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2018 Report

4.6. International Relations

The International Relations Coordination Unit ( UCRI ) was created by Resolution of December 26, 2004 of the President of the Tax Agency with the purpose of providing it with a specific organic unit that would ensure the coordination of the different international activities in which it participates. At the organizational level, this Unit was integrated in 2011 into the Office of the Director General and is responsible for developing and coordinating the Agency's relations with foreign bodies and institutions and international organizations that are not specifically assigned to other bodies.

Furthermore, it must be taken into account that the customs area is, by definition, intrinsically international. The concept of “customs” is not understood except in an international context, given that its function is the facilitation and control of international trade in goods. The Customs and Excise Department of the Agency, under the coordination of the UCRI and in close collaboration with it, develops an intense international activity, which is channeled through the General Subdirectorate of International Relations.

In 2018, the Agency's international presence, thanks to the collaboration of all its Departments and Delegations, has been boosted thanks to the participation of its experts in different international institutions and organisations, the provision of technical assistance, the holding of courses and seminars, and the attention to numerous visits from foreign delegations.

The Tax Agency participates, among others, in the following international organizations through different instruments, whether working groups, forums, seminars or other projects:

  • European Union: FISCALIS, CUSTOMS 2020, Twinnings, EUROsociAL, EU-Cuba Program

    For example, in 2018, 233 officials participated in 182 activities in the FISCALIS programme, compared to 165 participants in 141 activities in 2017. In this area, the European Commission has launched the TADEUS initiative, a forum that will bring together, for the first time, the Directors of the Tax Administrations of the member countries who will help to establish the priorities of the work programme of the Commission itself and will be, at all times, aware of the work carried out by the Commission.

    In addition, 146 officials participated in 168 activities in the CUSTOMS 2020 programme in 2018, compared to 183 participants in 195 activities in 2017. Activities include seminars held to prepare customs for the UK's exit from the European Union and communication activities carried out in 2018, the year in which the 50th anniversary of the customs union was celebrated.

  • OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development): The work on tax matters, carried out mainly through the Committee on Tax Affairs to develop a series of standards or conventions in various matters related to international taxation, has been linked in 2018 to the G20 agenda and, above all, to the expansion of the BEPS Inclusive Framework and the introduction of work on Tax Certainty in all its Working Groups.

  • IOTA (Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations)

  • CIAT (Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations)

  • WCO (World Customs Organization): During 2018, in the work of this independent intergovernmental organization that contributes to the reform of customs procedures, in addition to helping customs fulfill their role as facilitators of legitimate trade while ensuring the security of the logistics chain, 64 experts from the Tax Agency have participated in 49 meetings. In 2018, elections were held for the General Secretary of the OMA , to which she participated as a candidate from Spain and as a common candidate from the EU , the Director of the Department of Customs and Excise.

  • Multilateral agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance between the national customs directorates of Latin America, Spain and Portugal ( COMALEP ).