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The EU Customs is taking steps to improve the entry security and safety border controls. According to the European Commission, it entails an overhaul and reform from multiple perspectives, like IT, legal, customs risk management/controls and trade operational perspectives.

When goods are bought or sold “Free on Board” (FOB) it means that the seller delivers the goods to a ship at a port previously agreed to by the seller and the buyer. The seller loads the goods onto the ship. The buyer then takes care of the import formalities and transportation to the final destination. Free on Board is one of the oldest Incoterms. It dates back to when goods were carried by sailing ships and it was one of the terms when the Incoterms were first released in 1936. It is also one of the most used commercial terms.

Norway is not a member state of the European Union, but it is a member of the European Economic Area. This means that Norway sets its own tariffs on goods from outside the single market and at the same time, Norwegian goods are imported into the European Union tariff-free.

As of May 16th you no longer need a surveillance document when you enter certain iron- and metal products into free circulation. The same goes for certain aluminium products.

Many countries respond in a different way when it comes to the covid19 pandemic. Within the European Union, we see a focus on keeping trade lanes open and goods flowing, especially medical supplies. Turkey is taking a different route.

The whole world is affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This means that the demand for medical supplies has been higher than ever before. At the same time, global supply chains are being hampered by restrictions in air freight and ocean freight capacity due to grounded planes and blanked sailings.

The Belgian Customs Authority has recently reported a growing number of fraud cases with importing goods from countries like China concerning import duties and VAT.