-+ БЕЛОРУССКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

М.А. Гладко

THE WORLD OF CUSTOMS

Учебно-методическое пособие

для студентов

специальности “Финансы и контроль в таможенной деятельности”

БГЭУ

Минск: БГЭУ, 2010

Рецензент:

Рекомендовано кафедрой профессионально ориентированной английской речи БГЭУ

Гладко М.А.

The World of Customs = Мир таможенного дела / М.А. Гладко. - БГЭУ, 2011. – 198.

Данное учебно-методическое пособие направлено на развитие лексических навыков и навыков чтения текстов по таможенному делу на английском языке. Может быть использовано в качестве основного или дополнительного материала.

Contents

UNIT I. CUSTOMS CONTROL

UNIT II. CUSTOMS TARIFFS

UNIT III. CUSTOMS DUTIES

UNIT IV. EXPORT PROCEDURES AND EXPORT FINANCE

UNIT V. IMPORT PROCEDURES AND IMPORT FINANCE

UNIT VI. TYPES OF CUSTOMS PAYMENT

UNIT VII. INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS - INCOTERMS

UNIT VIII. CUSTOMS UNION

UNIT IX. ELECTRONIC CUSTOMS

UNIT X. CUSTOMS BROKERAGE

UNIT XI. CUSTOMS OF THE 21 CENTURY

FOR DISCUSSION

TRANSLATING ARTICLES

Unit I. Customs control

✔ Think about how a business (customs) can help a community/citizens.

✔ Think about how a country/you personally benefit from customs control/business activities.

✔ All businesses (including customs) use accounting and record keeping to manage finances. Why do you think it is important for businesses to keep track of money?

Ch293

Text a. Customs control

I. Read the following article and give synonyms for the words and phrases in bold.

Customs are involved in the implementation and enforcement of Community legislation relating to external trade, not only for customs duties and commercial policy measures, but also as regards security, environmental, anti-dumping, consumer protection, cultural and agricultural controls.

The most important control areas in which customs authorities have a control responsibility are:

Controls of the nature and the amounts of duties applicable according to the correct description of commodity code, origin and customs value of goods.

Controls of goods under customs supervision (goods in temporary storage and placed under certain customs procedures)

Controls on commercial policy measures (objectives) and commercial traffic.

Controls for security, safety and public health requirements

Controls on compliance with environmental legislation.

Controls on compliance with Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) rules.

Controls on compliance with veterinary, phyto-sanitary, health and quality regulations.

Customs must apply a wide variety of controls in the fast moving goods environment of today in a consistent manner. This means customs controls must be quick, effective and based on modern risk management techniques.

Previously, Customs controls tended to focus on the fiscal aspects of customs work but in recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of customs controls for purposes such as security, safety, protection of the environment.

Security controls require a different control approach and this is reflected in recent developments, which will rationalise customs controls to ensure security based controls are carried out in a coordinated manner. To attain this objective, there will be priority-setting for customs controls, the introduction of a Community risk management system and identification of the resources and equipment which will be needed.

The full use of modern technology should be applied, including maximising the benefits of modern IT techniques as well as specialised examination equipment. Custom laboratories will have an increasingly important role to play in helping to ensure the correct and uniform application of Community legislation in a world where product developments occur ever more rapidly.

Effective controls also require close co-operation with business, particularly when it comes to exchange of information, and avoiding unnecessary delays or costs arising from the implementation of controls.

In the majority of Member States, customs are also involved, under their national responsibilities, with many activities relating to the fight against illicit traffic in drugs, pornography and organised crime as well as supporting the work of other services (police, immigration etc.). Customs generally perform community or national duties simultaneously.

Imagine you work in customs and you must target and select some containers for examination, to verify that legitimate goods are contained in the container and that there is no financial, health or environmental risk to the European Community and its citizens.

Which containers do you chose and why? What type of controls do you carry out, how quickly and effectively can you carry out the control?

These questions are faced each day by customs services. In order to make the best use of scarce resources and to ensure that there are no unreasonable delays to legitimate traffic, controls must be targeted to where they are to be most effective. This involves Risk Analysis or Risk Management.

"Risk" means the likelihood that something will prevent the application of Community or national measures concerning the customs treatment of goods.

To minimise the occurrence of risks, customs can use risk management as a technique to more effectively set priorities and more efficiently allocate resources necessary for maintaining a proper balance between controls and facilitating legitimate trade.

From the days when Gallo-Roman potters placed their best-known competitors' seals on the necks of their own amphoras, to today's manufacturers of fake pacemakers, blood-pressure monitors, cough syrups, toothpastes, washing powder, soft drinks, software, CDs or medicines, counterfeiting and piracy have evolved constantly with emerging trends and technology.

There has recently been an enormous growth in the illegal market for designer goods with a 'name' or trademark (counterfeit goods), as well as goods made without paying for the intellectual property rights (pirated goods).

Quite apart from having economic consequences, these activities have now also attracted international trafficking rings, which make massive profits, but more importantly put consumers' health and safety in increasing danger.

To better understand the phenomena of counterfeiting and piracy, they must be considered within the context of an evolving problem - looking at the evolving nature of the economic consequences, the types of objects being counterfeited, the role of fraudulent organizations, the legislative means available to EU customs administrations and the new customs techniques likely to hinder the various types of trafficking. Through this, the interests of legitimate producers and importers can be protected.

A joint customs operation, codenamed DIABOLO II, conducted in the framework of ASEM (Asia-Europe meeting) has led to the seizure of more than 65 million counterfeit cigarettes and 369,000 other counterfeit items (including shoes, toys, cameras, headphones, hats, caps, gloves, and handbags) representing over 20 different trademarks. The Regulation:

extends the scope of the former Regulation to cover more intellectual property rights such as plant variety rights, geographical indications, designations of origin:

improves the quality of the information provided by the owner of the rights to the customs services when a request is made for action. In addition the period of validity and the form of requests have been standardised and the use of computer links to make requests is encouraged:

abolishes fees and guarantees so as to help small and medium sized companies to use the system without incurring costs. The idea of guarantees is replaced by having the owner of the rights enter into an agreement to pay instead:

extends the scope of the "ex officio" procedure; which allows the customs authorities to react without a prior application for action;

increases the quality and amount of information given by customs to intellectual property right holders.

allows samples to be given to the owners of the intellectual property rights; but only for analysis in order to be able to pursue the procedure:

ends the need for the owner of the intellectual property right to take an action on the merits of the case before being able to have the goods destroyed with the agreement of the holder of the goods or the person who declared the goods to customs; this should reduce the costs involved in some cases:

allows for checks of travellers to make sure that the use of couriers or 'mules' does not conceal a large flow of goods; in current legislation this kind of import, providing it falls within the limits set out for granting customs duty free allowances, falls outside the scope of the law. This is an important change for the owners of the rights concerned.