Fragmented Regulation of Trade and EU Customs Law

Trade is increasingly regulated by a set of provisions emerging from environmental and social concerns. The legal regime of these provisions is set outside of customs law. While not limited to it, European Union law provides a clear example of this fragmented regulation, including obligations on operators within global value chains. We argue that two challenges arise from this development and the coexistence of various legal regimes: the lack of regulation by customs law and the lack of coherence between notions that are used. For instance, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Regulation uses customs notions, such as the notion of declarant, but the legal regime applicable is not a customs regime. This paper argues that these developments, whose objective is to regulate a set of activities related to exported or imported goods – within global value chains – and impose social and environmental obligations on these activities, reflect the extension of the scope of customs policy. However, this enlargement does not rely on notions pertaining to customs law nor a specific customs regime. Thus, this inconsistency between the scope of these obligations and the applicable legal regime creates a risk surrounding the coherence and effective application of the law. Building up on customs law would reconcile this fragmented legal landscape.