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4.5 Customs matters
The customs matters in SR are arranged by the Act No. 199/2004 (Customs Law) on amendments. The customs tariffs are stated on the grounds of the Common Customs Tariff of the EU. The highest customs and the greatest financial problem are the customs duties for agricultural products, especially for products of animal origin (for example meat). A high tariff is also imposed on the importation of some machines, appliances and its parts, e.g. 62 % on electric accumulators.
Opacity and bigger administrative seriousness is caused by a great number (over 10,000) of Customs Tariff items with many tariffs. Tariff quotas and suspensions are also added to the previous ones. They enable the importation for reduced customs tariffs but in case of the fulfilment of various conditions.
The complex of tariff and trade legislation exercised on external borders of the EU with third countries is presented by the TARIF Intégré Communautaire (TARIC). TARIC presents autonomous arrangements and arrangements within GATT/WTO, preferential agreements (e.g. with countries ACP, system GSP), antidumping arrangements. The contents of TARIC are also non-tariff arrangements as an inspection, restrictions of goods movement, controls (e.g. ozone, CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora, precursors, dual-use goods), specific acknowledgements and certificates as well as other restrictions related to the individual items of the Customs Tariff when importing into the EU or when exporting. So TARIC includes a complete Customs Tariff of the EU, though is not a segregate enactment. I.e. that TARIC is used mainly for a fast and complex searching of the below mentioned data needed for trade with a concrete commodity between the EU and third countries. The data contained is possible to search either by means of the code of goods, or by means of the description of goods. TARIC is accessible on the site http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm.
Contributions of importers to the Recycling fund
The recycling fund contributions are additional costs for the importers. The contributions are obligatory fees for the importers (as well as for the producers) of batteries and accumulators, oils, pneumatic tires, multilayer combined materials, plastics, paper, glass, vehicles and metal packing containers. The importers of goods which become a waste must pay a contribution according to the weight of product and rate*.
Customs procedure
The customs procedure starts with the submitting of the customs declaration by which the release of goods is proposed to the customs regime or the assignment of other purpose or use approved by the customs.
The customs procedure can be done in a simplified manner during which the Customs Office permits an exclusion of some customs formalities.
The original of the invoice and its copy are enclosed in the written declaration of the data on the customs value. The Customs authorities can abandon the presentation of a copy of the invoice if the customs procedure proceeds under a simplified procedure.
The declarant is obliged upon the request of the Customs Office to specify the origin of goods, to tolerate the taking of samples and to provide the Customs Office with a necessary cooperation at his own expense.
Conformity assessment of products
The conformity assessment of products by technical norms (standards) is regulated by the Act No. 264/1999 Coll. on technical requirements for products and on conformity assessment and amendment to some acts in a later version. The producer or the importer of the stated product can release only such a product on the market which meets the standards required of the stated product. Before the release of the stated product on the market, he is obliged to issue a written statement of conformity by technical regulations. The customs authority is authorized to control whether the imported products have the statement of conformity and the mark of conformity.
The producer or the importer is authorized to mark the stated product on which the statement of conformity was issued, with the Slovak mark of conformity. The producer or the importer is obliged to keep the documentation about the procedure used for the conformity assessment and the statement of conformity and its records in the Slovak Republic and to give it to supervision authorities on request at any time up to ten years since the production abort, importation or release on the market. The obligation to ensure the keeping of the documentation passes from the producers and the importers who terminated their activities because of liquidation, bankruptcy or settlement to the official receiver or the liquidator. The importer is not obliged to keep the documentation about the procedure used for the conformity assessment in the Slovak Republic in case of an imported product marked according to the paragraph 6 with the mark CE but he is obliged to submit it to the supervision authority pursuant to conditions determined by specific regulation.
The importer of goods is obliged to pay :
According to the business environment audit, the filling in of 9 documents at average for the settlement of the exportation from the Slovak Republic in needed and the whole process takes 20 days at average.
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* According to § 56 of Act No. 223/2001 Coll., on Waste and on Amendments and Supplements to Some Acts
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