Customs law as determinant of competition

Contrary to what might be expected, in particular due to the continuous decreasing customs tariffs, customs law is an inevitable set of regulations for companies who are dealing with import or export transactions. Nowadays, customs law has been, and still is, largely adopted to modern standards and has restated its importance as economical and supervisory instrument.

Customs law is largely unknown to a high number of companies. Consequently, a lot of companies are unknown with the effects that customs law has or could have on their businesses. It cannot be avoided that, due to its complex character, customs law is unsuited for companies that are unflexible to adjust their strategies or organization to the characteristics and possibilities of this area of law. However, companies that acknowledge the importance of customs law and act accordingly are able to compete in an offensive way in a market place where market access is not a guarantee for maintaining its market share, but instead has to be conquered continuously.

Customs law is much more than customs duties only. The various elements of which customs law is built do not only provide the system that is necessary to levy customs duties or other taxes (VAT, excises, agricultural levies), but are also a framework for trade regulation. The characteristics of customs law makes it the perfect instrument for applying trade regulations of different nature (e.g. prescriptions in the field of health, control of dual use goods or military weapons, embargo goods). Consequently, the customs declaration or customs control are the interface that bring about the legal consequences of a huge number of regulations.

Trade regulations change frequently, which implies that their application needs to be verified on a regular basis. Companies who import or export regularly are considered to be known with the applicable regulations, and hence are forced to have at least a basic understanding about the regulations that are relevant for their business. Small and medium enterprises, but also larger companies, often lack the specific knowledge to deal with issues of customs law or trade law on their own. For those companies who have decided that the latter circumstance should not influence their competition capacities VAT plus GmbH could offer support.

Customs law consultancy

The professional services that are offered by us in the field of customs are, amongst other: