Customs classification of set-top boxes
The customs tarriff or combined nomenclature (CN) is at the very center of customs planning. The classification of “set-top boxes” (i.e., determining the correct CN code) and the determination of the correct customs duty rate can be difficult.
While it would seem that Dutch case law, case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, a report by the World Trade Organization (WTO), and subsequent legislation and legislative amendments would have made the classification process easier, this does not appear to be the case—despite the fact that the proper classification of a set-top box could mean the difference between paying customs duties of 0% or customs duties of up to 14%.
Read a September 2012 report [PDF 115 KB] prepared by the KPMG member firm in the Netherlands: Customs classification of set-top boxes: how difficult can it be?
Customs arrangement discharged—administrative oversight results in a customs debt
The Court of Justice of the European Union on 6 September 2012 addressed customs duties—specifically with respect to situations when there is a customs arrangement (such as customs warehousing or inward processing).
In such intances, a customs debt or liablity can arise despite the fact that the treatment of the goods was completely in line with the customs arrangement, and therefore, all its conditions had substantively been met.
The customs debt arises because the administrative conditions were not met (e.g., the removal of goods was not entered into the stock records in a timely fashion, or the list of goods for which the customs arrangement is discharged was filed too late with the customs authorities).
Read a September 2012 report [PDF 113 KB] prepared by the KPMG member firm in the Netherlands: Customs arrangement discharged: administrative oversight results in a customs debt