On 31 March 2023, the UK announced that it will join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), joining 11 jurisdictions (including Mexico, Japan, Canada and Australia) across the Asia-Pacific region and becoming the first European country to do so. While the UK already has existing bi-lateral trade agreements with 9 of the 11 CPTPP jurisdictions, the biggest benefits will arise as other jurisdictions join the bloc (with applications to join by jurisdictions including China, Taiwan and Ecuador already submitted).
On 15 March 2023, the Government announced its Spring Budget 2023, which included some long awaited changes to the current Customs regime. Broadly, the announcements capture improvements following the Government’s 2022 Call for Evidence on an independent Customs regime.
There are already big reforms planned for the UK Trade Remedies Authority – less than two years after its establishment – and for the overall operation of the UK trade remedies regime. On 9 March 2023, the UK Government announced changes to its trade remedies regime to transition to a more complex investigatory regime.
The UK’s trade remedies body, the Trade Remedies Authority announced on 22 February that it has begun a reconsideration of its recommendation in Case AD0012, concerning imports of certain aluminium extrusions originating in China. Notably, this was the TRA’s first anti-dumping investigation in response to an application from UK industry. A reconsideration application is a request for the TRA to review its findings in a concluded investigation.
The United Kingdom has agreed with the European Union a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland which seeks to significantly reduce the number of checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework would create two ‘lanes’ for goods which are arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain: A green lane for…
The Union Customs Code (UCC) harmonizes the customs laws of the European Union. The UCC stipulates that Member States must impose penalties for failing to comply with customs legislation, and that these penalties must be efficient, proportionate, and dissuasive. Member States must notify the Commission of the penalties that they apply to various acts of noncompliance and of any subsequent amendments to those penalties (if applicable).
A declarant may ask for a change to certain of the data elements in a customs declaration in accordance with Article 173 Union Customs Code (UCC), which is applicable to customs declarations that have already been accepted by customs. The Dutch Customs Authorities (DCA), however, apply a very strict application of Article 173 UCC, stating that amendments are only allowed if the amendments are required by customs legislation. This position taken by the DCA deviates from the practice of the tax authorities of other EU Member States, given the fact that Article 173 UCC does not stipulate that the amendments must be required by law.
Although the formal requirements for bringing goods into the Customs Union of the EU are largely harmonized by EU customs legislation, authorization procedures for bringing goods into the Union vary per Member State.
The Think Tank of the European Parliament has conducted a study into the authorization procedures of the various Member States for entry of goods into the EU, which was published on 19 December 2022. While the Think Tank acknowledges the need for effective customs controls, it also argues that the divergence in the practices of Member States can create efficiency barriers, such as the time needed for customs controls.
On 26 January 2023 HM Revenue & Customs announced that, as of 1 January 2023, it has nine live Corporate Criminal Offenses investigations for the failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion, with a further 26 investigation opportunities under review. These live and potential investigations cover 11 different business sectors including software providers, labor provision, transport, accountancy and legal services.
The Argentina Customs Director announced in a November press conference that Customs will continue focusing on customs valuations and transfer pricing issues. The asphyxiating foreign exchange regulations currently in place in Argentina are seen by Customs as an incentive for importers to artificially increase the import value of goods (since this will result in the transferring abroad of more foreign currency; a practice known as “over-invoicing”) as well as for exporters to artificially reduce the export value of goods (since this will result in some foreign exchange remaining abroad instead of being mandatorily converted into Pesos at an artificially low foreign exchange rate; known as “under-invoicing”).