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Transit Trade In Hungary

In this article, we will talk about the transit trade in Hungary and about its regulations.

Transit Trade Explanation

Landlocked countries must rely on neighboring coastal countries to complete international trade transactions. These coastal countries play an important role for landlocked countries by serving as a hub for receiving transit consignments and transporting them to landlocked countries. The transit trade generates economic activity for both transiting and landlocked countries as a result of cargo clearance at seaports and onward transportation of consignments to the destined landlocked countries. To effectively and efficiently convey the transit trade, the required and multimodal mode of transport must be used, resulting in timely delivery free of impediments.

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What Is The Importance Of Transit Trade?

Although the term “transit trade” is widely used, many people are unfamiliar with this commercial activity in its true sense. Entrepreneurs have significant opportunities because products are sold and purchased without entering the customs area. However, it is extremely difficult for those who are not professional transit traders to take advantage of these benefits.

Transit Trade Regulation In Hungary

Certain restrictions apply to the free importation of goods and services into Hungary. Since Hungary’s accession to the European Union on May 1, 2004, trade with other EU member countries has taken place within the framework of the EU’s internal market, the main principles of which are the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people.

Trade between the EU and third countries is also governed by EU law, as part of the EU’s common commercial policy. Except for textile products covered by special common rules and products originating in certain third countries listed in Council Regulation (EC) No 519/94 of March 1994, Council Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 of December 1994 on the common rules for imports (Import Regulation) applies to products imported to the originating in third countries.

The general rule of the Import Regulation is that products can be freely imported into the EU and, as a result, are not subject to any quantitative restrictions, subject to the safeguard measures that may be implemented under the Import Regulation. When products are imported into the Community in such large quantities and/or under such terms and conditions that they cause serious harm to Community producers, safeguard measures may be implemented.

Furthermore, neither the EU rules on the internal market nor the Import Regulation precludes Member States from adopting or implementing measures on the basis of public order, public morality, public security, the protection of human, animal, and plant health and life, the protection of national treasures, the protection of industrial and commercial property, and special formalities concerning foreign exchange.

Under Hungarian law, No 52/2012 (III.28) on the Trade of Goods, Services, and Rights of Material Value Traversing the State and Customs Border (Trade Decree) under Hungarian law provides for certain exceptions to the EU free trade rules outlined above. According to this decree, certain product export or import transactions require a license from the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office.

Transactions with armaments, radioactive materials, recyclable or harmful waste, parts or derivatives of endangered animal and plant species, surveillance devices, and military engineering defense technology, for example, can be found at http://www.mkeh.hu.

Since 1991, freight forwarding and international transportation have been practiced without the need for special licensing or reporting. The National Transport Authority (www.nkh.hu), which operates under the auspices of the State Secretariat for Infrastructure, Ministry for National Development, is in charge of issuing licenses to transport and logistics operators.

In terms of agricultural legislation, Hungary now falls under the very detailed European agricultural legal system and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The decrees of the competent ministers contain additional important regulations concerning drugs (including psychotropic drugs), chemicals, waste, and nuclear products.

Tariffs, Quotas, And Other Non-Tariff Barriers

The Quota Regulation, established by Council Regulation (EC) No 520/94 on March 7, 1994, established a community procedure for administering quantitative quotas. The Quota Regulation applies to the Community’s import and export quotas, whether autonomous or conventional.

The Quota Regulation does not apply to agricultural products listed in Annex II of the Treaty of Rome, textile products, or products subject to special import rules that include specific provisions for quota administration.

The Commission will issue a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union announcing the opening of quotas, establishing the method of allocation, the conditions to be met by license applications, time limits for submitting them, and a list of the competent national authorities to which they must be sent. Quotas will be assigned to applicants as soon as possible after they are opened.

Quotas may be administered by one of the three methods set out in the Quota Regulation, i.e. (I) the method based on traditional trade flows; (ii) method based on the order in which applications are submitted; and (iii) method of allocating quotas in proportion to the quantities requested, by a combination of these methods, or by any other appropriate method.

  • Anti-Dumping Laws And Regulations

Since Hungary’s EU accession, EU anti-dumping regulations have been in effect, with Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 serving as the primary source. The Anti-Dumping Regulation’s intention is to protect the EU from dumped imports from third countries, and its application is based on two conditions: I the existence of dumping; and (ii) proof of injury to the Community industry, be it injury caused to an industry established in the Community, the threat of injury, or substantial delay in the establishment of such an industry.

  • Foregin Exchange

The National Bank of Hungary is in charge of foreign exchange (www.mnb.hu). Former restrictions on transactions in foreign exchange and foreign currency were mostly repealed with the passage of a series of laws, the most recent being Act XCIII of 2001 on Foreign Exchange Liberalisation, which states that foreign residents and foreign non-residents may freely pursue transactions and acts performed with foreign currency, Hungarian currency, and claims in Hungarian currency. Regardless of the general rule, the Liberalisation Act states that payments to the Hungarian state for taxes, contributions, and other fees must be made in Forints.

Furthermore, other laws continue to impose obligations on foreign exchange transactions (regulations on money laundering, supplying data for statistical purposes to the National Bank of Hungary, etc.)

Companies conducting business in Hungary must open a bank account in Hungary. Companies that engage in foreign trading may open foreign currency accounts in Hungary. Foreign currency receipts, such as those from the export of goods and loan proceeds, can be deposited in such an account.