The customs authorities of the EU Member States now have a way to say no to duty collection ordered by the EU and OLAF: pay with reservation and then claim the duties back before the European Court of Justice.
Most of the customs duties collected by the customs authorities of the Member States belong to the EU. Only a small part (20%) of the collected import duties remain at the level of the Member State, to compensate for the cost of collection.
Member States that do not make these customs duties available to the EU’s budget upon first demand face infringement actions from the European Commission, to pay the duties, as well as punitive interests (16%).
Source Reedsmith
