The Ambitious Customs Reform Package Proposed by the EU Commission

The EU Commission has presented to the European legislator (Parliament and Council) a proposal for the reform of the Union Customs Code (UCC) (as well as amendments of several other legal acts). The main features of the reform are: the creation of an EU Customs Data Hub (which will gradually replace the IT import and export clearance systems of the EU Member States), and of an EU Customs Authority responsible, inter alia, for this data hub and risk analysis based on the data thus made available, a shift from the responsibility and financial liability of the socalled declarant (who lodges the customs declaration or on whose behalf it is lodged) to the concept of a (deemed) importer as the person responsible not only for import duties but for all fiscal and non-fiscal compliance aspects (even if other persons, such as carriers or holders of storage facilities, have provided at least part of the required information to the data hub), including the responsibility for a self-assessment of import duties, an extension of benefits for Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) (in future called ‘Trust and Check traders’) who will be authorized to self-release goods, as well as a partial harmonization of customs sanctions. If adopted by the legislator, the new provisions and the creation of the EU Customs Authority will be bold steps which will bring the EU customs union to a higher level and will increase uniformity in the treatment of economic operators importing into, and exporting from, the EU Customs Union. Part of the reform package are also changes to the EU customs tariff with regard to e-commerce goods (introduction of four groups of flat rate duty, plus one for duty-free goods, abolition of the current customs duty relief for goods up to a value of EUR 150), as well as an amendment of the VAT System Directive according to which the import one-stop shop (IOSS) will be extended to e-commerce goods beyond a value of EUR 150. EU Customs reform, EU Customs Data Hub, (deemed) importer, customs sanctions, EU Customs Authority, Trust and Check traders, low value imports, flat rate duty buckets, e-commerce