Customs Compliance & Risk Management
Case law
Binding Tariff Information: for one or for all?
Can companies rely on Binding Tariff Information (BTI) issued for their competitors’ goods for the classification of their own products? This question was examined in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its ruling, which raised the issue of the classification of optical fibre cables under Combined Nomenclature (CN) subheadings 8544 70 00 and 9001 10 90. The case also considered the principles of legal certainty and legitimate expectations that businesses increasingly need to rely upon to justify various decisions.
Country update
Changes to e-commerce legislation in Türkiye
The new Decision published on August 6 in Türkiye states that the de minimis of EUR 150 applied to non-commercial goods shipped from abroad to an individual in Türkiye through mail or fast cargo transport, will be lowered to EUR 30. According to the Decision, a fixed rate of duty will be collected at the rate of 30% of the value of goods if they come directly from EU countries and 60% if they come from other countries. This will apply to all goods coming to a natural person through mail or fast cargo transport below EUR 30 as well as medicines below EUR 1500.
NOCA's Bulgarian Green Corridors project
The rapid crossing of land borders for imported and exported goods (including for intra-EU movements)would help to take the operation of international supply chains to a new level. Timely delivery of goods is much more than a fulfilment of trade commitments in order to build fair and long-term business partnerships. The COVID-19 health crisis and the still-unfolding war in Ukraine serve as reminders that timely delivery of goods can be vital for people's lives and health. Furthermore, delays at borders resulting from a number of customs and non-customs checks are an administrative burden.
Fur coat? Not in Israel
The import of furs of wildlife into the State of Israel is under a strict supervision of the Nature and Parks Authority, which is department of the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection. This is part of a larger issue of importing animals or parts of them, but in this article we will focus on the import of furs into Israel. It’s an interesting example, which we believe is not common elsewhere, due to a very specific piece of Israeli law. This law forbids importing wildlife fur, unless they meet the conditions of one of a very few exceptions. One of the key exceptions is fur for religious purposes. The Israeli Customs Authority, which is authorized to supervise imports, serves as the Nature Authority long arm to check the compliance of imports when a shipment containing animal fur arrives in Israel.
News update
EU customs and trade news: August 2024
News in week 35: review of anti-subsidy and anti-dumping measures on continuous filament glass fibre products from China; review of anti-dumping measures on bicycles from China; practice directions to parties concerning cases brought before the CJEU; EU and China launch Cross-Border Data Flow Communication Mechanism; Timor-Leste joined the WTO on 30 August as its 166th member.
EU customs and trade news: September 2024
News in week 39: Union Customs Code Annual Progress Report 2023; EU Single Window Environment for Customs - amended regulation, laid down rules for information exchange; compilation of the national control lists adopted by Spain, The Netherlands and France; pilot project for a 'comparative study on best practices for a stronger EU sanction enforcement'; updated guidance for industry on preventing Russian export control and sanctions evasion; new CBAM Self Assessment Tool; Commission Annual Report on the EU’s Anti-Dumping, Anti-Subsidy and Safeguard activities; Commission decision to register all imports of products under anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigations; classification of panties, at importation declared as ‘incontinence management system’; and more news!
UK customs and trade news: August 2024
UK Trade Remedies Authority initiates review into bicycles and bicycle parts from China, proposes an increase to the steel imports quota, recommends increasing duties on bus and lorry tyres. UK to join CPTPP by 15 December 2024. Alcohol duty: new digital service. Open general licence (AUKUS nations). August notices to exporters. Tariff classification notices. Guidance updates.
Ukraine customs and trade news: August/September 2024
News at a glance: significant amendments to the Ukrainian Customs Code; introduction of a new automated customs clearance system at all road checkpoints on the national border; clarification of the customs classification of goods intended for the generation and storage of electricity; permission to export bio-methane from Ukraine; gradual annual increases in excise duties on fuels.
UK customs and trade news: September 2024
UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement. Suspension of 30 arms export licenses to Israel. Moving the “Rest of World” sheepmeat, poultry and beef to Northern Ireland. Important updates on the implementation of the Windsor Framework, the TSS system and the 'Not for EU’ labelling for retail products across Great Britain. New TRA anti-dumping investigation on Chinese tin mill. New trade sanctions against Iran. Launch of the ‘Apply for a SIEL’ service (LITE) public beta.
Topic spotlight
The EU autonomous suspensions and quotas scheme: a glimpse behind the curtain of (an esoteric) Brussels trade committee
Article 28 of the Treaty of Rome provides for the temporary suspension of duties under the Common Customs Tariff (CCT) on imports of raw materials and components for further processing. This is possible where it is established that the EU-based companies are unable to obtain supplies of the product or suitable substitutes. This article aims to describe the process for successfully applying for an autonomous suspension or quota from the initial completion of the prescribed form to the discussions in the Committee rooms in the European Commission in Brussels.
Buying commission: should it or should it not be included in the customs value?
This year, the European Commission published an updated Compendium of customs valuation (Compendium 2024) with several important updates that promise to have a significant impact on the customs valuation process. While its aim is to harmonise the application of legislation and minimise disputes between businesses and customs, it is likely that some of these updates will actually increase the already high number of disputes in this area. This article examines the new Comment No 19 on the buying commission and its implications for enforcement.
Update of the Council’s Sanctions Best Practices: when should persons not listed on EU sanctions lists nonetheless be treated as sanctioned?
Editorial note: Sanctions are one of the examples of growing number of border restrictions and prohibitions. This is impacting a number of companies involved in global trade. The nature of sanctions is becoming more diverse and the list of sanctioned persons is growing. As a result, importers, exporters and other actors have no choice but to be more careful in choosing who they work with. Especially in light of the recent updates by the Council of the European Union on the understanding of who is a sanctioned person.
The proposed UCC reform: placing goods under a customs procedure - Title V R-UCC
In this article, the author explains the changes to Title V of the proposal for a reformed Union Customs Code (R-UCC) in comparison with the current Title V UCC and also addresses provisions that have been shifted to other Titles (in particular Title IV).
Ecodesign for Product Sustainability Regulation: what should economic operators expect?
In June 2024, the EU took another step towards building a climate-neutral and circular economy and a greener environment. This is the adoption of the new Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 - Ecodesign for Product Sustainability Regulation. The purpose of these innovations is declared to be quite noble - to increase product durability, reliability, maintainability, modernisation, reusability and recyclability, as well as to reduce waste generation and generally negative environmental impacts. Time will tell whether these goals will be achieved, as the first phase of implementation of these innovations is scheduled for July 2026. This article will help you understand what manufacturers, importers and other stakeholders can expect in the near future and the role customs will play in monitoring compliance with the new requirements.
Customs compliance and awareness amongst traders
It would seem that customs compliance is one of the most complex and pressing issues for all companies and individuals involved in global trade. But is this really the case? Is there a widespread understanding of how important it is to be aware of customs legislation and regulations and to keep up to date with the frequent changes and innovations? This question was discussed by experts from the EU, the UK, Brazil, Israel, Pakistan and Côte d'Ivoire at the 23rd Author's Meeting. The discussion revealed that many problems hindering customs compliance are similar in many countries. We invite you to read an overview of this discussion below.
Perspective
ICC Genesis: a new approach to origin certification?
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently, after several pilots (amongst others in the Netherlands), launched an online tool for the verification of preferential origin statements. The tool is named Genesis, after the ancient Greek word for origin, which is also the name of the first book of the Holy Bible and one of the world’s most popular progressive rock bands. So the obvious questions are: how progressive is this tool and does it rock?
Customs controls and frontier management: a cybernetic approach to analysis of the EU problem
In the light of present-day security concerns, customs controls are an area of significant importance as a means of national security as well as the economic defence and security of the nation-state or supranational blocks. Although this is a general issue of complex systems, in this article, the problem of control in EU, specifically indicated in Special Report of the European Court Of Auditors, is addressed. The problem is being ignored for several years already. This unaddressed problem indicates another issue, even more important – the defective control mechanism in EU, which fails to recognize critical issues and fails to initiate the corrective actions by taking responsibility and by claiming the ownership of the problem.
Top five challenges for European customs
Someone recently asked me what are the current top challenges for customs in Europe. The article is an attempt to summarise the answer to this question. These are the five issues that, in my opinion, are likely to impact the customs industry in the upcoming months and years. Some are more across-the-board and some are a bit more niche and local. The article comes from the author’s personal experience of working in the industry and across the private and public sectors and is therefore a personal perspective. By no means an exhaustive list.
Explainer
Customs as the gateway to sustainability
The customs industry, together with all the stakeholders such as policymakers, customs authorities, customs brokers, logistics, and trading companies, is becoming increasingly intertwined with sustainability policies aiming to mitigate the impact of climate change. These policies include the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), deforestation, new corporate sustainability regulations, etc., but also e-customs and aspects of the proposed EU customs reform.