These were the words addressed to me by a representative of a company facing dispute with customs authorities. I immediately remembered that I had met with the same person a few years ago, to propose customs and excise consulting services. After mentioning the meeting of a few years ago, I was told “I thought everything was under control but apparently we needed customs and excise consultancy”.
This is no isolated case and reflects the general approach of Albanian companies in regards to customs and excise consultancy. Almost no consideration is given to consulting a specialized professional in the field of customs and excise, who may provide his expert opinion, may provide instructions and recommendations based on best practices, and may assists companies in their customs and excise operations.
Companies prefer to address customs and excise issues through economists/accountants, lawyers, as well as consulting with customs brokers or even customs administration staff themselves.
However, none of the above can replace the contribution of a specialized expert, and it becomes particularly apparent when addressing problems requires in-depth knowledge of customs and excise legislation and practice, and their comprehensive interpretation.
We are fortunate that customs and excise legislation in Albania are almost a word-by-word translation of the legal acts that regulate respective fields in the European Union as well.
The European Union legislation that Albania has adopted reflects the experience of companies and customs administrations of 28 different Member States, from Germany to Slovenia, from Spain to Malta, from Slovakia to Cyprus, from Bulgaria to Romania. There have certainly been differences in interpretation and implementation from one Member State to another. These issues are continuously addressed through the process of updating the legislation as well as publishing guidance documents of explanatory nature.
Although in Albania the ‘new’ Customs Code entered partly into force in 2015 and fully in 2017, still in 2019 the interpretation of legislation and the practice in many cases remains at the level of the repealed legislation, and this proves the lack of comprehensive understanding of ‘new’ legislation by the authorities.
On the other hand, the fact that Albania currently has no Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) proves that neither Albanian businesses are well-informed or even interested enough to be informed about the facilities that the legislation provides for them.
When I decided to establish Gazidede Customs & Excise Consulting, I undertook to contribute to the improvement of customs & excise environment in Albania, always with reference to European customs & excise expertise.
And, by the way, the problem I mentioned at the beginning was related to some ‘findings’ of a post-clearance control. Through a complicated administrative appeal process, by referring to customs legislation we succeeded in overturning as unfounded about 96% of the customs duties and sanctions alleged. The work to zero the remaining part of the customs duties and sanctions continues.
Besar Gazidede
Customs & Excise Consultant
Gazidede Customs & Excise Consulting
Sulejman Delvina Street
Wilson Square, 1/1
Tirana, Albania
Email: besar.gazidede@gazidede.al
Mob: +355 69 405 0005
Web: https://gazidede.al/