On the 15th of July, FEPORT attended the 77th meeting of the Trade Contact Group which was exclusively dedicated to updating trade stakeholders on the Union Customs Code reform, as the Council had adopted its position (General Approach) on June 27.
DG TAXUD presentation in particular focussed on topics such as the European Customs Authority, the Data Hub, e-commerce, customs processes and the harmonisation of penalties and sanctions.
FEPORT welcomes the progress that has thus far been made by the Council and earlier by the European Parliament on key areas such as the time limit for temporary storage and related provisions as well as AEO-C.
During the meeting, FEPORT still raised questions about the newly included definition of “importer” – which in some cases can mean the “holder of the goods” – and its impacts on terminal operators.
FEPORT will continue following the discussions on the UCC reform in view of ensuring that the legislation is workable in practice for port operators and wider (maritime) logistics chain. Topics such as AEO, customs warehousing, temporary storage and related data provision requirements, and the definitions of importer and exporter are indispensable to get right in order to deliver on the EU’s ambitions to bring the Customs Union to the next level through ambitious but also pragmatic legislation that works in practice.
