Customs Compliance & Risk Management
Country update
The new U.S. Executive Order on strengthening customs enforcement: two questions that matter
The U.S. is entering a new era of customs enforcement. But while Executive Order strengthening customs enforcement sets an ambitious agenda, can CBP realistically deliver it after decades of declining trade expertise? This article explores what the Order means in practice and what importers should do now to reduce their...
India-UK CETA and its rules of origin: a new chapter in India’s preferential trade architecture
Editorial note: With the EU-India FTA near conclusion and the UK-India CETA entering into force on 15 July 2026, exporters to India face a market that is liberalising at the border while tightening on origin. Using the newly notified UK-India rules of origin as a working template for how India...
News update
EU customs and trade news: June 2026
Update for week 26: new Generalised Scheme of Tariff Preferences (GSP); new framework against steel overcapacity; EU-US trade - Council gives final approval for the tariff commitments under Joint Statement; updated EU's CITES trade rules after CoP20; new CBAM factsheet - actual vs default values in your declaration; anti-dumping duties...
UK customs and trade news: June 2026
News in brief: standard for customs intermediaries launched; new versions of the UK tariffs and other reference documents published; anti-dumping measure on hot-rolled steel plate rejected; anti-dumping duty on high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bar (rebar) extended; the end date for imports of Russian diesel and jet fuel set;...
US customs tariffs and trade news: June 2026
New in brief: reform on strengthening customs enforcement adopted; further adjusting tariffs on steel, aluminium, and copper imports; proposed action in 60 Section 301 investigations relating to failures to take action on trade in forced labour goods; CBP’s forced labour enforcement operational guidance for importers issued; updates to administration and...
EU customs and trade news: July 2026
Update for week 30: 21st sanctions package against Russia and Belarus - new goods import and export bans, new listings; US Section 301 forced-labour tariffs on the EU, UK and 58 other economies; six more individuals sanctioned over human rights violations in Iran; Chinese hardwood plywood - anti-dumping circumvention investigation...
Topic spotlight
E-commerce: flat-rate duty of €3 and introduction of a product identifier
Regulation (EU) 2026/382, effective from 1 July 2026, is the first component of the customs reform proposed by the Commission. It has not only abolished the customs duty relief for 'consignments of negligible value', i.e. up to an intrinsic value of €150 (thereby deleting Articles 23 and 24 of the...
Rules of origin under free trade agreements: compliance vs usability
According to the European Commission’s report, trade agreements have strengthened the EU’s global competitiveness, improved EU companies’ access to third-country markets, and supported exports in key sectors. However, their full potential is not yet realised, as EU FTAs remain underutilised in practice. Low preference utilisation is often associated with complex...
Why companies need to rethink how they manage tariff classification
This article examines why tariff classification errors persist in many companies, revealing that the root cause is often not a lack of customs knowledge, but rather weak processes, poor product data, and ambiguous responsibilities. Based on a case study of an international manufacturer, it identifies where the greatest risks lie...
Perspective
EU low-value consignments reform: what e-commerce actors need to know from 1 July 2026
From 1 July, a €3 duty applies per product type within low-value consignments - those valued up to €150. On 8 June of this year, the Commission accordingly amended the implementing regulation of the Union Customs Code. We present an overview of the changes and also speak with Gintarė Šapalaite,...
Beyond the EU Data Hub: harmonising customs knowledge
The EU is building a single Customs Data Hub - but harmonised data and harmonised law will not, on their own, produce consistent customs decisions across twenty‑seven member states. This article argues that the customs reform is the moment to add the missing element: harmonised customs knowledge. It traces how...
News in focus
CJEU: placed at the wrong office, relief lost
Outward processing is a procedure many practitioners treat as routine: Union goods leave the EU temporarily, are worked on abroad, and return with import duty charged on only part of their value. The relief is valuable - but it is conditional. Does it really matter which customs office the goods...
CJEU: claiming the wrong tariff quota does not justify double duties
What happens if an importer claims the wrong tariff quota? Can customs charge both safeguard and anti‑dumping duties on the same shipment because of it? A seemingly minor procedural error raised an important question about the interaction between two EU trade defence instruments – and a recent Court of Justice...
UCC change for US imports: proof of origin now includes direct transport
Since 1 July 2026, most industrial goods originating in the United States enter the EU duty-free, and a range of US agricultural and seafood products benefit from tariff quotas. Importers might assume that proving US origin is the whole job - it is not. A new provision of the UCC...