The impact of customs legislation in the European ship supply sector

Brussels, Belgium, 03.02.2016, 22:01 Uhr

The impact of customs legislation in the European ship supply sector

Study

Today, OCEAN publishes its first ever study on the impact of customs legislation in the European ship supply sector for download by any interested party. The aim of this study is to improve the understanding of the key characteristics of ship supply.

“Many customs authorities are aware of the importance of the ship supply business. Customs officers often understand that, if crew and vessel do not get their ship supply, their stores and spare parts in time, this might not only negatively impact the economics and reputation of our valued EU ports, but could also jeopardize safety at sea and may even harm the environment” Mr Cupido, OCEAN Chair explained.

 “However, as the author of this study shows, EU legislation does not always demonstrate such understanding of our trade and it is the ship supply sector which does not always benefit from streamlined customs legislation and procedures which offer greater legal certainty and uniformity to businesses throughout the EU”, Peter de Haas Jr., Chairman of the OCEAN Working Group for Customs, stated.

As the examples show in this study, the ship supply sector may not benefit from this fully, as, despite the UCC, the EU rules for this sector are not harmonized and national rules continue to be created, often distorting the creation of a genuine EU Single Market for ship supply.

“Drawing from several examples in different EU Member States, we can, despite the UCC, impressively confirm the lack of EU harmonization, and the widening of disparities between purely national customs legislation and daily ship supply practices”. Mr de Haas Jr. continued.

We wish you an interesting lecture.

Dirk J Cupido - OCEAN Chair
Peter de Haas Jr. - Chair of OCEAN Working Group Customs