Ten tips & tricks for a successful objection

Despite the fact that almost every company strives to make accurate customs declarations, this does not mean that Customs always agrees with the declarant. This results in thousands of objection procedures with Customs. Many objections are rejected, while some are granted. To successfully conclude an objection procedure, several legal requirements must be met. Additionally, there are various success factors that increase the chances of your objection being granted. Below, we have listed ten tips and tricks for a successful objection procedure.

Anti-dumping duties: not always a foregone conclusion!

In certain cases, Customs imposes anti-dumping duties. These duties are designed to counteract the practice of selling products on the European market at a (too) low price. Such anti-dumping duties are established at the request of the European market, and a comprehensive procedure must be followed before the duty can be imposed. In recent years, the Court of Justice has ruled on several occasions that regulations imposing anti-dumping duties were invalid. This means that the anti-dumping duty was – retrospectively – not owed. In such cases, you must make sure to file a timely objection or request a refund.

Value and quantity of a customs authorisation

If you want to use the customs procedures inward processing, end-use, temporary admission, outward processing and customs warehousing, you need a customs authorisation. In the application for a customs authorisation, you have state the goods concerned with the corresponding value and quantity per month.

Trademark Infringement (Counterfeiting) and Customs: What to Do?

What actually happens when Customs encounters goods suspected of infringing trademarks, patents, designs, or other intellectual property rights? And what should be done if this happens?

AEO and monitoring: Risk or opportunity

Your company may have had an AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) authorisation for several years now. In that case, you have already had one or more external audits by Customs. In order to successfully pass such an audit, you must be able to demonstrate to the customs auditors that you are 'in control'. To this end, you must monitor the processes to which AEO applies. Monitoring is an intensive activity and is seen by many companies as a necessary evil. Entrepreneurs are busy with doing business. In addition, "customs", let alone AEO and monitoring, is often not the "core business". However, if you understand the idea of AEO, then it is logical to want to actually comply with the AEO monitoring requirements. In this article, I will discuss the opportunities that AEO monitoring offers your company.

Risks associated with anti-dumping duties

Customs duties, anti-dumping duties, and other levies are not only fiscal measures but also political measures. Various preferential measures that apply to certain countries are agreed upon in a trade agreement or unilaterally established by the European Union. Additionally, there are non-preferential measures. These measures, for example, prevent the dumping of certain products like bicycles or steel. Each time, it is crucial to determine exactly what the country of origin is. In other words, the non-preferential origin must be established.

Determining customs value: Which transaction?

The customs value is necessary for calculating the amount of customs duties. To calculate the customs value, it is important to determine which valuation method should be used. In addition, it is necessary to determine which transaction can serve as the basis for determining the customs value. We have developed a 5-step plan for this purpose.

Consider checking a free trade agreement!

You are always looking for opportunities to achieve the most efficient customs logistics possible, while also minimizing customs duties. There are various options available for this, such as the use of customs procedures like inward processing, customs warehousing, or outward processing. However, the opportunities of a (upcoming) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are often overlooked.