EU Issues Customs Guidance, Amends Regulations to Help 'Struggling' Customs Agents, Industry

The European Union will suspend certain import duties and customs penalties, and is “strongly” encouraging traders to only apply for “essential customs declarations,” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission said in a March 30 guidance. In the guidance, the EU presented measures intended to ease burdens for European customs agents, postal operators and couriers, who are “struggling to cope” with trade operations, especially the large number of imported e-commerce goods. The measures also ease time pressures on customs officials and industry by extending deadlines for approving customs declarations.

Because the pandemic qualifies as a “disaster” under existing EU regulations, all goods imported into EU customs territory to combat the virus, including ambulances and medical equipment, are eligible for “temporary admission with total relief from import duty,” the guidance said. The commission said it will also exempt value-added taxes for the “temporary admission of items for disaster victims.”

The EU is asking industry to “only apply for essential customs decisions” to allow customs agents to “focus on the most urgent demands.” It is also extending the 120-day general time limit for “taking customs decisions and/or for granting authorisations” for applicants who need more time to meet customs conditions due to impacts of the pandemic. This includes cases wherein companies cannot allow customs agents to inspect their premises due to quarantine restrictions, the guidance said.

The COVID-19 crisis is specifically impacting the EU’s e-commerce sector and imports of low-value consignments, which are being slowed “due to temporary unavailability of staff,” the EU said. In addition, customs authorities are facing challenges obtaining empowerments from consignees “who might themselves be hindered by” the virus. To avoid this problem, the EU is allowing authorities to waive a requirement to prove that the consignee has provided the empowerment. Customs authorities will not have to provide “any evidence of the empowerment from postal operators, express carriers or customs agents for the customs clearance activities they are carrying out on behalf of the consignee.”

While the EU said it cannot provide a “blanket provision” to forgive all customs penalties during the pandemic, existing regulations allow authorities to review cases wherein “serious economic or social difficulties” may be caused by a customs decision. In these instances, agents may suspend any “customs decision, even without a guarantee,” if that decision would “cause the debtor economic and social difficulties,” the guidance said. This includes interests on outstanding payments and time limits on payments of customs debts. The guidance also addresses temporary storage, saying if a company is unable to move goods out of temporary storage before the 90-day time limit, that company may invoke force majeure (see 2002140027). Customs authorities will assess each of those instances on a “case-by-case basis.”