Act, or sample documents, forms, templates and identification marks other than those mentioned in the Regulation on the Terms and Conditions for Printing and Control of Securities, shall file to the Minister of Finance a written application for printing, which shall state the type of securities, the applicant’s full name, its unified identification code assigned by the Registry Agency, the applicant’s place of registration and head office address, as well as its mailing address.

The application shall be accompanied by a copy of the applicant’s license (permit, certificate of registration, etc.) authorizing the applicant to carry out the particular business, where applicable.

5. The entities willing to print securities under Clauses 3 and 4 above, whose applications have been approved by the Ministry of Finance, shall submit to Printing Works of the Bulgarian National Bank Corp. a letter identifying the type, quantity and face value of the securities, as well as the other requirements concerning the securities to be printed, if any. A copy of that letter, with sample(s) (design(s)) of the security(ies) attached to it, shall be submitted to the Ministry of Finance as well. It shall mandatorily state the publisher’s name.

6. The cost calculations concerning the finished products shall be made by Printing Works of the Bulgarian National Bank Corp. The publisher shall pay a financial control fee over the final price so determined under Tariff No. 12 on the fees collected by the Ministry of Finance in accordance with the State Fees Act.

1. An engagement letter for development of a graphic design/printing of share certificates addressed to the Executive Director of Printing Works of the Bulgarian National Bank Corp.
2. A copy of the Minutes of the Meeting of the General Shareholders Assembly/the Supervisory Board/the Board of Directors, where the decision for share certificates printing was taken
3. A fail containing the wording of the particular share certificate(s) prepared by a legal advisor
4. Share certificates’ date and ID number of the issue

5. A depositary receipt
6. Dividend coupons (for payment of dividends within 5, 10 or 20-year period), as well as the year, when the first dividend coupon is going to become payable
7. Share certificates’ denomination
8. The names either of the Chairman of the Board, or of the Executive Director
9. Notarized power of attorney authorizing a company representative to order the share certificates printing

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. In order to limit the distribution of illicit tobacco products, including those illegally imported into the European Union, and to bring products into conformity with the requirements of Article 15 of Directive 2014/40/EU and Article 35p of the Act on Tobacco and on Tobacco and Related Products, a provision has been put in place all unit packets of tobacco products to be marked with a unique identifier in order for their movements to be recorded. This would enable such products to be tracked and traced throughout the Union. This provision shall apply to all tobacco products manufactured in the European Union, as well as to those manufactured outside the Union insofar as they are destined for or placed on the Union market.

2. According to Article 3(1) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/574 of 15 December 2017 on technical standards for the establishment and operation of a traceability system for tobacco products (Regulation (EU) 2018/574), each Member State shall appoint an entity (the “ID issuer”) responsible for generating and issuing unique identifiers. Based upon Article 35u(1) of the Act on Tobacco and on Tobacco and Related Products, the Printing Works of the Bulgarian National Bank AD has been appointed to be the ID issuer for the Republic of Bulgaria, in accordance with the provisions of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU 2018/574).

3. In order to ensure the proper functioning of the traceability system for tobacco products, from the manufacturer or importer through the entire supply chain down to the first retail outlet, the ID issuer shall issue:

3.1. Identifier codes to:

3.1.1. The economic operators involved in the manufacture, import and trade of tobacco products;

3.1.2. The facilities that are used by the economic operators to manufacture, store, process and sale the products;

3.1.3. The machines that are used by the economic operators for manufacturing purposes, located on the territory of the Union, or outside the Union, in case of import of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco destined for sale on the Union territory.

3.2. Unique identifiers to mark:

3.2.1. All unit packets of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco to be placed on the Bulgarian market;

3.2.2. All unit packets of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco manufactured in the Republic of Bulgaria and destined for export outside the European Union;

3.2.3. The unit packets of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco destined to be placed on the market of an EU Member State (in case an EU Member State has not used the derogation under Article 4 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/574);

3.2.4. Aggregated packaging, such as cartons, mastercases or pallets, provided that the tracking and tracing of all unit packets remains possible.

4. The ID issuer shall establish and maintain a Registry that contains the identifier codes of all economic operators involved in the manufacture and trade of tobacco products, as well as of the facilities and machines that are used by the economic operators to manufacture, store and process their products.

5. The ID issuer shall transmit the Registry data electronically via the router, specified in Article 29 of Regulation (EU) 2018/574 (i.e. a device that transfers data between different components of the repositories system) to the secondary repository as specified in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2018/574 (i.e. a repository containing a copy of all traceability data stored in the primary repositories) where an EU-wide register of the economic operators involved in the manufacture and distribution of tobacco products shall be compiled.

6. The ID issuer shall establish and maintain a Registry that contains the unique identifiers issued to mark the unit packets of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco.

7. The ID issuer shall establish an electronic platform for registration of the economic operators involved in the manufacture and trade of tobacco products, as well as of the facilities and machines that are used by the economic operators for manufacturing purposes, as well as for registration of the application and transmission of the unique identifiers issued for marking the tobacco products.

PART II

ISSUING IDENTIFIER CODES TO ECONOMIC OPERATORS, FACILITIES AND MACHINES

Section I

General Provisions

8. According to Article 14 (1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the economic operators and operators of first retail outlets shall apply for issuing economic operator identifier code by the ID issuer competent for Bulgaria, i.e. The Printing Works of the Bulgarian National Bank AD, provided that they operate at least one facility on the territory of Bulgaria, which identifier code shall form part of the Registry under Article 15 (3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574. The application shall be submitted electronically and shall include all the relevant data listed in point 1.1 of Section 1 in Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

Section II

Requests to issue identifier code to manufacturers
and/or importers of tobacco products

9. The ID issuer shall issue identifier codes to a manufacturer and/or importer,  which is registered in the Customs Agency’s registries of the tax warehouse management licenses, registration certificates and permits under Article 45h of the Excises and Tax Warehouses Act. Where no data about an applicant are available in the registries under Article 45h, the ID issuer shall request from the applicant to submit all the relevant information, including documents evidencing the submitted details. Scanned copies of the supporting documents shall be attached (uploaded) to the application and their authenticity shall be certified by a qualified electronic signature.

10. To be able to log in/work on the electronic platform mentioned in Clause 7, the manufacturer and/or importer shall submit a contact phone number and a valid email address (subject to verification by the system), which shall be used for submission of the information needed for the registration into the Register under Clause 4, as well as for subsequent modifications of the registry data, for requesting unique identifiers and for correspondence purposes, where necessary.

10.1. The economic operator shall identify the person(s), who will have access to the email (such as the manufacturer/importer’s legal representative or authorized person).

11. To be registered in the Registry under Clause 4 and receive economic operator identifier code, the manufacturer and/or importer of tobacco products shall submit an application to the ID issuer.

12. The application to issue identifier code shall be submitted via the electronic platform mentioned in Clause 7 by providing the data relevant for the registration in the Registry under Clause 4 as specified in point 1.1 of Section 1 in Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

13. Where necessary, the ID issuer may request from the applicant documents evidencing the data under Article 12. The authenticity of the submitted data shall be certified by a qualified electronic signature (of the company’s legal representative or authorized person).

14. The applicant shall submit, together with its application for registration in the Registry under Clause 4, the Agreement under Clause 58 herein, signed with a qualified electronic signature (of the company’s legal representative or authorized person).

15. The ID issuer shall sign the Agreement with a qualified electronic signature and shall send it to the applicant together with the issued economic operator identifier code.

16. Where the supporting documents are certified by authorized person’s qualified electronic signature, they shall be submitted (uploaded) to the electronic platform together with a scanned copy of a power of attorney in the form available on the platform, The power of attorney’s authenticity shall be certified by an electronic signature.

17. Each manufacturer/importer registered by a competent ID issuer of a Member State may have more than one email address to log into the system. The additional email addresses shall be declared on the electronic platform by the company’s authorized representative.

18. A natural person may represent more than one economic operator registered by a competent ID issuer. In such a case, any time that person logs into the information system, he/she shall select a particular economic operator of which he/she is an authorized representative.

19. Prior to the initial registration into the Registry under Clause 4, the ID issuer shall ex officio make the necessary inquiries to verify the data under Clause 12 provided with the application, by checking:

19.1. Authenticity and validity of the qualified electronic signature: The qualified electronic signatures of the company’s legal representative and authorized person shall meet the requirements of Article. 3 (12) of Regulation (EU) 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC.

19.2. The data for the economic operator available in the Commercial Register: The ID issuer shall check the data available on the European e-Justice Portal, as well as the registration data (legal form, registered address, legal representatives) available in the publicly accessible commercial registers of the Member States. Where no information about the company concerned can be found on the European e-Justice Portal, the ID issuer shall notify the person requesting issuance of an identifier code of the need to submit a certificate from the electronic register of the country where the company is incorporated, accompanied by a translation in Bulgarian language. The person submitting the certificate shall confirm the authenticity of the copy uploaded into the system by signing it with a qualified electronic signature.

19.3. The economic operator’s tax registration: The verification shall be performed through the VIES portal for validation of the VAT number. Where no information about the company concerned can be found on the European VAT number verification portal, the ID issuer shall notify the person requesting issuance of an identifier code of the need to submit a certificate from the electronic register of the country where the company is incorporated The person submitting the certificate shall confirm the authenticity of the copy uploaded into the system by signing it with a qualified electronic signature.

19.4. The economic operator’s excise number validity: The verification shall be performed through the System for Exchange of Excise Data (SEED). Where no information about the company concerned can be found on the European SEED system, the ID issuer shall notify the legal entity requesting issuance of an identifier code of the need to submit a certificate from the electronic register of the country where the company is incorporated The person submitting the certificate shall confirm the authenticity of the copy uploaded into the system by signing it with a qualified electronic signature.

Section III

Applications to issue identifier code to economic operators
other than manufacturers and/or importers of tobacco products, and to operators of retail outlets

20. The ID issuer shall issue identifier codes to the economic operators, other than manufacturers and/or importers of tobacco products, and to the operators of retail outlets, which are registered into the Registry of the Tobacco Products Trading Companies maintained by the Customs Agency.

21. The application for registration into the Registry under Clause 4 and for issuing an identifier code to an economic operator other than manufacturer and importer, and to operator of first retail outlet shall be submitted by the legal representative or the authorized person of the company through the electronic platform mentioned in Clause 7.

22. The person submitting the application shall identify himself/herself on the electronic platform by a qualified electronic signature in accordance with the Electronic Document and Electronic Trust Services Act (the requirements of Article. 3 (12) of Regulation (EU) 910/2014).

23. Where the application under Clause 21 is submitted by an authorized person, who has identified himself/herself on the electronic platform by a qualified electronic signature, the person shall state the company represented by him/her and shall provide his/her email address and contact phone number. The person submitting the application shall upload to the electronic platform a scanned copy of his/her power of attorney and shall confirm the authenticity of the copy by signing it with a qualified electronic signature.

24. In the application under Clause 21 submitted by the company’s authorized person, who has identified himself/herself on the electronic platform by a qualified electronic signature of the respective company, the authorized person shall state contact email and telephone number of the economic operator.

25. In the application, the authorized person shall fill in the data relevant for the registration in the Registry under Clause 4 as specified in point 1.1 of Section 1 in Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

25.1. In the cases under Clause 24, the ID issuer shall ex officio collect the data relevant for the registration in the Registry under Clause 4 (by using the Customs Agency’s registries of the tax warehouse management licenses, registration certificates and permits under Article 45h of the Excises and Tax Warehouses Act, the national information system of the Commercial Register, the VIES portal for validation of the VAT number, the System for Exchange of Excise Data (SEED).

26. Where necessary, the ID issuer may request from the applicant documents to confirm the data referred to in Clause 25. The authenticity of the provided data shall be certified by a qualified electronic signature (of the company’s legal representative or authorized person).

27. Prior to the initial registration into the Registry under Clause 4, the ID issuer shall ex officio make the necessary inquiries to verify the data under Clause 25 provided with the application, by checking:

27.1. The authenticity and validity of the qualified electronic signature used for certifying the application and the submitted data and documents (i.e. the qualified electronic signature of the company’s legal representative and authorized person) shall meet the requirements of the Electronic Document and Electronic Trust Services Act (the requirements of Article 3 (12) of Regulation (EU) 910/2014).

27.2. The data for the economic operator available in the Commercial Register: The ID issuer shall check the data available in the Information system of the Commercial Register maintained by the Registry Agency to the Ministry of Justice;

27.3. The company’s tax registration: The verification shall be performed through the VIES portal for validation of the VAT number.

27.4. The economic operator’s excise number validity: The verification shall be performed through the System for Exchange of Excise Data (SEED). Where no information about the company concerned can be found on the European SEED system, the ID issuer shall notify the person requesting issuance of an identifier code of the need to submit a certificate from the electronic register of the country where the company is incorporated The person submitting the certificate shall confirm the authenticity of the copy uploaded into the system by signing it with a qualified electronic signature.

28. The registered economic operators, other than manufacturers and importers, and the operators of retail outlets may appoint more than one person to use the electronic platform. For the purpose, the appointed person shall identify himself/herself on the platform by a qualified electronic signature.

29. A natural person may represent more than one economic operator registered by a competent ID issuer. In such a case, any time that person logs into the information system, he/she shall select a particular economic operator of which he/she is an authorized representative.

Section IV

Registration of economic operators into the Registry, modification of data and deregistration

30. Provided the economic operator, or the operator of retail outlet requesting registration into the Register under Clause 4 herein is registered in the respective Customs Agency registry, and has submitted all the relevant company data, the ID issuer shall register that company into the Register under Clause 4 and shall issue an economic operator identifier code and economic operator confirmation code.

31. The economic operator identifier code and economic operator confirmation code shall be issued to a manufacturer/importer after the manufacturer/importer signs the Agreement under Clause 58.

32. The codes shall be transmitted to the economic operator via the electronic platform within two working days from the date of receipt of the application for issuing such codes.

33. If the submitted data is incomplete or incorrect, or if the submitted data cannot be verified, the ID issuer shall notify the applicant of the need to provide particular information or document. The two-day issuing period shall cease to run from the date of sending the notification to the date of receipt of the information intended to remedy the incompleteness or incorrectness in the submitted data.

34. If the incompleteness and/or incorrectness, or non-compliance with the requirements is not remedied, the company shall not be registered.

35. According to Article 14(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, if economic operators are registered by another ID issuer, they shall inform
the ID issuer for the Republic of Bulgaria about that circumstance.

35.1. In the event that this information is not available at the time of application submission, the economic operators shall provide it not later than two working days after receiving the identifier code from the other ID issuer.

36. According to Article 14(5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the manufacturers/importers shall notify the ID issuer for any modification of the information submitted in the initial application for issuing an identifier code. With reference to any such modification, the manufacturer/importer shall submit a request for modification in accordance with point 1.2 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

36.1. Any modification of the data for the economic operators other than manufacturers/ importers and operators of retail outlets shall be submitted to the Customs Agency to be recorded in the Registry of the Tobacco Products Trading Companies maintained by the Customs Agency. The change of the data into the Register under Clause 4 shall be made ex officio, via the information system.

37. According to Article 14(5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, any cessation of the operator activities shall be notified by the relevant operator to the ID issuer without delay. With reference to any such cessation of the operator activities, the economic operator submits a request for deregistration in accordance with point 1.3 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

37.1. According to Article 15(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, in duly justified cases, Member States may, in accordance with their national laws, require the ID issuer to deactivate an economic operator identifier code. In such cases the Member State shall inform the economic operator or the operator of a retail outlet of the deactivation, together with the grounds for such deactivation.

37.2. The deactivation of an economic operator identifier code shall lead to the automatic deactivation of related facility identifier codes and machine identifier codes.

37.3. The ID issuer may deregister an economic operator or an operator of retail outlet with reference to the manufacture and/or distribution of tobacco products in the Republic of Bulgaria by request of the Customs Agency.

37.4. The ID issuer shall deregister an economic operator or an operator of first retail outlet, if that operator has been deregistered from the Customs Agency’s respective registry.

Section V

Issuing facility identifier codes

38. According to Article 16(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the economic operators and operators of retail outlets which have been registered in the Registry under Clause 4 shall apply for a facility identifier code (for a location or building), where tobacco products are being manufactured, stored or placed on the market, by providing to the ID issuer the information listed in point 1.4 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to the above Regulation.

38.1 The application shall be submitted by the respective economic operator’s legal representative through the electronic platform.

38.2 The application shall state the facility’s excise number as per the SEED (if any).

39. The ID issuer shall ex officio collect the relevant data from the Registry of the Tobacco Products Trading Companies maintained by the Customs Agency. The remaining information listed in point 1.4 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574 shall be provided by the economic operator or the operator of retail outlet submitting the application. Where necessary, the ID issuer may request from the applicant documents evidencing the provided data. Scanned copies of these documents shall be attached to the application and their authenticity shall be certified by a qualified electronic signature.

40. According to Article 16(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the obligation to apply for a facility identifier code related to manufacturing facilities located outside the Union shall lie with the importer established inside the Union.

40.1. The importer shall apply to any ID issuer appointed by a Member State on whose market it places its products. The registration by the importer shall be subject to the consent of the entity responsible for the third country manufacturing facility. The importer shall inform the economic operator responsible for the third country manufacturing facility about the full details of registration, including the allocated facility identifier code.

40.2. The data required for registration into the Registry under Clause 4 as listed in point 1.4. of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574 shall be provided by the person submitting the application.

41. Prior to the registration into the Registry under Clause 4, the ID issuer shall ex officio make the necessary inquiries to verify the validity of:

41.1. The qualified electronic signature of the company’s legal representative or authorized person;

41.2. The economic operator’s facility excise number: The verification shall be performed through the System for Exchange of Excise Data (SEED) (if any).

42. Provided that all required data for the facility subject of the application for registration in the Registry under Clause 4 are available, the ID issuer shall register the facility into the Registry and generate a facility identifier code through the information system.

42.1. The facility identifier code shall be generated and transmitted to the economic operator which has submitted the application within two working days from the date of receipt of the application for issuing such codes.

43. If the submitted data is incomplete or incorrect, or if the submitted data cannot be verified, the ID issuer shall notify the applicant of the need to provide particular information or document.

43.1 The two-day issuing period under Clause 42.1 shall cease to run from the date of sending the notification to the date of receipt of the information intended to remedy the incompleteness or incorrectness in the submitted data.

43.2 If the incompleteness and/or incorrectness, or non-compliance with the requirements is not remedied, the facility shall not be registered.

44. The economic operators and operators of retail outlets which have applied for a facility identifier code shall notify the ID issuer for any modification of the information submitted in the application for issuing of the respective identifier code.

44.1 The manufacturers/importers shall request correction of the information concerning a facility identifier code in accordance with point 1.5 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

44.2 The economic operators, other than manufacturers/importers, and the operators of retail outlets shall submit the modified data to the Registry of the Tobacco Products Trading Companies maintained by the Customs Agency. Any change in the Registry under Clause 4 shall be made ex officio, through the Information system.

45. Any facility closure shall be notified by the relevant operator to the ID issuer without delay. With reference to any such facility closure, the economic operator/operator of retail outlet shall submit a request for deregistration in accordance with point 1.6 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

46. According to Article 17(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, in duly justified cases, Member States may, in compliance with their national law, require the ID issuer to deactivate a facility identifier code. In such cases the Member State shall inform the economic operator or the operator of a retail outlet of the deactivation, together with the grounds for such deactivation.

46.1. The deactivation of a facility identifier code shall lead to the automatic deactivation of related machine identifier codes.

46.2. The ID issuer may deregister a facility by request of the Customs Agency.

46.3. The ID issuer shall deregister a facility, if it has been deregistered from the Customs Agency’s respective registry.

Section VI

Issuing a machine identifier code

47. According to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the manufacturers and importers registered into the Registry under Clause 4 shall apply for machine identifier codes related to the machines intended to manufacture tobacco products by providing to the ID issuer the information listed in point 1.7 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to the above Regulation.

48. The application for issuing a machine identifier code related to machines located in manufacturing facilities outside the Union shall be submitted by the importer established inside the Union.

48.1 The importer shall apply to the ID issuer appointed by a Member State on whose market they place their products.

48.2 The importer shall inform the economic operator responsible for the third country manufacturing facility as to the full details of the registration, including the allocated machine identifier code.

49. The application for registration of the machines into the Registry under Clause 4 shall be submitted by the manufacturer/importer’s legal representative or authorized person through the electronic platform

49.1. The data required for registration into the Registry under Clause 4 as listed in point 1.7 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574 shall be provided by the manufacturer/importer submitting the application.

49.2. Where necessary, the ID issuer may request from the applicant documents evidencing the provided data. Scanned copies of these documents shall be attached to the application and their authenticity shall be certified by a qualified electronic signature.

50. Provided that all required data for the machine subject of the application for registration into the Registry under Clause 4 are available, the ID issuer shall register the machine into the Registry and issue/generate a machine identifier code through the information system.

50.1. The machine identifier code shall be generated and transmitted to the economic operator which has submitted the application within two working days from the date of receipt of the application for issuing such codes.

51. If the submitted data is incomplete or incorrect, or if the submitted data cannot be verified, the ID issuer shall notify the applicant of the need to provide particular information or document.

51.1. The two-day issuing period under Clause 50.1 shall cease to run from the date of sending the notification to the date of receipt of the information intended to remedy the incompleteness or incorrectness in the submitted data.

51.2 If the incompleteness and/or incorrectness, or non-compliance with the requirements is not remedied, the machine shall not be registered.

52. The manufacturers/importers which have applied for a machine identifier code shall notify the ID issuer for any modification of the information submitted in the application for issuing the respective machine identifier code. The manufacturers/importers shall request correction of the information concerning a machine identifier code in accordance with point 1.8 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

53. The manufacturer/importer shall notify the ID issuer for any decommissioning of the registered machines. With reference to the machine decommissioning, the manufacturer/importer shall submit a deregistration request in accordance with point 1.9 of Section 1 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

54. The ID issuer shall de-register a machine by request of the Customs Agency.

PART III

ISSUING UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS

Section I

General Provisions

55. According to Article 15(1) of Directive 2014/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014, Member States shall ensure that all unit packets and roll-your-own tobacco products manufactured and/or intended for sale on their territory are marked with a unique identifier.

56. By request of the economic operators, the ID issuer shall generate a certain number of unique identifiers (alphanumeric codes) enabling the identification of a unit pack or an aggregated packaging of tobacco products (in the meaning of Article 2 (5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/574).

57. The economic operators shall ensure that any marked aggregated packaging can allow unequivocal identification of any lower aggregated levels and ultimately the unit packets contained therein.

58. The ID issuer and the economic operators registered into the Registry under Clause 4 (which has applied for issuing unique identifiers) shall enter into an Agreement setting out the terms and conditions for issuing the unique identifiers.

59. When requesting unit packet unique identifiers, the manufacturers and importers shall provide all information necessary for the ID issuer to be able to generate that identifier, in accordance with Article 15(2), points (a) to (h) of Directive 2014/40/EU (with the exception of date and time of manufacture, which may not be possible to determine in advance and which should be added by the economic operators at the moment of production). The unique identifier shall allow the following to be determined:

59.1. The date and place of manufacturing;

59.2. The manufacturing facility;

59.3. The machine used to manufacture the tobacco products;

59.4. The production shift or time of manufacture;

59.5. The product description;

59.6. The intended market of retail sale;

59.7. The intended shipment route;

59.8. Where applicable, the importer into the Union;

Section II

Issuing unit packet unique identifiers

60. According to Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the registered economic operators, which are manufacturers/importers, shall send a request to the competent ID issuer for issuing unit level unique identifiers by providing the relevant data listed in point 2.1 of Section 2 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574. Requests shall be submitted electronically, through the electronic platform.

61. To be granted access to the electronic platform and be able to submit applications for issuing of unique identifiers, the manufacturers of tobacco products operating on the territory of another Member State (whose products are destined for the Bulgarian market) shall:

61.1. Submit the company details needed for the preparation of the bilateral Agreement under Article 58 (such as company name, unique identification code, VAT registration number, registered company address);

61.2. State the economic operator identifier code issued by a competent ID issuer and the Member State which appointed that ID issuer;

61.3. State the phone number and email address (used by the economic operator to receive the unique identifiers issued in the Member State where products are manufactured).

62. The ID issuer shall sign the Agreement under Clause 58 with a qualified electronic signature and shall submit it to the manufacturer under Clause 61.

63. Manufacturers of tobacco products operating on the territory of another EU Member State shall also submit the Agreement under Clause 58, signed with a qualified electronic signature by the company’s legal representative or authorized person.

63.1 Where the Agreement under Article 58 is signed by an authorized person, it shall be submitted (uploaded) to the electronic platform together with a scanned copy of the power of attorney, the authenticity of which is certified by an electronic signature.

63.2 The qualified electronic signatures of the company’s legal representative and authorized person shall meet the requirements of Article. 3 (12) of Regulation (EU) 910/2014.

63.4 The ID issuer shall ex officio verify the authenticity and validity of the qualified electronic signature.

64. The ID issuer shall, within two working days from the receipt of the request and in the order indicated:

64.1. Generate the unique identifiers (codes);

64.2. Transmit the codes along with the information submitted by the manufacturer/importer via the router to the primary repository of the requesting manufacturer or importer (the repository storing the data relating to the products of a given manufacturer or importer);

64.3. Electronically transmit the codes to the requesting manufacturer or importer.

Section III

Issuing aggregated packaging unique identifiers

65. The registered economic operators shall send a request to the competent ID issuer for issuing unique identifiers at aggregate level by providing the relevant data listed in point 2.1of Section 2 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574. Requests shall be submitted electronically, through the electronic platform.

66. The ID issuer shall, within two working days from the receipt of the manufacturer/importer request and in the order indicated:

66.1. Generate the unique identifiers (codes);

66.2. Transmit the codes along with the information listed in point 2.1 of Section 2 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574 via the router to the primary repository of the requesting manufacturer or importer;

66.3. Electronically transmit the codes to the requesting manufacturer or importer.

67. The ID issuer shall, within two working days from the receipt of a request from economic operator, other than manufacturer or importer, and in the order indicated:

67.1. Generate the unique identifiers (codes);

67.2. Transmit the codes along with the information listed in point 2.1 of Section 2 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574 via the router to the secondary repository;

67.3. Electronically transmit the codes to the requesting manufacturer or importer.

Section IV

Recall of requests to issue unique identifiers and deactivation

68. The economic operators may cancel a request which has been sent within one working day. Cancellation shall take place by submission of a recall message as defined in Point 5 of Section 5 of Chapter II of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/574.

69. The economic operator may request the transmission of unique codes within 24 hours from the submission of the application for codes issuance. In such a case, the economic operator shall declare that it has been notified for the absence of an option to cancel the application and shall pay the amounts due for the issued unique identifiers.

70. The unified identifiers generated by ID issuers may be used to mark unit packets or aggregated packaging within a maximum period of six months from the date of receipt of the unique identifiers by the economic operator.

70.1 The unique identifiers that have not been used within the six month period shall be automatically deactivated

70.2 The unique identifiers may be deactivated by request of the respective manufacturer/importer.

70.3 In case of deactivation of unique identifiers under Clauses 70.1 and 70.2, the amounts paid by the economic operators shall not be refunded.

Section V

Payment for the unique identifiers

71. According to Regulation (EU) 2018/574, the identifier codes of economic operators, operators of first retail outlets, machines and facilities shall be issued free of charge.

72. The ID issuer shall make sure that the economic operators can apply for issuing of unit level unique identifiers through an electronic platform. The issued unit level unique identifiers shall be paid at the rates agreed in the Agreement under Clause 58. The invoices for the amounts charged for issuing unique identifiers shall be transmitted via the information system.