Dear Readers,

I am delighted to write the editorial for the February/ March issue of CCRM. The WCO Secretariat announced the 2023 slogan “Nurturing the Next Generation: Promoting a Culture of Knowledge-sharing and Professional Pride in Customs”, which, in fact, goes far beyond mere customs administrations and is essential for all stakeholders involved in international trade. The knowledge-sharing culture can help build stronger partnerships, trust and mutual understanding between customs and the private sector and develop more effective processes to achieve common goals, such as improving trade facilitation and enhancing supply chain security. The WCO emphasizes the role of professional journals, magazines, and newsletters in knowledge management and sharing. And, in this regard, I am thrilled to inform you that the case of CCRM in providing information and fostering exchanges between brokers and representatives of Customs and other relevant institutions was presented by our Editor, Enrika Naujokė, in her insightful piece for the first 2023 issue of WCO News.

The current CCRM issue makes a particular focus on tariff classification. Articles written by Christopher Matt, Ingrida Kemežienė and Taichi Kawazoe cover a broad range of cases, including the completeness of product information, procedures for advance rulings, pipe transportation devices, inflatable couches, and drones. The latter reminds us of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian armed conflict that shows the extensive utilization of commercial drones for military purposes. So, I think we will soon see a more detailed classification of drones to distinguish some features critical for military use, empowering more strict export controls.

The customs procedures section starts with the notes from the discussion at the 14^th CCRM Authors' Meeting, which involved customs experts from Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, France, Bulgaria, Israel, Brazil and Argentina. It provides valuable insights into possibilities the proper choice of procedure may deliver and highlights the diversity of challenges customs professionals face in particular countries. This is followed by articles investigating inward procedures in the UK by Arne Mielken and the EU by Sandra Rinnert, Michael Lux and Enrika Naujokė. Besides general information, readers may get some comparative aspects of the UK and the EU customs procedures trajectory after Brexit.

Among the overviews of the EU law, I would like to highlight the article by Gediminas Valantiejus on the long-lasting EU efforts on the harmonization of penalties for customs infringements that “celebrate” the tenth anniversary this year. The series of EU-organized surveys and research revealed too many differences between member states, yet few suggestions on harmonization. In the same section Boryana Peycheva addresses pressing measures to unify customs control practices across the EU that are discussed in the report for the European Parliament's committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

The current issue traditionally embraces the valuation topic. Georgi Goranov discusses the pros and cons of the Commission’s draft delegated regulation on Binding Valuation Information. Enrika Naujokė looks into the interplay between the choice of place of entry of goods and customs value. In country-specific publications, Ilona Mishchenko addresses information exchange challenges between Ukrainian customs and businesses. At the same time, Omer Wagner provides insights on the “importer's affidavit,” a unique tool the Israeli customs uses to obtain valuation information.

I would rather not bore readers with any further listing, but on behalf of our editorial team, I hope you will find this CCRM issue exciting and valuable.

With Best Regards,
Dr. Prof. Borys Kormych

EU law news February/March 2023