The new Union Customs Code comes into force May 1st 2016

The European Union has announced that its new Union Customs Code will come into play on May 1st 2016. The aim of the new Code is to modernise and integrate the existing customs system, in order to facilitate cross-border, intra-EU trade.

The plan to put together a new Union Customs Code began in 2013, but there have been delays as the British International Freight Association (BIFA) have waited for the EU’s Commission Inter-Services Consultation to approve it.

One of the aims of the updated UCC, through the related Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme, is to simplify and clarify the rules for more equal treatment of economic operators across the EU, including common data requirements that allow information to be more easily exchanged.

BIFA is organising a conference late November to talk with HMRC and other stakeholders about the impending changes, including the AEO program, which may complicate business for logistics operators who choose not to comply with the new AEO scheme.

(Source: Freight Business Journal)