Member States collect customs duties on behalf of the EU and paid to the EU budget. The traditional own resources (TOR) which consist of customs duties and sugar levies account for around 12 % of total EU revenue.
According to the European Commission the UK customs authorities, between 2005 and 2006, have incorrectly stated that fresh garlic imported from China was frozen garlic. Lower import duties apply to frozen garlic.
According to the European Commission “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, today, the European Commission asked the UK to pay around £20 million of customs duties from the import of fresh garlic to EU budget.
The UK has now two months to comply with the European Commission requests. Then, if the UK fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the Court of Justice.
According to the Daily Telegraph Martin Callanan MEP said, "They know Britain is facing austerity cuts. They know, by the way, that any error happened under Labour, not the current UK Government. They know that we are already one of the EU's biggest net contributors – and now they want to send us a garlic bill for £20 million."
It is noteworthy that last year the UK contributed €12.15 billion to the EU budget and received €6.75 billion. 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 in EU funds.
