Customs Compliance & Risk Management
Knowledge
Customs Control Club: What customs should not be, what customs is today, and what customs should be tomorrow?
This year, the D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics created a Customs Control Club. The main idea of it is for students to understand why customs is an important factor in international trade and what its significance is for the state and society. At the end of the first season, students were asked to write an essay on what customs should not be, what customs is today, and what customs should be tomorrow.
Case law
Financial consequences of indirect customs representation mode in the EU
According to Article 18 of the Union Customs Code (UCC), the customs representative may carry out customs formalities by direct or indirect representation. Regardless of the method of representation chosen, the representation contract remains a mandate contract, which obliges the importer to guarantee the customs representative the payment of import duties and taxes incurred by the operation. The choice of the mode of representation, on the other hand, is important when the importer has disappeared (or become insolvent) and has left the customs representative alone to deal with customs. Indeed, if the representative has acted as an indirect representative, the administration can claim payment of the entire debt from him... except perhaps in the case of VAT, because, according to the CJEU, solidarity in VAT matters is not automatically established.
CJEU guidelines on the selection of identical or similar goods for determining the customs value
Customs administration shall exercise due care in analysing the facts, gathering information and evidence for the use of each of the alternative methods for determining the customs value. This includes the duty of the customs authorities to consult all the information sources and databases available to them. Are customs authorities obliged to check information systems maintained by the EU? May identical or similar imports (which have not been challenged) of the same trader be excluded? What is the period, in which identical or similar imports are considered to be ‘made at the same or around the same time’? We look at the CJEU's answers to these questions.
Baltic Master case in the CJEU: once again about related persons and the use of customs valuation IS
On 13.06.2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a decision in the Baltic Master case (C-599/20) on two relatively unrelated issues. The first, whether customs must establish an objective legal relationship between the buyer and the seller in order to consider them as related persons. The second, whether customs can rely on the value of a single comparable transaction found on the national customs valuation information system (IS), denying the acceptance of the declared value of the goods (air conditioning units). In this article, we discuss interpretations provided by the CJEU; and we look forward for the national verdict of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SACL).
Overviews and comments
New on Access2Markets: export bans imposed by Russia and Belarus
In response to EU and other countries’ sanctions, Russia and Belarus retaliated by imposing export bans on certain products to what were branded ‘unfriendly countries’. As a result, some products, although not subject to EU import restrictions, cannot be imported because they cannot be taken out of the exporting country. So how can one learn which goods are restricted? Information on export prohibitions, restrictions and tariffs are now available on Access2Markets.
Four common misconceptions in the relationship between importers and customs brokers
Importers often try to avoid customs clearance processes, relying entirely on the customs broker. On the one hand, the broker is a customs expert, possesses relevant experience and, ultimately, receives a commission for his/her work. It seems that the importer should not be involved in the processes managed by the customs broker. On the other hand, such self-exclusion can result in very unpleasant financial and reputational consequences. This article considers the most common misconceptions of importers in cooperation with customs brokers, which cause losses for both sides.
A coffee break with… Michael Lux
If you had the chance to talk to an expert who was working on the Union Customs Code (UCC), what would you ask? … Questions we asked: What your suggestions do we find in the UCC? What are you especially proud of about the UCC? What could have been done differently? What would be your advice for the users of the UCC? And more! Grab cup of coffee and enjoy our interview with Michael Lux.
Customs broker’s profession: national peculiarities in the EU
The importance of the customs broker’s profession (also called ‘customs representatives’, ‘customs agents’) is growing in the supply chain. In the complex and ever-changing legal, technological, and geopolitical environment, they serve traders, customs and society by acting as a trade compliance checkpoint before submitting data to customs. Knowledge and ethical requirements are very high; therefore, the standardisation theme is topical. We look at some standards and provide an overview of the national differences of several EU member states and share some related thoughts.
Mission possible: how the WTO Valuation Agreement strikes a balance between trade facilitation and customs regulation
Customs valuation is one of the largest challenges in international trade. That is why the rules of customs valuation are set out in an international treaty. On the one hand, this is aimed at harmonizing the valuation rules, while on the other hand, it is aimed at protecting economic operators from the arbitrariness of the authorities and, ultimately, at helping traders. Does it really work in practice, and does it serve both public and private interests in international trade? In the article, the peculiarities of customs valuation are highlighted, which are especially important to consider for those who deal with developing and least-developed countries.
Customs strategies at the heart of international business development
In the year 2021, there has been a major breakdown in the customs practices in the EU and the changes will continue over the next years for many reasons: data provisions and data quality will become the new hobbyhorse for customs authorities, more significant facilitations will be granted to companies who have the AEO status for e-commerce flows, etc. We provide a brief overview of the changes, highlight the role of customs experts in turning challenges into opportunities, and share some thoughts on what is needed to become a member of the big family united under the customs topic.
Customs broker’s profession: views and news
The previous article highlighted the role of the customs broker in checking compliance and lodging a customs declaration. There is much more that customs brokers do and/or can do in regard to adapting their services to meet the challenges of an ever-changing trading and regulatory environment. We share views and news on various aspects of the profession in the UK, Germany and Canada.
Insights from judgements of the courts
Procedural fairness, forced labour, export control measures and classification of goods, royalty fee and other valuation-related issues, the liability of a customs broker (representative), tariff classification and the main feature of a product - insights on these topics were shared during the 11th Authors’ Meeting. We invite you to learn which court cases were selected and which aspects were paid attention to by experts from various countries – the United States of America, Ukraine, France, Bulgaria, Israel, and Lithuania.
Can you appeal if you disagree with the CN code recommendation issued by the Customs Laboratory?
You can ask the Customs Laboratory to classify your goods to double-check the commodity code you use or plan to use. However, the recommended product code might differ from yours, and you may disagree with it. What should be done in such a case? Should you ignore the recommendation of the Customs Laboratory? Or is it better to appeal against it? And, in general, is it possible to appeal against such non-binding conclusions? The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SACL) clarified the latter issue.
EU law
EU law news: June/July 2022
News in week 30: restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine extended until 31 January 2023; European Commission answers questions about Russian gold import ban; definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of molybdenum wire originating in China; definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of mono ethylene glycol originating in the USA and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; investigation concerning possible circumvention of the anti-dumping measures on imports of certain hot rolled stainless steel sheets and coils originating in Indonesia; updated lists of products of animal origin subject to official controls at border control posts; and more news!
Country update
Ukraine customs-related news: June/July 2022
News at a glance: cancellation of quotas and established licensing for export of rye and fertilisers; invitation to Ukraine to join the Convention on a common transit procedure and the Convention on the simplification of formalities in trade in goods; expanded list of goods prohibited for export; EU and UK suspend import duties on Ukrainian goods; new rules of administrative responsibility for infringements of customs formalities; and more news.
Filling out the customs declaration
Types of import and export declarations in the EU: have you set the code correctly?
In the case of the import or export of goods, you will be required to enter one of the following codes in the first subdivision of box 1 of the Single Administrative Document (SAD): IM, EX, EU, CO. These codes indicate the countries or territories to/from which the consignment is transported and the customs status of the goods. Let’s look at what the codes mean, and in what cases, which code should be used.