The Statute of Limitation in Case of Customs Criminal Offences in the EU: A Comparative Study

According to the uniformed customs legislation in the European Union (EU), the normal statute of limitation for notifying a customs debt is three years. This period can be extended to a period of a minimum of five years and a maximum of ten years if the customs debt is incurred as the result of an act which, at the time it was committed, was liable to engender criminal court proceedings. Understanding the rules about what is considered a criminal court proceeding is thus essential for the extended statute of limitation that applies in case of a post-clearance recovery of customs debt. As EU Member States are competent to decide in their own legislation when an act engenders a criminal court proceeding, the application of the extended statute of limitation may be different between the Member States and cause uncertainty for market operators having customs operations in different EU Member States. This study examines to what extent the differences in application of the extended statute of limitation in case of customs criminal offences in a representative sample of eight Member States (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Spain) could hinder the uniform application of customs legislation in the EU Customs Union. statute of limitation, customs debt, post-clearance, criminal offence