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National courts often make use of the possibility to seek a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia recently raised … a very technical question, which, however, concerns the general interpretation of a provision of the Combined Nomenclature of the EU regarding classification of the copper alloy ingots. The article overviews the case and its importance for the uniform tariff classification of goods in the EU Member States.

Dr. David Savage joined the Irish State Laboratory, where he worked in the Customs and Excise Section from 2003 to 2018. During this time, he supported the Irish Customs authority process BTI … applications and validated the tariff classification of goods subject to audit in addition to other duties. David also represented Ireland at the Customs Code Committee. Now he works for a Customs and International trade consultancy in Dublin. In the interview, we talk about the tariff classification of goods, Brexit, SMEs and customs knowledge, and other topics.

The new version of the Combined Nomenclature 2021 is already approved and will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in October or November 2020. It will be applicable from … 1 January 2021. We overview the changes, which are indeed not many this year.

Early 2020 saw the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to almost every country on the planet. Healthcare workers, road hauliers, logistics specialists, international freight forwarders, agrifood … cooperatives… much has been said and written in the media about the problems faced by these groups of professionals as a result of the crisis. Are Customs brokers facing the same challenges?

Since the statutory validity period of a BTI decision is 3 years, it would appear that all these years a trader can be sure of the accuracy of the tariff classification of goods. However, it … should be recalled that the BTI decision may cease to be valid/ be annulled/ be revoked before the end of the set 3-year validity period.

When it was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) that COVID-19 had become a pandemic, the WCO Secretariat’s management team quickly sprang into action, listing the urgent tasks to … be done to support Customs administrations in managing the crisis and developing a business continuity plan.

Since December 2019, when the first cases where identified, the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread with dramatic consequences for people, governments, and companies. Although we … will only be able to make a preliminary assessment of its full consequences in the coming months, most analysts agree that the crisis will have a long-term impact.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in ways that we never imagined. One thing, however, has become very clear; the continued importance of global trade and of initiatives supporting the … smooth flow of goods across borders, especially essential goods to areas where they are most needed.

With the current global spotlight on wild animal markets as a possible source of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is easy to forget that the biggest flows of “wildlife” in trade involve plants, not … animals. There are also important conservation and health reasons to keep a close eye on the wild plant trade sector during this global health emergency.

The effort undertaken by the WCO in building a comprehensive Performance Measurement mechanism (PMM) to measure the performance of Customs administrations aims at strengthening a measurement … culture among the WCO Membership, and at enabling them to develop metrics for strategic planning and evidence-based decision making.

Some of the most difficult disputes in the field of customs regulation arise due to the findings of the Customs Laboratory on the tariff classification of goods. If a tax dispute is pending in … court, the latter must verify the compliance of the Customs Laboratory's tests with the formal requirements and assess the comprehensiveness of the testing analysis together with the consistency of the examination data with the conclusion. This condition is essential. Hence, after transferring the dispute over the classification of goods to the court, they must evaluate the analysis carried out by the Customs Laboratory and the documents in accordance with the same rules as for other evidence in the case.

From a tariff classification point of view, the scope of the term ‘medical products’ has been and continues to be controversial in some instances. For businesses, classification of goods that … may or may not have medical application outside of Harmonised System Chapter 30 can result in their goods attracting a significant customs duty rate. This article summarises the case where heat patches, designed to treat muscle injuries and soreness, were originally classified by Commission Implementing Regulation 2016/1140 under heading 3824, but following an appeal to the ECJ, these items were found to be a products of heading 3005.

We are honored to introduce a new member of the editorial board of the Customs Compliance & Risk Management journal - Mr. Roberto Raya da Silva from Brazil, the expert in foreign trade, customs … valuation, and tariff classification. Mr. Raya is an Accredited Engineer from the Federal Revenue Service for launching technical reports to customs. He became the first Senior Appraiser for the machinery and equipment section in Brazil.

Tęsiame temą, pradėtą Muitų teisė praktikams Nr. 80. Pastaraisiais metais (pastarąjį dešimtmetį (nuo 2010 m.)) ES Teisingumo Teismas (ESTT) yra nagrinėjęs ne vieną bylą, kurioje buvo teikiami … išaiškinimai Baltijos valstybių (Lietuvos, Latvijos, Estijos) teismams, pagal jų paklausimus ESTT dėl teisingo Kombinuotosios nomenklatūros (KN) aiškinimo. Šiame straipsnyje aptariamos bylos, susijusios su kalbiniu (lingvistinių) KN aiškinimu ir nagrinėjamos situacijos, ką reikėtų daryti ir kaip taikyti KN, kai jos versijos skirtingomis kalbomis nėra identiškos.

Šių metų pradžios teismų praktika užtikrintai perėmė 2019 m. pabaigoje suformuotą požiūrį į deklarantų atliekamas funkcijas. Ši tendencija negali nedžiuginti, kadangi formalaus deklarantų veiksmų … vertinimo administracinės atsakomybės kontekste atsisakymas ne tik leidžia sutaupyti reikšmingus administracinius resursus, bet ir užtikrina ramybės ir stabilumo jausmą susijusiems su muitinės formalumų atlikimu asmenims, grąžina susidomėjimą muitinės tarpininko profesija.

In the case of a Drone, a relatively new device that constantly finds a new application when making some adaptations, do you know how to classify properly? Do the interpretative rules of the … Harmonized System follow the technological evolution of goods?

The alcoholic drinks sector has seen much product innovation in recent years. Some of this product innovation has been to tariff engineer products that can avail of the lower excise rates associated … with fermented beverages relative to spirituous beverages. Following a series of landmark court cases, there is now extensive case law in place giving instruction as to how to classify these products.

In order to classify goods properly, we need to review numerous documents that we find on various websites: classification conclusions, regulations, court rulings, and much more. Emphasizing … the importance of correct classification of goods and facilitating this process, the European Commission has introduced a new database called CLASS consultation. I will give an overview of what we find in it and how to use it.

The article analyses judicial cases of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), which were initiated by the national courts in the Baltic States and were related to the tariff classification of … goods. The author presents both general issues of the proper application of the Combined Nomenclature of the EU in the Baltic States (application of general rules for the interpretation of Combined Nomenclature) as well as the relationship between the Combined Nomenclature and other legal sources, which also regulates tariff classification of goods. Finally, the article also addresses some specific questions of tariff classification which arose in the Baltic States, such as classification of heterogenous (complex) products under the practice of the CJEU.

These are the 6 rules that are applied when setting up a 6-character commodity code. The rules are laid down in the global Harmonized System and transposed into the EU Combined Nomenclature.