Customs classification, AEO and audit for compliance

Customs classification is one of the fundamental pillar for the determination of the customs debt and represents a process of a technical nature and judges aimed at identifying a good in a customs heading of the combined nomenclature system (CN). Section X of the Court of Justice of the European Union with judgment of 15 June 2023 C-292/22 stated that: “…The explanatory notes of the HS (harmonised system) and of the CN, although they do not have binding effect, they constitute important tools to ensure uniform application of the Common Customs Tariff and, as such, provide useful elements for the interpretation of the same…” ; “… even when a method is specifically provided for in the explanatory notes of the CN, it must not be considered as the only applicable method for the purposes of verifying the essential characteristics of the products concerned, such as their consistency…”.

The classification is a part important: a) of the questionnaire of self-assessment for the AEO; b) for the maintenance of the AEO and its maintenance.