These are the 5 ministers of Finance with whom we have sat around the table over the past 15 years to advocate for a much-needed and thorough reform of the customs sanction policy and Belgian criminal customs law. Always with the same plea: fraudsters must be punished, bona fide logistics service providers must be safeguarded.
It is highly likely you have previous experience of the perverse consequences of the Belgian criminal customs law. Either through being forced to accept an outof-court settlement you fundamentally disagreed with yet accepted nonetheless because of the threat of criminal prosecution. Or worse, you might have actually been convicted in a post-clearance recovery case when importing solar panels, bicycles, textiles, sneakers, pawns, etc. where you made a declaration in good faith on behalf of a fraudulent client.
Brouwersvliet 33 / Box 1, 2000 Antwerp (Belgium) T +32 3 233 67 86 info@forwardbelgium.be www.forwardbelgium.be
Published by: Olivier Schoenmaeckers
Administration: Ines De Bruyn
Marketing: Vanessa Thys
Change of address: Ines De Bruyn, ines@forwardbelgium.be
Editors:
Veerle Van Beeck, Olivier Schoenmaeckers
Pre-press: Ingrid Renders
Concept & creation: KMOdynamoo
Belgian criminal customs law includes a rebuttable presumption of intent. Unlike ordinary criminal law, where everyone is innocent until the opposite is proven, a customs dispute requires you to prove ‘force majeure or insurmountable error’ to escape a conviction. Very often, it is deemed that forwarders and customs representatives, as professional service providers - ‘knew or should have know’ that an offence had been committed and consequently they are often criminally convicted as co-perpetrators or accomplices to a crime.
In addition, we should note that the Belgian Administration applies criminal customs law to quickly recover customs debt and, as such, fulfil its own obligations to the EU. The result is that bona fide businesses are condemned as customs debtors, even though they factually are not under the Union Customs Code.
In recent months, we have continued to push strongly for efforts towards the creation of a multi-disciplinary commission for the reform of sanction policy in Belgium within the remainder of this parliamentary term. We did this under the umbrella of Alfaport Voka together with the other professional organisations.
Slow and steady wins the race. Minister van Peteghem recently commissioned just that, and the commission has now been formed with representatives from the legal profession, magistracy, academia, customs, logistics service providers, industry, etc.: the work can begin. Finally.
A particularly ambitious project, as it requires fundamental choices on policy and politics, the resolution of complex legal issues, reconciliation of the positions held by various parties, and more.
As the co-chair of this commission, together with Werner Rens from the AAD&A, I hope to be able to sow seeds now that will bear fruit for the sector in the future.
Olivier Schoenmaeckers
“We
On 21 March, Wim Gijbels took office as the new chair of FORWARD Belgium’s governing body. He and the new vice-chairs Johan Proost and Stephan De Pauw (and the other governors), are the voices of the ‘architects of transport’. We asked about the vision and ambitions of the ‘triumvirate’.
FORWARD Belgium defends the interests of logistics companies, forwarders, and customs representatives. The industry, and the umbrella organisation with it, are now facing considerable challenges. “An initial and important task is informing the members,” according to Wim Gijbels. “We see a veritable tsunami of changes and associated compliance obligations coming our way, including new European customs legislation, CBAM, deforestation, child labour, drugs, cybercrime - all issues that are not part of our companies’ daily core business. They often do not have the in-house people, resources, and time to follow it all up. We want to take them under our wing, show them the way, and offer support for the change processes. That is where I envisage an important role for the organisation.”
Stephan De Pauw nods in agreement: “FORWARD Belgium should be a partner to all members. Our companies are dealing with often very complex cases and everything is evolving at breakneck speed. Being able to see the wood for the trees is not a given. It requires an organisation that keeps its fingers on the pulse and makes
substantiated decisions. Lightening the load and easing the burden, that is what I consider to be our core task.”
“While other sectors are embracing digitisation and exploring the potential of Artificial Intelligence, way too many companies in our sector still make little or no use of technology,” adds Johan Proost. “We need to catch up in this respect too. Within FORWARD Belgium, we have already started to explore the use of AI in a shipping context. I see an additional third challenge: finding suitable people. We can use FORWARD Belgium to play a facilitating role here. It is not in our remit to spot and recruit talent, but we can have an impact on education. We have to make logistics appealing to young people again. Nowadays, they sometimes underappreciate the importance of this industry. Without logistics, the store shelves are empty. This is the backdrop FORWARD Belgium should use to position the sector in a broad manner. It goes without saying that the Port of Antwerp is important, but our activities have a national dimension.”
It’s clear the revamped team of governors have their work cut out for them. But they are all passionate and very motivated to do their bit. ‘Appetite’ is what drives the trio.
Stephan was already a governor and is staying on for another term. “I am fascinated with having a front row seat for all these evolutions. Much of what I experience in the day-to-day reality of my business is reflected within FORWARD Belgium. But I also see my governor’s role as a great opportunity to give something back to the community. We can make a difference by providing practical solutions to complex issues.”
“I certainly don’t want to take on the role of mother-inlaw, standing by and commenting from the sidelines,” says Johan. “I want to speak passionately about our sector and get people excited about choosing this industry. It is our job to defend our companies, to be a voice to other stakeholders. We need and want their voices to be heard. Various governments continue to overwhelm our companies with rules and obligations, and their voices and seldomly heard. If I can change anything about the situation during my term, I can look back on it with satisfaction.”
Are the new chair and vice-chairs planning on continuing FORWARD Belgium in the same vein, or will they emphasise certain agenda items? For Stephan, education is one of the top priorities: “Luckily, we can count on a youth department that does great work. They regularly visit secondary schools and colleges to enthuse pupils and students about the sector. We are currently also reflecting on reforms within FORWARD Belgium that will benefit our members. They should get value for money, know that they can come to us with their concerns and get support.”
Wim brings up another topic: “When it comes to digitisation, the sector must not miss the boat under any circumstances. In practice, we have noticed that many companies have a ways to catch up. Moreover, there is also a lot of common ground between technological innovation and the other item that is growing in importance every day: sustainability. Large international shippers are facing ever stricter requirements. It’s logical they extend these to the forwarders, customs representatives, and
logistics service providers they rely on. In turn, we have unique knowledge of the logistics chain: a wealth of data about modes of transport, emissions, costs, which goods are transported using which modes, etc. FORWARD Belgium can use this know-how to support members as well as clients in word and deed in their efforts to go green. Again, an important part of our added value lies in sharing knowledge and information.
Johan shares the view that the existing knowledge is not used to its full potential: “Our companies put a lot of time and effort into monitoring and resolving ‘red lights’ that cause delays along the logistics chain. We should be more proactive through the use of all manner of high-performance systems. These systems already exist by the way, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. NxtPort and The Way Forward are proving their importance more and more by sharing data from various parties and making it available. Too often, there is still a kind of irrational apprehension and we urgently need to overcome that. Technology automates repetitive tasks and eliminates human error. At the same time, it provides valuable insights into your processes. Not embracing technology is akin to putting our future at risk.”
However, the focus on the many complex challenges should certainly not cast a bad light on the industry, or scare young people off, the trio emphasises. “Our companies manage the various other stakeholders (shipping companies, air cargo companies, carriers, customs, insurers, etc.) within the logistics process. They arrange the entire logistics flow for the client. If something goes wrong somewhere in the supply chain, all eyes are on them to rectify it. But that’s normal, it is our job and added value as a service provider and facilitator. That is why people call us the architects of transport. During the COVID pe-
riod and its lockdowns, we - the logistics sector - often ended up in the public eye because our knowledge and flexibility ensured that cargo flows stayed on the move across the globe. It is something we can be proud of, and something that should be mentioned.
“You could compare it to a conductor of an orchestra. When all goes well, a conductor enjoys success and might even be asked to conduct the New Year’s concert in Vienna. But when a musician plays a bum note, it is the conductor who is judged, not the musician. But again, we are not playing the victim here. On the contrary. We deliberately take on this role of orchestra leader. We derive pride and masses of satisfaction from each transport project that comes off without a hitch. For example, when we see that a production facility is established somewhere in the world, with our input. Once bitten by the logistics bug, you put your all into it.”
We end the conversation with the feeling that the future of FORWARD Belgium will be in safe hands over the coming years.
Who is Wim Gijbels?
• 50 years old, married with 2 children
• Almost 30 years of experience in Forwarding & Customs (Noord Natie and PSA)
• Forwarding & Customs Business Unit Manager at H. Essers since 2011
Who is Johan Proost?
• 36 years of international experience in the industry
• Higher education teacher
• Various board positions at FORWARD Belgium
• Managing Director at Express Global
Who is Stephan De Pauw?
• Studied Expedition
• Started work at Embassy Freight Services Europe in 1993
• Managing Director since 2001
Air Cargo Belgium represents the air cargo community at Brucargo. One of the spearheads of the operation is to improve the efficiency of all stakeholders. Project coordinator Elise Van Bastelaere offers a glimpse into the ongoing RFID project.
Why the focus on RFID?
Elise Van Bastelaere: ”Most of our members are committed to visibility, transparency, and traceability. There are a number of solutions, but every system does have a price tag, of course. The technology must be available to everyone in the chain, be secure, and on top of that, offer operational advantages. In that sense, we felt that RFID was the most obvious tool. All that remained was to test whether our suspicion was correct in practice.”
What steps did the project involve?
“We had already started an initial pilot project three years ago. Our aim was to learn more about the RFID technology, and to find out what it could mean for us. It was on a very small scale; we worked with one shipment at a time. Then, we felt the time was right for the next step: a test at ‘piece’ level. We add an RFID tag to each piece in a shipment and kitted out one handling agent on site with the necessary equipment: gates, handheld devices, etc. This gave us timestamps and location stamps, and allowed the parties involved to see the location of the shipment at any time.”
Did this provide useful insights?
“We worked with one forwarder and one handling agent. Very basic, just to see what time savings were possible. This is because efficiency gain is a very important aspect when it comes to the required investment. In this limited setting, we did indeed observe optimisation. RFID tags make manual piece counts redundant, for example. Now we can scale up to the next phase: a simulation of the entire flow with multiple users. We will be working with two forwarders and one handling agent for the second pilot project.”
“Obviously, there are costs for the tags and the equipment. Transparency and traceability come at a cost regardless. However, RFID technology makes these costs quite contained. Based on what we know now, we assume that the business case will demonstrate a positive roI. The partners who participated in the test (Kuehne+Nagel and
dnata) are already unanimously enthusiastic. Other partners have also expressed an interest already. The project will run over four quarters and if the current trends continues, we hope our members will implement RFID in the short term.”
Thank you and good luck!
The VDAB (public employment service of Flanders) list of Bottleneck Occupations for 2024 shows once again that finding talent for logistics roles is no mean feat. As such, the new International Trade and Logistics pathway in secondary education comes at the right time. We asked Greet Adriaenssen, course coordinator at LOGOS, about the course.
“The alignment between education and the labour market is one of the priorities in our sector covenant with the Flemish government,” says Greet. In recent years, LOGOS has put a strong focus on the expansion of fields of study leading to our bottleneck occupations, such as the Transport and Logistics degree. Another result of our efforts is that the third grade of secondary education in double finals (formerly TSO) will include International Trade and Logistics from the current academic year."
Previously, students could only choose ‘Trade’. The new pathway already gives them a foundation in international trade, modes of transport, transport documents, and more. Greet: “Our objective is to show as many young people as possible the way to our sector, the jobs and the many opportunities for their future. We are now focusing our efforts on 16 and 17-year olds. When they complete their sixth grade and get the logistics bug, they can start working in the sector or continue studying. This way, we hope to expand the talent pool interested in our field.”
The initiative soon gained momentum. 28 schools spread across all provinces have been offering the pathway from this academic year. “LOGOS supports teachers with know-how. For instance, about 20 teachers have already completed a ‘train the trainer’ about our educational logistics game TLT International, so that they can get the most out of this tool in their classroom. At their express request, we also organised a two-day course on documentation. This course generated very positive feedback: hands-on, practical thanks to the cases, immediately usable, etc.”
LOGOS continues to survey schools about their needs and requirements. “We are staying closely involved. Another two-day course on customs is already planned for this autumn. We are also looking at how to develop a learning network for the teachers.” Greet concludes with a heartfelt appeal: “This pathway is a valuable addition to the education on offer for our sector. If your company would like to offer a company visit, a guest lecture, or an internship, or contribute in any other way, please do not hesitate to contact us!”
1. EUDR scope
The new EU deforestation-free regulation (EUDR) came into force on 29 June 2023. It contains demanding but essential rules to end deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. This regulation prohibits the production, import into and export out of Europe of products based on wood, rubber, cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, and soya that contribute to deforestation and/or were illegally produced. The new legislation brings challenges and obligations for supply chain players. What’s more, these products must be accompanied by a due diligence declaration. To this end, companies must develop a due diligence system that varies depending on the level of risk in the producing country. Market participants are subject to border controls and risk significant sanctions if they are found not to be following the rules.
The market participants are given until 30 December 2024 to implement the new obligations in this regulation, with a transition period until 30 June 2025 for small and micro enterprises.
2. The forwarder’s role under EUDR
In most cases, a freight forwarder does not have its own assets, and as such does not come into contact with the goods and consequently is in no way responsible for the 'physical' handling of the goods. For the transport and/or dispatch of goods, he uses external parties in the name and on behalf of the client.
In particular, he acts as an intermediary between the shipper/importer/exporter and the actual carrier, relying on the data and information he himself passes on from
the shipper. Consequently, he must rely on the product data, origin, packaging, etc. received from his client. Therefore, in this role, freight forwarders cannot be included in the definition of ‘market participant’ as per Article 2 of this Regulation. They do not place the goods on the market, as they do not have any decision-making or disposal rights over the goods nor any commercial interest in them. Nor do they decide whether the goods are to be offered on the market, such a decision belongs only to the owner of the goods or the party who has the right of disposal over the goods according to the sales contract.
Forwarders can choose to act as an authorised representative, as per Article 6 of the regulation. This would require an agreement between the forwarder and the client/shipper of the goods.
In such cases, the market participant or trader remains responsible for ensuring the relevant product complies with the EUDR. The authorised representative must provide the competent authority with a copy of the mandate upon request.
Some forwarders offer customs representation services to their customers. Either the customs formalities are outsourced to an external professional customs representative, or the forwarder does this in-house.
The role of the customs representative is explicitly outlined in Article 26, paragraph 4 of the Regulation. To this end, the person who lodges the customs declaration for the release for free circulation or export of a relevant product must make available to the customs authorities the reference number assigned by the information system referred to in Article 33 to the due diligence declaration relating to the relevant product.
Customs representatives also never come into physical contact with the goods. They largely rely on the correctness of information provided by the client when drawing up a customs declaration.
Consequently, the customs representative will have to comply with the obligation to include the reference number in the declaration and will take the necessary measures to do so. He can in no way be considered a market participant as per this Regulation.
The indirect representative, insofar as he is considered an importer, must ensure that the goods entering the market are placed under the appropriate customs procedure. Other legal acts of the Union related to goods and products entering or leaving the market should be taken into account in this regard. Here, release for free circulation or export is not necessarily considered as proof of compliance with Union law, as such release or export does not necessarily imply a full conformity check. For this, the customs representative will have to take the necessary precautions to verify, to the extent possible, that his client complies with the applicable regulations.
Where a person established outside the Union places relevant products on the market, the first natural or legal person established in the Union to make such relevant
products available on the market shall be considered a market participant as per the Regulation.
As described in this note, this is neither the forwarder nor the (indirect) customs representative, as neither party offers products on the market as per the EUDR.
5. Market participant as per the EUDR Regulation
It is important to correctly contrast the activities of the forwarder and customs representative with the concepts of market participant, offering on the market and making available on the market, as contained in Article 2 of the Regulation.
Market participant: a natural or legal person who markets or exports relevant products within the context of a commercial activity.
Placing on the market: the first making available on the Union market of a relevant raw material or a relevant product.
Making available on the market: any supply of a relevant product for distribution or use on the Union market within the context of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge.
Trader: a person in the supply chain other than the market participant, who makes relevant products available on the market within the context of a commercial activity.
As described above, neither the forwarder nor the customs representative make goods available on the market for the purpose of distribution, consumption or use. They have no right of decision or disposition of the goods and cannot decide at any point in the process whether to place goods on the market or not. It is always the client's decision what to do with the goods.
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