EU Customs & Global Trade update - Week 27
We monitor laws and regulations of the EU professionally every week - so you don't have to. We call is PLM = Professional Legislative Monitoring.
Content
EU – New Zealand Partnership agreement entered into force
Trade Contact Group - Key Documents for next week
Brexit: Johnson's departure: What this means for Brexit, the UK, and the EU - Our commentary
Brexit: Johnsons Abgang: Was das für den Brexit, Großbritannien und die EU bedeutet - Unser Kommentar
ADD: Electric Bikes from China
ADD: Monosodium glutamate from China and Indonesia
Classification: Soya-bean meal from the solvent extraction of soya-beans
Ukraine & Moldova: Relief from import Duty (Ukraine) + road easements (Ukraine and Moldova)
2016 Cooperation and Partnership Agreement NZ-EU enters into force 21 July 2022 (not the FTA!)
Trade Contact Group
The EU Trade Contact Group will take place on 12 July 2022. Three key documents have been published that will be discussed at that meeting.
They are:
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement in relation to customs and rules of origin issues
Implementation of alternative applicable rules of origin in the pan-Euro-Mediterranean area
EU Customs Union - Wise Persons Group Report
In addition, a position paper on the future of the EU Customs Union has been published by Euro Commerce which we share here:
EuroCommerce position - The Future of Customs
.pdf
Download PDF • 388KB
Summary:
With a growing number of initiatives and issues, such as the review of the UCC and the Wise Persons Group, EuroCommerce has prepared the attached position paper, which you may find interesting. It has been drafted following various recent discussions within our membership and highlights some key challenges for them and some thoughts on solutions. The following paper is designed to highlight various issues that have been raised within EuroCommerce forums. Obviously, customs is an amazingly wide area with the Code, DA, IA and guidance documents, so we couldn’t cover every question, but our paper focuses on:
The need for best practice in legislative creation, based on risk-based reforms and proportionality that recognise other taxation systems,
Taking EU Customs Union to the next level, seizing global opportunities - especially those created through digitalisation and omnichannel commerce,
Addressing fundamental challenges, balancing customs controls and the facilitation of legitimate and compliance,
The legislative process at the working level,
Addressing the AEO structure and making the investment applying for the status more proportionate to the benefits,
Creating better synchronisation and alignments where there are overlaps between customs, VAT and Excise,
Ensuring effective collection of VAT and customs duties where overlaps exist in the short, medium, and longer-term, and
Addressing the uniform application of customs law across the EU, and responding to application questions.
Obviously, a number of the discussion points in the paper will be unique to EuroCommerce and we do not expect other trade bodies to sign-up to the whole document. But we hope there are some more horizontal themes and concepts for wider debate that others on the TCG can promote in wider discussions on the future of the Union Customs Code and related issues or initiatives. Graham Austin, representing EuroCommerce at the TCG, and I remain at your disposal for any questions you may have.
Recall also that there was work on the 2040 Customs Union in form of a foresight study:
https://www.customsmanager.org/post/eu-customs-union-by-2040
Download all the documents here:
Draft agenda 60th TCG_12 July 2022
.pdf
Download PDF • 80KB
EU Customs Union - Wise Persons Group Report
.pdf
Download PDF • 1.27MB
Implementation of alternative applicable rules of origin in the pan-Euro-Mediterranean are
.
Download • 287KB
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement in relation to customs and rules of origin issue
.
Download • 196KB
Brexit
Johnson's departure: What this means for Brexit, the UK, and the EU - Our commentary
Our view on what the departure of the PM of the UK means to Brexit, the UK, and the EU. How did Brexit go under Johnson? Will the UK rejoin under a different PM?
Johnsons Abgang: Was das für den Brexit, Großbritannien und die EU bedeutet - Unser Kommentar
Lesen Sie unsere Ansicht darüber, was der Abgang des Premierministers des Vereinigten Königreichs für den Brexit, das Vereinigte Königreich und die EU bedeutet. Wie verlief der Brexit unter Johnson? Wird das Vereinigte Königreich unter einem anderen Premierminister wieder beitreten?
ADD
Electric Bikes from China
Pedal-assist bicycles with an electric motor that are made by Giant Electric Vehicle Kunshan Co. Ltd in the People's Republic of China must be registered with the Chinese Customs authorities. The rates of the anti-dumping and countervailing duties that can be collected on imports of pedal-assists with an additional electric motor will vary from country to country depending on the manufacturer.
Monosodium glutamate from China and Indonesia
Imports of monosodium glutamate originating in the People’s Republic of China and in Indonesia
Classification
Summary: Soya-bean meal from the solvent extraction of soya-beans is classified to 2304 00 00 because the classification is determined by general rule 1 for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature and the wording of CN code 2304 00 00 .
Desolventizing-toasting and standardization of fiber content by readdition of previously removed seed hulls are normal technical processes in the production of soya-bean oil and meal. The product therefore retains the character of a residue resulting from the extraction of soya-bean oil, used as animal feed stuffs (see also General Harmonized System Explanatory Note (HSEN) to Chapter 23, first paragraph, and HSEN to heading 2304 , first paragraph).
Consequently, the product is to be classified under CN code 2304 00 00 as other solid residue resulting from the extraction of soya-bean oil.
Ukraine & Moldova
Summary: Goods will be allowed in without having to pay import duties under Article 2(1), point (a), of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 and without having to pay value-added tax (VAT) on imports under Article 2(1), point (a), of Directive 2009/132/EC if the following conditions are met:
(a)vthe goods will be used in one of the following ways:
free distribution by the bodies and organisations mentioned in point (c) to help people fleeing the fighting in Ukraine;
being given away for free to people who are fleeing the war in Ukraine, but still belonging to the bodies and organisations listed in point (c);
the goods meet the requirements in Articles 75, 78, 79, and 80 of Regulation (EC) No. 1186/2009 and Articles 52, 55, 56, and 57 of Directive 2009/132/EC;
(c) The goods are brought in by or on behalf of State organisations, which include State bodies, public bodies, and other bodies governed by public law, or by or on behalf of charitable or philanthropic organisations approved by the competent authorities of the requesting Member State where the goods are going to be used.
Council Decision (EU) 2022/1158 of 27 June 2022 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and provisional application of the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road
Summary: Negotiations on an Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road (hereinafter, the 'Agreement') were successfully concluded on 14 June 2022. In view of the important disruptions in the transport sector in Ukraine caused by the war of aggression undertaken by Russia, it is necessary to find alternative routes by road for Ukraine to export its stocks of grain, fuel, foodstuffs and other relevant goods. The Agreement provides for specific measures that exempt drivers from the requirement to present an international driving permit, recognising decisions taken by Ukraine to extend the administrative validity of driver documents. The European Union has decided temporarily to exercise temporarily the relevant shared competence conferred upon it by the Treaties. Any effect of this Decision on the division of competences between the Union and the Member States should be strictly limited in time.
Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road
Summary: The goal of this agreement is to temporarily make it easier to move freight by road between and through the territory of the European Union and Ukraine. This is because Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has caused major problems for all forms of transportation in the country. This Agreement does not cover the transportation of goods by road within a European Union member state or between EU member states. "Driver documents" means a domestic driving permit, like a driver's licence, that shows the conditions under which a driver is allowed to drive under the law of the Party issuing the document, or a certificate of professional competence. Road haulage operators will be able to do the following types of road haulage: loaded journeys made by a vehicle in the territory of two different Parties, with or without transit through a third country (1), loaded journeys from one Party to another, and unloaded trips between the two.
Ukraine must tell the European Union and its member states about any steps it takes after February 23, 2022, to extend the administrative validity of driver's licences it has given out. The Parties will work together to stop and fight against fraud and fake driver documents. At least three months before the Agreement ends, the Parties will meet to talk about whether or not it needs to be renewed.
Agreement between The European Union and the Republic of Moldova on the Carriage of Freight by Road
FTA
The Partnership Agreement on Relations and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other part, signed at Brussels on 5 October 2016 (1), will enter into force on 21 July 2022, the procedure provided for in Article 58(1) of the Agreement having been completed on 21 June 2022.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:L:2016:321:TOC
Background
The EU and New Zealand have concluded negotiations for a Trade Agreement. The deal is set to open significant economic opportunities for companies and consumers on both sides. Bilateral trade is expected to grow by up to 30% thanks to this deal, with EU annual exports potentially growing by €4.5 billion. The EU-NZ Trade Agreement is the first ever to integrate the EU's new approach to trade and sustainable development. Tariffs will be eliminated as of day one on key EU exports such as pigmeat, wine and sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar confectionery and biscuits. Negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand started in June 2018. Both sides agreed to ambitious TSD commitments covering a wide range of issues. The deal also liberalises green goods and services at entry into force, opening up new opportunities for European companies.
Sources
22/06/2022
If you have any questions about this update, please let us know.