Agenda

Pre-Conference Workshops

Preparing for Brexit 1 Year Out: Checklist of What Companies Need to Have in Place

Mar 26, 2018 9:00am – 12:00pm

Speakers

Walter van der Meiren
Customs Brokerage Director
UPS (Belgium)

Mike Josypenko
Senior Director of Special Projects
Institute of Export & International Trade (UK)

Successfully Utilizing Free Trade Agreements to Save Your Company Money

Mar 26, 2018 1:30pm – 4:30pm

Speakers

Maria Donner Abreu
Counsellor, Regional Trade Agreements Section, Trade Policies Review Division
World Trade Organisation (Switzerland)

Francois Cathelineau
Head of Regional Trade Affairs EMEA
Givaudan International SA (Switzerland)

Day 1 - Tuesday, March 27, 2018

8:00
Registration and Refreshments
9:00
Opening Remarks by the Chairs
9:15
Countdown to Brexit: How are European Companies Preparing?
10:00
Morning Refreshments
11:50
Self-Assessment Under the UCC: How it Will Work in Practice
12:50
Networking Luncheon
1:45
Key Aspects and the Status of the Newest Free-Trade Agreements: How Companies Can Benefit from them
3:00
Afternoon Refreshments
3:30

Breakout Session: Choose A or B

5:30
Conference Adjourns

Day 2 - Wednesday, March 28, 2018

8:30
Refreshments
9:00
Opening Remarks by the Chairs
9:15
Practical considerations for global tariff classification
10:15
The Return on Investment of Automating Trade Compliance
11:00
Morning Refreshments
11:15
Customs Café Begins
12:15
Networking Luncheon
1:30
Customs Café Continues
2:30
What to do When the Customs Authorities come Knocking on your Door? Top Tips for Preparing for an Audit
3:30
Afternoon Refreshments
3:45
Customs Law Enforcement within the EU
4:45
Chairs Closing Remarks and End of Conference

Day 1 - Tuesday, March 27, 2018

8:00
Registration and Refreshments
9:00
Opening Remarks by the Chairs

Mike Bing
Associate Director - Global Indirect Tax (Customs)
Diageo (Netherlands)

Bruno Fransman
Regional Director Global Trade Compliance Legal
Avnet (Belgium)
9:15
Countdown to Brexit: How are European Companies Preparing?

Kenneth Persson
Senior Adviser
Swedish Customs (Sweden)

Godfried Smit
Policy Director
European Shippers’ Council (Netherlands)

Tim Cornell
Senior Expert
Cornell Customs Consultancy Ltd

Walter van der Meiren
Customs Brokerage Director
UPS (Belgium)

Johan Van Dingenen
Senior Customs Analyst
Nike (Belgium)

Mike Josypenko
Senior Director of Special Projects
Institute of Export & International Trade (UK)

Martin Meacock
Director Product Management, Customs Europe
Descartes (UK)

  • What do customs authorities need to deal with pre/post Brexit?
  • What do customs authorities need to do to manage the Brexit process?
  • What do EU companies need to address?
    • Is a soft Brexit possible?
    • Position of transport (air, road feedering etc)
  • Understanding the compliance requirements needed
  • How to deal with the expected workflow of having to make declarations for all of these inbound transactions in the UK
    • Implications on further customs arrangements (inward processing, warehousing transit)
  • How many companies currently have a system that will upscale and can deal with double the amount of custom entries?
  • Current free trade agreements the EU has and how the UK leaving the EU will impact current EU manufacturers and distributors
  • With the UK components not being able to count as preferential anymore, will EU manufacturers lose preference rates on some of the EU exports?
  • Is there a necessity to establish new supply chains with components coming from other companies rather than UK manufacturers?
  • How can companies hedge against the risks of delays at ports?
  • Anti-dumping – what happens after Brexit
    • UK’s relation with 3rd countries
  • Evaluating the different scenarios including hard Brexit and WTO with no agreement with customs border
    • Safety and security consequences
    • Other “duties” VAT/excise
    • Smart borders?
10:00
Morning Refreshments
11:50
Self-Assessment Under the UCC: How it Will Work in Practice

Stephan Freismuth
Customs Manager
BMW Group (Germany)

Howard Levene
Founder and Director
Five Lanes Consultancy (UK)

David Hesketh
Research Consultant and CORE Work Package 10 Leader
British Maritime Technology (UK)

  • Update on the European CORE project
  • What will it look like under the UCC?
  • Customs future arrangements paper and white paper issued by the UK Government
  • Self-assessment as the solution towards frictionless borders
  • How European as well as UK companies are looking at self-assessment
  • How it will work in practice
12:50
Networking Luncheon
1:45
Key Aspects and the Status of the Newest Free-Trade Agreements: How Companies Can Benefit from them

Moderator

Vincent Routhier
Partner
DS Avocats (Canada)

Maria Donner Abreu
Counsellor, Regional Trade Agreements Section, Trade Policies Review Division
World Trade Organisation (Switzerland)

Anna Markitanova
International Trade Compliance Officer
Syngenta (Switzerland)

Francois Cathelineau
Head of Regional Trade Affairs EMEA
Givaudan International SA (Switzerland)

  • New information on upcoming EU-Japan agreement
  • The requirements of NAFTA, the origin of the material, making sure that your goods qualify for NAFTA
  • How CETA and its new model of certification will work in practice
  • EU- South Korea FTA and challenging customs issues including defining origin
  • FTA’s in the context of Brexit
    • What happens to the existing FTA’s and how do you manage them?
    • Potential grandfathering of existing FTA’s and issues surrounding supply chains and accumulation awards
  • Signing an FTA between the EU and the UK and the issues that arise out of this
  • Towards an EU-MERCOSUR FTA?
  • Review of existing EU FTAs in Latin America: EU-Mexico, EU-Chile
  • What’s new on EPAs
  • The WTO/RTAs relationship
3:00
Afternoon Refreshments
3:30

Breakout Session: Choose A or B

5:30
Conference Adjourns

Day 2 - Wednesday, March 28, 2018

8:30
Refreshments
9:00
Opening Remarks by the Chairs

Mike Bing
Associate Director - Global Indirect Tax (Customs)
Diageo (Netherlands)

Bruno Fransman
Regional Director Global Trade Compliance Legal
Avnet (Belgium)
9:15
Practical considerations for global tariff classification

Mike Bing
Associate Director - Global Indirect Tax (Customs)
Diageo (Netherlands)

Susan Morley
Director
Morley Consulting (UK)

The session will include examples covering classification in multiple countries, interpretational discrepancies and conflicting BTI.
10:15
The Return on Investment of Automating Trade Compliance

Delphine Neveux
Group Director Global Trade Compliance
Michelin (France)

  • The value of automating Export/Import compliance
    • What is an enabler to speed the way the business is run?
    • How can companies automate a lot of their foreign trade data and customs activities?
  • Which Foreign Trade Data Management model to operate?
    • Which Foreign Trade Data is critical to my business?
    • Risks/costs/benefits analysis of automating foreign trade data for customs management
  • Which Foreign Trade Data Management System is most appropriate to my Business?
    • What systems are available out there?
    • Pros’ and cons of the various FT Data Management models
11:00
Morning Refreshments
11:15
Customs Café Begins

Petar Ljujic
Senior Trade Compliance Manager
Esterline (Belgium)

Bruno Fransman
Regional Director Global Trade Compliance Legal
Avnet (Belgium)

Michelle Medina Millian
Technical Officer - Revenue Programme Manager
World Customs Organization (Belgium)

Pascal Dorel
Global Customs Senior Manager
Cisco (France)

Eric E. van der Starre
Trade Compliance Representative
MIC Customs Solutions (Belgium)

Jean Marie Salva
Partner
DS Avocats (France)

The Customs Café brings groups together to discuss in-depth the issues facing you as a customs professional. This is an opportunity to connect with peers and industry leaders and find solutions to the challenges that you are facing. Each participant can choose to join two of the following topics:

A / The New Union Customs Code: Main Changes and Challenges after its Entry into Force

Following the implementation of the UCC, this session will examine the specific areas which have changed, how the rules are being applied and how professionals are dealing with these changes including the new definition of exporter of record, the new definition of transaction value and the new definition of royalties and license fees.

B / Best Practices for Obtaining AEO Certification

Gain insights on how to meet all of the requirements in order to become an AEO certified company and how to speed up the certification process. In addition, the session will also look at what you have to do in your company to make sure that you remain AEO compliant.

C / Understanding the Interplay between Customs and Export Controls

With customs professionals increasingly having to ensuring the correct licenses are in place for their company’s controlled goods, this session will explore how to ensure the correct procedures are in place and what controls you need to have to export into different countries.

D / Developments in E-Commerce and Customs Regulation

This session will explore how regulation is evolving to keep pace with developments in e-commerce. It will look at the World Customs Organization framework of standards on cross-border e-Commerce.

E / Benchmarking your Global Customs Compliance Programme

Discover how global companies are dealing with everyday customs issues within their compliance programmes and operating models. You will also gain insights on how to get your CEO’s, CFO’s and Board Members to provide support to customs functions.

12:15
Networking Luncheon
1:30
Customs Café Continues

A / The New Union Customs Code: Main Changes and Challenges after its Entry into Force
B / Best Practices for Obtaining AEO Certification
C / Understanding the Interplay between Customs and Export Controls
D / Developments in E-Commerce and Customs Regulation
E / Benchmarking your Global Customs Compliance Programme
2:30
What to do When the Customs Authorities come Knocking on your Door? Top Tips for Preparing for an Audit

Petar Ljujic
Senior Trade Compliance Manager
Esterline (Belgium)

Maurizio Gambardella
Trade & Customs Compliance Manager SMRT
Sandvik Mining (Sweden)

  • A comparison of how audits are conducted across Europe
  • How companies assess their customs compliance risks
  • What customs authorities are looking for in an audit
  • Authority and powers of Customs officers
  • Obligations and rights of auditees
  • How to reduce problems frequently uncovered during a customs audit
  • How do you address entry audits requirements and record keeping requirements?
  • Audit procedure, how to prepare for it
  • Risk management process
  • Stepping stones towards an effective Post-Clearance Audit system
3:30
Afternoon Refreshments
3:45
Customs Law Enforcement within the EU

Mayra Souza
Head of Global Trade
Solvay (Belgium)

Nicolaj Kuplewatzky
Member of the Legal Service
European Commission (Belgium)

  • *Practical experience on trade defence investigations in the chemical industry from an offensive and defensive point of view; and
  • *Latest jurisprudence on customs and trade law which has an impact on compliance for companies
    • C-156/16 Tigers
    • C-529/16 Hamamatsu
    • C-365/15 Wortmann
    • C-256/16 Deichmann
4:45
Chairs Closing Remarks and End of Conference

Preparing for Brexit 1 Year Out: Checklist of What Companies Need to Have in Place

Mar 26, 2018 9:00am – 12:00pm

Walter van der Meiren
Customs Brokerage Director
UPS (Belgium)

Mike Josypenko
Senior Director of Special Projects
Institute of Export & International Trade (UK)

What is it about?

With only a year before the UK exits the EU, now is the time for companies to fully prepare for what lies ahead. This workshop will prepare you for all of the different outcomes in March 2018.

  • Inventory of all of the things that can happen, the checklist of what companies need to prepare for
  • Preparing for a hard Brexit, soft Brexit and everything in between
  • What are the different scenarios and possible models for a new customs relationship from April 2019?
    • UK membership of the European Economic Area
    • Full membership of the EU Customs Union
    • A new bilateral trade agreement
    • Hard Brexit no deal
  • How can companies prepare for each scenario?
  • Understanding how different trading models will impact upon your business
  • Assessing the impact on your supply chain
  • Hedging against uncertainty

Successfully Utilizing Free Trade Agreements to Save Your Company Money

Mar 26, 2018 1:30pm – 4:30pm

Maria Donner Abreu
Counsellor, Regional Trade Agreements Section, Trade Policies Review Division
World Trade Organisation (Switzerland)

Francois Cathelineau
Head of Regional Trade Affairs EMEA
Givaudan International SA (Switzerland)

What is it about?

Companies can make substantial duty relief savings through Free Trade Agreements, however all too often companies fail to fully utilize the agreements that are in place. This in-depth workshop will provide you with the guidance you need to successfully navigate and utilize applicable free trade agreements.

  • What are the free trade agreements that European companies have?
  • What are the priority FTA’s?
  • How to identify savings opportunities presented by current FTA’s
  • How do you meet/make sure you comply with the origin and other requirements in order to get the preferences in the agreement?
  • What are those benefits and how do you make sure you get them?
  • What are the compliance requirements to get the preferences?
  • How is preferential origin awarded?
  • How do you ensure that the goods you are importing fall within the scope of the FTA and can benefit from those?
  • Understanding what are the legal instruments, what are your rights and obligations and how do you benefit from them?
  • How to avoid invalidating FTAs when you are using multiple FTAs
  • WTO database on regional trade agreements
  • Margins of preference and compliance costs
  • Some hints regarding preference utilization in EU FTA’s