Community customs union and relations with third countries - significance of transit customs regimes

The Diploma thesis is focused on Community customs union and relations with third countries, regarding particularly customs procedure during foreign transit operations. It is aimed to summarize basic knowledge regarding TIR system operation with emphasis on its current development and modernization. At present, TIR regime is experiencing a very dynamic progress, and it is related both to its computerization and changes in the European Union, which tends to enhance safety standards on the international level when shipping the goods. Therefore, the means of communication are improved by the interconnection of main actors engaged in business transactions, such as national customs authorities and associations, traders and international organisations. The first part of the thesis deals with customs union and common trade policy of European Union. It defines the term of customs union and European customs union territory, specifies both internal and external aspects of customs union existence, and shortly describes the process of European customs union creation. The two following chapters are concerned with the customs administration, legislation and basic documentation forming customs legislation of European Union. The fourth chapter describes the development and customs union improvement with its new strategy and modernized customs union codex. The second part concentrates on the analysis of customs procedure in general and international customs regimes. It describes the basic terms used in customs administration, specifies the ways of customs debt calculation and factors which may lead to the customs debt. The closing chapter is devoted to transit regimes functioning not only on the territory of the European Union, but in third countries as well. The third part addresses the TIR transit regime. At the beginning, the foundation and historical development of the regime is described, followed by its mission, principles and territorial scope. In the next chapter the basic conditions of membership are identified. The following chapter is reserved for description and explanation of international guarantee system, mutual relations of its participants and forms of guarantee provision. In the last chapter the carnet TIR - main document used for customs purposes when shipping - is highlighted. The last chapter is focused on TIR system computerization, its innovation and improvement, and development mainly in recent years. The forth part of the thesis emphasizes membership advantages, particularly benefits of TIR system, and outlines the fields of the European Union and TIR system cooperation. The conclusion then summarizes important parts and key elements of the paper. When putting together the thesis, the latest available data on the TIR system progress regarding cooperation with the European Union were used, as the main aim of the thesis was to provide detailed information on the current situation and modernization of TIR regime