A report commissioned by the European Commission on Thursday (31.03.2022) proposed ten reforms so that the bloc can achieve a modern and efficient customs union, the institution announced.
Last September, the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, asked a Group of Experts to review the European Union (EU) customs union. The experts have thus proposed Ten measures to better face future challenges, such as increasing package volumes due to the explosion of e-commerce and new business models, technological advances, the ecological transition, the constantly evolving geopolitical context and security risks.
The Measures to be implemented by 2030
• Launch a package of reforms related to the processs, the obligations, responsibilities and governance of the customs union.
• Apply a new approach to use of data, with the aim of reducing dependence on customs declarations, obtaining better quality data from commercial sources and offering companies a single point of data entry to carry out customs formalities.
• Establish a global framework for cooperation which will allow for better data exchange across the customs union, involving market surveillance authorities, law enforcement agencies and the tax authority.
• Create a European Customs Agency to complement the role of the Commission and support the work of the Member States.
• Reform and expand the Authorised Economic Operators Regime.
• Create a new framework of responsibility and trust where companies wish to achieve authorised economic operator status in order to gain commercial access to the EU market. Small non-commercial consignments would continue to be made through the usual processes, but would not be prioritised and would be subject to a level of control reflecting their ‘unreliable’ status.
• Remove the threshold of exemption from customs duties of 150 euros for e-commerce, as well as simplified rates for limited value shipments.
• Introduce a package of measures aimed at greening customs of the EU, digitalise procedures, ensure that sustainability-related bans and restrictions are correctly applied to imported products, as well as possibly reform the nomenclature of the Harmonised System of the World Customs Organisation to allow for proper classification of environmentally friendly products that the EU wishes to promote in international trade.
• Provide customs administrations with the adequate resources, capabilities and equipment to ensure that they can fully fulfil their missions.
• Make a Annual estimate of customs revenue disparity to better manage the collection of such revenues.
The report highlights as one of the weaknesses of the current state of European customs that Member States use different approaches and practices and there is no common list.
“Efficient customs clearance and controls are essential to protect EU citizens and businesses while facilitating legitimate trade, which is crucial for growth and jobs,” he said. Paolo Gentiloni.
For its part, Arancha González Laya, president of the Group of Wise Men He stressed that the report “demands an urgent structural change in the organisation and equipment of European customs”. He also argued that this is essential for “Europe’s strategic autonomy, its commercial capacity and its security and defence objectives”.
The next step in the European procedure is the debate in the European Parliament and among the Member States. On the basis of the various contributions and consultations with interested parties, the Commission will present a package of reforms before the end of the year.
The European Union is the world's largest trading bloc, followed by the United States and China, and accounts for 15% of global trade. In 2020, EU trade with other countries amounted to €3,7 trillion. In total, more than 1.069 billion items were handled in transit that year.EC Press Release)
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