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…
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…
Background On 4 March 2024 the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on a new Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste (the “Regulation”). The Regulation will replace the current Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC, aiming to reduce packaging waste and introducing a range of sustainability measures including a requirement for all packaging to be recyclable by 2030. The Regulation is an integral part of the European…