Brussels, 25/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 January, the European Parliament committee on the internal market and consumer protection adopted the report by Janelly Fourtou (ALDE, France) on the proposal for a regulation to modernise the Community Customs Code (see EUROPE 9451). By not adopting any of the amendments, MEPs kept to the recommendation made by the rapporteur to keep to the Council's common position, thus opening the road to adoption of the future regulation in second reading. As the compromise satisfies those of the sector, there is no need to run the risk of opening up Pandora's box, it was remarked in circles close to Ms Fourtou. The EP should endorse the position of the relevant parliamentary committee during the February plenary session. Measures for applying the future regulation are being developed at the same time according to comitology procedure.
The modernised customs code introduces the status of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO). This status aims to facilitate customs formalities for economic operators able to prove that they comply with a number of conditions and have set in place adequate security and safety norms. Ms Fourtou considers in her report that the Council's common position takes up the EP's amendment which differentiates between two kinds of authorisation (customs simplification and security), and that which does away with the possibility of restricting AEO status to one or several member states.
The regulation covers the profession of customs representative. Ms Fourtou considers the Council compromise “quite interesting” although it has not exactly taken up the EP's proposals, which were for truly liberalising access to this profession. Customs representation will be considered as a service in the sense of the Treaty. Member states will remain competent to determine the terms and qualifications required for a person wishing to take up the post of customs representative on their territory, while companies with AEO status will themselves be authorised to provide the customs services concerned on a crossborder basis. The profession is regulated in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. It does not exist in Germany or in the United Kingdom.
According to the new centralised customs clearance procedure, companies eligible for AEO status will be able to make an electronic declaration of goods in their countries of establishment, whatever customs point the goods use for entry into or exit from the EU. In a declaration annexed to the common position, the Council provides for a mechanism for sharing the costs of customs duty recovery and the recovery of VAT between customs administrations. Three years after entry into force of the regulation, the Commission will provide a report assessing the progress that has been made in application of this procedure. (M.B.)