Joint Liability for Smuggled Meat Import Duties; No Default Interest Owed by Butcher or Retailer

A food retailer and her butcher are held jointly and severally liable for import duties on smuggled meat.
The court addressed whether higher interest on arrears for import tax could be imposed on the butcher versus the company.
The court ruled that only the actual recipient with economic control (“importer”) owes default interest, not every customs debtor.
Neither the GmbH nor the butcher qualify as importers, so neither owes default interest on the import tax.
The butcher’s appeal was partially approved; other appeals were dismissed.

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.