During the 13th Ministerial Conference, held in Abu Dhabi, the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) has extended a moratorium on digital trade tariffs for a further two years, at which point the moratorium will expire. The Moratorium: A Brief Overview The moratorium on e-commerce tariffs, officially called the moratorium on customs duties on digital transmissions, has been in place since 1998. It was initially introduced as a temporary measure but has been extended at each subsequent…
On 1 March 2024, the European Commission introduced the Proof of Union Status (“PoUS”) system. What is the PoUS system? The PoUS system establishes electronic proofs in the form of T2L and T2LF data to prove European Union status. This is intended to replace the paper procedure of T2L/T2LF and shipping companies’ manifests that have been used. Following the introduction of the PoUS system, paper documents of the T2I(F) will no longer be used. The…
On 13 March 2024, the European Council and European Parliament agreed the final text of the proposed EU Forced Labour Regulation (“Regulation”). This follows negotiations between the EU Council and Parliament which took place on 22 January 2024 and the European Council and European Parliament reaching a provisional agreement on the Regulation on 5 March 2024. The European Commission had initially proposed the Regulation on 14 September 2022. For information on the key similarities and…
The Customs (Preferential Trade Arrangements: Error in Evidence of Origin) Regulations 2024 (the “Regulations”), which introduce into UK law the obligation for exporters to notify their customers if they discover any material error in a Certificate of Origin they have issued, have come into force on 13 March 2024. The Regulations only apply to exports made under the UK’s trade agreements with Canada, Turkey, New Zealand, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific…
On 13 March 2024, the European Parliament adopted its first reading position on the proposal from the European Commission to repeal and significantly reform the EU Customs Code (which we originally reported on in our blog available here). On 17 May 2023, the European Commission published its proposal for the reform of the EU Customs Code, which aims to change the way that EU customs authorities operate, in particular due to the significant growth in…
On Tuesday 5 March 2024, the European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the EU Forced Labour Regulation (“Regulation”), which will prohibit the placing and making available on the EU market, or the export from the EU market, of products made, extracted or harvested using forced labour. It is expected that the Regulation will enter into force by the summer of 2024. This follows the Commission’s proposal of the Regulation on 14…