Fic rEcommEndationS - Eurobank EFG

ation), Authorised Economic Operator status, simplified
process for express shipments and others.
The Decree, in Chapter VII, Article 520 defines the following
classification of express shipments:
Items intended for personal needs (luggage), personal gifts,
medicines for personal use, low value non-commercial shipments
(de-minimis) – exempt from customs duty and VAT;
Items containing promotional material and samples received
free of charge – exempt from customs duty, but
not from VAT;
Items for which the customs debt may arise, without
value limit, but that are not subject to restrictions and
additional inspections;
All other items including imports.
Article 521 enables a simplified clearance procedure for the
first three groups.
Additionally, the Customs Decree (Official Gazette of RS,
No 48/2010) introduced simplified procedures and duties
Fic rEcommEndationS
relief for all shipments with value not exceeding EUR 25
(de-minimis) and for personal gifts with value not exceeding
EUR 45.
rEmaininG iSSUES
The new legal framework has not met expectations yet,
since a great part of the real modernisation is directly dependant
on the development of information systems and
has not been implemented yet. Simplified declaration,
Authorised Economic Operator status and simplified procedure
for express shipments are not operational in practice.
Implementation is pending until customs information
system is developed to be able to support the processes.
Linkage of Customs and companies’ systems with two way
data exchange is necessary to enable true trade facilitation,
standardisation and simplified procedures.
Also, value thresholds for the de-minimis and shipments
with a gift are creating problems in practice, forcing full
customs procedure implementation for a number of shipments
slightly exceeding the above mentioned threshold.
Overall, Customs has made progress in terms of initial simplifications. However, the implementation of concrete simplifications
specified by the legal framework, is uncertain due to the lack of proper information system support.
To ensure further progress in the customs area, we recommend:
Efficient information systems development to enable and ensure implementation of the simplified processes, secure
linkage with companies and automated clearance;
Enable full implementation of the simplified procedures provided by the legal framework;
Increment the value thresholds for the de-minimis and shipments with a gift;
Provide more efficient and standardised education to customs personnel to ensure focus on the full new legal framework
implementation in practice, thus creating a predictable environment for trade and investments facilitation;
Switch customs officers’ focus from items developed in practice to the legal framework, reduction of their discretionary
rights and introduction of accountability if a consignment is held and/or inspected without any real reason
derived from risk analysis.
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