2.I.2. Minor infractions

Minor violations are those acts that, while they constitute an actual violation of some aspect of customs and tax legislation, are not significant enough to be considered indicators of risk with respect to the international movement of goods, security issues, or enforceable customs debts.

In order to determine which violations may be considered minor, the first thing to keep in mind is that each case is different and must be treated individually, taking into account the circumstances of the case in question, the history of compliance, the nature of the business, and the size of the economic operator. If the infringement is determined to be minor, the operator must provide evidence of the measures it plans to implement to reduce the number of errors committed in its customs operations.

The indicative checklist below can assist customs authorities in determining whether an infringement can be considered minor:

• there must be no deliberate fraud;
• Violations must be examined cumulatively and in relation to the total volume of operations;
• It must be determined whether the infringement was an isolated or sporadic act committed by a single person within the framework of the general organization of the company;
• the context of the infringement must always be taken into account;
• The applicant's internal control systems must be operational, and consideration must be given to whether the infringements were detected by the applicant as a result of its own internal controls and whether they were immediately notified to the customs authorities;
• It must be established whether the applicant has taken immediate measures to correct or prevent such acts in the future;
• The nature of the infringement must be taken into account, paying particular attention to its type and extent. Some errors may be considered "minor" because they do not affect the amount of customs duties payable (for example, an incorrect classification between two items subject to the same customs duty and a lack of differences between the other measures applicable to such goods, such as prohibitions and restrictions). Other violations may affect the amount of fees payable, although the difference is not considered significant in relation to the number and volume of declarations filed by the applicant.

If the assessment determines that the violations committed are of minor importance, the compliance record will be considered appropriate.

Taking into account the above, and provided that in each of the cases analyzed there are no other circumstances that should be considered, the following violations can be proposed as examples of minor customs violations:

• non-compliances that are considered not to have a significant effect on the implementation of a customs procedure, as defined in Article 5(16) of the UCC;
• Minor breach of the maximum period allowed for goods to be held in temporary storage, or any other limits applicable to goods subject to any customs suspension regime, such as inward processing or temporary admission, without affecting the exact determination of the customs debt due;
• Isolated, non-repeated errors committed by the operator when entering the data included in the customs declarations submitted, provided that such errors do not lead to an incorrect assessment of the customs debt due.

In the case of minor violations of tax regulations, the definition established by the competent tax authority must be taken into account.