Following an inspection by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in July 2006, the European Commission noted that the UK customs authorities, between 2005 and 2006, allowed imports of fresh garlic from China incorrectly stating that it was frozen garlic. The import duties on frozen garlic are lower than fresh garlic. Then, the European Commission concluded that “the UK authorities did not act with all due care when issuing the authorising documents and failed to collect the correct amount of duties.”
The Commission pointed out that the UK customs authorities are “financially responsible for the loss of own resources (…) to the EU budget.” Consequently, in January 2008, the European Commission requested the UK to pay to the EU budget for the missing amount on the import of fresh garlic – £15 million.
The government has been refusing to pay such amount, as it believes that the customs have taken all the required actions to collect the correct duties. Nevertheless, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against the UK in 2010.
Last November, the Commission sent a 'reasoned opinion', requesting the UK to pay the above-mentioned amount. The UK has failed to comply with the European Commission’s “reasoned opinion”, by refusing to compensate for duties its customs officers failed to collect on the import of fresh garlic, consequently, yesterday, the Commission has decided to bring the case before the Court of Justice. According to the BBC, Richard Ashworth MEP said, "In such hard times, when all countries including ours are looking to save every bit of money they can just to combat the debt crisis, it defies all sense of proportion to be taking Britain to court over what amounts to a demand for garlic tax."
The Commission is claiming that it “is taking this legal action in order to protect the common EU interest.” It pointed out “If one Member State fails to deliver on its obligation to collect the common resources of the EU budget, the other Member States are forced to pay more as a result.” Customs duties charged on imports of goods from third countries are collected by all Member States on behalf of the EU and paid to the EU budget. Member States are solely allowed to retain, by way of collection costs, 25% of the amounts collected.
It is noteworthy that in 2010 the UK contributed €12.15 billion to the EU budget. It also collected €3.35 billion in customs and farm trade duties. There has been an increase, every year, on the UK’s contributions to the EU budget whereas it has been receiving less back.
