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The rapid crossing of land borders for imported and exported goods (including for intra-EU movements)would help to take the operation of international supply chains to a new level. Timely delivery … of goods is much more than a fulfilment of trade commitments in order to build fair and long-term business partnerships. The COVID-19 health crisis and the still-unfolding war in Ukraine serve as reminders that timely delivery of goods can be vital for people's lives and health. Furthermore, delays at borders resulting from a number of customs and non-customs checks are an administrative burden.

Someone recently asked me what are the current top challenges for customs in Europe. The article is an attempt to summarise the answer to this question. These are the five issues that, in my … opinion, are likely to impact the customs industry in the upcoming months and years. Some are more across-the-board and some are a bit more niche and local. The article comes from the author’s personal experience of working in the industry and across the private and public sectors and is therefore a personal perspective. By no means an exhaustive list.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently, after several pilots (amongst others in the Netherlands), launched an online tool for the verification of preferential origin statements. … The tool is named Genesis, after the ancient Greek word for origin, which is also the name of the first book of the Holy Bible and one of the world’s most popular progressive rock bands. So the obvious questions are: how progressive is this tool and does it rock?

Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation is the EU’s main instrument to protect human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed … by chemicals. The legislation places a registration obligation on the importer. However, the definitions of the importer and import under the REACH legislation do not align with the customs terminology. The article demonstrates what happens when discrepancies arise.

Non-manipulation certificate is a document required when goods of preferential origin are unloaded, stored and/or subjected to treatments necessary to maintain the goods in a third country while … being shipped from the country of dispatch to the country of destination.

An EORI number means an identification number, unique in the customs territory of the European Union, assigned by a customs authority to an economic operator or to another person in order to … register that person for customs purposes.

The rules of non-preferential origin are specific provisions, developed from principles established by national legislation or international agreements ('origin criteria'), applied by a country … to determine the origin of goods.

Customs status means the status of goods as Union or non-Union goods. Union goods can be moved within the EU without any customs formalities, which is not the case for non-Union goods.