Regulation 2019/632 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 to prolong the transitional use of means other than the electronic data-processing techniques provided for in the Union Customs Code - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 111/54

Under Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (2) (‘the Code’), all exchanges of information between customs authorities and between economic operators and customs authorities, and the storage of such information, are to be made using electronic data-processing techniques.

However, the Code allows for the use of means of exchange and storage of information other than the electronic data-processing techniques referred to in Article 6(1) thereof during a transitional period, to the extent that the electronic systems necessary for the application of the provisions of the Code are not yet operational. That transitional period must end by 31 December 2020 at the latest.

In accordance with the Code, Member States are to cooperate with the Commission to develop, maintain and employ electronic systems for the exchange and the storage of customs information and the Commission is to draw up a work programme relating to the development and deployment of those electronic systems.

The Work Programme was established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/578 (3). It contains a list of 17 electronic systems that must be developed for the application of the Code, either by the Member States alone (in the case of systems to be managed at national level — ‘national systems’) or by the Member States and the Commission in close collaboration (in the case of Union-wide systems, some of which consist both of Union-wide components and national components — ‘trans-European systems’).

The Work Programme sets out the planning schedule for the implementation of those national and trans-European systems.

The shift to a complete use of electronic systems for interactions between economic operators and customs authorities, and between customs authorities, will enable the simplifications provided for in the Code to take full effect, resulting in improved exchange of information between actors, more effective registration of the arrival, transit and exit of goods, centralised customs clearance, and harmonised customs controls throughout the customs territory of the Union, thereby reducing administrative costs, red tape, errors and fraud in customs declarations, and import point shopping.

Setting up electronic systems requires the Commission and the Member States to harmonise the data elements on the basis of internationally accepted data models, as required by the Code, to make investments, both in financial terms and in terms of time, and, in some cases, to fully reprogramme existing electronic systems. Member States have scheduled the development of those electronic systems differently, which has led to differences in the timing of implementation of those systems across the Union. As the electronic systems are closely interlinked, introducing them in the right order is important. Delays in the development of one system will therefore unavoidably lead to delays in the development of others. The Code (including the end date for...