Proposed Reform to EU Customs System 'Likely' to Face Delays, Law Firm Says
An EU proposal to reform its customs system could make European trade “more efficient and less burdensome,” and would be “a key tool in risk analysis and risk management as a centralized data repository at the Union level,” Crowell & Moring said in an Aug. 2 client alert.
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The proposal, released by the European Commission in May, is aimed at creating a single interface called the EU Customs Data Hub that will allow for the submission of all customs information on imports (see 2305170031). Instead of having to navigate different EU country systems, customs and other “non-customs information” would be organized “in one place to ensure better data management and increase quality of decision-making at customs,” Crowell said.
But the firm warned that the new system will “likely be stalled” by slow implementation by member states. Twenty-four countries have so far requested “derogations” in implementing the new system due to lack of finances, personnel, issues caused by COVID-19, Brexit, the War in Ukraine and other reasons, Crowell said.
“Despite its potential to benefit both national customs authorities and economic operators, it remains to be seen how quickly the” proposal “would be able to bring about improved digital customs harmonization across the EU,” the firm said.
The proposal lists Dec. 31, 2037, as the deadline “for the complete implementation of the EU Customs Data Hub,” Crowell said, but “provides for the possibility to use the Data Hub in e-commerce in 2028, while economic operators may make use of the EU Customs Data Hub from March 1, 2032.”