71 Customs risk management
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details | Commission Communication on the EU Strategy and Action Plan for customs risk management: Tackling risks, strengthening supply chain security and facilitating trade
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Department | HM Revenue and Customs
|
| Document Numbers | (36288), 12644/14 + ADD 1, COM(14) 527
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
71.1 In August 2014 the Commission presented in this Communication
a strategy on customs risk management and supply chain security
based on a step by step action plan. The Government is generally
supportive of the strategy and action plan. The previous Committee
said that, while it had no issue with the thrust of this Communication,
it noted two concerns, about challenging timelines and about development
of a central repository, the Government had drawn to its attention.
So it asked to hear about any success with the Commission in mitigating
these concerns, before the document could be cleared from scrutiny.
71.2 The Government tells us now that these two concerns
have been addressed satisfactorily, so that it is now ready to
support Council adoption of the text of the action plan.
71.3 Given these improvements to the action plan
we now clear the document from scrutiny.
Full details of
the document: Commission
Communication on the EU Strategy and Action Plan for customs risk
management: Tackling risks, strengthening supply chain security
and facilitating trade: (36288), 12644/14 + ADD 1, COM(14) 527.
Background
71.4 In August 2014, following encouragement in June
2013 by the Council, the Commission presented in this Communication
a strategy on customs risk management and supply chain security
based on a step by step action plan and a cost benefit analysis.
The Government is generally supportive of the strategy and action
plan. However, it did express to the previous Committee two concerns,
about challenging timelines and about development of a central
repository.
71.5 The previous Committee said that, while it had
no issue with the thrust of this Communication, it noted the concerns
the Government had drawn to its attention. So it asked to hear
from the Government about any success with the Commission in mitigating
these concerns. Meanwhile the document remained under scrutiny.
The Minister's letter of 6 July 2015
71.6 The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Damian
Hinds) now tells us about a resolution of the two concerns the
Government had. First, noting that the action plan set out an
expectation for implementation in the period 2014-2020, he says
that:
· the
Government was concerned that any calls to implement changes at
the beginning of this range would be very challenging;
· during
further negotiations with the EU, officials have worked closely
with other Member States which shared the UK's concerns to secure
agreement to preserve a flexible delivery timetable which fully
aligns with implementation plans for the new Union Customs Code;
· this
includes the introduction of an additional two year transitional
period from May 2016 to May 2018;
· given
this the Government believes that the action plan now provides
sufficient flexibility to enable the UK to meet the timetable
for delivery; and
· consequently,
the Government can now support this text.
71.7 Secondly, the Minister says that the other main
Government concern, in respect of the creation of a central data
repository, was that it could extend to the creation of EU level
performance measures and targets which could impact on Member
States' ability to control their own resource deployment. He reports
that:
· officials
have taken part in further negotiations on this matter, which
have led to the adoption of a more flexible delivery model which
provides Member States with the option of carrying out risk analysis
within their own national systems rather than receiving results
from a centrally performed risk analysis system;
· this
will therefore remain a matter of national competence and the
UK will retain control over the deployment of its resources; and
· as a
result the Government is now able to support this text.
71.8 Making plain now what neither the Communication
nor the Government's Explanatory Memorandum had revealed previously
— that it is the Council's intention to formally adopt the
text of the action plan, the Minister hopes that we are now able
to clear the document from scrutiny, so that the Government can
vote in favour of the text.
Previous Committee Report
Thirteenth Report 219-xiii (2014-15), chapter 17
(15 October 2014).
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