New European Duties Expected for Trademark Royalties and License Fees

According to a report by Rouse & Co. International a recent meeting World Customs Organization Technical Committee on Customs Valuation decided that trademark royalty and license fee payments should in the future be included in the dutiable value of imported goods:

The outcome of the most recent WCO Customs Valuation sub-committee deliberations is expected to be documented in April 2008. . . . We would expect the latest changes to be adopted promptly by Customs authorities, at least in Europe. How quickly they will be adopted in other countries remains to be seen. However, if
European authorities are seen to be raising significant amounts of revenue from
the imposition of additional duties, other countries will probably be quick to follow.