Study Guide

3.5. European Union (DG TAXUD)

In the EU, the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) ties customs modernization to environmental goals through three main initiatives:

•          Single Window Environment for Customs (SW-C) lets traders submit data once and reuse it across agencies, improving compliance on waste, chemicals, and endangered-species controls.
•          EU Customs Risk Management Framework (CRMF) builds environmental risk into cargo profiling, helping detect illegal waste, ODS, endangered species, hazardous chemicals, and non-compliant timber.
•          Green Deal Customs Strategy (2023-2026) aligns customs with the European Green Deal, including;  

o   Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM -See CBAM section for full details)

o   Strengthening controls on waste, chemicals, and environmentally sensitive goods

o   Promoting digitalization to reduce administrative and environmental burdens

o   Enhancing cooperation between customs and environmental authorities

o   Facilitating trade in low carbon and sustainable products

These initiatives sit within the wider EU Customs Reform package (2023-2026), which includes a new EU Customs Data Hub and a revised approach to platform-based trade.