Annexes to COM(2023)257 - Customs reform: Taking the Customs Union to the next level - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2023)257 - Customs reform: Taking the Customs Union to the next level. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2023)257 |
| date | May 17, 2023 |
Beyond multilateral cooperation, the EU also cooperates with non-EU countries based on bilateral trade agreements. The EU’s large network of such agreements have been facilitating trade and also contain commitments on customs cooperation which work to our mutual benefit by facilitating legitimate trade and identifying fraud, smuggling or criminal activities together.
However, many of these agreements are outdated when it comes to providing customs with the tools and information to monitor and control international supply chains. Today, information is exchanged with partner countries upon request. The EU Customs reform will facilitate, in particular via the EU Customs Data Hub, a more systemic exchange of customs information and even of risk signals. The future approach to international customs cooperation will also need to reflect the changing geopolitical landscape and the need to secure critical supply chains and control the circumvention of crucial EU policies, such as sanctions.
8. Conclusion
More than half a century after its foundation, the Customs Union remains a key pillar of EU integration. It is the foundation of the Single Market and its regulatory framework geared towards the twin green and digital transitions. The recent dramatic shifts in geo-politics and the world economy have changed global trade and exacerbate the need to modernise the Customs Union and its regulatory and governance framework.
This reform is the most ambitious and comprehensive attempt to make the Customs Union fit for the decades to come. To empower EU customs to best serve the EU, its citizens and businesses. To create a true Union of EU customs, acting as one.
EU industry needs a level playing field, and citizens and consumers want safe products, environmental and social standards. The Commission therefore calls on Member States and the European Parliament to swiftly agree on the proposals presented today so that citizens, businesses, and administrations can fully reap the benefits of operating in a Customs Union with an efficiently managed common border for goods.
1 Political Guidelines for the Next European Commission 2019-2024, page 16.
2 Measured in purchasing power parity, IMF World Economic Outlook.
3 International trade in goods - Statistics Explained (europa.eu).
4 EU Customs Union – unique in the world (europa.eu).
5 European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, Integrated EU prohibitions and restrictions list: indicative calendar and list as of 1.1.2022 legal notice, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.
6 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age, COM (2023) 62 final.
7 Putting more Union in the European Customs: Ten proposals to make the EU Customs Union fit for a Geopolitical Europe, Report by the Wise Persons Group on the Reform of the EU Customs Union, Brussels March 2022.
8 Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1–101).
9 ECA Special Report 04/2021: Customs controls: insufficient harmonisation hampers EU financial interests.
10 Based on the latest REACH and CLP enforcement report, up to 28% of imports are not compliant with REACH and the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation. According to a recent CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council) report, in 2020 80% of non-compliant articles containing banned or restricted chemicals comes from outside the EU/EEA.
11 In 2016-2021, dangerous toys found on the EU market represented more than a quarter of total RAPEX / Safety Gate alerts, with a significant proportion of unsafe toys originating from non-EU countries (85% from China alone).
12 EEB report on Online Platforms: Role and Responsibility in Ecodesign policy.
13 Impact assessment accompanying the document ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on general product safety’ (SWD (2021) 168 final).
14 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on general product safety, amending Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Council Directive 87/357/EEC and Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (COM(2021)346).
15 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 (COM (2021) 706).
16 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union Market (COM(2022)453).
17 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism, COM/2021/564 final.
18 Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (OJ L 151, 7.6.2019, p. 70).
19 Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017 amending Directive 2006/112/EC and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value added tax obligations for supplies of services and distance sales of goods (OJ L 348, 29.12.2017, p. 7).
20 Copenhagen Economics (2016), E-commerce imports into Europe: VAT and Customs treatment.
21 https://www.beuc.eu/publications/beuc-x-2021-004_is_it_safe_to_shop_on_online_marketplaces.pdf
22 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee, Taking the Customs Union to the Next Level: A Plan for Action (COM (2020) 581 final).
23 European Parliament resolution of 18 January 2023 on the 30th anniversary of the single market: celebrating achievements and looking towards future developments (2022/3015(RSP).
24 The benefits and cost savings are even more pronounced compared to a counter-factual scenario of an un-coordinated national roll-out of data hubs, further fragmenting the Customs Union.
25 AEO status is a certified standard authorisation issued by customs administrations. It certifies that an economic operator has met certain standards in relation to, e.g., safety and security, compliance with customs rules, and financial solvency.
26 This excludes goods which are subject to restrictions.
27 As introduced in the proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC (COM(2022) 142 final).
28 By contrast, the obligation to provide certain minimum pre-loading and pre-arrival information must remain.
29 Footnote 9. See also VAT EU legislation (europa.eu).
30 The new rules will take into due account multilateral negotiations in the WTO or digital partnerships concluded with Japan, Korea and Singapore.
31 Platforms will also be responsible for ensuring that distance sellers are registered with producer responsibility organisations those goods that are subject to extended producer responsibility, in order to ensure a level playing field with other sellers.
32 ‘Duty levied as a percentage of value of the services or goods being imported, rather than on their weight or the number of units’.
33 See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/msmes_e/canada_sept21_e.pdf.
34 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) (Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 277, 27.10.2022, p. 1–102).
35 To facilitate this cross-domain collaboration the EU Customs Data Hub will be built in close alignment with the European Interoperability Framework (COM(2017) 134 final) and the related cooperation framework as proposed by the Commission with the Interoperable Europe Act (COM (2022) 720 final).
36 For example, direct access to the database of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) would allow for controlling the existence of a valid registration number for each substance manufactured or imported by one legal entity for a quantity of 1 tonne or more. Without such registration, placing on the market is not allowed. Similarly, access to the ECHA database would allow customs services to check authorisation decisions when the Commission has granted an exemption for substances prohibited under the REACH legislation. Currently, customs authorities often face problems in checking this information as authorisation decisions are addressed to the user and not to the importer of the substance.
37 It will also strengthen cooperation with authorities investigating criminal offenses and/or supporting criminal investigations as well as with Frontex mandated to detect, prevent and combat cross-border crime at the EU external borders.
38 These include: CRMS2, ICS 2, EU CSW-CERTEX, CCI.
39 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions, Trade Policy Review - An Open, Sustainable and Assertive Trade Policy, COM/2021/66 final.
40 The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organisation working on customs-related matters such as commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, supply chain security, and trade facilitation.
41 For example, by developing the EU’s EMAS-like standards also globally, under the umbrella of the WCO.
42 Report of the WCO Exploratory Study on a Possible Strategic Review of the HS is expected in 2024.
43 The Harmonised System is the multipurpose international product nomenclature developed by the WCO. It is used by most countries worldwide as the basis for their customs classification.
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