Customs Reform: Maritime and Port stakeholders welcome the Council General Approach

The undersigned associations, representing EU port and maritime stakeholders uniting shipping lines, agents, ports, terminals and forwarders, welcome the adoption of the Council General Approach and commend the Member States’ work towards a reform that facilitates trade, enhances competitiveness and EU security. We also welcome the recognition that the Customs Union needs to start acting as one. The General Approach is an improvement on the Commission proposal which maintains the drive toward harmonisation. 

We urge Member States, the Parliament and the Commission to finalise the agreement but not before remedying several outstanding issues that could jeopardise the reform’s success – as seen in versions of the text circulated prior to adoption.   

Key Progress in Adapting the Code to the Realities of Trade  

Temporary Storage 

The maritime sector welcomes amendments proposed by Council reinstating current provisions for the temporary storage of goods in EU ports. This is vital for ports, terminals, importers, exporters and all those that rely on maritime supply chains. The Council’s proposal to maintain the time limit at 90 days, while allowing extensions under specific circumstances, is indeed key for the seamless functioning of port operations and (maritime) logistics chains. 

The liner shipping hub and spoke model depends on transhipment which in turn depends on an efficient temporary storage regime.  All parties need the elimination of unnecessary operational administrative and IT costs. The text seen by trade also includes detailed provisions on authorisations and the movement of goods between temporary storage facilities which will facilitate business.  

Finally, – considering the high volumes handled in EU ports – it is crucial that trusted operators of temporary storage facilities can apply for a guarantee waiver as this is key to safeguard their financial solvency. We therefore urge the co-legislators to also keep this facilitation open to companies that are currently certified AEO-C. 

Customs Data Hub 

The maritime sector strongly supports the introduction of the EU Customs Data Hub as a single point of access for economic operators to submit electronic customs data to fulfil their legal obligations. For economic operators this is one of the major trade facilitations of the reform. We are pleased therefore that Member States have supported this proposal. We welcome the fact that the General Approach explicitly allows the use of port community systems and other transport information systems for fulfilling customs formalities. However, in order to enhance simplification, competitivity and harmonisation, it is important that the EU Maritime Single Window, is also able to connect and provide data to the Customs Data Hub. 

Consultation of trade stakeholders 

The consultation of trade stakeholders is crucial to ensure that customs legislation works not only theory but is operationally feasible and can be implemented in practice. Hence, we welcome the Council’s recognition of the role that the EC Trade Contact Group will have in preparing the delegated and implementing legislation associated with this reform as well as the business community’s role in supporting the operation of the Customs Data Hub. As Trade Contact Group members, the undersigned organisations stand ready to provide their expertise.  

Important Areas for Improvement  

Legal Continuity  

With the adoption of the new UCC the existing code, its secondary legislation and data annexes will be ‘repealed and replaced’. To ensure the continued functioning of core UCC IT systems and processes for the entry of cargo into the EU which will not be immediately replaced, the existing UCC secondary legislation and data annexes should be maintained until amended. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of clarity about exactly which provisions of the new Code will enter into force when. For example, while the text clarifies that the current Entry Summary Declaration will be considered as the required advance cargo information until the implementation of the EU Data Hub, new powers to prevent a carrier unloading cargo due to missing information are not clearly postponed until the same date.  

Appropriate Liabilities and Roles  

There is also considerable concern about the designation of a single importer that is liable for all non-fiscal compliance obligations connected to goods. While the proposals  state that there is only one importer, it also states elsewhere that there may be different importers at different times. This is a recipe for legal confusion.  

For example, the General Approach would require that a carrier transporting goods between Asia and the US via an EU transhipment port should assume the responsibilities of an EU importer.  Such rules are neither fair nor effective. A carrier handling ten of thousands of containers simply cannot assume the same liabilities for those individual goods as an importer can. Terminal operators handle similar quantities of cargo and can therefore neither take on the role of importer, due to the associated costs and lacking access to the right information. Insisting on this may undermine the position of EU ports as transhipment hubs.

This group is convinced that more work is needed to ensure that economic operators are not required to fulfil roles or assume responsibilities that they are in no position to meet. Parties should never be held liable for the accuracy of data, that they faithfully submit on behalf on behalf of their customers but do not generate in the course of their own business and have no means to verify.  

Fair penalties and sanctions  

We are also disappointed that Member States appear to have rejected outright all the European Commission’s proposals to reduce the huge inconsistencies between Member States and their application of penalties for infringements. This undermines the Customs Union.  To facilitate trade and to improve authorities’ capacity to combat illicit economic activities, it is paramount to prevent divergences in the application of sanctions, penalties and enforcement across the EU. 

ENDS

This is a joint statement attributable to EU port and maritime stakeholders: European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT), European Community Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (ECASBA), European Shipowners (ECSA), European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), FEPORT, and World Shipping Council (WSC) 

Download a copy of this joint statement.

World Shipping Council's supplementary statement on Customs Reform

Damian Viccars, the World Shipping Council’s Director of Government Affairs, Europe, says:

“The World Shipping Council welcomes the Council’s General Approach to EU Customs reform as a necessary move toward a more unified and trade-friendly Customs Union. A competitive Europe is one that realises its true advantage as a customs union with harmonised processes that keep goods moving smoothly in and out of the EU – that is not the case today.”

“Ocean carriers depend on efficient, predictable customs systems in the service of exporters and importers. The Council’s support for maintaining the 90-day temporary storage period is a vital step for smooth transhipment and port operations. Equally important is the Customs Data Hub—its success depends on interoperability with existing maritime systems. That’s why the long-overdue implementation of the EU Maritime Single Window must now be treated as a priority. Continued delays by Member States are holding back Europe and its Single Market.”

“What’s still missing from the Customs reform is sharper legal clarity. Carriers should not be assigned roles—like importer liability—that they are neither equipped nor empowered to fulfil. And enforcement must be consistent: major divergences in national penalties only undermine the Customs Union’s credibility. There is an opportunity in the upcoming trilogues to set that right.”

ENDS