Events
This section presents future and past events. The link „past events“ provides details of conferences such as the „European Customs Law Conference“, the „Export Control Day“ and the „Foreign Trade Law Day“. Prof. Dr. Wolffgang organises or co-organises these events in his capacity as chairman of the advisory board of EFA European Forum for External Trade, Excise and Customs.
In addition, the section provides details on conferences in which Prof. Dr. Wolffgang participates as member of the PICARD Advisory Group.
The link „future events“ provides details on upcoming conferences involving Prof. Dr. Wolffgang or his team.
Future Events
Past Events
As a member of the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC) of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Professor Wolffgang took part in a discussion on the topic „Customs engaging traditional and new partners with purpose“ at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels and adressed questions from an international audience which consisted of representatives of the 186 WCO Member Customs administrations, of international organizations, business/privatesector associations, members of the WCO Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) and academics.
In particular, Professor Wolffgang gave an outlook on the use of emerging technologies in the training of Customs professionals and how these are already being used within the INCU. Further he discussed strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of capacity building programs for Customs administrations especially in developing countries and how academic institutions like the INCU collaberate with Customs agencies to ensure the sustainibility of the training efforts.
On Friday 19 April 2024, the Erasmus School of Law hosted the Second Seminar of ECCE (European Common Customs Evaluation) dedicated to the topic: ‚VAT on import and customs valuation in e-commerce‘.
At the seminar, Professor Wolffgang, together with Dr Nathalie Harksen and Dr Benedikt Wemmer, held a presentation on „Incurrence of a taxable event at import of e-commerce consignments“.
For more information, please click here or here.
13th Foreign Trade Theme Day
The 13th Foreign Trade Theme Day took place in Cologne on 17 and 18 October 2023. Prof. Hans-Michael Wolffgang again moderated the event and also spoke on the European Union’s customs law reform.
16th World Customs Law Meeting in Berlin
From the 27th to the 30th of September 2023, the XVI World Customs Law Meeting was held at the Humboldt University in Berlin. It was organized by the International Customs Law Academy. Since it was the first meeting since 2019 due to Covid, there were over 200 participants from over 30 countries from all regions in the world. The ICTL was one of the co-organizers of the event.
Topics of the meeting were the current status of world trade, like the implementation status of the TFA, the current mega-FTAs and export restrictions. Also an overview of national and regional legislation and changes in customs valuation was given. Prof Michael Wolffgang and Prof Andres Ponce led the event and participated in a variety of panel discussions.
For more information, please click here. For the whole agenda, please click here.
12th Foreign Trade Theme Day, 18th October
On the 18th Cotober the 12th Foreign Trade Theme Day was held in Cologne. The topics were the newest developments in foreign trade and rules of origin. Prof. Wolffgang was the main moderator of the event as well as one of the speakers.
Foreign Trade & Customs Seminar by the Swiss Shippers´ Council
At the 23rd September 2022, the foreign trade & customs seminar was held by the Swiss Shippers´ Council. Its topic was the challenges presented by the changes in foreign trade. The topics were supply chain law, export controls and sanctions, and the impact of the Russian war on Ukraine.
For more information, please click here.
Prof Wolffgang gives a lecture at the 6th foreign trade forum of the IHK Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg
For the 6th time, regional companies were able to look forward to the Foreign Trade Forum of the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. For the first time since 2019, the congress is once again taking place in person. At the forum in Donaueschingen, not only current topics such as the Ukraine war were discussed: The border crossing with Switzerland was also the focus.
The digitalisation of administrative processes should not only make the transition to the third country Switzerland easier in the future, but also counteract the lack of personnel. This means an enormous relief for the regional companies and above all also for the local authorities.
For more information, please click here or here.
ICTL hosts the third seminar of ECCE
On Friday 17 June, ICTL hosted the third ECCE seminar. The seminar was on Actual Value of Imported Goods: Actual price, Additions, Deductions. It was the third of four seminars of the joint project of different European universities. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the participants discussed current developments in the calculation of customs value either on site or remotely connected.
To learn more about ECC, please click here. For the schedule of the seminar, please click here.
16th Export Control Day by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control
The 16th Export Control Day took place in Berlin on 9 and 10 June. For two days, experts discussed current trends and developments in export control. The theme of the 16th ECT was „Freedom is the insight into necessity“. The keynote address was given by Woodward Price, envoy of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. Prof. Dr Hans-Michael Wolffgang moderated several question and answer sessions on topics such as the current export control of the USA and the export control of China.
The Export Control Day 2022 was jointly organised by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) and the Centre for Foreign Trade Law (ZAR) e. V. of the Westfälische Wilhems-Universität Münster (WWU).
For more information, please click here. For the schedule of the event, please click here.
11th Foreign Trade Theme Day, 26th and 27th October 2021
From the 26th to 27th October, the Foreign Trade Theme Day 2021 was held. The conference focused on the new regulations regarding the supply chain, tax compliance and customs as well as e-customs
Foreign Trade & Customs Seminar by the Swiss Shippers´ Council
At the 21st October 2021, the foreign trade & customs seminar was held by the Swiss Shippers´ Council. Its topic was the challenges presented by the changes in foreign trade. The topics were the foreign trade agreements, Brexit, digitisation and the future of swiss foreign trade.
For more information, please click here.
32nd European Customs Law Conference
From the 17th to 18th June 2021, the 32nd European Customs Conference has been held under the headline „Outlook 2030 – The Future of Customs and Customs Law“. The conference took place digital as well as in presence at the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. The conference was about the latest developments in the world of customs, be it the new silk road, artificial intelligence and block chain and their role in customs processes, or the development of customs jurisprudence.
For an overview of the topics, please click here.
The ICTL becomes a partner of ECCE
The ICTL has become a partner of the ECCE project. ECCE is an indipendent legal research project financed by European Commission, OLAF and the University of Bologna, Department of Legal Studies. The project is conducted in partnership with Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Universidad de Valencia, and Joint Research Centre (ISPRA).
The project focuses on two main aspects:
The first task of the research is to explore and compare national customs control practices. The research will be conducted going beyond the national legal frame of reference of customs control (law on the books). It aims to understand and explain how customs controls about valuation are de facto performed by national customs authorities, exploring the actual attitude of national customs authorities towards such a control (law in action).
The second objective of the program is to explore the legal status and value of Theseus, which is a European statistical instrument, with potential affordability in fighting undervaluation fraud all over Europe. The legal status of Theseus cannot be taken for granted so far, because it should be checked against the law and other legal means. In other words, it is necessary to investigate the possible legitimate role of statistical tools in the control of customs valuation.
