European Customs Practitioners' Conference

Law. Technologies. EU-UK TCA. Green cross-border trade. From the big picture to daily practice - for European importers, exporters and everyone involved in cross-border trade. Download programme in pdf: in English, in Lithuanian, in Russian

The conference, including all materials, in English, simultaneous translation into Lithuanian and Russian (the working language in Central Asia).

PROGRAMME 25.05.2023 (in English, translation to LT, RU)

Registration

Welcome address by Enrika Naujokė, Director of Lithuanian Customs Practitioners Association

The development of mega-free trade agreements Prof Dr Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Head of the Institute of Customs and International Trade Law, University of Münster, Germany

'Hardening’ EU soft law Prof Dr Krzysztof Lasiński-Sulecki, Director of the Centre of Fiscal Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland

How to navigate legal complexity and manage compliance? Michael Lux, Lawyer, Michael Lux BVBA, Belgium

Moderator: Dr Gediminas Valantiejus, Senior Research Associate, Mykolas Romeris University; Attorney-at-Law, Law-Firm GVLEX, Lithuania

Break

Customs, Inside Anywhere, Insights Everywhere Frank Heijmann, Director of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation of the Netherlands and Head of Trade Relations at the Netherlands Customs
This presentation will highlight the changes in customs enforcement due to the increased use of technology, in particular the innovations in this field. Whereas technology up till today still is being used as a supporting tool for customs in detection of goods and its authentication to customs declaration data, in the near future one will see so-called autodetection of data and images.

Project management in customs IT projects Michael Tomuscheit, Managing Director, AWB Consulting GmbH, Germany

Classification of goods: pitfalls in the use of automation Christopher Matt, Managing Director, MA-TAX Consulting GmbH, Germany

Moderator: Milda Stravinskė, Advisor to the LCPA Board, Lithuania

Lunch

Double duty trap: issues of origin and status Zandra Horgan, Co-Founder, HFS Accountants, Ireland
Goods which are not purchased from the manufacturer cannot provide full proof of preferential origin. Goods lose Union status on leaving the EU and often cannot provide the proofs required for Returned Goods Relief (RGR). Does TCA need amendment?

Seamless border - is it realistic with a 24hr supply chain? Kevin Shakespeare, Director of Strategic Projects and International Development, Institute of Export & International Trade, the United Kingdom 
Brexit has introduced the idea customs clearance happening without stopping trucks or ferries. The future could see borders without any waiting for clearance. How is this possible?

Customs compliance - being prepared for a customs audit (focus on suppliers' declarations) Richard Bartlett, Managing director, Export Unlocked, the United Kingdom 

Moderator: Anthony Buckley, Chair of CKI Board, Customs Knowledge Institute, Ireland

Break

Quo Vadis: Green Customs? Arne Mielken, CEO of Customs Manager Ltd., the United Kingdom
Arne Mielken will overview current thinking and projects on Green Customs and, using HS customs classification as an example, will explain how firms must implement circular economy models and low-carbon operations to ensure trade facilitation, low customs costs, speedy border clearance and supply chain velocity in the future.

Practical action in the customs department Anna Gayk, Managing Partner of Mendel Verlag and Dr. Christian Struck MLE, Global Head of Trade Compliance at Wacker Chemie AG, Germany
In recent years, global trade has been increasingly discovered as a possible means of influencing the world economy towards more sustainability, resource-saving production processes and a circular economy. The measures and ideas subsumed under the keyword ‘green’ are extensive and are not always viewed and evaluated uniformly by their protagonists. We present the most important approaches and highlight their relevance for practical action in the company and especially in the customs department.

Moderators: Dr Erika Besusparienė, Associate professor, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania and Monika Bielskienė, Manager in the Indirect Tax Team, PwC Lithuania

Only for the participants present in Vilnius. We have chosen the question ‘And how is this done in your country?’ to start the evening. Michaël Van Giel, ADON bv, Belgium, will share some insights from the research conducted for the ‘Comparative Analysis of Member States' Customs Authorisation Procedures for the Entry of Products into the EU’ and Boryana Peycheva, PhD Student, Bulgaria, will share the insights gained during the preparation of the article ‘Customs law in EU: 1 or 27 interpretations?’, published in the Customs Compliance & Risk Management journal.

PROGRAMME 26.05.2023 (in English, translation to LT, RU)

Morning coffee

Yara is a global supplier of fertilizers, industrial chemicals and environmental products (approx. 16 000 employees, operations in 60 countries). Ivo Tärno (CKC member), Team Lead / Customs Operations Coordinator, Yara Suomi OY (LCPA member), will present the results of internal customs operations audit in Europe, which focused on three key areas: compliance, process and systems improvements, competence and capabilities; and share insights.

The workshop 'Increasing competencies in the field of customs' is organised by LCPA partner, the international Customs Knowledge Community (CKC) established by an Irish-based not-for-profit organization Customs Knowledge Institute (CKI). CKC invites practitioners from business and customs to join and to create together a vibrant international community for the exchange of knowledge, information and best practices.

The workshop will start with a welcome to participants by Kevin Shakespeare, Chair of the CKC Management Council.
We will discuss these topics:
- 'Competencies of a customs broker' facilitator Dr Momchil Antov, Bulgaria, CKC member
- 'Customs knowledge management in companies' facilitator Anthony Buckley, Ireland, CKC member
- 'Competencies required in the future' facilitator Dr Erika Besuspariene, Lithuania, LCPA member
- 'Ensuring compliance with export control and sanctions' facilitator Christelle Dubouchet, France, CKC member

The results will be summarised after the conference and shared with all conference participants. We will also prepare articles and research papers.

Break

'Let's connect!' is an event for anyone who wants to collaborate with practitioners in the field of customs in Europe and Central Asia. Take this great opportunity to showcase yourself (live in Vilnius or online) by sharing:
- Who you are?
- What you do?
- Who you are looking for? and
- Your contact details.

Get to know others, find out what they are looking for - maybe it is you/ your company and this could be the start of a new cooperation!

We invite you to prepare a slide (see examples here; please send us it until May 10, 2023) and give a 1 minute presentation. The slides will be shared with all participants of this part of the conference - reach out to the contacts of interest!

What is strategic compliance management according to the "INCASE" model? Find out the answer from Dr. Michael Jung, author of the book "Compliance for Customs and Foreign Trade“ (in German) and participate in a workshop with the renowned customs expert, former Head of the Customs Law Unit of DG TAXUD of the European Commission, Mr. Michael Lux. Mr. Lux is working on a new book, which builds on the book by Dr. Jung. Authors and practitioners from different countries are invited to collaborate on the project!

Closing address by Enrika Naujokė, Director of Lithuanian Customs Practitioners Association

During the walking tour we will visit political center of medieval Vilnius - Cathedral square, admire unique Lithuanian brick Gothic churches, luxurious Presidential Palace and Vilnius University – the oldest university in Eastern Europe, where we will dive into the culture of Renaissance in amazing Alumnate courtyard. We will also visit the place of the oldest "shopping mall" at the Town Hall square, admire the Gates of Dawn with the miraculous painting of Mary the Mother of Mercy, and other interesting places of Vilnius Old Town.

For further information please contact us: lcpa@lcpa.lt , +370 664 26393