The introduction of Binding Information on the Customs Valuation (IVV) into EU legislation would constitute “a guarantee both of certainty and reliability of the law, and of uniformity of application of customs legislation throughout the territory of the Union”. The said it Co-General Manager of Assonime Ivan Vacca who, introducing the work of the third seminar promoted jointly by the Association of joint-stock companies and the Customs and Monopolies Agency, illustrated the position expressed by Assonime on the exploratory consultation launched on the matter by the Directorate General for "Taxation and Customs Union" ( DG TAXUD) of the European Commission.
The meeting, held yesterday in Rome, was attended by the Customs and Monopolies Agency, Cinzia Bricca (Deputy Director and Deputy Director, Central Director of Customs Legislation and Procedures), Roberta De Robertis (Lazio and Abruzzo Interregional Director), Mariarita Simona Sardella (Director of the Customs Tax Application Office), Marco Cutaia (Director of the Milan 3 Customs Office) and, for Assonime, Philip Mancuso (Corporate Tax Area).
The issue of customs value - explained Vacca - is of particular importance because most of the duties on imports into the European Union are made up of duties commensurate, as a percentage, with the declared value of the imported goods (so-called ad valorem duties). In most cases, therefore, the customs value constitutes the tax base for the application of the Common Customs Tariff, as well as for the calculation of national taxes (for example: VAT) which are levied on imported goods.
However, the provisions governing the determination of the customs value of goods, while transposing principles developed at an international level, "are not always easy to interpret and apply, exposing companies to the risk of committing errors and irregularities subject to sanctions, which in this case can also be quite burdensome". Added to this are the problems relating to intercompany exchanges of multinational companies and those deriving from recent jurisprudential guidelines, both at the Union and national level, which have brought back interest in these issues, "raising questions and problems of uncertain solution".
The Customs and Monopolies Agency - underlined Cinzia Bricca - believes that the customs factor plays a strategic role in the governance of import/export processes, with a view to the global integration of the supply trade chain. In this context, the Agency's action maintains an appropriate balance between control interventions and the facilitation of legitimate trade. Balance in which economic operators play an even more important role the more they are able to use the customs instruments of certainty of the legal relationship and transparency with the Customs.
"Binding information - specified Cinzia Bricca - is now provided only in relation to the institutes of classification (Binding Tariff Information, ITV) and origin (Binding Information on Origin, IVO) of the goods, but not also to the customs value. The European Commission has conducted monitoring among the Member States to find out the approval of economic operators and administrations for a similar binding instrument (IVV). The response was clearly positive, it is therefore desirable that the appropriate changes to the customs union legislation take place as soon as possible to permanently insert this new decision-making tool among the tools available to customs operators to increase their level of compliance".
Among the topical issues in customs matters that Assonime is following, the theme of the consequences of Brexit on national companies. During the works, Assonime assured the Customs and Monopolies Agency, which recently organized a special meeting on the subject which is the first in a series of discussions with trade associations, its collaboration to examine and deepen the potential effects that the exit of Great Britain from the European Union could have on the customs activities and commercial strategies of companies. In this regard, Assonime – Vacca underlined – will promote initiatives aimed at making the Associates aware of the possible critical issues that could emerge and at gathering information and proposals useful for the fruitful development of the discussion.
Having concluded this first cycle of joint seminars with the Customs and Monopolies Agency, Assonime's activity in customs matters will continue through the issuing of a circular recognizing the most important innovations introduced on the value of goods by the Union Customs Code, also aimed at taking stock of the main criticalities and open questions with which companies are confronted in their operations. Furthermore, it is the Association's intention to promote the establishment of a technical table with the Associates aimed at examining and deepening the main issues regarding customs value, also to develop interpretative and procedural solutions that will be shared with the tax agencies .
