Customs Compliance & Risk Management

Dear Reader,

Welcome to CCRM Issue 16 for August/September 2022. In this issue you’ll find a return to fundamentals: a keen focus on compliance and risk management. It’s easy to diverge into disparate topics – and we should, to broaden our knowledge base – but it is crucial to never lose focus on the core topics. 

As we approach choppy economic waters now more than ever should businesses ensure their compliance programs are buttoned down. Risk of violations, which attracts enormous fines, may be more easily absorbed when times are good but when times are difficult every cent matters. Avoid unnecessary costs by being compliant. Additionally, as compliance practitioners we must remain aware we do not normally generate revenue for our employers – oftentimes we’re seen as an expensive – thus we must focus on robust solutions that utilize current resources. Do more with less, as the saying goes. 

Major topics covered in this issue include biggest compliance challenges faced in companies, managing compliance with the minefield of customs rules on the books, and customs-competent staffing. In the previous issue (15) there was an article ‘Financial consequences of indirect customs representation mode in the EU’ which provides a perspective from France; in this issue we provide the same case but from the perspective of the Netherlands. As compliance practitioners it is crucial we understand how compliance issues are viewed by different governments – the concept of national perception is important when creating country-specific compliance programs. 

We sincerely hope you enjoy the content of this issue. We’re always interested in contributions from other compliance practitioners, if you would like to get involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@lcpa.lt  

Best regards,
Sam Draginich
Member of Editorial Board
Senior Trade Compliance Manager, EMEA, Amazon EU