- The Belgian Court of Cassation clarified that direct customs representatives are not automatically criminally liable without concrete evidence of intent or knowledge of wrongdoing.
- Criminal liability is excluded for both direct and indirect representatives if they act on client instructions and the client is convicted.
- Even minor inventory discrepancies under customs supervision can result in criminal liability, regardless of whether they are due to human error.
- Voluntary disclosure of discrepancies can exempt parties from prosecution.
- The court’s rulings balance protection for customs representatives with strict enforcement of inventory management compliance.
Source: taxathand.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
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