Industry puts mobile sales proposals to EU

Tina Milton

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Travel-retail representatives from the ETRC and ECSA proposed a new framework for mobile operators at their first meeting with the EU Excise Committee in Brussels earlier this month

The European Community Shipowners Associations (ECSA) and the European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) have made their case to the EU Excise Committee to simplify duty-paid sales of excise goods on board ships and aircraft.

Independent consultant Mike Barlow presented two measures on behalf of the ECSA. The first initiative would grant tax warehouse status to ships and airline carriers, and the second would allow the introduction of a single identifying mark for excise products sold during intra-EU trips. The proposals would provide a framework to overcome difficulties that mobile operators have faced since duty-free abolition in 1999 by having to work with a system that was not designed to cover such sales.

He added that the proposed measures could also benefit national administrations by providing better fiscal control and a secure audit trial, and concluded it would create a harmonised system for mobile operators, providing a true single market for the sector.

Deputy secretary general of ECSA Tim Marking attended meeting and commented: "We are extremely grateful to the Commission's TAXUD Directorate for arranging for us to present our case directly to the members of the Excise Committee, and it was encouraging that they gave support to our ideas. We must now await the wider consideration of our proposals in anticipation of an eventual favoured outcome."

ETRC company secretary Barry Goddard was also part of the presentation team and supported the proposals on behalf of the airline sector. "I was pleased that we were able to demonstrate to the Committee that the ECSA proposals have the full backing of the European travel-retail trade as a whole. This unique joint presentation was a vital step forward, and one which we hope will lead to a final solution of the problems faced by all mobile operators."

The Excise Committee, which is chaired by the European Commission, comprises fiscal representatives of all 25 EU member states and deals mainly with the interpretation and application of EU law on excise matters.