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

From the 26th to the 27th of June 2025 the European Forum for Foreign Trade (EFA) will be hosting the 36th European Customs Law Conference in Linz. For more information please click here, to download the flyer here.

Past Events

On the 26th of November this year, Senior Researcher Robert Lodde held a presentation in Bologna on the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Agreement). The lecture was part of a series of presentations as part of the Jean Monnet Re-Globe Seminar Cycle “EU Trade Policy,
Sustainability, and Private Parties” by the university of Bologna.

The Seminar Cycle dealt with the challenges that economic operators face because of the new EU autonomous measures and legislation based on the concept of human rights due diligence  and the role private parties can play in the definition and enforcement of the EU trade policy tools.

Robert Lodde explained the origin and the purpose of the AfCFTA. Therefore he compared the approach of the AfCFTA to the Single Market and Customs Union of the European Union and shed a light on the future of the agreement and the associated vision 2063 project. Further he gave an overview on the various trade instruments and measures that come with the implementation of AfCFTA.

Mr. Lodde continued his presentation by pointing out general challenges in intra-african trade that AfCFTA tries to face, i.e. non tariff barriers such as administrative burdens. To this end he also addressed the challenges arising from politically unstable situations and deficits in infrastructure. In this context he illustrated the paradox economic phenomenon of the “resource curse” – nations rich of natural resources (gas, oil etc.) are often economic weaker than those without – and how an FTA can address this problem.

The next part of the lecture covered the role of multinatonal, middle and small enterprises in african trade and their ability to enforce social and environemental standards in cooperation with governements. Finally, he turned his attention to informal trade in Africa, which is not recorded by the authorities.

At the end of the presentation, Mr. Lodde gave an outlook on the possibilities that can still be realised through AfCFTA, although the FTA has not yet been ratified by all parties.

You can download the presentation of Mr. Lodde by clicking on this link. The poster of the seminar is available under this link.

On the occasion of its foundation in 1999 the bulgarian National Organization of Customs Brokers (NOCA) celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary on the 8th of November 2024 in Sofia. To this end, it organized a international practice conference which dealt with the topic “Customs of the future”. Therefore speakers from different organizations such as the bulgarian Customs Agency or the Lithuanian Customs Practitioners Association (LCPA) gave presentations regarding the topic of the conference. The event was attended not only by members of NOCA, but also by representatives of the Customs Agency, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and others.

After the welcoming address by the chairman of the Board of Directors of NOCA Prof. Dr. Momchil Antov, the first panel of the conference was opened with a presentation by Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang. He introduced the participants to the planned reform of the union customs code (MUCC – modernised union customs code) and explained the changes of the proposed reform package and its effects on the role of customs agents.

Based on the statement by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that “it is time to take the customs union to the next level”, Prof. Wolffgang pointed out the holistic view of the customs union which, in addition to the internal market itself, also includes, for example, the protection of financial, social and environmental interests of the Union and its member states.

Following on from this he presented and elaborated on selected topics of the reform such as the planned EU Customs Data Hub and EU Customs Authority. In this context he also shed light on the future cooperation between customs authorities and business which is to find expression in the new intended status of a “Trust and Check Trader” (TCT). This qualification is intended to replace the old AEO status in the long term.

In the last part of his presentation Prof. Wolffgang pointed out changed definitions in the MUCC such as “Customs Law”, “Importer”, “Exporter”, “Customs Representative” and others. As part of this he raised the problem that although the indirect “Customs Representative” can calculate and therefore handle the fiscal liability of the import, he can not calculate the liability for compliance with non-fiscal legislation. To solve this problem, Prof. Wolffgang referred to a suggestion made by Michael Lux at  a Presentation in the Council Customs Union Working Party in Brussels on September 19th: To eliminate the financial risk, the Customs Representative should have the option of naming a special representative for non-fiscal obligations. He concluded his lecture  with a overview of the intended timetable for the reform that stretches from 2023 to 2038.

The subsequent presentations were given by Iliana Tsolovska, director of the “Follow-up Control” Directorate at the BG Customs Agency, Enrika Naujoke, director of the Lithuanian Customs Practitioners Association (LCPA) and founder of CustomsClear, Kolyo Kolev, director of the “ISAD” Directorate of the BG Customs Agency and Georgi Ganev, executive director of IBM Bulgaria. The conference concluded with a gala dinner.

On Friday, 18 October 2024, the third seminar of the ECCE project (EUROPEAN COMMON CUSTOMS EVALUATION) took place in Münster. The seminar was entitled ‘CUSTOMS SANCTION SYSTEM OF THE EU MEMBER STATES’ and dealt with the different sanction systems for customs law offences in the Member States of the European Union. As there is no uniform harmonised sanction system at European level, the seminar offered the opportunity to examine and evaluate the differences and similarities of sanctions for customs law infringements from the perspectives of the individual member states. The design and delimitation of sanctions as administrative offences or as penalties was also discussed. Various professors and lecturers from all over Europe contributed their expertise in various presentations. In view of the European Commission’s planned reform of customs law, which provides for the standardisation of sanctions for customs law infringements at European level, the seminar also took a look into the future of customs sanctions.

After a welcome to the participants and an introduction to the topic by Prof Dr Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Prof Dr Santiago Ibanez Marsilla and Prof Dr Jorge J. Milla Ibanez from the Universitat de Valencia opened the lecture series with their presentation ‘Sanctions for customs violations in Spain’. In their presentations, they shed light on the constitutional framework for customs sanctions and penalties in Spain and presented the Spanish sanctions system. This was followed by the Italian perspective entitled ‘The recent overhaul of the customs sanctions in Italy’, presented by Prof. Dr Giangiacomo D’Angelo, Dr Vincenzo Carbone and Dr Federico Tarini from the University of Bologna. Among other things, they gave the participants an overview of the new reform of the tax system in Italy and the associated new regulations for the treatment of customs offences. The German system of administrative offences and penalties for customs law violations was discussed in detail by Prof. Dr Lothar Gellert from the Federal University of Public Administration in his presentation ‘Sanctions for customs violations in Germany’. Finally, Dr Martijn Schippers, LL.M. from the Erasmus University Rotterdam addressed customs sanctions in the Netherlands. In this context, he explained the influence of the UCC and its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the national customs law of the Netherlands and the resulting consequences.

Following the presentation of the national particularities of customs sanctions law, Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Benedikt Wemmer and Sophie Fanenstich introduced the participants to the planned harmonisation of the sanctions system through the UCC reform package in the second part of the seminar. In their contribution, they critically questioned, among other things, whether the European Union actually has the competence to regulate criminal sanctions at European level or whether it is not ultra vires exceeding the powers granted to it by the European Treaties.

At the end of the seminar, Diego Modonesi from the European Commission brought his practical perspective from his work for the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and informed the participants about the latest developments and challenges in the fight against customs fraud, especially in the area of e-commerce.

You can view and download the presentations and the recording of the seminar by clicking here.

On the 8th and 9th of October this year, the 14th Foreign Trade Theme Day took place in Cologne. Prof. Wolffgang moderated the event as conference leader.

On the 4th of October 2024 Prof. Wolffgang spoke on a conference at the University of Insubria. The event dealt with the planned reform of the Unions Customs Code. Alongside other experts from all across Europe, Prof. Wolffgang presented the changes of the proposed reform package and its effects on customs law. The conference was hosted in Como by the University of Insubria under the auspices of the International Network of Customs Universities (INCU).

Please click on this link for more information!

At the request of the European Commission, Prof. Wolffgang gave a statement on the draft of the new Union Customs Code to the Customs Union Working Party of the European Council last week. He began with a holistic understanding of the customs union, which, in addition to the internal market itself, also includes, for example, the protection of financial, social and environmental interests of the Union and the member states. He then briefly presented the individual reform initiatives of various EU players for the years 2016 to 2023 to reorganise customs law, before finally moving on to the reform package for 2023. To this end, he compared the individual objectives of the UCC reform – such as increasing the transparency of supply chains and thus control – with the actual content of the reform package – such as the establishment of an EU Customs Data Hub. At the end of this comparison, Professor Wolffgang drew a positive balance on the reform proposal, but pointed out that a lot of detailed work was still needed. Following the favourable opinion, he countered the concerns of the member states by arguing that in times of geopolitical crises, only a strong European Union would be able to compete with China and the USA. A strong customs union is an indispensable prerequisite for this.

As part of the “Zollwärts” conference 2024 in Stuttgart, Professor Wolffgang – together with Janine Lampprecht (CEO, Grenzlotsen GmbH) – gave an interview on the current and future challenges facing customs law and customs administration. The “Zollwärts” Customs Conference and Congress is a renowned event in the field of customs and export control law. It is  attended by many professionals who work in the area of customs and export control from all over Germany.

For more information please click here and here.

At the 8th Foreign Trade Forum of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Schwarzwald Baar Heuberg in Donauschingen, Professor Wolffgang held a presentation on the geopolitical uncertainties and increasing legal burdens for companies in foreign trade. At the beginning of the lecture, he looked back at the downfall of the Soviet Union (USSR), the German reunification and the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to then turn the spotlight on modern challenges for international trade. In this context, Prof. Wolffgang pointed out the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the growing economical, political and technological influence of China and the powerful economic strength and expansion of the BRICS states. Following this, he gave an overwiev of the legal and political instruments in foreign trade law (i.e. customs, sanctions, export controls, import restrictions). Furthermore, he informed the participants of the Foreign Trade Forum about the latest sanctions package of the EU. In connection with this, he emphasised the economic dependance of the German economy on China. At the end of the presentation Prof. Wolffgang introduced the audience to the US Inflation Reduction Act of the Biden administration and the Green-Deal and Defense strategies of the European Union. In conclusion Prof. Wolffgang underlined the growing relevance and complexity of foreign trade law in these times of global upheavels.

Click at this link for more information.

Once again this year, the European Forum for Foreign Trade (EFA) was hosting the European Customs Law Conference. “Artificial intelligence in foreign trade – possibilities and limits” was the motto of this year’s “EFA Conference”, which took place in Mannheim. Prof. Dr. Wolffgang co-organized the event in his capacity as chairman of the advisory board of EFA European Forum for External Trade, Excise and Customs.

This year’s main topics included the possible applications of artificial intelligence in customs administration and foreign trade, practical experience with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the reform of the Union Customs Code and the associated ongoing digitalization of EU customs law, as well as an overview of “green taxes”.

In the morning of the 13th of June Dr. Lothar Harings, chairman of the executive board, welcomed the attendees of this years EFA Conference. After the welcome address, Harald Kröger (Board Member, President Automotive Business SiMa Technologies, San Francisco ) gave the opening lecture, in which he shed light on the latest development in artificial intelligence. The lecture was followed by an overwiev of the pending reform on the Union Customs Code by Philippe Duponteil (Director for Digital Delivery, Directorate General TAXUD, European Commission, Brussels) and Martin Blaesing (Head of Division III B 1, Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin). After this, two discussion rounds under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sandra Rinnert and Frank Görtz were held on the usage and possibilites of AI in Customs adminstriations and Foreign Trade. To conclude the first day, Prof Dr Harald Jatzke  (Presiding Judge at the Federal Fiscal Court, Munich), Niko Liebheit (lawyer, Becker Büttner Held, Berlin), Jan Makurath (Head of Division DIV.A.3, Directorate IV, GZD, Bonn) and Dr. Dirk Jansen (Federal University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration, Münster) provided an overview of the latest case law in Electricity tax law.

The next day of the conference was opened with an short address by Kurt Van Dender (Acting Head of the Tax Policy and Statistics Division, OECD, Genf). He spoke about “Green Taxes – overview and environmental impact”. In the course of the day, Petra Heermann and Dr. Lothar Harings hosted discussions with various experts on the topics “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – Experiences from the practice” and “Sustainability and human rights: New challenges for companies for companies (LkSG, EUDR, Forced Labour Ban)”. In this context, Prof. Wolffgang introduced the new EU-Regulation on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market (COM (2022) 453 final 2022/0269 (COD)), which is still in the european legislative procress. Finally, Dr. Lothar Harings bid farewell to the participants with a closing statement.

Please click here for an complete overview of the discussed topics .

On the 28th of May the 18th Export Control Day in Berlin was opened by Prof. Dr. Wolffgang with an welcome address. The motto of this year’s Export Control Day was „Trust and Responsibility“. In his speech, Prof. Wolffgang referred to the awarding of the Peace of Westphalia Prize to Emmanuel Macron, which was taking place at the same time and recalled the importance of international treaties to avoid violent conflicts. In addition, he outlined the new European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) and the Commissions Proposal of a European Defence Insdustrial Programme (EDIP).

The president of the BAFA Thorsten Safarik also held an address, in which he highlighted the close dialogue between  the export control authorities and business. The speech was followed by a keynote adress from the state secretary Sven Giegold of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK).

As in previous years, experts in the field of foreign trade law discussed current challenges in export control law. In various forums, high-ranking representatives from business, politics, administration and science exchanged views on the latest developments in foreign trade and offered participants the opportunity to find out about the latest developments in export control law. This year’s focus includeded arms export controls and Russian-Chinese economic relations. Further, attendees gained insights on the development of the EU-Dual-Use-Regulation and had the chance to participate on a forum that dealt with the conflict of scientific freedom and export controls. Finally the Export Control Day hosted a panel regarding the evasion of sanctions against Russia.

The Export Control Day 2024 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 University of Münster.

If you want to know more please click here.

At the Cologne VAT and Customs Days, Professor Wolffgang gave an overview of the customs law reform after the joint opening of the event with Dr Nathalie Harksen. In addition to the new regulations (MUCC), he also shed light on the newly planned EU Customs Authority and the planned EU Customs Data Hub. Professor Rinnert also attended the event and covered other current topics and legsislative changes relating to customs and VAT law in her presentation.

Please click here to see a short video of the event.

The German Tax Consultants’ Congress took place in Berlin on May 13 and 14. In this context, Professor Wolffgang held a workshop on new developments in customs and foreign trade law.

In the first half of his lecture, he explained how sustainability issues can be addressed through customs law. To this end he, presented the new EU Deforestation Regulation. Further he shed light on the rules and regulations of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (“Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz”) which is applicable since 1st of January 2023. Subsequently, he gave an outlook on the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD), which has not yet been passed by EU Parliament. Finally, Professor Wolffgang referred to the planned EU Forced Labour Regulation, which is currently still being negotiated between the European institutions and and is not expected to be applicable until 2026 or 2027.

In the second half of the workshop, Prof. Wolffgang gave an overview of the upcoming EU Customs law reform. He illustrated the planned EU Customs Data Hub and outlined the intended EU Customs Authority. Finally he introduced the new AEO plus status for companys which the reform envisages.

For more information please click here.

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.

For more information, please click here or here.