Customs Certificate Application

On September 29th a guideline was issued by the Greek Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) regarding the Customs Certificate Application procedure. A trial period of the procedure from September 29th until October 29th was announced, before going live on October 30th.

Let’s have a look at what the Customs Certificate Application is.

It is a reference point for the Customs Free Zones system. It’s purpose is to distinguish and certify cargo to EU and non-EU, as they exit the Free Zone, so that we can decide if VAT needs to be paid or not.

The certificate is issued for all cargoes (EU or non-EU) regardless of how they are transported and their destination (import – export – forwarding – EU liberalisation). The Free Zone Management Authority is in charge for issuing the certificate.

The Customs Certificate Authority does not replace any other customs procedure, but is added to the existing ones.

In trial runs of the procedure that were conducted, some issues occured. So an extension to the trial period of the procedure is anticipated, until all issues are resolved.

Cosmatos Group is following up on all Customs Certificate Application briefings and participates with it’s own customs broker, Anestis Ioannidis, in the user group that provides feedback to Thessaloniki Port Authority (THPA) and contributes to the optimization of the procedure.