Customs clearance of goods and state border crossing under priority treatment

Goods brought into the customs territory of the Union shall be presented to customs immediately upon their arrival at the customs office (Article 139(1) of the UCC). All goods intended to be placed under a customs procedure shall be covered by a customs declaration appropriate for the particular procedure (Article 158(1) of the UCC). If the person remains at the border crossing point with the imported cargo for more than three hours without having lodged a declaration for application of a customs procedure or a declaration for application of temporary storage of goods, customs official shall initiate administrative proceedings.

If a queue has formed in the customs control point, precedence shall be given to making customs declarations covering cargos with goods to be transported as a matter of priority(as provided for in the Cabinet Regulation No 170 of 13 March 2012 Rules regarding goods to be transported as a matter of priority^[1]).

In order to ensure customs clearance of priority goods, the economic operator shall provide the following information to the respective customs control point (hereinafter – CCP):

• when drawing up an import declaration – number or the import declaration lodged in EMDAS and information on the goods to be cleared as a matter of priority (mandatory – name of the goods) shall be sent to Import CCP at mkp.importa@vid.gov.lv. Customs Shift Manager of Import CCP shall assess whether the goods comply with the requirements of a cargo to be cleared as a matter of priority and take a decision on giving precedence to clearance or controls of the goods. The client shall be informed of the decision;
• when drawing up an export declaration – the number of the export (including re-export) declaration lodged in EMDAS and information on the goods to be cleared as a matter of priority (mandatory – name of the goods) shall be sent to the email address of the CCP to which this declaration has been submitted (customs office of export). Customs Shift Manager of the CCP shall assess whether the goods comply with the requirements of a cargo to be cleared as a matter of priority and take a decision on giving precedence to clearance or controls of the goods. The client shall be informed of the decision;
• when drawing up a transit declaration – information on the goods to be cleared under priority treatment shall be submitted on the spot at the customs office of departure together with draft transit declaration and the required cargo accompanying documents. Customs Shift Manager of the CCP shall assess whether the goods comply with the requirements of a cargo to be cleared as a matter of priority and take a decision on giving precedence to clearance or controls of the goods. The client shall be informed of the decision;
• when drawing up a temporary storage declaration – information on the goods to be cleared under priority treatment together with the required cargo accompanying documents shall be sent to the email address of the CCP which supervises the temporary storage site. Customs Shift Manager of the CCP shall assess whether the goods comply with the requirements of a cargo to be cleared as a matter of priority and take a decision on giving precedence to clearance or controls of the goods. The client shall be informed of the decision;

If the cargo to be cleared contains various groups of goods, then it shall be regarded as a cargo to be cleared under priority treatment provided that the goods listed as goods to be transported as a priority constitute more than 50 per cent of the total net weight of the cargo.

[1] Cabinet Regulation No 170 of 13 March 2012 Rules regarding goods to be transported as a matter of priority (available only in Latvian)

Cargos which, in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 170[1] of 13 March 2012 Rules regarding goods to be transported as a matter of priority, are classifiable as priority (for example, perishable goods), are allowed to cross the State border on a priority basis.

In order to apply this provision, the border-crossing person has an obligation to make a reservation in the Electronic Queue Reservation System (hereinafter – ERRS).

When making a reservation in the ERRS, after selection of border crossing point (BCP), in the “Queue selection”, indicate “Truck with priority”, select time window when the border crossing is planned, fill in the fields “MRN” (number of the EU customs declaration under which the goods will be exported) and “Commodity nomenclature code”, as well as confirm the accuracy of the data.

The border-crossing person shall arrive with the cargo accompanying documents at the customs control point during the priority confirmation interval established (from two hours to 20 minutes before the start of the reservation time window). By the BCP barrier, the border guard issues a visitor’s pass, allowing the person to go to the customs official.

The customs official shall assess the submitted documents and their compliance with the data indicated in the ERRS system. If it is confirmed that the cargo corresponds to the status of the goods to be transported as priority, the border-crossing person hands over the pass, returns to the vehicle and waits for the ERRS invitation to enter the BCP.

If it is established that the cargo does not correspond to the priority status or the data indicated in the system do not match with those specified in the documents, the reservation will be cancelled manually. In such a situation, the reservation fee will not be refunded, and the border-crossing person must make a new reservation to cross the border.

On 29 December 2015 an amendment to the law On the State Border of the Republic of Latvia came into force providing for an advantage to holders of European Union authorised economic operator (AEO) authorisation to cross the border under priority treatment when leaving Latvia through road border crossing points (Paragraph 10 of Section 10 of the law On the State Border of the Republic of Latvia was supplemented with Clause 6.¹).

The regulatory framework provides that rights to cross the external border as a matter of priority shall be granted in cases where the cargo vehicle carries a cargo (AEO cargo) that fully consists of goods the consignor of which is a holder of the European Union AEO authorisation, where the carrier also holds the aforementioned authorisation (both conditions have to be met).

This advantage applies to any carrier and consignor holding the status of European Union AEO regardless of the type of AEO authorisation (customs simplifications (AEOC), security and safety (AEOS) or customs simplifications /security and safety (AEOF/AEOS)) or the type of the cargo.

For example, the rights to cross the border as a matter of priority may be used:

• in case where goods are transported in one vehicle (including coupled vehicles)and AEO status is held both by the German consignor (indicated in Box 2 of export declaration or Box 2 of transit/TIR electronic declaration) and the Latvian carrier (indicated in Box 16/17 of CMR) of the goods;
• in case where goods are transported in one vehicle (including coupled vehicles) and the consignor and the carrier of these goods are from another EU Member State and they are holders of AEO authorisations of the European Union.

If customs official upon controls of the cargo accompanying documents establishes that the indicated consignor and carrier are holders of European Union AEO authorisations and the only cargo transported by the vehicle is sent by a consignor who has been granted the status of an AEO, the vehicle will be authorised to cross the border as a matter of priority.

If the transported cargo includes also consignments sent by persons that have not been granted the status of the European Union, the external border at the border crossing point shall be crossed in accordance with the position in the regular queue even if the carrier of this cargo is a holder of the European Union  AEO authorisation. The external border must also be crossed by vehicles in the regular queue without priority in cases where the carrier of an AEO cargo is not a holder of the European Union AEO authorisation.

If the consignor and the carrier are the holder of an AEO authorisation, the reservations in the Electronic Queue Reservation System (ERRS) and the border crossing procedure are the same as for goods required to transported as a priority due to their characteristics (please see the information here; in the ERRS field “Commodity nomenclature code” select “AEO certificate”).