PURPOSE: establishment of a paperless environment for customs and trade.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision No 70/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a paperless environment for customs and trade.
CONTENT: under the terms of this Decision, the Commission and the Member States shall set up secure, integrated, interoperable and accessible electronic customs systems for the exchange of data contained in customs declarations, documents accompanying customs declarations and certificates and the exchange of other relevant information. The Commission and the Member States shall provide the structure and means for the operation of those electronic customs systems.
The electronic customs systems shall be designed to meet the following objectives:
- to facilitate import and export procedures;
- to reduce compliance and administrative costs and to improve clearance times;
- to coordinate a common approach to the control of goods;
- to help ensure the proper collection of all customs duties and other charges;
- to ensure the rapid provision and receipt of relevant information with regard to the international supply chain;
- to enable the seamless flow of data between the administrations of exporting and importing countries, as well as between customs authorities and economic operators, allowing data entered in the system to be re-used.
These objectives shall be achieved by at least the following means:
- the harmonised exchange of information on the basis of internationally accepted data models and message formats;
- the re-engineering of customs and customs-related processes;
- the offering to economic operators of a wide range of electronic customs services enabling those operators to interact in the same way with the customs authorities of any Member State.
The time limits shall be set as follows:
- By 15 February 2011: Member States shall, in cooperation with the Commission, establish and make operational the common customs portals providing economic operators with the information needed for customs transactions in all Member States;
- By 15 February 2013: The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States, establish and make operational an integrated tariff environment enabling connection to other import and export related systems in the Commission and the Member States;
- By 15 February 2011: The Commission shall, in partnership with the Member States in the Customs Policy Group, evaluate the common functional specifications for:
- a framework of single access points, enabling economic operators to use one single interface to lodge electronic customs declarations;
- electronic interfaces for economic operators enabling them to conduct all customs-related business;
- single window services providing for the seamless flow of data between economic operators and customs authorities, between customs authorities and the Commission, and between customs authorities and other administrations or agencies.
Within three years of a positive evaluation of the common functional specifications, the Member States shall, in cooperation with the Commission, endeavour to establish and make operational the framework of single access points and the electronic interfaces.
In addition to the time limits, the Decision establishes the strategy and coordination mechanism for electronic customs systems, defines the Community and national components of the systems, and specifies the respective responsibilities and tasks of the parties concerned and to make provision as to how costs are to be shared between the Commission and the Member States. Regular reports by Member States and the Commission should provide information on the progress of implementation of this Decision.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 15/02/2008