EU customs formalities in the supply chain

Part 2

The EU (Union) customs formalities start at a very early stage of the transportation process and there are several requirements to be fulfilled before a customs declaration can be lodged.

The main focus of this part is to introduce when (e.g., pre-declaration requirements before the goods leave the country of exportation), what (e.g., entry summary declaration) and by whom (e.g., shipping company) must be submitted to customs when bringing goods into the customs territory of the Union or taking them out. You will also learn about various customs procedures for which goods can be declared.

You will learn all this through practical examples - import and export case studies. As about 80% of cargo is transported by sea, the case studies are about customs formalities for containerized cargo.

Lessons

This part consists of seven lesons:

1. Intro (definitions). Learn what customs law, customs territory, and customs status of goods are.
2. Customs role. Learn what the modes of transport and, respectively, the entry/exit points of the goods into or out of the customs territory, where they must be declared to customs are; and also, why the customs declaration is made, i.e., what customs based on it controls?
3. Customs declaration. It is the 'passport' of the goods for crossing the customs borders. Learn what it looks like and what information is provided in it. 
4. Customs procedures. Usually, we talk about import, export, and transit. Learn, what it means and compare it to how it is set out in the law. You will also learn about the largest group of customs procedures, the special ones, and why they are 'special'.
5. Import (case study). By analysing a practical example, we take a look at import customs formalities, which start already in the country of exportation.
6. Export (case study). Learn export customs formalities by analysing how the goods are shipped out of the EU.
7. Customs broker. Learn what customs brokers do, what their responsibilities and liabilities depending on the type of representation are, and what documents should be provided to the customs broker to fill out a customs declaration.

Outcome

At the end of this module, you should have a basic understanding of:

• Union status of goods and the proof of this status;
• Customs procedures, their role and the importance of planning/ choosing the right procedure;
• Import - the flow of the required information to customs, starting from the country of exportation;
• Export - the flow of the required information to customs; VAT-related risks;
• National pecularities of the EU Member States related to customs and port systems; and also sanctions for infringements;
• Customs compliance responsibilities of various stakeholders of the supply chain; and data and documents keeping requirements for post-clearance customs audit.

Time

Please plan to dedicate around 1 hour to complete this part.

Customs may raise questions not only during customs clearance,
but also after a few years during the post-clearance audit.

Enrika Naujoke

Who specifically must do something to comply with a certain legal provision? The UCC does not always answer the question. In such case, each person and economic operator who is a part of a supply chain should find out his/her specific obligations and responsibility.

Dr Talke Ovie