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2019 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 the latter 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 Agency's Customs and Excise Department, under the coordination of and in close collaboration with the UCRI, carries out intense international activity, which is channelled through the General Subdirectorate of International Relations.

In 2019, 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 the 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 2019, 206 officials participated in 122 activities in the FISCALIS programme, compared to 233 participants in 125 activities in 2018. The first TADEUS meeting was held in 2019, attended by the Directors of the Tax Administrations of the member countries.

    In addition, 224 officials participated in 272 activities in the CUSTOMS 2020 programme in 2019, compared to 146 participants in 168 activities in 2018. Activities include seminars held to prepare customs for the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union and communication activities carried out in 2019.

  • OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development): The work on tax matters, carried out mainly through the Tax Affairs Committee to develop a series of standards or conventions on various matters related to international taxation, has been linked in 2019 with the G20 agenda and, above all, with the challenges of the Digital Economy and its work program in order to develop a consensual solution to address the challenges in taxation resulting from the digitalization of the economy within the BEPS program 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): In 2019, Spanish experts have participated in missions on integrity, authorized economic operator, synthetic drugs and drug precursors, and nomenclature of the harmonized system, as well as on the MERCATOR program developed by the WCO to help member countries in the implementation of the WTO trade facilitation agreement.

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