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EU Parliament, circular economy and import export flow
On 25.04.2023 the EU Parliament published a short report about the circular economy where it is stated that: “…The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended…”. Moreoever, this report, about the need of reduction of raw material dependence, hilights that The world’s population is growing and with it the demand for raw materials. However, the supply of crucial raw materials is limited; Finite supplies also means some EU countries are dependent on other countries for their raw materials. According to Eurostat,…
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European Union, circular economy and customs compliance
The report “Squaring the Circle. Policies from Europe’s Circular Economy Transition” published in December 2022 by the highlights (among other thinks) the following peculiarities of the European circular economy: The private sector is playing a crucial role in the enforcement of the circular economy with its trade and environmental policies; Customs controls on the ecodesign compliance of the products (like the batteries). Indeed: “…New policy proposals are shifting the focus upstream toward more sustainable and circular products. With the proposal for a new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) published in March 2022, the EC has presented a framework that will allow it to regulate circularity requirements for almost all…
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FLEGT license and customs codes
The FLEGT license is required for the following customs codes: customs code: 4403 Wood in the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or sapwood, or roughly squared. Customs code: 4404 Hoopwood; split poles; piles, pickets and stakes of wood, pointed but not sawn lengthwise; wooden sticks, roughly trimmed but not turned, bent or otherwise worked, suitable for the manufacture of walking sticks, umbrellas, tool handles or the like; chipwood and the like. Customs code: 4406 Railway or tramway sleepers (cross-ties) of wood. Customs code: 4407 Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6 mm. Customs code: 4408…
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EU,Guyana, forest and trade in timber products
The EU and the Republic of Guyana signed a voluntary parthership on forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber products. This partnership aims to: provide a legal framework aimed at ensuring that all imports into the Union from Guyana of timber products covered by this Agreement have been legally produced; promote trade in timber products. It requires a FLEGT licence to import the wood originating from Guyana; indeed it lays down that: “…FLEGT licensing scheme establishes a set of procedures and requirements aimed at verifying and attesting, by means of FLEGT licences, that timber products shipped to the Union from Guyana were legally produced. In accordance with Regulation (EC)…
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Import, trade compliance and deforestation: check on the relevant commodity
How will work the regulation on the goods relesead by improving the deforestation of third countries? The regulation: list the relevant commodities and products; Lays down that the relevant commodities can be placed or made available on or exported outside the EU market, if they comply with the following three conditions. These conditions are: -the goods must be “deforestation-free”; it means that: 1) the menttioned goods were produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation after 31 December 2020; 2) that the harvested wood did not induce forest degradation after 31 December 2020; -the goods must be produced in line with the relevant legislation of the country of…
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EU regulation on deforestation-free products
On 19 April 2023, the European Parliament approved the regulation on deforestation-free products which: prohibits the placement of a number of agricultural and livestock products originating from deforested or degraded forest areas on the EU market; is part of European Green Deal; bloks imports associated with deforestation, particularly cattle (whether live, meat or leather), cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, timber and rubber. Now it is expected the endorsement by the European Council. The regulation will effectively be implemented 18 months after it comes into force. During this period, the European Commission will adopt implementing acts enabling member states and their respective customs authorities to apply the regulation, and also initiate…
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CBAM approved by EU Parliament. Next step: EU Council approval
On 18.04.2023, the EU Parliament approved the carbon border adjustment border mechanism (CBAM) together with other measures. Now, the mentioned measures must be formally endorsed by the EU Council. They will then be published in the EU Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. In other words, as it is possible to read on the EU Parliament website: “…In adopting these pieces of legislation, Parliament is responding to the expectations of citizens for the EU to accomplish and speed up the green transition as expressed in Proposals 3(1), 3(8), 3(9), 11(1) and 11(7), of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe…”. The AEO will be…
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CBAM, customs classification and HS code
Which are the goods covered by the CBAM? The Annex I of the regulation (proposal) lists the main categories of goods with the HS codes and the greenhouses gases related. The list, below summarized, recalls the main role played by the customs classification which is one of the three pillars (with value and origin) of the customs obligation. In other words, we have to take care of our classification becuase: a) we risk infrigement of CBAM rules; b) reduce our “reliability” (if AEO). We have to: a) monitor the internal process of customs classification; b) check the customs classification made in our behalf by other entities; c) discrepancies and audit…