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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.

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.

This article continues the overview of certain aspects of the EU Customs Reform. In a previous article, the author described why and how the Commission intends to impose the obligations for importing … goods on a single person, the importer in three variants: the regular importer, the deemed importer (for e-commerce) and the indirect customs representative representing both types of importers. In this article, the author focuses on the proposed import procedure, which consists of several consecutive steps.

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.

Customs procedure 42 is a mechanism that an EU importer uses to obtain a VAT exemption. It is applied when goods imported from outside the EU into a Member State will be transported to another … EU Member State. In such cases, the VAT is due in the latter - the Member State of destination.

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.

Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number is a unique identification number assigned by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to an economic operator or to another person … in order to track and register customs information in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK).