E-Commerce Europe – Response to WPG consultation on Customs

Response to WPG consultation on Customs

15 December 2021

Ecommerce Europe’s contribution to the Wise Persons Group consultation on the challenges facing the Customs Union

Introduction

Ecommerce Europe welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Wise Persons Group (WPG) consultation on the challenges facing the Customs Union. Recently, the EU Customs Union is facing important external challenges, such as the increase in international import and export flows of goods, the boost to digitalisation and e-commerce, Brexit, and more. Additionally, the EU customs authorities are increasingly responsible for a wide range of tasks, including transport security, product safety and sustainability. In this context, it is of utmost importance to ensure that customs processes and controls become more efficient and harmonised, as this could reduce the costs and time to process imports, facilitate the international cross-border trade, and minimise the delivery days and unexpected costs for EU consumers. Furthermore, increased customs control capabilities and proactive control measures through the use of technology as data become available in advance are equally key, in order to minimise safety risks for customers, to help fight customs, duty and VAT fraud and to protect and grow revenues for governments.
Therefore, Ecommerce Europe would like to share its contribution to the consultation and provide the WPG with structured feedback that reflects on the key topics identified by the WPG.