BackgroundOn March 2nd, 2026 the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) released its 2025 Annual Report, outlining a robust approach to cross-border enforcement against intricate economic and financial crimes, including customs fraud. The Report can be found here 2025 in numbers | European Public Prosecutor’s Office. EPPO’s enforcement in numbers Spotlight on customs fraud The groundbreaking “Calypso” investigation Conclusion
As summarized in our recent blog post, in response to recent threat of tariffs over the Greenland issue, the EU considered possible responses, including tariffs and triggering of the so-called Anti‑Coercion Instrument (“ACI”). Although these threats appear to have subsided for now, given trade volatility, usage of the ACI remains a live possibility and we wanted to provide a brief overview on the ACI and what companies can do to prepare in the event the…
On 13 November 2025, the European Commission confirmed that the €150 customs duty exemption (Low Value Consignment Relief) for goods purchased online from non-EU countries will be abolished. The measure is scheduled for implementation in November 2026 The reform aims to create a fairer and more transparent system for cross-border e-commerce, addressing loopholes that enable undervaluation and customs fraud. The current exemption has been criticised for giving non-EU sellers a competitive advantage and complicating enforcement.…
On 12 December 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered a judgment in the case C‑781/23, which has implications for businesses importing goods under temporary admission. The case arose from a request for a preliminary ruling from the Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen (Supreme Administrative Court, Sweden) and involved Malmö Motorrenovering AB and Allmänna ombudet hos Tullverket. Background of the Case The central issue in this case was the interpretation of Article 251 of the Union Customs Code (UCC).…
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’…
Under EU customs law, storing and warehousing EU and non-EU goods is possible if certain conditions are met. However, since 2020, non-EU goods subject to anti-dumping, countervailing, or safeguard measures, can no longer be stored together with EU goods. This is because EU customs law now states that non-EU goods subject to anti-dumping measures do not have the same commercial quality as EU goods, and goods that do not have the same commercial quality cannot…
The rules (Statute) of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have recently changed. The changes aim to enhance the EU judicial process and reduce the workload of the CJEU. The number of requests for preliminary rulings have increased significantly over the years. In cases concerning preliminary rulings, EU member state courts ask for the opinion of the CJEU on issues of EU law to help give a judgment in a national case.…
On 24 September, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced that, as a general policy measure, it would start automatically registering imports of products subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, including in ongoing investigations. Until now, complainants had to request the Commission to register imports based on evidence of stockpiling (i.e., of increased imports during the investigation). On 24 October, the Commission published a several regulations in fact registering imports in all ongoing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.…
On 4 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered judgments in Front Polisario (joined cases C‑778/21 P and C-798/21 P and joined cases C‑779/21 P and C-799/21 P). These judgments concern appeals brought by the European Commission and the Council of the EU against judgments of the General Court of the EU annulling EU decisions related to agreements between the EU and Morocco involving the Western Sahara territory. The EU…
This blog concerns an update of our previous blog on the extension of the definition of “consigned from”, to be found here. In 2023, the EU applied anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties (together “AD/AS duties”) on imports of 141 products from 20 countries. The EU regularly extends these duties to imports of these products from other countries to counter circumvention.As context, to see whether AD/AS duties apply, you need to look at the non-preferential origin of…