National customs legislation adaptation to EU requirements in the context of eastern partnership policy development

Abstract

The research relevance is determined by the need to assess Georgia’s trade relations and customs activities in terms of their compliance with European requirements. The study aims to identify areas in the field of customs control that require further legislative regulation and harmonisation with EU legislation. The study employed the following research methods: analysis of statistical data on trade activity; comparison – to compare indicators of unrealised export potential between countries; graphical – to display the results; and generalisation – to summarise the information in line with EU requirements. The study determined the dynamics of Georgia’s trade and economic activities with the EU; assessed the use of export potential with different EU countries; and substantiated the effectiveness and efficiency of Georgia’s customs control reforms. The need to adapt the customs legislation to the common EU requirements is proved and the directions of specific measures for further improvement of customs activities are identified: application of transit (improvements to the guarantee management system are needed); control of sanctioned goods at the border (to speed up the EU’s response to specific requests); risk management system (to establish systematic internal and interagency information exchange); tax authorities (reorganisation and increase of profitability); customs protection of intellectual property rights. This will help bring Georgia’s economy closer to the EU economic area. The expediency of improving the quality of education and increasing public spending in this area has been substantiated, which will contribute to the professionalism of economic reforms. The results and conclusions are of practical importance for the Government in the development of customs policy and customs authorities in the implementation of customs procedures