On 1 March 2024, the European Commission introduced the Proof of Union Status (“PoUS”) system. What is the PoUS system? The PoUS system establishes electronic proofs in the form of T2L and T2LF data to prove European Union status. This is intended to replace the paper procedure of T2L/T2LF and shipping companies’ manifests that have been used. Following the introduction of the PoUS system, paper documents of the T2I(F) will no longer be used. The…
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…
On Tuesday 5 March 2024, the European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the EU Forced Labour Regulation (“Regulation”), which will prohibit the placing and making available on the EU market, or the export from the EU market, of products made, extracted or harvested using forced labour. It is expected that the Regulation will enter into force by the summer of 2024. This follows the Commission’s proposal of the Regulation on 14…
Background On 4 March 2024 the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on a new Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste (the “Regulation”). The Regulation will replace the current Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC, aiming to reduce packaging waste and introducing a range of sustainability measures including a requirement for all packaging to be recyclable by 2030. The Regulation is an integral part of the European…
The transitional phase of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”) is now underway with the deadline for submitting the first CBAM quarterly reports having already passed on 31 January 2024 (although with an extension until the end of February).* The CBAM requires importers to report the embedded greenhouse gas emissions in carbon-intensive goods (initially aluminium, cement, iron and steel, electricity, fertilisers and hydrogen) and, from the commencement of the operational phase in 2026, purchase “CBAM…
The EU has held political talks on a law that will ban the sale on the EU market of products made with forced labour, as well as the export of such products from the EU. On 22 January 2024, the EU Council and Parliament held negotiations to agree the final text of the regulation, the proposal for which was published by the EU Commission in September 2022. The Committee on International Trade and the Committee on…
On 25 January 2024, the EU Commission confirmed and adopted the Delegated Regulation no. 5831/24 (“Regulation”) that incorporates binding valuation information (“BVI”) decisions in customs legislation. Under the new Regulation, operators may apply for a binding BVI decision from the relevant customs authorities in the EU (which would be binding across all Member States of the EU), in order to obtain certainty about the customs value of goods imported into the EU. This move, announced…
The first filings under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) must be submitted by importers by 31 January 2024. CBAM is the EU’s landmark tool that seeks to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon intensive goods that enter the EU. It requires importers to report ’embedded emissions’ of certain products and of electricity imported into the EU in order to ensure equivalent carbon pricing for imported and EU…
On 15 November 2023, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (“EPPO”) uncovered a EUR 200M customs and VAT fraud scheme. This is yet another case of the EPPO, launched in 1 June 2021, as the first new supra-national prosecution authority in the EU. The EPPO has the power to investigate, prosecute and bring to judgment crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption or serious cross border fraud. This can also include cases on circumvention of anti-dumping…
In the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) judgment of 23 November 2023 in case C-653/22 J.P. Mali, the CJEU ruled on the EU principle of proportionality with respect to the imposition of penalties for underpayment of customs duties (including anti-dumping duties) in Member States. The case concerned Hungarian company J.P. Mali, which imported into Hungary bicycles and bicycle parts declared as originating in Taiwan. For context, both bicycles and bicycle parts originating in…