American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union Seminar on Single Authorisation for Simplified Procedures / Centralised Clearance Budapest 1 – 3 October 2008 Centralised Clearance Business Expectations Keith Vaughan, UPS Chair, AmCham EU Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee

AmCham EU  Represents 140 European companies of US Parentage  40 of the members are among the Fortune 100 Major US Industrial Corporations  The member companies are long-term investors in Europe and have manufacturing plants throughout the EU  Multi-sectoral industry based  US investment in Europe amounts to €702 billion and currently supports over 4.1 million jobs

Current Situtation  Few members have applied for an SEA as the process is costly and time consuming  Lack of centralisation within the EU has led to companies looking for innovative solutions  CPC 4200  Clearance at first point of arrival with Importer of record Onforwarding to destination in free circulation Intrastat and VIES reporting

Current Situtation (Cont.)  Some Member States are strongly opposed to SEA and to SASP  SASP proposals from Working Group strongly supported  The combination of SASP and AEO are Centralised Clearance in all but name  VAT, Statistics, Collection Costs/ Own Resource and National Prohibitions and Restrictions are barriers to progress in Centralisation

Centralised Clearance – Expectations  Person applying will be an AEO, or will meet the AEO criteria  Person with AEO authorisation will be a trusted partner  Since the data required for an application for AEO is similar to that for other procedures, approval of applications for other procedures will be automatic

 One customs office in a single Member State for Lodgement of all data relevant to a specific shipment for any procedure relating to, or controlled by, customs The payment of customs duties on all shipments imported to or exported from 27 Member States The payment of or accounting for VAT for all consignments Centralised Clearance – Expectations (Cont.)

 One customs office in a single Member State for Risk analysis for both security, safety, and fiscal purposes Presentation of Goods Entry into records Release of goods Tariff classification, origin and preference and valuation

Centralised Clearance – Expectations (Cont.)  One customs office in a single Member State for Entry into record Periodic entry of self assessment No transit – Virtual Warehouse

Centralised Clearance – Benefits  Ability to route goods direct to the point of consumption  Improved communication with customs (one single customs administration, one single language)  Reduction of costs through savings in centralisation (reduction of customs transactions and of the need to use representatives in customs matters)

Centralised Clearance – Benefits (Cont.)  Reduction in transit times and costs  Improved compliance  Improved risk management  Competitiveness of European business in the global marketplace