Customs & excise activities are regulated by national and international legal provisions:
- Standards and principles governing international movement and trade of goods are based on rules accepted at international level and ratified on national level, such as General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and obligations arising from membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
- Some of the main areas regulated by the GATT/WTO are customs valuation, customs tariff, rules of origin, non-tariff measures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, anti-dumping measures, subsidies and countervailing measures, import licensing etc.
- Also, the essential principles and standards regarding customs regimes (procedures) and customs legislation are regulated by the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).
- On the other hand, the tariff classification of goods is performed based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, and the official interpretation of the tariff classification is based on Explanatory Notes (HSEN), published by the World Customs Organization.
- Preferential origin of goods is determined based on Free Trade Agreements and the Regional Convention on the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin, while the rules of non-preferential origin are determined based on national legislation and based on national legislation of the country of destination of exported goods.
- Furthermore, Customs Code and Customs Code Implementing Provisions are translation (almost word-by-word/almost “transposition”) of Council and Parliament Regulation No. 952/2013 Customs Code of the Union and Commission Regulations No. 2015/446, No. 2015/447 and No. 2016/341.
- The Law on Excise has been approximated with Council Directive 2008/118/EC of 16 December 2008, and the Law on Value Added Tax in Republic of Albania has been approximated with the European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006.
The legal basis has been translated from the legal basis of European Union, consequently, the understanding and interpretation is also performed in accordance with the relevant European Union standards.
Therefore, understanding and interpretation of customs & excise legislation, and of VAT legislation is complex and requires specific knowledge.
GAZIDEDE CUSTOMS & EXCISE CONSULTING possesses the required capacities and necessary knowledge to understand and interpret the international legislation, Albanian and European Union legislation, in the fields of customs & excise, and in other fields related to international trade of goods, such as VAT, National Taxes etc.
Why you may need our expertise?
- Helps to understand legal requirements in regards to the business activity, in the fields of customs and excise;
- Provides assurance for the business activity;
- Offers the possibility to improve processes;
- Mostly results in saving time, reducing costs and elimination of unnecessary procedures.
When you may need our expertise?
- If you are looking for a qualified opinion regarding customs & excise activity of your business;
- If you need to ensure that you are not overpaying customs & excise duties due to inaccuracies;
- If your customs & excise procedures are too complicated;
- If you would like to ensure that you have fulfilled all of the legal obligations, and minimize the exposure towards infringements and penalties, which may result from an eventual post-clearance control up to 3 years from the date of customs clearance;
- If you are interested to identify potential areas for improvement;
- If you would like to appeal an arbitrary decision of customs or tax authorities;
- If you need our expert opinion in Court;
- Everything else related to our area of expertise.