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The language of sustainable development legislation and the language of the legislation of origin are completely different; it is necessary to find a lingua franca for these areas to better understand … and implement the requirements. On the other hand, harmonisation of rules of origin at a global level is essential to address the challenges faced by importers - the need for harmonisation of these rules has never been greater. These and many other views were exchanged at the 20th Authors' Meeting. We invite you to read an overview.

The EU has concluded more than 40 free trade agreements (FTAs) with around 80 countries, which supposedly bring significant benefits for trade with partner countries. But is this really the case, … i.e. is the EU fully utilising these benefits? This article attempts to assess the application of EU FTAs by analysing the flow of goods in and out of the main trading partners. The author looks at how import and export volumes and geography depend on the existence of preferential agreements.

Klausimas: Planuojame importuoti į Lietuvą papūgas (AROS rūšys: psittacus erithacus, aratinga solstitialis, poicephalus gulielmi) iš Pietų Afrikos. Prekės kodas 0106320000. Ar taikomos CITES … konvencijos nuostatos? Ar reikia gauti leidimą iš Aplinkos apsaugos agentūros? Jei taip, kokius dokumentus reikia pateikti, kad leidimas būtų išduotas.

Teisingas, tinkamas bei efektyvus tarptautinių sankcijų taikymas prekėms, importuojamoms iš valstybių, kurioms nustatyti prekybos draudimai ar apribojimai, yra labai svarbi šiandieninė aktualija. … Už tarptautinių sankcijų, susijusių tarptautine prekyba prekėmis, ir jų neteisėtu įvežimu ar išvežimu į (ar iš) ES bei Lietuvos Respublikos muitų teritoriją(-os) bei deklaravimu (jei tai nesukėlė didelės žalos valstybei (visuomenei)), paprastai taikoma administracinė atsakomybė pagal Administracinių nusižengimų kodekso 515 straipsnį. Tačiau praktikoje neretai pasitaiko ir situacijų, kuomet pačios valstybės institucijos (pavyzdžiui, muitinės įstaigos) netiksliai įvertina įvežamų prekių pobūdį, priima jų eksporto ar importo deklaracijas, ir oficialiai leidžia jas išvežti ar įvežti, bet vėliau pakeičia savo sprendimus bei atgaline tvarka (retroaktyviai) vertina jau realiai įvykusius, užbaigtus ir deklaruotus prekių tiekimo sandorius, taip pat siekia pritaikyti (už jų vykdymą bei deklaravimą) teisinę atsakomybę. Ir verslo praktikams, ir teisininkams, dirbantiems prekybos ar muitų (muitinės) teisės srityse tokiose situacijose iš esmės visuomet kyla klausimas – ar tokia praktika teisėta ir teisinga? Šiame straipsnyje siekiama atsakyti į minėtą klausimą remiantis naujausia teismų praktika (Lietuvoje) bei jų pateiktais aktualiais išaiškinimais.

Prekių, kurioms taikomi draudimai ar apribojimai, identifikavimas gali būti tikras iššūkis, ypač sankcijų kontekste. Atsakome į skaitytojo klausimą: „Kokie iššūkiai gali kilti norint nustatyti, … ar prekėms taikomi ribojimai arba draudimai (kalbant apie 833/2014 VII ir 765/2006 Va priedus)?“.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), approved in 2012 by the African Union’s (AU) 18th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government, is one of the Flagship Projects … of the AU’s Agenda 2063. The Action Plan for Boosting intra-African trade has a strong focus on accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market, in particular through implementation of trade facilitation standards and tools. We provide a brief overview of AfCFTA rules of origin.

Editors' note: The recent 20th Authors' Meeting dealt with issues of origin for customs purposes. At this meeting, the author presented two Israeli court cases - one concerning an unauthorised … person signing the certificate of preferential origin and the other concerning whether pistachios originated in Iran or Turkey (non-preferential origin for the application of prohibitions). The cases are not necessarily new, but they deal with relevant questions: What happens if the proof of preferential origin is signed by an unauthorised person? Can the authorisation be granted retrospectively? Is the 'statistical and reasonableness check' sufficient for customs to reject the declared non-preferential origin of the goods?

'Deep origin' is a phrase coined by Brain Staples. It is a description of the sustainability-focused regulatory environment now being increasingly faced by customs and traders. It goes beyond … customs when it comes to implementing sanctions or other prohibitions on importation of endangered goods, goods manufactured by forced labour, or by slavery, or by other undesirable practices. How to operate in this increasingly complex regulatory environment?

In 2022, the WCO Secretariat sent a questionnaire to the Organization’s Members to gather information on certification of origin processes and the digitalization of the certificate of origin … (CO). Eighty-four Customs administrations responded, and a Study on the Digitalization of the Certificate of Origin, containing an analysis of the information received, was published in December 2023.

The Study provides a comparative analysis of origin provisions in a region which has the most numerous and complex overlapping trade regimes of the entire African continent.

Forced labor is on the rise worldwide. The United States is one of the largest importers of merchandise at risk of being produced with forced labor and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) … is committed to identifying products made with forced labor and preventing them from entering the United States. From FY 2022 to date, CBP’s forced labor enforcement has impacted over $ 2 billion worth of shipments. Clearly, companies have a lot at stake, and compliance with anti-forced labor requirements is critical not only from a corporate responsibility standpoint but due to the impact it may have on a company’s financial position.

Despite officially leaving the EU’s single market in January 2021, the UK has delayed introducing full border controls several times due to concerns over cost and disruption. However, we now … know that these post-Brexit checks on plant and animal goods coming into the UK from EU countries will begin at the end of January 2024. What does this mean for businesses importing these goods into the UK? We provide a summary of the changes coming into effect and how the trader can prepare for these stricter border controls.

Note from the CCRM editors: The first part of the article provided an overview of the history, objectives and scope of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduced by the EU. It also … examined the issue of whether the Paris Agreement on climate change foresees border adjustment measures by countries with high climate ambitions, and posed the following question: Is the CBAM fair towards developing countries? In this second part, the author provides an overview of the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which could justify the CBAM, his assessment of the CBAM Regulation, and shares a practical list of questions that companies can use in order to find out whether they are affected, and if so, how they can prepare to meet the CBAM requirements, in particular for the transitional period.

The World Customs Organization has published a comprehensive study on the digitalisation of the Certificate of Origin (CO). This article provides a short summary of the existing CO issues and … suggests some solutions that could help achieve the long-term digitalisation goals – such as the framework for trusted digital signatures currently used in the EU.