Martin Cullen
Question:57 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Finance the role he expects Ireland to play in the Customs 2000 Programme adopted recently by the EU Commission. [7678/95]
Written Answers. - Customs 2000 Programme.
The EU Commission has recently made a proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision adopting an action programme for Community customs to be known as the "Customs 2000 Programme". The Commission proposes that the programme will run for the five years from 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2000. The proposal will, of course, require Parliament and Council approval before it can be implemented. Technical discussion of the draft has commenced in the Council.
The Revenue Commissioners has already played a major role in the development of the proposed programme. It chaired a seminar which it organised jointly with the Commission in Dublin Castle in October 1993, at which the role of customs in the Single Market era and the strategic direction which EU customs services should follow for the future were discussed by senior customs officials from all the member states, including the three countries which have since acceded to membership. Following those discussions, the commissioners prepared a draft strategy statement which they presented to the heads of the EU customs services at a meeting in December 1993. The heads approved the statement which sets down an agreed basis for maximising the contribution of the customs services in the EU, in co-operation with the Commission. The Commission's present proposals are in large measure a formalising of that strategy statement in the proposed Parliament and Council decision.
The primary objectives of the programme proposed by the Commission are to ensure that customs controls and procedures are implemented in an effective and equivalent way at every point of the EU's external frontier, to encourage and support initiatives for improving the efficiency of customs services, to enhance training given to customs, and to strengthen links between customs and traders.
With these objectives in mind, the Commission has proposed various specific measures, including: the use of teams of customs officials to monitor how EU customs law is being implemented in the member states, so as to promote best practice throughout the EU and to identify any desirable changes needed in EU law; consultation with trade interests to ensure that their requirements are being met by customs procedures; development of an anti-fraud policy, to include improvements in gathering and using intelligence, and so on; development of improved customs working methods such as use of risk analysis techniques for selecting goods for check, use of audit as a control tool, simplified customs procedures and greater computerisation; increased training for customs officals and the promotion of common training courses on EU customs procedures.
The Revenue Commissioners will participate fully in the programme to be approved by Parliament and the Council in order to ensure that our customs service uses best practice for the benefit of the business community and all those affected by customs rules and procedures, as well as ensuring that our controls at the EU external frontier are as effective as possible to combat drugs smuggling and other illegal imports. Following the agreement reached by the heads of customs, the commissioners have already taken a number of initiatives by adopting new working methods such as those I have referred to earlier; by participating in a pilot project set up by the Commission involving the use of teams of customs officials to monitor the implementation of customs law and promote best practice; by promoting the use of simplified customs procedures for traders; by setting up a Customs Consultative Committee with trade interests, which has received a general welcome and has already resulted in a number of useful simplifications for the trade.