07 October 2022

EU PARLIAMENT APPROVES CUSTOMS SINGLE WINDOW

On 4 October, the European Parliament endorsed the political agreement reached earlier this year on the proposal for EU Single Window Environment for Customs. The Council now needs to formally adopt the regulation, before it is signed and published in the EU Official Journal.

Currently, the formalities required at the EU's borders are often complex, cumbersome and lengthy, for both traders and national authorities. Issues of interoperability between authorities are major obstacles to progress on the digital single market and to the aim of integrated and coordinated customs management.

With the EU Single Window, customs and other authorities could automatically exchange and verify information provided by economic operators, thus allowing for a coordinated approach to the clearance of goods. Economic operators will also be able to fulfil their documentary requirements in one portal through which relevant authorities will be able to check the provided information. The documentary requirements covered by the IT solution are indicated in Annex A and Annex B to the regulation. The government-to-government component of the Single Window will come into effect by 2025, while the business-to-government scheme will be accessible at a later stage.

CLECAT was actively involved in exploring the possible framework to develop the EU Single Window Environment for Customs including the legal context. Freight forwarders and customs brokers find great interest in the ‘single window’ concept as a means to modernise customs and border processes and enhance efficiency and simplifications for the trade community. If effectively implemented, the EU Customs Single Window will have the potential to streamline exchange of information and customs controls and ultimately improve trade facilitation by simplified processes, time saving, faster clearance and reduction of administrative burden and costs for businesses.

More information is available on the Commission’s dedicated webpage.