Customs Compliance & Risk Management
Knowledge
World Customs Journal – the leading international academic journal on customs
The World Customs Journal is the leading international academic journal on customs. How was the idea to start the journal born? What are the challenges and rewards of being an editor of the journal? Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang kindly agreed to answer these and some more interview questions for the CCRM journal.
A customs topic or not? What is the most complex customs topic?
“A customs topic or not? What is the most complex customs topic?” - a discussion took place during the 6th Authors’ Meeting. The views were shared on many aspects of customs: the so-called “Trump tariffs”, non-customs regulations, border crossing e-commerce, new VAT regulations in the UK and EU, quality of master data, the complexity of training of a specialist in customs, and more.
Q&A
Tariff-rate quotas for steel products: peculiarities of the application
Editorial word. This month, the European Commission published a regulation that prolonged the application of safeguard measures against imports of certain steel products. Ingrida Beliokienė, the chief specialist of the Tariffs Division of the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance (Lithuania), kindly agreed to share information about the peculiarities of the use of these measures.
Case law
Place of origin of import VAT obligation (temporary admission)
Place of origin of import VAT obligation - the final destination of the goods entering the territory of the Union or entering the economic circulation of the Union? This question was further explored and answered by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
CJEU: classification of sawn timber (boards)
EU Member States import a significant amount of timber, timber products, and sawn timber from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Therefore, the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in a recent case, in which the issue of tariff classification of sawn timber (boards) was examined, may be relevant for many businesses.
Retrospective amendment of the customs declarant
It often happens that customs declarations are incorrectly filled out. Such errors are not necessarily intentional and are often nothing more than carelessness. The question in such cases is whether it is possible to amend the customs declaration retrospectively and how. Whereas it is accepted it is possible to go back and correct particulars about the goods and their value, the customs administration has generally not allowed the customs declarant to be amended in this way. Among the reasons cited is that the relevant court judgements have also rejected such an amendment. We now have two recent judgements which deal with this question of the retrospective amendment of the customs declarant. How helpful are these judgements in practice?
Wooden or plastic tableware (0% or 6.5% duty rate)?
In this article, we overview a recent judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning tariff classification of goods. The product is 'bamboo beakers' made of plant fibers (72,33% by weight) and melamine resin (25,2% by weight), the latter gives the product its shape and strength. The questions raised: how are headings 3924 and 4419 of the Combined Nomenclature to be interpreted for the classification of this product; whether GIR 3 (a) ('heading which provides the most specific description') or GIR 3 (b) ('the material which gives the goods their essential character') should be applied.
Overviews and comments
FTA mechanics – change in tariff heading and long-term supplier declarations
Preferential origin agreements (or free trade agreements) generally have 3 methods by which goods can qualify depending on the specific tariff heading: wholly obtained, cumulation and change of tariff heading (CTH). This article will discuss what happens when a good must qualify via CTH but cannot fulfill the rules.
Product classification recommendation for business planning
Businesses usually contact the Customs Laboratory to find out the tariff classification of a good and/ or certain parameters of it in order to assess the financial aspects of their business plan and aspects related to the prohibitions and restrictions on entry or exit of goods. Let's take a look at how to get the product classification recommendation in Lithuania and what to do if you disagree with it.
Staying ahead of the game: anticipating a customs audit
If your business buys goods from abroad and imports them, then the next customs audit target could be you. There are different types of customs audits, different triggers for an audit, and different focuses during an audit. This article aims to demystify customs audits to help businesses stay ahead of the game.
EVFTA: proof of origin when consignments are split in a country of transit
The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into force on 1 August 2020. It is one of the most noteworthy EU FTAs that have come into force in recent years as it brings closer one of the world’s largest economic blocs with the fastest-growing emerging economy in the world. Vietnam is widely considered to be the next regional powerhouse, rapidly emerging as one of the world’s premier manufacturing destinations. The EU wisely saw the value in crafting a closer partnership with Vietnam, a partnership that will undoubtedly reap immense rewards for both parties going forward. As the EVFTA is a work in progress amendments to the relevant guidance are still being made to clarify and improve its execution.
Statement on origin (EU-Vietnam FTA)
Continuing on the topic started by Samuel Draginich in the article "EVFTA: proof of origin when consignments are split in a country of transit", let us take a closer look at the statement on origin - the only proof of EU preferential origin that might be issued under the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) - and the commercial document on which it may be made out; also in the case of splitting of consignment in a country of transit.
First-come, first-served tariff quotas: what business needs to know
The use of tariff quotas is an important topic for many EU importers, and its relevance is not diminishing. Let’s take a look at the questions that businesses raise about tariff quotas and what is important to pay attention to.
New dual-use regulation: What are the changes in the "rules of the game"?
Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 was published in the OJEU L 206 of 11 June 2021. This regulation recasts and repeals regulation 428/2009 on dual-use items (items designed for civilian purposes but which may have both civilian and military use). It will be applicable as of September 9, 2021. While the amendments do not change the fundamental principles of the control of trade or the general scheme of the Regulation, they will nevertheless result in some changes to the current "rules of the game". The changes are briefly outlined here and concern primarily new or revised definitions.
News
EU law news: June 2021
News in week 25: prolonged safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products; anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain corrosion resistant steels; restrictive measures on imports and exports from/ to Belarus; EU proposes World Customs Organization modernisation in support of a strengthened multilateral order; and more news!
EU law news: July 2021
News in week 30: EU-Argentine agreement relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas; storage of and automated access to the information on the VAT exempted importations under the ‘import scheme’; notices of the expire of anti-dumping measures on imports of high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bars and of aspartame.
EU law
UCC Navigator - a new innovative tool that helps to overcome EU customs legislation complexity
Following the introduction of the Union Customs Code (UCC), the public and private sectors have been looking for a smart way to navigate the complexity of the UCC, which must be read in conjunction with the Delegated Act, the Transitional Delegated Act and the Implementing Act to gain a proper understanding and interpretation of the legal provisions. This task is greatly simplified through the use of new interactive web-based tool called UCC Navigator®, which has been developed by the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES) at Charles Sturt University in collaboration with a leading software developer, Vivid Thought.
Expectations for the future of the EU trade and customs policy: what should be known to practitioners?
The article analyses new strategic document of the EU’s Commission (presented to the public in February, 2021, and currently discussed in other EU institutions) called “Trade Policy Review - An Open, Sustainable and Assertive Trade Policy”. This document (strategy) aims to establish a new consensus for trade policy in the EU and sets new core objectives for the regulation of trade and customs issues with specific third countries. Taking into account this aspect, this article summarizes and critically evaluates the provisions of the new strategy designed to regulate trade with the EU's main foreign trade partners (United States, China, Russia, India, other countries of the BRICS region) and describes the significance of the strategy for international trade business and its taxation.
Country update
On some complex customs topics aftermath of Brexit
“A customs topic or not? What is the most complex customs topic?” - a discussion among authors of the CCRM journal on the topic took place in June during the 6th Authors’ Meeting. The authors of this article shared views on several challenges in Ireland and the UK aftermath of Brexit: meeting non-customs requirements in Northern Ireland and two models for processing import shipments in the ports in the UK.
What does it mean to have a direct or indirect representative for customs clearance in the UK?
When goods cross a border, customs formalities need to be completed. The trader has the option to complete the formalities themselves, or engage someone else to do this for them. Generally, traders find someone, such as a customs agent, to complete the formalities for them. In this case, the customs agent would act as either a direct or an indirect representative. This article explains the difference between these two types of representations and what the responsibilities and liabilities are for both the trader and the customs agent.
Ukraine law news: July 2021
News at a glance: registration of non-residents at the customs office of Ukraine; criminalization of smuggling: the first step done for adoption; the government regulated the monitoring procedure of the compliance of AEO in Ukraine; safeguard regarding import of the ceramic tiles was terminated.