Press Release: Blue Belt: Commission eases customs formalities for ships

The European Commission on 8 July 2013 set out plans to ease custom formalities for ships – reducing red tape, cutting delays in ports and making the sector more competitive.

Freight forwarders and exporters have complained that if they chose to send goods across Europe by short sea shipping, the heavy administrative burden at ports causes additional costs and significant delays - ships can wait for hours and sometimes days in ports for customs clearance. These make the maritime sector less attractive compared to other forms of transport, especially road, unnecessarily bringing more trucks on our already congested roads.

With the Commission's proposals, shipping transport will face less administrative hurdles and therefore be able to be used to its full potential in the EU internal market and beyond.

• Primary Source

European Commission: Rapid: MEMO/13/658: Blue Belt: Commission eases customs formalities for ships http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-658_en.htm

European Commission: Rapid: SPEECH/13/614: Easing customs formalities for shipping http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-614_en.htm

European Commission: Rapid: SPEECH/13/613: Presentation of the Blue Belt Package http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-613_en.htm

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