Prohibitions and restrictions in practice: finding, checking and the case for harmonisation

You know P&R have to be screened. One of the main difficulties is the sheer volume of rules that need to be screened. The Commission’s 2026 Integrated EU Prohibitions and Restrictions List brings together 383 EU legal acts - and even that understates the volume, since sanctions and national measures sit outside the list entirely. Measures apply by commodity code, change frequently, and turn on details such as product type and end use. It is a compliance layer where mistakes are easy to make and costly to miss.

This roundtable is about managing that volume. We look at what P&R cover, how to find the measures that actually apply to a flow, how to keep a screening process reliable as the rules shift, and why the fragmented, un-harmonised state of the rules makes all of this harder than it should be.

Topics:

• What P&R are and their scope: the grounds they rest on, the forms they take, and how far the list reaches
• Keeping up: tracking entries and repeals so a process reflects the current position, not last year's
• Where mistakes happen: shifting triggers, and conditions that must be in place before the declaration is lodged
• The case for harmonisation: where divergence multiplies the work, with examples from selected regulations and areas

Speakers

Godfried Smit
Secretary General - the European Shippers’ Council (ESC)

Godfried Smit is Secretary General of the European Shippers’ Council (ESC), representing the interests of European shippers in Brussels. In this role, he is closely involved in European policy developments related to customs, trade facilitation, international trade and freight transport, with particular responsibility for inland, rail and maritime transport. He studied Dutch Law and Tax Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University. He began his career with Dutch Customs and subsequently held various positions at evofenedex.

View his profile here.

Eva Cartwright
Senior Manager - Customs and Digitalisation at the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT)

Eva Cartwright is a Senior Manager for Customs and Digitalisation at CLECAT, the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services, where she represents the European freight forwarding, logistics and customs sector before the EU institutions. Specific areas of Eva's expertise include: customs compliance and trade facilitation, product compliance and sectoral digitalisation, P&R  enforcement, freight forwarding, transport and supply chain management.

View her profile here.

Moderator

Enrika Naujoke
CEO of CustomsClear

Enrika Naujoke is CEO of CustomsClear, a European customs and trade knowledge platform helping practitioners and experts navigate the complexities of customs compliance. CustomsClear uses the latest technology and AI to make regulatory knowledge more accessible and actionable.

View her profile here.

About customs roundtables

Customs is a complex area and it’s difficult to stay up to date with all the latest developments.

Customs roundtables are designed for the customs community to come together and exchange views regarding various areas of customs. This can be either specific cases and questions or wider industry trends. It’s an excellent opportunity to have an open discussion on some of the most pressing customs issues.

We welcome customs experts and experts-to-be in all areas of customs (origin, valuation, special procedures etc) and from all backgrounds (legal, in-house, academic, consulting etc).

Interested in the topic? Join the roundtable!

You have a few options to gain access to this event:

• Everyone who has acquired Pro or Team membership plans has access to the sessions.
• Participants of the Customs Clearance and Trade Compliance in the EU course have free access to the event.
• None of the above but you want to join? Invest 49 EUR (excluding VAT) to attend the session.

Contact us

For further information or any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@customsclear.net