Baltic Master case in the CJEU: once again about related persons and the use of customs valuation IS

Monika Bielskienė
Monika Bielskienė
Attorney at Law, Senior Manager at PwC Lithuania, and Candidate PhD at Vytautas Magnus University, PwC Lietuva, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
Published 31 Jul 2022
Baltic Master case in the CJEU: once again about related persons and the use of customs valuation IS
Photo by Gritt Zheng on Unsplash
On 13.06.2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a decision in the Baltic Master case (C-599/20) on two relatively unrelated issues. The first, whether customs must establish an objective legal relationship between the buyer and the seller in order to consider them as related persons. The second, whether customs can rely on the value of a single comparable transaction found on the national customs valuation information system (IS), denying the acceptance of the declared value of the goods (air conditioning units). In this article, we discuss interpretations provided by the CJEU; and we look forward for the national verdict of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SACL).

Related content

Customs valuation - the particularities of different countries

Customs valuation - the particularities of different countries

06 Aug 2023

Customs valuation is one of the most problematic areas of customs, whatever the country or territory. Experts from different continents - from North and South America to Europe and Asia…

Valuation
Topic spotlight
CJEU: when can the cost of EU-based design work be included in customs value?

CJEU: when can the cost of EU-based design work be included in customs value?

Ilona Mishchenko
Ilona Mishchenko
20 Aug 2026

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently ruled on a matter with significant implications for companies importing packaged goods into the EU. When an EU-based buyer pays…

Valuation
Case law
Key updates to the 2025 Commission’s Compendium of customs valuation

Key updates to the 2025 Commission’s Compendium of customs valuation

Ilona Mishchenko
Ilona Mishchenko
18 Dec 2025

Can EU green initiatives influence the determination of the customs value of goods imported into the EU? This article reviews the latest developments from the European Commission included in the…

Valuation
Topic spotlight
Customs valuation update

Customs valuation update

Martijn L. Schippers
Martijn L. Schippers
28 Apr 2026

This video gives customs and trade compliance professionals an update on EU customs valuation case law, centred on the Court of Justice's Keladis I & II judgments and their impact…

Valuation
Valuation fall-back method - pracical insights from case law

Valuation fall-back method - pracical insights from case law

Ilona Mishchenko
Ilona Mishchenko
28 Apr 2026

The fallback (residual) method is the most flexible but also the most complex of the six methods for determining customs value under EU law, applied only once every other method…

Valuation
Post-import price adjustments and transfer pricing: US, WCO and EU perspectives

Post-import price adjustments and transfer pricing: US, WCO and EU perspectives

Mark K. Neville, Jr.
Mark K. Neville, Jr.
21 Sep 2025

One of the most pressing questions in customs valuation arises in situations where prices have not been fixed at the time of sale or at the time of importation, but…

Valuation
Topic spotlight