Articles

News in week 37: entry into force of the EU-Central America Association Agreement; EU-Kyrgyzstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement published; update of the list of sanctioned persons … in Russia and Belarus, individual sanctions prolonged for a further six months; the recent transfer of Iranian-made ballistic missiles to Russia - new restrictive measures against Iran to be released; amendment of the restrictive measures regulations by establishing a common list of competent authorities; interface between market surveillance and customs systems - changes to the regulation; updated and new CBAM guidance documents; changes to forms of customs enforcement of intellectual property rights; anti-dumping duty updates related to imports of certain alkyl phosphate esters, certain iron or steel fasteners and pneumatic tyres; Finnish company is being examined for the proper use of the exemption from the anti-dumping duty.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

New Labour Government announces free trade negotiations strategy. UK joins global digital trade agreement. Animal Welfare Act. Economic Interest Test. Registration of imports of suspension poly … (vinyl chloride) from the United States of America. The Trade Remedies Authority review into polyethylene terephthalate from India.

The technological advances we have witnessed in recent times affect all areas of our lives. Customs is no exception. On the one hand, there are a large number of new products equipped with advanced … technologies, including AI, that need to be classified, cleared and taxed upon import. On the other hand, customs authorities and private sector customs professionals are using the latest technologies for their professional purposes, in particular for tariff classification. How does this technology boom affect both sides of the customs industry? Does it make life easier for customs professionals or does it create new headaches? Experts from around the world tried to find answers to these complex questions during the 22nd Authors' Meeting. Below is an overview of the main points provided by experts from some of the EU Member States, the UK, Switzerland, the USA, Canada, Brazil and Israel.

News at a glance: exemption from customs duties and VAT on imports of energy and demining equipment was approved; illegal imports and exports of goods of significant value (smuggling) is now … a criminal offence instead of being subject to administrative penalties; updated Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement entered into force; EU-Ukraine duty-free trade was extended; changes were made to the list of agricultural products where exports are subject to licensing; inward processing procedure was allowed for some vehicles and their bodies; the State Electronic Export Control System was launched as a pilot; progress was made on the development of the AEO programme in Ukraine.