Experts of EU Member States to discuss operational efficiency of the Customs Union

On 4-5 June under the Latvian Presidency the meeting of the Council’s Working Party on the Customs Union will take place in Riga. Participants of the meeting will discuss topical issues of the customs policy and possibilities to facilitate further cooperation with the Eastern neighbouring countries of the European Union.

The meeting will discuss revision of the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin (PEM Convention). The aim is to agree on application of uniform rules of origin for goods replacing existing rules of origin stipulated by various free trade agreements thus making the rules more transparent and easy to adjust to economic circumstances.

Taking into account the Ukrainian conflict and creation of the Eurasian Economic Union, a topical issue to discuss will be the cooperation with the Eastern neighbouring countries of the EU to ensure free and secure trade risk management, combating fraud and investment in customs modernisation.

The representatives of EU Member States will also discuss at the meeting the entrepreneurs’ point of view on issues related to the development of the Customs Union. Current geopolitical situation, different tax policies in the EU and neighbouring countries, as well as high requirements for goods on the EU market make it difficult to protect the EU’s financial interests and combat the illicit trafficking. Representatives of the private sector will communicate their vision on how to improve the functioning of the Customs Union. The participants of the meeting will also discuss the ongoing work on development of indicators to evaluate the performance effectiveness of the Customs Union and customs authorities.

The participants at the meeting of the Working Party on the Customs Union in Riga will be representatives of EU Member States, the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD), the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Working Party on the Customs Union examines the draft legislation in the field of customs and general issues of the customs policy, and coordinates the EU’s position regarding the issues related to international customs cooperation discussed within international organisations, such as the World Customs Organisation, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs and other international events.