Brussels, 19/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on Thursday 18 December to improve customs fraud prevention and detection. Parliament has welcomed the deal which closes the loopholes in the current rules on mutual assistance between the member states and the Commission and paves the way for the creation of a single EU database on goods entering, transiting or leaving the EU.
In addition, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) will be equipped with a container monitoring system which will allow it to monitor carrier containers movements from the moment the container was empty before being brought into the EU until the moment the container is again reported empty after leaving the EU, thus giving anti-fraud officers valuable information on possible mis-declaration of goods origin. The Commission will assess in the course of the two years after the new rules come into effect whether further categories of exported goods (in addition to sensitive goods subject to duty) should be covered. MEPs also secured a four-week deadline for member states to respond to a request made by the Commission to supply it with documents supporting import, transit or export declarations. This deadline could be extended to a further 6 weeks for operational reasons.
Information on customs fraud gathered in one member state will finally be able to be treated as admissible evidence in other member states. The member states still have to approve the agreement, as has the Parliament internal market committee and the Parliament itself in plenary session. (EL)