The European Commission announced Feb. 19 the adoption by the European Parliament and the European Council of a modernized Community Customs Code. EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said the new code will “provide fewer and simpler rules that are adapted to a modern electronic and paperless customs environment.” According to a commission statement, the new customs code will:
• streamline and reduce the number of customs procedures and make it easier to keep track of goods;
• establish the electronic submission of customs declarations and accompanying documents as the rule;
• provide for the exchange of electronic information between national customs and other competent authorities;
• promote the concept of centralized clearance, under which authorized traders will be able to declare goods electronically and pay their customs duties at the place where they are established, regardless of the specific EU member country through which the goods are imported or exported;
• provide the foundation for the development of the “single window” and “one-stop-shop” concepts, under which economic operators will give information to only one contact point, even if the data is destined for different administrations or agencies, so that the applicable controls on those goods (e.g., customs, food safety, environmental) are imposed at the same time and place (the commission notes that these are “long-term projects” that are not expected to be implemented before 2013); and
• streamline and further harmonize the customs guarantee systems.
The commission states that while the new code will be effective 20 days after its publication in the EU’s Official Journal, its provisions will only be applicable once their implementing provisions take effect. Those implementing provisions are expected to be adopted in 2009 and become effective sometime thereafter. The commission notes that the lack of a specific effective date is due to the fact that implementation will in most cases depend on the availability of sufficient information technology systems at the EU, member state and economic operator levels.
The adoption of the updated Community Customs Code follows the EU’s approval in December of a measure to create a pan-European electronic customs system. A commission fact sheet explains that the customs code “provides for the legal bases for procedures based on electronic data-processing techniques, while the e-Customs Decision identifies the systems to be developed and the time-limits to make them operational, the respective responsibilities and tasks of the Commission and the Member States and the coordination and monitoring process.” The commission has stated that by 2011 economic operators should be able to file electronically all the information required by customs legislation for EU cross-border movements of goods.
World Trade/Interactive
