In a landmark ruling on 21 November 2024, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) dismissed an appeal, upholding the General Court of the European Union’s original decision that relocation of production from the US to Thailand with the dominant purpose of avoiding EU retaliatory tariffs on US-origin goods could not be “economically justified” and as such falls foul of the EU’s “anti-circumvention” rules. This decision could have wide-ranging impacts, including a significant impact on companies’…
On 30 October 2024, as part of the Autumn Budget, the Government provided an update on its plans for the introduction of a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). In doing so the Government confirmed that the UK CBAM will apply from 1 January 2027 and that the primary legislation required to give effect to the UK CBAM will be included in the Finance Bill 2024-25. At the same time, the Government also published its…
For the third week, we continued our Annual Compliance Conference with key customs developments impacting on businesses today. Specifically, we discussed the reform of the Union Customs Code in the EU, key trending customs developments in EMEA, and different methods of driving significant financial savings in global supply chains. EU customs reform: biggest overhaul since 1968 Tuesday 14 May SPEAKERS: Nicole Looks (Partner, Amsterdam), Thomas Kukanza (Senior Trade Advisor, Brussels), Sylvain Guelton (Senior Associate, Brussels),…
In addition to minor editorial amendments, the European Commission has made the following key changes to the Customs Valuation Compendium (the “Compendium”), which serves as useful guide for the customs valuation of goods imported into the EU. The Compendium is prepared primarily for local customs authorities of the various EU Member States, but is made publicly available for interested parties. The latest version was published in April 2024. Customs valuation treatment of damaged or defective…
On 12 April 2024, the European Commission adopted the Implementing Regulation no. 2024/1071 (“Regulation”) relating to binding valuation information (“BVI”) decisions in the field of customs valuation and introducing an electronic system for binding origin information (“BOI”) and BVI decisions. The Regulation can be found here. The possibility to apply for BVI decisions from relevant EU customs authorities was introduced into EU Customs Law by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1072. See our earlier blog about…
When importing goods into the UK, traders are required to account for any applicable customs duty and import VAT (collectively “Duties”) on import unless they can utilise a customs special procedure to delay or reduce payment of these amounts. Customs special procedures include the Inward Processing (“IP”) regime which allows traders to suspend the Duties while the imported goods are subject to repair or further manufacturing. Where a trader utilises IP, they are required to…
Article 73 of the Union Customs Code (“UCC”) provides an easement for determining the customs value of goods, where elements of the transaction value are not quantifiable at the moment of importation. The simplification has been proven particularly useful for declaring additions to value such as assists (e.g. certain R&D related costs), royalties and license fees. Subject to an authorization from the competent customs authorities, the simplification allows for the value of these elements to…
On 21 March 2024, the French Senate (French Parliament’s higher chamber) rejected the bill of the French government proposing to approve the EU-Canada Comprehensive Trade Agreement (CETA). For several years, the European Commission and the Canadian government negotiated a comprehensive free trade agreement, including new types of provisions on investment. It was the first ever ambitious free-trade agreement that the EU concluded with a G7 country (Japan and the UK were concluded later). The CETA…
On 13 March 2024, the European Council and European Parliament agreed the final text of the proposed EU Forced Labour Regulation (“Regulation”). This follows negotiations between the EU Council and Parliament which took place on 22 January 2024 and the European Council and European Parliament reaching a provisional agreement on the Regulation on 5 March 2024. The European Commission had initially proposed the Regulation on 14 September 2022. For information on the key similarities and…
The Customs (Preferential Trade Arrangements: Error in Evidence of Origin) Regulations 2024 (the “Regulations”), which introduce into UK law the obligation for exporters to notify their customers if they discover any material error in a Certificate of Origin they have issued, have come into force on 13 March 2024. The Regulations only apply to exports made under the UK’s trade agreements with Canada, Turkey, New Zealand, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific…