Website celebrates 40 years of EU Customs Union
July 1 marks the 40th anniversary of the European Customs Union. To celebrate this event, the European Commission has launched a website, marking the beginning of a communication campaign to highlight the important but often invisible role of the...
July 1 marks the 40th anniversary of the European Customs Union. To celebrate this event, the European Commission has launched a website, marking the beginning of a communication campaign to highlight the important but often invisible role of the Customs Union in protecting citizens and facilitating trade.
The campaign brings information to the public about key customs activities such as protection against counterfeit goods, including dangerous fake medicines, foodstuffs and toys. It shows how customs control the movement of chemicals which can be misused and transformed into harmful drugs, how illegal imports of internationally-protected and diseased animals is prevented and how legitimate trade is facilitated by the EU customs union.
The website includes a calendar of events being organised across Europe. Malta is marking national customs day on September 26.
The 27 national customs administrations work together on the basis of a European policy and a common legal framework (the Community Customs Code) which sets out the rules and procedures to be applied.
Customs services in the EU play a dual role. Customs officers still act as collectors of customs levying import duties and taxes but increasingly they also work as watchdogs securing the Union's external borders to protect citizens' health and safety. It is inevitable that certain cargo shipments which could pose a risk to the safety or security of the EU and its citizens must be stopped and checked. These checks are different from the task of levying import duties, which customs authorities can perform at a later stage along the supply chain, for example on the premises of the importer or exporter, to avoid congestion at the EU's external borders.
Border checks to guarantee the safety and security of European citizens are performed by customs officers in close cooperation with other border agencies, such as veterinary and product safety authorities. Two particular causes of concern for customs authorities with respect to health and safety are counterfeit goods and drug precursors.
Every shipment of goods which enters the EU has to be declared to customs. On the basis of the customs declarations, customs officers check the shipment and levy the import duties and taxes due. In 2007, import duties totalling over €15 billion were levied, equivalent to 13.2 per cent of the revenue side of the EU budget.
Since the Community Customs Code entered into force on January 1, 1993, simplified customs procedures were introduced to make life easier for European importers and exporters, who generate 22 per cent of world trade.
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/40customs/index_en.htm
The campaign brings information to the public about key customs activities such as protection against counterfeit goods, including dangerous fake medicines, foodstuffs and toys. It shows how customs control the movement of chemicals which can be misused and transformed into harmful drugs, how illegal imports of internationally-protected and diseased animals is prevented and how legitimate trade is facilitated by the EU customs union.
The website includes a calendar of events being organised across Europe. Malta is marking national customs day on September 26.
The 27 national customs administrations work together on the basis of a European policy and a common legal framework (the Community Customs Code) which sets out the rules and procedures to be applied.
Customs services in the EU play a dual role. Customs officers still act as collectors of customs levying import duties and taxes but increasingly they also work as watchdogs securing the Union's external borders to protect citizens' health and safety. It is inevitable that certain cargo shipments which could pose a risk to the safety or security of the EU and its citizens must be stopped and checked. These checks are different from the task of levying import duties, which customs authorities can perform at a later stage along the supply chain, for example on the premises of the importer or exporter, to avoid congestion at the EU's external borders.
Border checks to guarantee the safety and security of European citizens are performed by customs officers in close cooperation with other border agencies, such as veterinary and product safety authorities. Two particular causes of concern for customs authorities with respect to health and safety are counterfeit goods and drug precursors.
Every shipment of goods which enters the EU has to be declared to customs. On the basis of the customs declarations, customs officers check the shipment and levy the import duties and taxes due. In 2007, import duties totalling over €15 billion were levied, equivalent to 13.2 per cent of the revenue side of the EU budget.
Since the Community Customs Code entered into force on January 1, 1993, simplified customs procedures were introduced to make life easier for European importers and exporters, who generate 22 per cent of world trade.
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/40customs/index_en.htm