E-commerce: friend or foe?

Description

Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of online shopping? Yet e-commerce poses many challenges not only in the EU but worldwide. The rise of companies like Shein and Temu, offering inexpensive products or that often fail to meet EU product standards and safety regulations and the staggering speed with which the number of e-commerce imports increases, has made e-commerce reform a highly debated topic. How should the EU address safety concerns? How does e-commerce impact the level playing field for EU companies? What would the removal of de minimis mean in practice?

The webinar will explore the following issues:

• Why is e-commerce a problem: volumes and lack of checks
• The EU UCC Reform response to the e-commerce problem
• Practical challenges and potential consequences of EU’s proposal
• Alternative proposals

Speakers

Frank Janssens
Frank is the coordinator of PARSEC and BORDERLINK projects. He participates in a number of studies for the European authorities on the Customs Control Equipment Instrument, autonomous tariff suspensions & quotas, as well as the Customs Programme environment in the framework of the EU Customs. He works as a senior expert for the World Bank where he currently supports the regional programme for the Western Balkans countries on customs, trade and transport facilitation. In addition, Frank is the vice president of ODASCE, the French trade facilitation organisation. Previously Frank worked as the Head of Unit in the European Commission in charge of Customs modernisation. Frank holds a master’s degree in economics and international trade and studied in Europe and the USA.

Walter Van der Meiren
Walter is the Customs Brokerage Director at UPS and represents the interests of the express industry and trade at various forums and working groups, such as the European Express Association, the Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee at AmCham EU, the Trade Contact Group at EU Commission DG Taxud, and the Trade Facilitation Committee of the European Express Industry. With over 35 years of experience working in customs, Walter received multiple recognitions for his contributions to the international customs community, such as the Certificate of Merit from the World Customs Organization and the Customs Professional Award from the International Chamber of Commerce. 

Moderator

Dr Anna Jerzewska is the Chief Knowledge Officer at CustomsClear. She is a customs and trade facilitation expert with over 18 years of experience. Anna is the customs rapporteur for EuroCommerce, a member of the UK Customs Thematic Working Group and an Associate Fellow of UKTPO. She’s a former customs consultant for PwC, EY and KPMG in London and a former Deputy Director at HMRC, UK customs authority. Anna advises a wide range of public and private sector clients – from individual companies to governments and international organisations (UN, OECD etc).

Price

The price is 25 Eur. Free for:

• Members of Individual or Team plan;
• Participants of the ‘Customs clearance and trade compliance in the EU’ online course;
• Members of CKC, CONFIAD, EUROPRO, LCPA.

Contact us

If you need further information or have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@customsclear.net