“QUICK FIXES”, ALSO ITALY ADAPTS
Pedetemptim, one step at a time, sentenced the Latin sages. And the national legislator applies this rule to the letter. Almost two years late, it adopts Directive (EU) 2018/1910 and closes the infringement procedure opened by the European Union. The “quick fixes” discipline is, finally, law.
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NEW APPLICATIONS OF THE WTO SIMPLIFICATION AGREEMENT
At the meeting of the Commission on Trade Facilitation on 20 July, the WTO Member States took note of the trade facilitation commitments which should be implemented by the end of the year, as well as continuing to work on first revision of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
TRANSFER OF ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS TO FINAL CONSUMERS
The work of simplifying the obligations by the customs authorities continues: starting from 1 January 2022, the payments of the down payment instalments and any debit balance, due by the sellers of electricity and natural gas to the final consumers, will no longer have to be broken down by provincial supply area.
BRAZIL, THE NEW SISCOMEX SINGLE PORTAL IS STARTED
Last week the Brazilian Federal Government started the new process of importing the Single Portal for the foreign Trade Programme, as part of the changes implemented by the Ministry of Economy, to gradually expand the scope of the Portal and simplify the procedures for operators.
The main novelty of the new style import process is the favor granted to companies certified as Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), which cover about 30% of the total value of Brazilian imports. Facilities are also made available to operators who submit a large number of import declarations, with the possibility of registering, correcting and consulting the single import declaration through the web-based integration of their systems with the government platform. The government also expects optimizations in the customs authorities’ work processes, thanks to the formation of virtual and specialized server teams, a more appropriate distribution of workloads and a better use of available public resources. The Single Foreign Trade Portal program is a federal government initiative to reduce the bureaucracy, time and costs of Brazilian exports and imports, in order to more efficiently meet the demands of individuals who carry out international transactions. The main objectives are the revision of the export and import processes, so as to make them more efficient and harmonized, and the creation of a one-stop shop for the interaction between customs and economic operators.
SAUDI ARABIA, CUSTOMS IN SUPPORT OF INTERNAL PRODUCTION
The objective of protecting the domestic economy from unfair practices carried out by competing markets has prompted Saudi Arabia to approve new customs rules, to regulate imports of goods from other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait).
JAMAICA ALSO JOINS THE KYOTO CONVENTION
On 7 May, the Jamaican Embassy in Brussels and the Mission to the European Union deposited with the World Customs Organization the Instrument of country for the Accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (revised Kyoto Convention).
NEW VAT RULES, E-COMMERCE BECOMES EASY
The new VAT legislation for e-commerce, in force In the European Union from next July 1st, aims to make life easier for businesses selling goods online, while ensuring fairer conditions with similar companies resident outside the EU. (more…)