The packed program of events for the opening day of the 64th Genoa International Boat Show ended yesterday with the conference “Nautica Tax and Customs”, the traditional event organized by Confindustria Nautica to take stock of current tax, customs and sector regulations.
The meeting opened, together with the inaugural conference and the Boating Economic Forecast, the conference programme of the Boat Show FORUM24 who enjoys the patronage of the European Commissionconfirming the completeness and authoritativeness of the conference activity that Confindustria Nautica also carries out at a European level.
This year, the event dedicated to the in-depth analysis of tax and customs regulations has focused on the repeal of the consolidated customs law and the implications of the transition to EU legislation on the nautical sector.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Central Director of Customs Roberto Alesse, then in the afternoon in the Forum Hall, the speech by Claudio Oliviero, Director of the Customs Directorate Office of the Customs and Monopolies Agency, who met with Sara Armella, by Armella & Associates, Ezio Vannucci, of Moores & Rowland Partner, and Carolina Villa, Vice President Assagenti, moderated by Roberto Neglia, Head of Institutional Relations Confindustria Nautica.
During the conference the Director Oliver reassured the operators in the sector regarding the continued validity and application of the procedures identified by the practice documents, which were mostly for the simplification of the sector’s activity, also following the cessation of validity of the TULD.
The repeal of the consolidated national law also opens up prospects of simplification, for example, as underlined by Ezio Vannucci by Moore & Rowland Partner, the possibility of aligning Italian legislation with that of its French neighbours on the subject of the cancellation of surety bonds for refitting work. On this matter, Director Oliviero reassured “the tools are there, we have to use them and therefore also in terms of guarantees we can work at least to improve compared to the 2020 Circular”.
Sara Armella he recalled how the legislation, not only European, is directed towards the AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) recognition that currently the operators in the sector do not consider so competitive in terms of advantages. And‘ true, this tool is somewhat in a stalemate and in Italy we do not have many AEOs compared to other countries. There is also a question of advantages that are not so clearly perceived, perhaps especially in the initial phase but the European Union within the framework of the reform project of the European international code is rethinking the figure of the AEO”.
Carolina VillaVice President Assagenti recalled that “nautical industry has an exceptional economic and employment impact in Italy that derives not only from shipbuilding, but largely from the economic benefits deriving from the presence of pleasure craft in our waters. We must ensure that our coasts are not simply summer waypoints, but that they increasingly consolidate themselves as places where people sail and possibly also stay during the winter”.
At the end of the conference, Director Oliviero offered to hold a round table discussion with Confindustria Nautica aimed at identifying those interventions that can clarify the application of EU legislation and put Italian companies in a position to compete better with those of other countries.