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

Let's meet in Vilnius, Lithuania on May 25-26, 2023! Online attendance is also possible. Register here

The conference, including all materials, will be held in English. On the first day, simultaneous translation into Lithuanian and Russian (the working language in Central Asia). The second day will be held in English only.

PROGRAMME 25.05.2023

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, Lawyer, Dr Gediminas Valantiejus 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

Networking evening
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

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 in working groups:
- '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
- Online group 'Exchange of knowledge in a global community' facilitator Enrika Naujoke, Lithuania, CKC and LCPA member

The results will be summarised and shared with all participants of the conference. 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!

Walking tour 'Old Vilnius'
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