Customs Code Committee Summary Reports

Overview:

• Minutes of the 265th meeting of the Customs Code Committee – Textiles and Mechanical/Miscellaneous Sub-section
• Minutes of the 15th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Valuation Section
• Minutes of the 16th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Valuation Section
• Minutes of the 17th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Valuation Section

Minutes of the 15th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Valuation Section 

On 12 and 13 March 2024, the 15th meeting of the Customs Expert Group, Customs Valuation Section was held in Brussels. The following topics were discussed during this meeting:

• Accumulated discounts in e-commerce sales
• Meaning of the expression “the price for the imported goods” in accordance with paragraph 4 of the Interpretative Note to Article 1 of the Customs Valuation Agreement (CVA)
• Meaning of the expression “in substantially the same quantity” according to Articles 2 and 3 CVA and the respective interpretative notes to those Articles
• Treatment of transactions agreed in cryptocurrency units
• Use of transfer pricing documentation when examining related party transactions under Article 1(2)(a) CVA
• Treatment of freight and freight charges under Article 8 CVA
• Use of transfer pricing documentation when examining related party transaction under Article 1 (2)(a) CVA
• Valuation treatment of imported goods when goods are provided free of charge according to the quantity purchased
• Deductive value method
• Order of Sale
• Application of Article 73 UCC (Simplification)
• License fees – Member States proposal to revise case 2 (point 3.9 in Commentary 13)
• Year-end-price adjustment- Transaction between related parties
• Currency conversion for customs valuation purposes - Article 146 (UCC)
• Update of EU Customs Valuation Compendium
• Draft guidelines on undervaluation
• Binding valuation information (BVI) decisions- update: the Commission recalled that the use of Binding Valuation Information will take place not earlier than December 2027 when the IT Systems will be implemented
• WTO – Information on outcomes from the latest CCV meeting
• AOB
• ETS

Minutes of the 16th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Valuation Section 

On 24 September 2024, the 16th meeting of the Customs Expert Group, Customs Valuation Section was held in Brussels. The following topics were discussed during this meeting:

• Accumulated discounts in e-commerce sales
• Meaning of the expression “the price for the imported goods” in accordance with paragraph 4 of the Interpretative Note to Article 1 CVA:
• Treatment of transactions agreed in cryptocurrency units
• Use of transfer pricing documentation when examining related party transactions under Article 1(2)(a) CVA
• Treatment of freight and freight charges under Article 8 (2) CVA
• Use of transfer pricing documentation when examining related party transaction under Article 1 (2)(a) CVA
• Valuation treatment of imported goods when goods are provided free of charge according to the quantity purchased
• Application of Article 1.1 CVA
• Treatment of non-payment by the buyer

Minutes of the 17th meeting of the Customs Expert Group – Valuation Section 

On 26 November 2024, the 17th meeting of the Customs Expert Group, Customs Valuation Section was held in Brussels. The following topics were discussed during this meeting:

1.    Draft guidelines on undervaluation

A new version of the draft guidelines on undervaluation was presented by the Commission. In this document the Commission provides guidelines for custom officers with guidance and practices on how to handle undervaluation controls and audits in conformity with the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement and the UCC. This document is not binding and would not prevent Member States from using different approaches that are recognised as compatible with the WTO and EU legislation on customs value. Delegates were given until the 13th of December 2025 to provide the Commission with further written comments on the draft guidelines. The following topics of the draft guideline on undervaluation were discussed during the meeting:

• Guarantees
  • Several Member States expressed their wish for further guidance on the constitution of guarantees in the guideline. 
  • The Commission proposed to calculate guarantees based on the aggregated statistical data available at the EU level, for the goods under clearance. 
  • The Commission reminded that the rules on customs valuation do not apply to the calculation of guarantees, therefore Member States have more flexibility to set the amount of the guarantee in accordance with article 244 UCC IR.
• Use of European databases 
  • The Commission asked Member States about their practices on the use of European Databases throughout the control process (risk analysis, reasonable doubts, notification of the rejection of the customs value, redetermination of the customs value).
• Benchmarking
  • The Commission presented the benchmarking approach in the guideline and informed delegates that this approach would be promoted under Article 144(1) UCC IR (flexible application of the comparative methods under the fallback method) rather than Article 144(2) UCC IR (any other appropriate method). The Commission explained that the suggested benchmarking approach was to be used in cases where it was impossible to identify one declaration concerning identical or similar goods under Article 141 UCC IA (strict application of the comparative methods).

2.    Order of sales 

Several cases on the last sale for export were presented. In the first case an online trader based in the EU having received the purchase order from a customer: the trader confirms the purchase order and then submits it to the manufacturer in a third country. When the goods are ready, the manufacturer delivers directly to the EU customer. The requesting Member State is of the opinion that for the last sale for export, the sale between the online trader and the EU customer should be used. 

The Commission presented its analysis of the case, stating that since the movement of the goods to the customs territory of the EU happened because of the sale between the manufacturer and the online trader, this sale qualifies as the sale for export in compliance with Article 70 UCC and Article 128 UCC IR. Moreover, the Commission argued that the sale between the online trader, established in the EU, and the EU customer, is an “internal” sale (i.e. a sale between two EU parties). 

The second case concerns a series of successive sales on the basis of orders placed by adistributor located in the EU to a central purchasing company located in a third country which, in turn, places an order with the manufacturer, also located in a thirdcountry. The manufacturer accepts the order and sends the goods directly to the distribution companies located in the EU. The distribution company, as an indirect representative, lodges the customs declaration on behalf of the central purchasingcompany, declaring the value of the sales invoice between the central purchasing company and the manufacturer. The requesting Member State’s opinion is that the sale for export in the meaning of Article 128 UCC IR is the sale between the central purchasing company and the distribution company.

The Commission agrees with the requesting Member State, stating that the sale between the central purchasing company and the distribution company is the sale that meets the criteria of Article 70 UCC.

The Commission introduced the third case, where, as a result of sales concluded between the central purchasing company and the manufacturer (both parties are located outside the EU), sporting goods are directly delivered to warehouses in different Member States where the distributors of the Group operated, and are released for free circulation in those Member States. The sale between the central purchasing company and the distributor companies takes place after the goods are released for free circulation.

The Commission agrees with the requesting Member State  that the goods are sold for export to the EU with a sale that takes place after the goods are already in the EU, and therefore argues that the sale between the central purchasing company and the distribution companies can be taken into account to apply the secondary methods provided for in Article 74 UCC. 

3.    Unit prices for certain perishable goods 

The Commission considers that some Member States that were tasked with reporting on the unit prices of certain perishable goods in 2025, have reported some difficulties finding reliable data. The Commission asked other Member States if they are able to report on additional products. The Commission also published a documents with a summary of the difficulties encountered by the Member States. The difficulties mostly relate to the lack of cooperation from certain importers, as well as the low quantity of goods actually sold on the national market of the reporting country. 

The Commissions proposes checking whether it would be feasible to collect data on the EU countries where the goods were consumed instead of imported.  

4.    Emissions Trading System (ETS)

The Commission presents its analysis on the consequences for customs valuation of the inclusion of CO2 emissions from large ships to the EU-ETS scheme. As of 2024 the EU ETS scheme was extended to cover CO2 from all large ships (of 5,000 tonnage and above) entering EU ports, regardless of the ships nationality. Maritime companies now need to purchase emission quotas to be able to ship within the EU or between the EU and a third country. 

One of the Member States asks whether these emission quotas should be included as a transport cost in the customs value. According to the Commission, based on ECJ’s case law, the notion of ‘transport costs’ should be interpreted broadly. Therefore, the ETS quotas in the view of the Commission should be included in the customs value of the imported goods. Most Member States agree with this analysis, only one Member State expresses a contrary opinion. 

One Member State proposes to explicitly mention that EU ETS purchased to transport shipments between two EU Member States were transport costs to be deducted from the customs value of the goods under article 72 (a) UCC. COM supported this view.