LFCG – Matthias Monroy

For „safety and security“ purposes, imports into the European Union must be pre-declared in future. This advance data contains information on all persons, companies and means of transport involved in the sale, transport or shipment of the goods.

In two years at the latest, all persons wishing to enter the European Union will have to provide information on the purpose, duration and approximate course of their journey before they start. This „Travel Information and Authorisation System“ will be supplemented by an „Entry/Exit System“, which will document the actual border crossing. In the process, travellers must deposit their biometric data. For the risk analysis, the systems query relevant EU databases, an algorithm searches for anomalies in the data records.

Yesterday, the EU Commission introduced a similar advance procedure for customs with the „Import Control System 2“ (ICS2). In future, all goods to be imported into the EU customs territory must be declared in a cargo information system. It is intended to serve „security and safety“ and to help customs authorities „intervene at the most appropriate point in the supply chain“. Goods whose consignors or consignees have previously been conspicuous can then be checked more deeply, for example. „New freight information system: EU Commission launches pre-declaration with risk analysis“ weiterlesen

Customs authorities are seen as „gatekeepers of EU borders for the flow of goods“. They increasingly rely on „risk analysis“ and new information systems. Now the EU customs cooperation with police and border authorities will be enhanced.

Since 1968, the European Economic Community has been a Customs Union for industrial products, and from 1970 for agricultural products as well. All customs formalities at the internal borders of the member states have been dropped. Even the level of customs duties at the external borders, on which all countries had previously decided on their own responsibility, has since been regulated by a common customs tariff.
The framework for today’s EU customs union is the Union Customs Code (CCC) adopted in 1992. It provides uniform rules for customs tariffs on imports from outside the EU. The European Commission constantly proposes updated customs regulations and monitors their implementation. The Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD) in Brussels has responsibility for this. It also operates the tariff system (TARIC3), which displays the current rates.

Customs duties are generally paid where the goods first arrive. The revenue generated is considered the EU’s „traditional own resources“ and covers around 14 percent of its total budget. The member states retain 20 percent of this amount for expenses incurred by their customs authorities and their control activities. In 2016, for example, the EU collected around 25 billion euros in customs duties, leaving 20 billion after deduction of national expenditure. In the last three years, around four billion euros of the total revenue came from Germany. „Customs Union: 27 countries „work together as if they were one““ weiterlesen