The authorities have approved the rules for the implementation of the e-Sigiliu, the new national system designed to ensure the traceability of road transport of goods with customs or fiscal risk in Romania. It will target a wide range of goods and transports, for which the authorities believe that there is a specific risk of non-payment of tax obligations or fraudulent unloading on the national territory.

The rules, approved by a joint order issued by ANAF and the Customs Authority, detail the operation of the e-Sigiliu system, the procedures for applying the seals and the way in which the shipments to be monitored will be selected.
Unlike the e-Transport system, where the authorities have approved several categories of products subject to monitoring with spot NC codes, in the case of the e-Sigiliu, the approach is radically changed: there is no definition of a list of risky goods, but it is established that the monitoring it will be based on a risk analysis carried out by ANAF and AVR inspectors. In practice, seals will not be applied to all road transports, but only those that are considered risky, to be kept under observation, for example, transports involving goods in transit, excisable goods or those that are the subject of intra-Community transactions or of import or export operations.

When carrying out the risk analysis to see which road transports need to be monitored by e-Sigiliu, the AVR and ANAF representatives will take into account several criteria, including the nature of the transported goods, their value and the charging regime, but also the transport route used or the fiscal reputation of the companies involved in the operations related to those transports, regardless of the role they play in the commercial chain (shipper, consignee or carrier).

The rules published by the authorities establish, in a broad sense, several types of goods and operations that can be targeted by e-Sigiliu monitoring:

• goods placed in transit between two customs offices that present a high risk of fraudulent unloading;
• goods declared for export that present a high customs/fiscal risk or that are subject to special export measures;
• excisable goods – products under suspensive regime, products released for consumption up to the first beneficiary, as well as products for which excise duty is exempted or with direct exemption;
• goods in intra-Community transit that present a risk of being unloaded/traded on the national territory;
• goods of an intra-Community nature intended for a taxpayer from Romania that present fiscal risk;
• goods destined for an intra-Community delivery that present the risk of not leaving the national territory.

According to the published rules, road transport drivers will have a crucial role in the monitoring process, being responsible both for mounting the smart seals, signing the necessary documentation and maintaining the integrity of the seals, as well as for the immediate reporting of any major incident that could affect the respective transports.

As a working procedure, the rules also establish that monitoring will be carried out by AVR and ANAF, using smart seals, these devices will send real-time information on the status and position of the shipments. The e-Sigiliu system will work around the clock, and the dispatch centers of AVR and ANAF will monitor all sealed shipments, communicating alerts and coordinating control teams for quick operative interventions. In critical situations, vehicles can be escorted to their destination to ensure the safety and compliance of shipments.

The e-Sigiliu system is not yet functional, as its implementation involves an extensive process of public procurement of smart seals and other necessary equipment and vehicles, as well as the development of IT monitoring applications.

Article published in Business-Mark.ro