More efficient trading and lower costs - Early February sees new customs procedures

Early this week, February 1, mutual transit process outside borders of Serbia has started as well. In practice, it means that if these companies transport goods for instance from Belgrade to destination in a country of western Europe or Turkey, they can at starting customs destination deliver initial mutual transit with adequate guarantee and transport goods to final destination without additional declarations, guarantees and reduced stops at border crossings.

Customs Directorate says that in the previous days, through transit system, app. 60 transport means passed.

- It has been noticed that, occasionally, first of all at separate border crossings and customs branch offices within the country, which are crowded with greater scope of work, there has been temporary slower system operations. The Customs Directorate is monitoring the work of the system and in line with the options with which it has it is working on overcoming occasional slowdown. – the directorate communicates and adds that new system is mainly used in road traffic but that it is also implied within railway and river traffic, only in smaller extent.

Mutual transit procedure is a possibility to start transit, carries out and ends in the countries members of the Convention on mutual transit process with simplified formalities in goods trading.

- The procedure of customs is changed with the fact that it lasts for shorter period of time and implies a number of data which are exchanged in electronic form with other customs administration and participants in customs transit process. These data are in electronic form and replace customs declaration and other documents which go with goods are still in paper form. We would like to mention that data exchange is ensured by the Customs Directorate – the directorate communicates for eKapija.

((Nebojsa Mandic)

Nebojsa Mandic, DHL Global Forwarding Country Head, says for our portal that this is really significant simplification of customs process which will shorten time of holding goods at borders and at the same time it should generate savings in business of companies operating transport and logistics.

He thinks that harmonization of customs procedures which are used in Serbia with standards that are valid in the world, i.e. EU will increase awareness level and predictability in business at our market.

Transit through Serbia

The Customs claim that it is realistic to expect that new system will affect more intensive role of Serbia which has high transit potential. It is expected that first of all, transport means which now use our part of Corridor 10 will stay at our transit route but at the same time that one number of trucks, but that at the same time one number of trucks which now use Corridor 4 (Bulgaria, Romania) will pass through Serbia which would contribute to generation of higher profit from transit.

Nebojsa Mandic agrees that mutual transit process will have a strong positive impact since “this way, with infrastructure development, comparative advantage of Serbia is increased compared to other countries in the region”.

Convention on mutual transit procedure

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia declared June 24, 2015 the Law on confirming Convention on mutual transit process.

Mutual transit process provides an option for participants in customs process to transport goods between contracting parties of the Convention (European Union – EU: Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Luxemburg, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakian Republic and Croatia; EFTA countries: Switzerland, Norway, Island and the Kingdom of Lichtenstein as well as Republic of Turkey and FYR Macedonia_ based on one electronic declaration and one provision which is valid during entire transit operation.

Marija Kambic

Uprava Carina Beograd

DHL MEĐUNARODNI VAZDUŠNI EKSPRES DOO BEOGRAD

Mutual transit process

e customs

electronic customs

paper customs declarations

customs declarations

electronic customs declarations

Nebojsa Mandic

DHL Global Forwarding

transport

logistics

Corridor 10

Corridor 4

Convention on mutual transit process

NCTS