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Arnoud Willems (Belgium)

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Companies engaged in continuous production processes may face challenges when using the EU inward processing procedure. For background, inward processing allows an EU company to import materials without having to pay import duties and other charges like anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, if the product made with these imported materials is exported. First, EU customs law allows companies to use inward processing if the imported non-EU materials used in the production can be identified in the…

Under EU customs law, storing and warehousing EU and non-EU goods is possible if certain conditions are met. However, since 2020, non-EU goods subject to anti-dumping, countervailing, or safeguard measures, can no longer be stored together with EU goods. This is because EU customs law now states that non-EU goods subject to anti-dumping measures do not have the same commercial quality as EU goods, and goods that do not have the same commercial quality cannot…

The rules (Statute) of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have recently changed. The changes aim to enhance the EU judicial process and reduce the workload of the CJEU. The number of requests for preliminary rulings have increased significantly over the years. In cases concerning preliminary rulings, EU member state courts ask for the opinion of the CJEU on issues of EU law to help give a judgment in a national case.…

On 24 September, the European Commission (“Commission”) announced that, as a general policy measure, it would start automatically registering imports of products subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, including in ongoing investigations. Until now, complainants had to request the Commission to register imports based on evidence of stockpiling (i.e., of increased imports during the investigation). On 24 October, the Commission published a several regulations in fact registering imports in all ongoing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.…

On 4 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered judgments in Front Polisario (joined cases C‑778/21 P and C-798/21 P and joined cases C‑779/21 P and C-799/21 P). These judgments concern appeals brought by the European Commission and the Council of the EU against judgments of the General Court of the EU annulling EU decisions related to agreements between the EU and Morocco involving the Western Sahara territory. The EU…

This blog concerns an update of our previous blog on the extension of the definition of “consigned from”, to be found here. In 2023, the EU applied anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties (together “AD/AS duties”) on imports of 141 products from 20 countries. The EU regularly extends these duties to imports of these products from other countries to counter circumvention.As context, to see whether AD/AS duties apply, you need to look at the non-preferential origin of…

On 17 September 2024, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an EU body that prosecutes among others financial crimes that affect the EU budget, announced that it is seeking criminal penalties from two companies and five of their directors of more than 8 years imprisonment along with a fine of over EUR 25 million. Over 30 properties linked to the defendants were seized to ensure that the defendants can meet their financial liabilities. EPPO alleges…

In 2023, the EU applied anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties (together “AD/AS duties”) on imports of 141 products from 20 countries. The EU regularly extends these duties to imports of these products from other countries to counter circumvention. As context, to see whether AD/AS duties apply, you need to look at the non-preferential origin of imported products. For example, EU AD/AS duties on Indonesian stainless steel apply on stainless steel with non-preferential origin Indonesia, regardless of…

On 12 June 2024, the European Commission proposed provisional countervailing duties for imports into the European Union (“EU”) of new battery electric vehicles designed for the transport of persons (“EVs”) originating from the People’s Republic of China. The pre-disclosure of the European Commission’s proposal is published here. This pre-disclosure follows from the anti-subsidy investigation concerning EVs from the People’s Republic of China. Find our previous blogpost on that investigation here. The products in the scope…

For the second week of our Annual Compliance Conference, we discussed key trade compliance issues impacting our clients globally. Specifically, we discussed the trade policy response of the US, EU and UK to ever increasing geopolitical disruption, global strategies for handling sanctions regulators and enforcement, and key global sanctions and export controls developments. Trade policy response to geopolitical disruption – China and beyond – Tuesday 7 May Speakers: Tristan Grimmer (Partner, London), Sylwia Lis (Partner,…