New customs legislation to impact Romania and the whole EU

Companies doing import-export activities should be aware that a significant change in the customs legislation will be rolled out starting this May. The new provisions will come into force around three years after the New Customs Code of the EU was adopted.

Valentin Durigu, tax manager at the professional services firm KPMG Romania, explained during the Tax & Law event that the new legislation aims to streamline procedures, but the problem is that instead of two regulations there will now be four.

“There are a few hundred normative acts of level two and three, including tens of guides to how this new legislation has to be implemented. So, at least in 2016, you should expect an avalanche of regulations, mainly from the European Commission,” said Durigu.

According to the tax expert, the executive arm of the EU wants to move all the communications between companies and customs authorities online.

“The customs as an authority, and from the perspective of legislation and control procedures, will reinvent itself. (…) The definition of an exporter will be changed. From May 2016, it will have to be a person established in the EU. So, if the firm is established in Switzerland and does import-export operations in Romania, from May 1 it can no longer be a customs declarant,” said Durigu.

According to the new legislation, a decision made by a customs agency in Romania for instance will be mandatory for the titleholder and valid throughout the EU. Moreover, the first sale for export concept will be scrapped from the new code.

Durigu added that the principles of customs controls will also change.

“The freight will not be controlled in the customs office, through the freight represented there, but the authority will carry out an audit and risk analysis before the freight reaches the customs unit and after it is imported or exported,” said the KPMG representative.

He advised companies to make sure they understand what will happen after the new code is rolled out and if there will be any impact on their current authorization.