EU Customs Union - Facts and figures

EU Customs Union – unique in the world

Customs see what you don’t…and protect you

Customs are business friendly

Customs duties mean revenue

Customs cooperates

28 EU Member States

EU Customs Union – unique in the world

The EU Customs Union is a unique example of an area where a number of countries

apply a uniform system for handling the import, export and transit of goods and implement

a common set of rules called the Union Customs Code (UCC).

A uniform system of customs duties is being used on imports from outside the EU and

there are no customs duties at the borders between the EU countries. Duty on goods from

the outside of the EU is generally paid when they first enter, but after that, there is nothing

more to pay, no more checks and all goods move freely within the EU Customs Union.

In practice, the EU Customs Union is managed by 28 national customs services acting as

one. The European Commission proposes the EU customs legislation and monitors its

implementation.

The EU is one of the largest traders in the world

In 2015, the value of the entire world trade amounted to EUR 23 trillion. The EU is one of the main players in the world when it comes to trade and supply chain logistics, alongside the United States and China, with a share of 15% in the total world trade.

Source: European Commission, Eurostat

In 2016, the value of the EU trade with other countries amounted to EUR 3.5 trillion (EUR 1.71 trillion for imports and EUR 1.75 trillion for exports). This is more than the total yearly retail sales in the EU!

The main EU trade partners were the United States, China, Switzerland and Russia.

In 2016, almost 313 million customs declarations were handled by more than 2 000 EU customs offices, working 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

Source: Eurostat and DG Taxation and Customs Union

Various means of carrying freight are used in the EU trade

The most frequently used form of transport in the EU trade is maritime transport, followed by

air and road transport.

Figures based on value in 2016 Source: European Commission, Eurostat

Customs see what you don’t…and protect you

More than 114 000 officials, carrying out various roles, are working for the Customs in the

EU, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

Their objective is to protect the society against international trafficking and smuggling, to

protect consumers against goods presenting a risk for their safety or their health, to protect

the environment and the European cultural heritage, and also to protect the financial

interests of the EU and the Member States.

Customs are in charge of …

Protecting society against the international trafficking of drugs

and helping to stop criminal organizations which make money

of selling drugs.

In 2016, the total amount of drugs seized by Customs in the EU

amounted to 298.9 tonnes!

For example:

On the west coast of France, 19 tonnes of cannabis resin were seized in a sailing ship. Three

tonnes of cocaine were found in a maritime container. In addition to that, 120 000 doses of

diazepam were seized.

In Spain, a customs boat supported by a customs helicopter intercepted a sailing ship loaded with

almost nine tonnes of hashish.

In Belgium, Customs seized 2 275 kilos of drugs which were smuggled through passenger traffic

(by air) and 476 kg by express consignments.

Protecting society against the smuggling of tobacco and cigarettes-

to stop dangerous and/or counterfeited tobacco products from

being sold in the EU.

In 2016, Customs seized almost 4.6 billion illegal cigarettes in the EU.

For example:

In Spain, law enforcement was able to dismantle an organization producing contraband tobacco

products. In three of these operations, 15 persons were detained and more than 275 tonnes of

tobacco products were seized, valued at more than EUR 20 million. Two types of machines were

confiscated- for the manufacturing of the tobacco products and for drying the tobacco. Additionally,

numerous sacks containing chemical substances used to fabricate the final product were also

seized.

In Poland, a tobacco sniffer-dog discovered 10.5 million cigarettes inside a sea-container at the

container terminal of the Gdynia sea-port.

Protecting society against international trafficking of

weapons, helping to dismantle criminal organizations and to

combat terrorism.

In 2016, 6 256 firearms, more than 1 million pieces of ammunition

and 1 520 pieces of explosives were seized in the EU.

Belgium Customs were able to stop 126 pieces of weapons/ammunition/explosives from entering

the EU. These weapons were being smuggled into the EU through air traffic or post.

In Spain, 737 assault rifles and 72 grenade launchers, including chargers and instruction books

were seized.

Tackling counterfeit goods and piracy in the interests of health and safety, as well as the

jobs of those who work for legitimate manufacturers.

On more than 63 000 occasions, products suspected of violating intellectual property rights were intercepted by the Customs in EU.

In 2016, more than 41 million articles were detained with an estimated value of nearly EUR 672 million.

For example:

Estonian Customs seized almost 34 000 pieces of "Desiel" jeans in Muuga Port.

Greek Customs seized more than 1.3 million batteries, 537000 packs of cigarettes and 24 300

wallets.

Enforcing rules that protect the environment and our health and safety (e.g. stopping

illegal import of protected wood, refusing entry of contaminated food or potentially

dangerous electrical appliances).

There were almost 14 000 cases of goods presenting a risk for consumers in terms of health

(sanitary, phyto-sanitary and veterinary technical standards).

More than 37 million items were identified as unsafe or uncompliant in terms of product safety.

Protecting endangered species by detecting illegal trade in ivory, protected animals, birds and plants and protecting European cultural heritage by checking for smuggled art treasures.

3 500 infringements of CITES regulations were detected.

In 96 cases, exports were detected which did not respect the rules on exports of cultural goods.

For example:

Estonian Customs seized almost 66 000 tubes of face cream which contained caviar.

In France, 110 000 cosmetic products with caviar and protected plants were seized, as well as 46

square meters of alligator skin and 20 tonnes of wood from "Dalbergia retusa" species.

In United Kingdom, 300 Map Turtles (Graptemys spp), 5 live Giant Salamanders, 6 kg of caviar,

300 leather items made from python skin, 760 kg of traditional medicines containing protected plant

species and 18 kg of ivory tusks were seized.

Fighting against money laundering and the financing of terrorism by controlling cash

flows in the EU.

Travelers entering or leaving the EU are obliged to declare amounts of cash valued at EUR

10 000 in cash or more (or its equivalent in other currencies or bearer negotiable instruments)

to customs authorities.

Each year, more than 100 000 cash declarations are submitted to Customs, amounting to more than EUR 62 billion.

Each year, more than 10 000 cases of non-declared cash or incorrectly completed cash declarations are recorded. In 2016, there were 571 significant cases, where seizures of undeclared cash amounted to more than EUR 50 000.

Protecting the financial interests of the European Union by ensuring correct and

efficient collection of duties, detection, investigation into and prosecution of fraud:

In 2016, EUR 537 million in unpaid duties was detected.

Ensuring exports of sensitive technology (which could be used to make nuclear or

chemical weapons) are legitimate.

Helping police and immigration services fight the trafficking of people, drugs,

pornography and firearms – all factors of organized crime and terrorism.

Customs are business friendly

Business operators

To be able to carry out commercial activities related to importing and exporting goods (in

the role of a consignee, declarant or representative), business operators have to register

in the Economic Operators Identification and Registration system (EORI).

5.2 million entities have registered so far in the EORI system.

Authorised Economic Operators (AEO)

A special status of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO status) can be granted to economic operators which meet criteria specified in customs legislation, such as:

- Customs compliance - Appropriate record-keeping - Financial solvency - Appropriate security and safety standards.

SSource: European Commission , DG Taxation and Customs Union

AEOs are given a more favorable treatment in the areas of simplification and facilitation. There were almost 16 000 valid AEO authorisations in the EU at the end of 2016. AEOs are playing an increasingly important role in the supply chain.

Paperless environment

Nearly all customs declarations, for both import and export, are submitted to Customs authorities electronically.

The global EU level of electronic input is almost 99%.

Most Member States do not require any accompanying (paper) documents unless the declaration is selected for control.

93% of import customs declarations were cleared within 1 hour and only 1% took more than 48 hours to clear.

Source: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union

Simplifications

Simplified procedures enable business operators to perform customs procedures faster and more efficiently. This reduces the administrative burden and costs.

At the end of 2016, there were:

Almost 40 000 valid authorisations for the use of simplified procedures at import and export

Almost 22 000 authorised consignors or consignees for transit

740 single authorisations for all economic customs regimes

More than 13 000 authorisations for the use of customs warehouses

Most imports and exports are carried out using simplified procedures.

Source: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union

Customs duties mean revenue

Customs duties are one of the sources of income for the EU and its Member States.

Source: European Commission, Eurostat and DG Taxation and Customs Union

The share of customs duties in the total EU revenue has been on the rise over the last

couple of years

* GNI- Gross National Income

Source: European Commission, DG Budget

Customs cooperate

Administrative assistance

Customs cooperation enables the exchange of information among the Customs authorities to ensure the correct application of the customs legislation and customs rules, as well as the creation of a level playing field for businesses.

During 2016, almost 3 500 requests for administrative assistance were sent within the EU.

Almost 1 700 requests were sent to non-EU countries and more than 7 400 requests were received from non-EU countries.

Cooperation in the form of administrative assistance between individual Customs administrations is constantly increasing, especially between Customs authorities from the EU and non-EU countries.

Technical assistance

The mutual exchange of knowledge and experience with non-EU customs administrations helps to increase their quality of service.

During 2016, the number of man-days spent on technical assistance to non EU-countries was more than 13 000. The technical assistance covered training, capacity building, sniffer dog training, etc.

Source: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union

International cooperation and trade

The EU trade volume with non-EU countries, with which the EU has a binding agreement on customs cooperation, represents an overwhelming proportion of EU external trade.

Source: Eurostat

28 EU Member States – links to national customs

websites