Articles

The German Federal Tax Court has ruled in a case referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for clarification. The main question put to the CJEU was: can the transaction value … be based on the initial price paid if a fixed adjustment is subsequently applied, calculated by means of a pro rata apportionment mechanism, despite the fact that at the end of the year, in the event of an adjustment, there will be a repayment of import duties or an additional payment? The CJEU has given a striking, albeit not entirely clear, ruling in a case that retrospective adjustments (upward or downward) to transfer pricing are not taken into account in determining the customs value of goods. Here is an overview of the case and the highlights of the German court's decision.

‘As the importance of sustainability grows, so does the need to have a good understanding of our entire supply chain. A company's sustainability is also measured in terms of its entire supply … chain, which is why choosing responsible and sustainable suppliers and partners is so important. Consider them as an extension of your company. The ecological footprint of the raw materials, products or services you buy becomes part of your company's ecological footprint.’ - says Karolina Semionovaitė, Sustainability Officer at Swedbank Lithuania, who kindly accepted the invitation to answer questions on the role of banks in the sustainability transformation.

In December 2022, Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 establishing the European Union Single Window Environment for Customs was published which amends at the same time two Articles of the UCC. The title … of this Regulation is misleading insofar as it suggests to the reader that its aim is to establish an EU Single Window for Customs. So, what is actually the aim of this Regulation? How will our work change in the future? What is the meaning of the UCC amendments introduced by this Regulation? We thank Michael Lux who kindly agreed to answer these and other related questions.

What is planned for European customs in 2023? Probably, everyone involved in international trade asks this question. Based on the materials we already know and signals that have been already … given, let’s overview what changes and trends in the EU and the UK we can expect for international trade and customs at this stage.

In CCRM Issue 14 we wrote about a case, where a company challenged a BTI ruling. There is news in this case, as the European Commission issued a classification regulation concerning such products. … We take this opportunity to update the article, which not only provides information on how to classify ‘a plastic basin with a plastic disposable liner to be used in clinical settings’ (9018, 3922, or 3924), but also provides an overview of the tools, procedures and possible pitfalls of the tariff classification of goods; and discusses what all the stakeholders can learn from this case.

Spartūs pokyčiai – geopolitiniai, technologiniai, klimato, ekonominiai, teisiniai ir kt. – kelia daug iššūkių muitinės atitikties ekosistemai. Kaip juos sėkmingai spręsti? Kaip ne tik spręsti, … bet ir patiems drąsiai formuoti ateitį tokią, kokios norime? Kokių žinių ir kompetencijų tam reikia? Kas turi keistis? Š. m. gruodžio 8 d. Vilniuje vyko 7-oji Muitinės praktikų konferencija, kurioje skaityti pranešimai aktualiomis temomis ir kelti minėti klausimai. Pateikiame trumpą pranešimų apžvalgą.

Gruodžio pabaigoje buvo atlikta nemažai Administracinių nusižengimų kodekso (ANK) pakeitimų, aktualių dirbantiems muitinės srityje. Vienas reikšmingiausių – į pažeidimų sąrašą įtraukti su prekių … lengvatine kilme susiję pažeidimai. Apžvelgiame šį ir kitus pakeitimus, juos pakomentuodami ir pateikdami praktinius pavyzdžius tiek verslo (pvz., dėl krovinių konfiskavimo), tiek fizinių asmenų (kurie asmeniškai baudžiami pagal ANK) rizikų įsivertinimui.

Naujienos 52 savaitę: reglamento, kuriuo sustabdomas Bendrojo muitų tarifo muitų taikymas tam tikriems produktams, pakeitimai; ES kombinuotosios nomenklatūros (KN) paaiškinimų pakeitimai; paskelbtos … KN kodų 2022-2023 m. koreliacijos lentelės; reglamento dėl pranešimų apie gabenamas akcizais apmokestinamas prekes, kurioms taikomas akcizų mokėjimo laikino atidėjimo režimas, pakeitimai; Europos Parlamento rezoliucija dėl naujos prekybos priemonės, kuria siekiama uždrausti produktus, pagamintus naudojant priverstinį darbą.

Aktualijos 52 savaitę: teismo sprendimas administracinių teisės pažeidimų byloje dėl prekių, kurių importas draudžiamas, deklaravimo neteisingu prekės kodu; patvirtintas Fizinių asmenų gaunamų … smulkių prekių siuntų deklaravimo naudojantis išmaniosios Muitinės deklaracijų apdorojimo sistemos portalu tvarkos aprašas; patvirtintos Pašto siuntų deklaravimo, muitinio tikrinimo ir mokesčių už prekes pašto siuntose apskaičiavimo taisyklės; ir daugiau naujienų!

Tariff quotas mean less or no duty when importing goods. Most tariff quotas are allocated on a first come, first served basis; therefore, the timing of lodging a customs declaration might be … crucial. What if, due to issues concerning customs IT systems, you are late and the quota is exhausted? Can you ask customs to invalidate the customs declaration and wait until the new tariff quota is opened?

Straipsnyje apžvelgiame pastarųjų metų Lietuvos teismų praktiką teisinės (administracinės) atsakomybės bylose, susijusią su dvejopos paskirties prekėmis ir kitomis strateginėmis prekėmis (karine … įranga) bei jų gabenimo tvarkos pažeidimais ir joje pateikiamus esminius išaiškinimus bei problemines praktikos sritis. Nors ilgą laiką buvo pastebima, jog teismų praktika šioje srityje Lietuvoje nėra gausi, tačiau būtent pastaruoju metu jos pavyzdžių ir su jais susijusių straipsnyje pristatomų praktinių atsakomybės taikymo iššūkių, kuriuos turėtų žinoti tarptautinės prekybos verslas, vis labiau daugėja. Skelbiamas straipsnis yra atviros prieigos straipsnis, pirmiau publikuotas Interneto portale „Teisė.Pro“, „Komentarų“ skiltyje, kurioje taip pat galite susipažinti su jo elektronine vieša versija.

Since 2016, when the Finnish Government decided to digitalize all public services, Finnish Customs has been working on the development of digital services to improve its customer service. In … 2017 the Administration explained, in the pages of this magazine, how it tested the innovation potential of a hackathon to identify solutions that would make it easier to access information about Customs regulations and procedures. In this article, we take a look at the latest tools implemented by Finnish Customs to enhance its capacity to help its customers – namely a chatbot and a contact management system.

The need to dispose of or destroy goods that infringe intellectual property (IP) rights in an appropriate, environmentally safe manner, in line with the applicable environmental and public health … legislation, has been highlighted at various WCO meetings as well as in this magazine.

A fundamental requirement for information to flow seamlessly across different IT systems is that they all speak the same language. Cross-border regulatory agencies retaining the right to determine … the data they require should all use a similar language and have harmonized the way in which the required data is submitted. This is also critical for enabling economic operators to use the same system to comply with the requirements of different administrations and countries.

Customs authorities are showing a growing interest in adopting artificial intelligence (AI), the broad category of science that entails simulating human thinking capability and behaviour. As … stated in a joint paper published by the World Customs Organization, (WCO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) entitled The role of advanced technologies in cross-border trade: A Customs perspective, “around half of Customs authorities use some combination of big data analytics, AI and machine learning, while the other half plans to do so in the future.”

World trade is the lifeblood of the global economy. It not only is a vital component in the ongoing operations of businesses (large and small), governments and NGOs around the world, it has the … power to grow economies, increase productivity and transform the quality of life for citizens in the nations who are open to international trade.