Articles

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.

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.

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.

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.

Exactly a year following the publication of the UK’s Global Tariff, the UK government announced on 20 May 2021 that the UK will launch its own tariff suspension scheme, tailored to the needs … of UK businesses. This means legible goods will benefit from paying no customs duties upon import into the UK. As a UK business paying customs duties currently, this is a window of opportunity to apply for a tariff suspension to reduce your future customs duty bill. What does this mean in practice, and who can apply for this benefit?

Customs valuation of goods imported into Ukraine is one of the most challenging stages of cross-border trade operations. It is relatively easy to determine the customs value of goods; however, … it is almost impossible to convince the customs that the value is accurate and based on the actual price. Hence, there are many court appeals against customs decisions to adjust the customs value. The statistics of court proceedings on such cases are not in favour of customs. Thus, in cases involving Ukrainian customs, 80% (2330 out of 2917 considered over 11 months of 2020) of court decisions were made in favour of plaintiffs (importers, declarants, etc.).

In this article, we outline issues that holders of the procedure (who provide a guarantee to cover the amount of potential debt) might face in case the Union transit procedure or common transit … procedure is not properly ended in the electronic customs systems. A real case, when the T1 transit procedure was not ended in Germany, and the goods were shipped to Russia, is provided as an example of an issue.

The mechanical engineering industry has a problem. Or more specifically the customs specialists at the respective companies. The departments of these companies can cooperate so well with each … other and provide each other with important information for everyday work, but the customs tariff is and remains a sticking point. Simply because there is little background knowledge about it and also the limited offer of further education often focuses on the customs tariff in general. This is also one of the reasons why ERP master data around foreign trade is often not correctly maintained.

One of the conditions of a trade agreement is that goods must travel directly between the signatory countries. How is the direct transport rule enforced in practice? This article provides an … overview of the answers based on the experience of local practitioners from Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ukraine, Mexico, and Vietnam.

It has often been said that a cast-iron rule of international trade is that we tend to trade most with the countries in our immediate vicinity. This is very much true of Ireland’s trading relationship … with the United Kingdom. This article looks at some of the main aspects of the new trading environment that Irish companies have to contend with.

We are talking to Eimantas Kiudulas, the General Director of Klaipėda Free Economic Zone Management Company, about the benefits of free zones for businesses, the differences and similarities … of these zones in various countries, membership in international organizations, and the importance of compliance with international standards.

If an importer or exporter is unsure about the origin of their goods, or simply wants legal certainty, they can apply for a Binding Origin Information decision (BOI).A BOI, also referred to as … an advance ruling on origin, is a written decision on the origin of the good, issued by Customs to a company prior to an importation or exportation. The decision can cover preferential or non-preferential origin.

In the Mexican United States, the tariff code is found in the law called “Ley de los Impuestos Generales de Importación y de Exportación” (“Law of General Import and Export Taxes”). The law had … significant modifications recently, which were published on July 1st, 2020 to come into effect on December 28th of the same year.

How much does it cost? When goods cross a border, customs formalities must be completed. Customs brokers help businesses complete these formalities. In the UK, £32.50 per declaration is HMRC’s … estimated cost of this service, but in reality, the price tag can be as high as £150 per declaration. For businesses trading between the UK and the EU, this is an additional cost of Brexit. Unlike customs duties, this cost cannot be reduced by using the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Many businesses are considering completing customs declarations in-house with the help of software solutions. But is this the right option for everyone?

We, Milda Stravinskė and Monika Bielskienė, met to discuss the broader international context of our day-to-day customs activities. First and foremost, customs law is a 'companion' to international … trade, so the international context and cooperation, common rules, agreements, and approaches, are inevitable. No importer or customs authority operates in isolation. The need to reconcile many spheres and interests leads to an abundance of international agreements and requirements. While preparing the courses for customs brokers, we both saw the need to disclose this context to our future colleagues. The easiest way to do this is by sharing personal experiences. So we talked about it.

Sources of European Union (EU) law can be classified according to their binding nature. 'Hard law' defines binding legislation, and 'soft law' includes non-obligatory guidelines, recommendations, … opinions. Andrius Košel has published an excellent article on soft law and here we will examine hierarchy and types of hard law, as well as opportunities in its application.