- Under the Union Customs Code, all goods entering, leaving, or passing through the EU (including goods carried by passengers) are subject to customs supervision and liable to customs controls.
- The challenge for customs is to balance the necessity to protect the EU, its residents, and the EU’s financial interests while facilitating the movements of legitimate trade in the global value chain. With billions of consignments crossing the EU borders every year, controls must be targeted effectively by applying risk management techniques to select certain goods for customs controls.
Scope
The European Commission and EU countries have established common risk criteria which are applied throughout the EU. Customs authorities use these criteria to target shipments that represent a threat to the safety and security of the EU, its citizens and its financial interests.
The Commission, together with EU countries, is responsible for defining, developing and ensuring the proper functioning of the EU Customs Risk Management Framework (CRMF) – the EU’s policy for establishing a uniform level of customs controls throughout the EU. When a weakness is identified at EU level (trade diversion or circumvention, different trade treatment at the border, new threat), the Commission and EU countries use CRMF tools to address it.
The Customs Risk Management System (CRMS2) was developed in 2005 to help customs authorities share risk information and communicate on risk management and control issues.
One important aspect of risk management is the role that trusted traders – authorised economic operators (AEOs) – play in securing the supply chain.
Learn more about AEOs
The Import Control System 2 (ICS2) is an advance cargo information system designed to improve security in the international transportation of goods and involved supply chain. It represents customs’ first line of defense and supports their risk-based controls at our external borders which are aimed to protect the security and safety of goods entering the EU.
Learn more about ICS2
For more information on customs risk management in the EU, visit the links below.
