New legislative changes in the customs and environmental field

New AVR information / orders have been published, a new IT system for guarantee management at the European Union level has been launched and a draft order has been published amending the Regulation on the management and operation of the accounts in the Union register of gas emissions

Information regarding the new goods declaration system for export, AES - RO, operational from the 16th of March

On 11 March 2024, it was published on the website of the Romanian Customs Authority, a notice on the new goods declaration system, AES - RO, operational starting 16 March at 10.00 a.m.

The Romanian Customs Authority is introducing a new goods declaration system – Automated Export System – AES. This replaces the current export declaration system – ECS-RO designed for processing export customs declarations. The AES system is based entirely on secure information exchange with economic operators. The customs declaration will no longer be printed and supporting documents will be transmitted exclusively through the system. Thus, human interaction between economic operators and customs officers will be considerably reduced.

The new AES export declaration system offers significant benefits for trade, allowing simplifications and facilities in declaring goods such as centralized customs clearance at the union level and the customs declaration made prior to the presentation of the goods.

Notice regarding a new informatic guarantee management system („GUM”) implemented at the European Union level

As per the information published on the European Commission website, on 11 March 2024, a new release of the Customs Decisions System will be deployed to implement GUM 1. The GUM System will enable the granting and management of the authorizations for comprehensive guarantees and the monitoring of the guarantees, except for Transit which is handled in NCTS.

Guarantee management covers registration, verification of the existence and validity, monitoring of the reference amount and release of the guarantee. Also, a guarantee is a financial cover for customs duties and other chargers that are temporarily suspended and shall be required both for customs debts which have been incurred as well as those which may be incurred, unless otherwise specified.

The system will have two components:

• a central component referred to as GUM 1 covering the management of comprehensive guarantees that may be used in more than one Member State released on 11 March 2024 in the platform for the Customs Decisions System;
•  the national component referred to as GUM 2. The National Guarantee Management Systems will be in charge of the registration and operational phase of the guarantee, meaning managing the guarantee usage, releasing the reference amount (payment), monitoring the guarantees, etc. This national component is developed by each MS individually.

Commission Decision (EU) 775/2024 of 4 March 2024 on relief from import duties and VAT exemption on importation granted for goods to be distributed or made available free of charge to persons fleeing Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and to persons in need in Ukraine

Under certain conditions, goods are eligible for import duty exemption and exemption from value-added tax.

This facility is granted for goods to be distributed or made available free of charge to persons fleeing Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and to persons in need in Ukraine, effective from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.

Order no. 679/2024 amending and supplementing the Order no. 195/2023 approving the model of the simplified electronic administrative document, the instructions for completing the administrative document in electronic format and the simplified electronic administrative document using the EMCS-RO - Mișcări application for controlling the movement of excise goods

We mention the following modifications on this order:

• adding to the Model of the Electronic Simplified Administrative Document (Annex 1) under the heading "Shipping details" item 17.v. Declaration for independent small producers and 17.w. Language declaration for small independent producers;
• the abbreviation ECS-RO, meaning "National Export Control Application", is modified and replaced with the abbreviation AES-RO, meaning "Automatic Export System";
• an e-DA cannot be included in multiple export declarations. Multiple e-DAs can be included in the same export declaration;
• detailed instructions are provided on issuing an e-DA for export, when customs formalities are carried out through the AES-RO application, which will check the data from e-DA with those from the export declaration;
• it is clarified, among other things, that from the moment the export customs clearance is communicated, the EMCS-RO-Moves application suspends its operations, and the movement monitoring is carried out through the AES-RO application until the receipt of the control results from the Customs Office on exit. The EMCS-RO- Mișcări application validates and processes the information received from the AES-RO application on the export operation and generates the export report;
• the rules for completing the fields in e-DA/e-DAS (Annex 2) have been updated.

Order no. 648/2024 for approving Technical Norms regarding the presentation of goods in customs at places approved by the customs authority, other than the customs office, in the case of the export, re-export and exit of goods from the customs territory of the Union.

As an alternative to the Entry in the Declarant's Records  procedure, which can no longer be used in the AES system, the economic operators established on the customs territory of the Union who hold the status of authorized economic operator, can request the customs authority’s approval for a place to present goods in customs, other than the customs office, in cases of declaring goods for the customs regime of export or re-export.

This order details the procedure for presenting goods in customs in places approved by the customs authority, other than the customs office, in the case of export, re-export and exit of goods from the customs territory of the Union:

• the request for obtaining the approved place for export is filed at the competent export customs office or can be submitted via email;
• in the case of centralized customs clearance at export, the request for obtaining the approved place is within the competency of the presentation customs office;
• the request can aim at a single customs operation, or it can refer to multiple export operations, carried out over a certain period. This will contain, among other things:
  • the requested place – must be clearly determined in the request, with the exact address and description of it;
  • its justified interest in getting approval and the working schedule at the respective place;
  • reasons for the request to approve a place to present goods in customs, other than the customs office, with the customs office to evaluate if the request is justified, considering the circumstances of the customs operations performed, the amount and type of goods, the type of transport and the frequency of customs operations.

The approval is issued by the competent customs office within 30 days from filing the request.

In situations where the exit of goods from the customs territory of the Union is done by air or sea, through a border customs office operating under international air or sea traffic conditions, economic operators established on the customs territory of the Union, who are obligated to present goods at customs for exit, can request the customs authority’s approval for a place where goods can be presented in customs, other than the customs office, located within the perimeter of the port or airport. In this case, the request procedure is similar to the one above.

Draft Order for amending the Regulation on the management and operation of accounts from the Union registry of greenhouse gas emissions, under the jurisdiction of the Romanian state

On March 11, 2024, the draft Order for amending and supplementing the Regulation on the management and operation of accounts from the Union registry of greenhouse gas emissions, under the jurisdiction of the Romanian state, was published on the website of the Ministry of Environment.

The Regulation establishes the method of management and operation of the accounts from the Union registry of greenhouse gas emissions, under the jurisdiction of the Romanian state.

The news mentioned in this draft order refers to the extension of the greenhouse gas emission certificate trading scheme to the maritime sector. Maritime transport companies are required to open a trading account in the Union Registry to fulfil their obligations under the ETS scheme.

What does this mean for you?

If the aforementioned changes influence the operations you carry out, we recommend that you analyze the possible consequences in advance. At the same time, it is essential to update your systems and inform your staff in a timely manner.

The EY team is available for further details regarding the information mentioned above.