Customs Compliance & Risk Management

Dear Reader,

For the past three months, Europe, and the rest of the world, have been living under the conditions of Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine. The war has created new sanctions and challenges concerning international trade, as well as customs and logistics that must be taken into account by exporters, distributors, and other stakeholders. In this regard, I would like to draw to your attention recent legislative changes in Ukraine, dictated by martial law and the extremely difficult conditions for foreign trade, prepared by Iryna Pavlenko and Oleg Kyryievskyi, as well as the article ‘Sanctioned persons: get to know your customers and suppliers’ by Andrius Košel, and the article ‘Kaliningrad - Russia transit: are there any special simplifications?’ by Jurgita Stanienė.

The origin of goods is one of the most frequent topics in the CCRM Journal. In the current issue, Peter Mitchell and Enrika Naujokė analyse the process of post-clearance verification of preferential origin set out in some of the free trade agreements of Canada, the UK, and the EU. Practical examples and suggestions on how the preferential origin-related risk could be managed by importers are provided.  

In the article ‘Keep an eye on customs case law or Who has enough money to throw away?’ Dr Talke Ovie advises on how not to lose money, i.e. ask for payment of interest in the case of reimbursement of customs duties collected unlawfully. In this regard, Gediminas Valantiejus analyses the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and summaries conditions under which persons are entitled to receive compensation in the form of interest. 

The case law section is also represented by Ingrida Kemežienė, who overviews ‘The case with the smell of vanilla’, which deals with the classification of vanilla extracts containing ethanol and their exemption from excise duty on alcohol. Continuing the classification topic, Dr David Savage describes the challenges of appealing classification rulings in the article ‘The “dark art” of classification (challenging a BTI ruling)’. Prof Krzysztof Lasiński-Sulecki draws attention to the fact that the validity of a BTI can be affected by the soft law in the article ‘A few remarks on the softness of soft law in the sphere of customs classification’.

The complexity and diversity of activities that fall under customs control involve many employees and departments of a company. Who should ensure compliance with numerous requirements and regulations? You will find some suggestions in an article ‘Who is responsible for customs compliance? or When everyone is responsible - no one is!’ by Enrika Naujokė. A further point to consider concerning the topic of compliance is made by Samuel Draginich, who highlights in his article on the US CBP’s current developments that customs compliance practitioners are pivotal in strategic business planning. Regarding the topic of planning, Monika Bielskienė invites readers to consider the future of the EU customs through a review of the Wise Persons Group’s proposals for customs reforms.

In addition, in the current CCRM issue, you can find other interesting and valuable information, particularly on the non-transparent licensing of imports in various countries, the issues that go with a low customs value of goods, and the opportunities that implementation of Port Community Systems brings, and more.

Please enjoy reading and leave your comments, suggestions, or questions to an article online or email them to info@lcpa.lt. 

Dr Ilona Mishchenko
Member of the Editorial Board
Odesa, Ukraine, 31 May 2022