The Project ECE: E-commerce tools and potential risks for customs fraud (Grant no. 878563), promoted by OLAF and the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency with the support of Eutalia in the framework of HERCULE III Programme 2014-2020, aims at enhancing the capacities of EU MS and IPA countries to contrast the financial loss in their respective budget and the risks for safety and security of citizens, connected to the increasing phenomenon of infringements related to the e-commerce sector, in particular with reference to smuggling by the means of under-evaluation of the goods.
The e-commerce is a huge global market continuously growing. From a value from around 2 billion Euros in 2017, such market is foreseen to grow to 4.3 billion within 2021. Consumers are increasingly buying on online platforms/marketplaces and most of these transactions concern cross-borders purchases. At the same time, e-commerce presents a number of new challenges and opportunities to governments. This fast-evolving trading environment requires comprehensive and well-considered solutions from all the involved stakeholders, including Customs authorities, to manage the unprecedented growth in volumes, to overcome the lack of global standards and guidelines, and to address associated border risks.
These issues will be analyzed and discussed in the context of two international events: a preliminary meeting in Montenegro and a final conference in Italy. During the preliminary meeting, the experts will conduct a comparative analysis, on the basis of a questionnaire disseminated in advance on available legislations (both EU and national), IT tools already used by the involved administrations and/or on the market and best practices used in the participating countries. Guidelines including a set of standards will also be drafted.
The final conference will present the results of the preliminary meeting and will deliver a final report, a legislative and technological gap analysis and a collection of subject-related best practices and guidelines. The Project’s outcomes will help to:
- improve practical cooperation
- identify possible new fraud patterns and threats; increase the law enforcement capabilities of participating countries
- share best practices and guidelines; present possible innovative IT tools to tackle the impact on financial resources of both EU and participating countries; consolidate the network of point of contacts
- disseminate information and raise the awareness on emerging threats
Eutalia support the administrative, financial and logistical management of the Project.
[AC_PRO id=24747]
