Dear Reader,

All eyes are on the US, and it’s all about new regulation (tariffs) and deregulation (E. Musk and DOGE). We invite you to follow updates on US tariffs in our customs and trade news, while deregulation, a topic I would nominate as the theme of 2025, deserves special attention. This is particularly relevant for the EU, especially considering the words Ericsson's CEO said in Davos (World Economic Forum). He remarked that the focus on regulation is driving Europe into irrelevance. He believes it is on its way to becoming a museum: great food, great architecture, great scenery and great wine, but no more industry.

The United Kingdom is facing similar challenges. As The Economist highlights in its article series ‘The Revolt Against Regulation’: "In 2010, Britain set up an Office of Tax Simplification, which stood by helplessly as the tax code expanded. In 2023, the government abolished not all its byzantine tax rules, but the OTS."

How can we address the proliferation of rules? We believe that the most pragmatic approach is to pursue technological solutions, foster innovation, and, most crucially, ensure action and implementation. Regarding implementation, in addition to the sheer increase in regulations, we should also acknowledge the widening gap between regulation and its practical execution as a significant problem.

Someone once said that the flood of e-commerce is so overwhelming (for customs) that every small innovation matters. The same applies to regulation. We should begin with small but swift steps, such as the structural reform plans introduced by Javier Milei, the President of Argentina, who claims to have already taken 800 steps to cut red tape. Furthermore, we should not wait for the EU or other governments to act; anyone can take the initiative, including companies, authorities and policymakers, as demonstrated in our article “On the benefits of AI for society and a use case in customs”.

We invite you to explore the articles in this issue, particularly from the perspective of reducing red tape. Has the recent CJEU judgment in the Harley-Davidson case helped facilitate the application of non-preferential origin rules? Should the UK join the PEM Convention to simplify bureaucracy in international trade? And what about US laws with extraterritorial effect? These are just a few questions to consider while reading this issue, leading one to wonder whether the ‘rule of law’ has been lost somewhere in the corridors of bureaucracy, where regulations continue to multiply unchecked. (For context, US federal regulations now exceed 180,000 pages, up from 20,000 in the early 1960s; in the past five years alone, the European Parliament has passed more than twice as many laws as the US.)

Ultimately, behind every rule and every technology, there is human intent. Our focus should be on enhancing human intelligence to create better regulations, ensure high-quality implementation and address the many challenges ahead. We hope that the CCRM contributes to the growing professionalism in customs.

Enjoy your reading!

Enrika Naujoke
Member of the Editorial Board

UK customs and trade news: January 2025