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Taxation and Customs Union

EU legislation implementing international customs provisions

The implementation of customs provisions contained in international agreements applicable in the Union may deserve the adoption and management of EU autonomous legislation, like the following:

Common Customs Tariff, Combined Nomenclature and tariff classification of goods

The EU Common Customs Tariff (CCT) includes tariff measures agreed at international level, in WTO-GATT (conventional, bound duties) or in bilateral FTAs (preferential duties). The EU Combined Nomenclature (CN) is based on the WCO Harmonised System (HS) and tariff classification in the EU shall comply with HS principles and rules

Origin of Goods

Rules of origin are in general contained in the international agreements themselves: multilateral ones like the WTO Agreement on Rules of Origin; bilateral free trade agreements, or regional agreement like the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (PEM Convention). However, non-preferential rules of origin and some sets of rules of preferential origin which support autonomous preferential arrangements of the EU (e.g. GSP or OCT) are contained in autonomous EU legislation.

Customs Value of Goods

Though customs valuation is regulated at WTO multilateral level by Article VII GATT and the Agreement for its implementation, the rules actually applied in the EU are laid down in autonomous EU legislation (UCC).

Union Customs Code

The Union Customs Code and the provisions supplementing or implementing it, adopted at EU or national level, constitute the main body of Union autonomous customs legislation. It is therefore primarily through the UCC and its application that the EU ensures compliance with its international commitments regarding in particular trade facilitation and simplification of customs procedures, security of the supply chain and customs controls based on risk analysis.