New electronic weapons against smuggling

By Prokopis Chatzinikolaou

The financial staff and the AADE are trying to put a brake on the smuggling of fuels, tobacco and alcoholic beverages by adopting and implementing new digital tools. According to the estimates of the financial staff, smuggling exceeds 1 billion euros in all the above areas and is the biggest blow to the budget. As the Minister of Finance Chr. Staikouras, the “approval of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan by the European Commission was an important development, which includes investments and reforms that will lead to the further modernization of the tax and customs administration, with full digitization of procedures and adoption of new tools and adoption of new tax evasion and smuggling “.

The new framework is described in a relevant decision, and leads, on the one hand, to the modernization of customs and, on the other hand, to the improvement of surveillance systems, control procedures and the equipment of auditors. According to the plan the main objectives are:

– Reduce revenue loss by intensifying and strengthening the fight against smuggling.

– Protecting society from the use of illegal, adulterated, counterfeit, dangerous and environmentally harmful products.

Increased collection of traditional EU own resources.

Ensuring fair competition in the market and consumer protection.

Tackling cross-border crime, and in particular economic crime, in particular by combating smuggling of goods.

– Support for the increased (pressing) need to control the entry and exit points of vehicles.

To combat smuggling, the AADE plan is structured in four axes:

1. Modernization of the existing methods of risk analysis with targeted control and prosecution tools and in continuous use by the Customs Service. AADE ICISNET and ELENXIS operating information systems will be redesigned, with the aim of effectively prioritizing non-compliance risks and creating the best possible control profiles, using information from the European Union and national data analysis databases.

2. Design of a new integrated system that will support the control process by monitoring customs transactions and processes in real time. This system will operate with the aim of better and faster targeting of law enforcement customs services, with central oversight at points of high interest, such as entry-exit points from EU customs territory.

3. Optimal use of anti-trafficking tools (technical means for customs controls). Additional X-RAY control systems for trucks and containers will be provided to meet the increased needs of prosecution procedures with the forthcoming (growing / developing) central customs system. The on-site inspection process (on-the-spot checks) of the Mobile Control Teams will be enhanced with state-of-the-art monitoring tools, vehicles, state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and mobile support applications.

4. The fourth and most important axis concerns the Electronic Monitoring of the movement of products. The electronic monitoring will focus on the movement of commercial vehicles and containers in Greece. Upon their entry and circulation in the country, the utilization of the Alcohol Beverages Register and the Alcohol Identification System by the customs control authorities will be applied. In addition, the integration of the input-output system (input-output) for the entire fuel supply chain will strengthen the customized control process and lead to the development of a holistic system for monitoring the movement of commercial freight (fuel) vehicles. This system will be able to monitor the cargo from its entry and the customs procedure applicable to the free launch (movement) or its exit from the customs territory of the Union. The system aims to strengthen customs control procedures by reducing the effects of smuggling.