Publicat pe 09/06/2023

Bucharest, June 8, 2023: The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) and the National Professional Association of Customs Workers in Romania (ANPLVR) organized on Thursday, June 8 this year the “Extra-Community Trade Facilitation” conference, an event that brought up topics of interest for the business environment, such as: practical solutions for streamlining trade with third countries, facilitating the movement of low-risk goods, solutions for streamlining road infrastructure traffic adjacent to the customs office.

The current geopolitical context, determined by the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, created and continues to create a multitude of problems, both for Romanian carriers and customs workers, mainly generated by the increase in traffic at the border crossing points in the north and eastern Romania. These factors have caused intense disruption to the activity of carriers, companies involved in cross-border trade, brokers and, last but not least, customs personnel.

“The CCIR’s concern for extra-EU trade also comes as a result of the economic results that Romania registers annually, and here I am referring to the trade deficit, which, unfortunately, has been on an upward trend for a long time, with a downright explosive growth in 2022, when 34.09 billion euros were registered in this chapter, with 10.4 billion euros above the level of the previous year. The conclusions that can be drawn by analyzing these figures are more than obvious. Romania is no longer present on non-EU markets considered, not long ago, traditional, and here I am referring to those in South America, Asia or Africa, and this is caused by a poor representation of our country in terms of commercial diplomacy which , obviously in need of an urgent reset. All the studies show that, globally, the pole of economic growth will not be in Europe, but in these markets that we are trying to win back. Romania must become a hub for all products coming from non-EU states located both in Eastern Europe and in the West of the continent. Obviously, an extremely important role in this flow of goods is played by the Romanian Customs Authority (AVR), a very important institution for Romania, in terms of its functions of control, tax collection or protection of the local economy. That’s why we want this event not to remain a singular one, we count on an intense collaboration with AVR in the future as well, so that the business environment in Romania is constantly informed about possible changes in this field”, said the secretary general of the CCIR, Mr. Ovidiu Silaghi.

“From the beginning, I would like to assure the business environment in Romania that AVR is determined to have an uninterrupted activity, which does not negatively influence intra- or extra-community commercial exchanges, operated by Romanian companies. One of the fundamental roles of the AVR is to facilitate trade between states, even in less favorable conditions such as, for example, the one now caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation on Ukraine, which has led to increased traffic through the crossing points of the border located in the north and east of Romania at values more than five times compared to those recorded before February 24, 2022, the date on which this conflict began. As a first consequence, and this could be seen by everyone through the media, very long queues of trucks were formed, especially at the Siret, Albiţa, Giurgiuleşti or Isaccea border customs offices, which were transporting goods in transit to or from Constanta and Bulgaria. Also, the reorientation of Ukrainian companies towards the European Union markets, with the elimination of customs duties, led to a sudden increase in import and export activity at the interior customs offices. Thank you CCIR for the invitation to participate in this event. It is very important for AVR to be in permanent contact with the business environment in Romania, and such meetings, like today’s, represent the ideal framework in which, together, we can find the best solutions for the activity of import-export companies to be affected as little as possible by such external factors”, said the president of AVR, Mr. Ion Cupă.

“Within the EU customs union, the entity that facilitates trade between companies in the community space, customs authorities face challenges related to the fulfillment of different roles. Despite the significant modernization of EU customs legislation, there is evidence of problems such as the undervaluation of goods to evade customs duties and VAT or the smuggling of illicit and unsafe goods. There are also concerns about imbalances between Member States in terms of customs controls, with goods being diverted to the weakest points of entry and exit from the EU customs territory. Thus, it becomes necessary for customs authorities to act as a single entity, developing wider and more operational cooperation, on a thematic or geographical basis, to ensure the fulfillment of essential customs priorities. The ultimate goal of these actions is to support and strengthen the various aspects of risks and customs control, in order to reduce costs for member states and facilitate legal trade”, said the ANPLVR president, Mr. Octavian Relu Botea.