Use of violation fines on Digitoll consignments

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Businesses express uncertainty about whether they will be able to deliver good enough information before border crossing. Therefore, they anticipate increased use of amendments through change notifications and subsequent declaration of surplus goods. The businesses are concerned that Norwegian Customs will establish a strict practice where all breaches of duties related to Digitoll transports will lead to a violation fine.

Digitoll does not change the authority to impose violation fines

Digitoll does not change the authority to impose violation fines. The Movement of Goods Act(vareførselsloven) Section 12-2 regulates the authority to impose violation fines for breaches of duties.

Norwegian Customs may impose a violation fine on "the person who violates duties" under the Movement of Goods Act:

• Chapter 2 (duties upon arrival in the customs territory)
• Chapter 3 (customs clearance upon import)
• Chapter 5 (duties upon export and issuance of proof of origin)

Digitoll moves the obligation to provide information forward in time. Declarations must be submitted before crossing the border. This allows Customs to check the declaration before goods have crossed the border. Businesses can update or change the declaration until the goods reach the border.

If errors are identified before the goods have arrived at the border, Norwegian Customs will provide guidance and assist the businesses. A breach only happens after the goods cross the border, and changes are no longer possible. The risk of a violation fine after a control of the declaration will be significantly reduced.

Violation fine is one of several available measures

The law says that Customs may impose violation fines, not that we must. This means that we consider if the cases are serious enough for a violation fine to be the appropriate measure for individual and general deterrent reasons, and which cases are not. The internal guidelines of Norwegian Customs will be updated and adapted to Digitoll.

It is important to remember that the violation fine is one of several measures we can use when breaches of duties are uncovered.

The use of other measures is especially important when major changes are introduced. Norwegian Customs aim for compliance to be easy. We will contribute to this by assisting businesses with training measures, dialogue, and guidance in individual cases.

A breach does not automatically mean a violation fine, whether using Digitoll or the ordinary system. Our goal is to help you comply with the rules.

This does not mean that the use of violation fines is completely excluded in the start-up phase of Digitoll. Violation fines can be used, but only when necessary to achieve increased compliance.

Strict liability is not grounds for imposing a violation fine

It is important to point out that Norwegian Customs do not use violation fines or any other form of penalty if there is no fault demonstrated by the person who has breached a duty.

In the case of strict liability (being responsible without fault), a person or a business can be held liable for an error regardless of their intention or degree of caution. Strict liability is not ground for a violation fine.

Norwegian Customs only use violation fines where it is probable that the person responsible for the breach of duty has acted negligently or intentionally. This is called subjective liability.

Note that the driver of a vehicle has a duty to follow the directing signal from Customs, whether it is given by lights or retrieved on a tablet. The driver is solely responsible for retrieving and following directions. Ignoring this and bypassing the Customs station is usually negligence and may lead to a violation fine.

What happens if businesses report their own errors?

Many also wonder whether Norwegian Customs will impose a violation fine if change notifications are sent to correct previously incorrect information. The simple answer is no.

There is no automatic imposition of violation fines when a business sends change notifications or subsequently declares goods that were surplus on a transport.

Norwegian Customs encourages the businesses to use the right to send change notifications, and the businesses has a duty to correct information in a declaration if they detect errors. The use of change notifications can therefore be an indication of high compliance and good internal control. Norwegian Customs will not penalize this.

However, it has happened that businesses have received violation fines due to a breach of duty that they themselves informed the customs authorities about. These cases are not typical or examples of a practice that Norwegian Customs maintains.

Violation fines have been used when the original error was serious; the error was repeated several times, or a long time had passed between the border crossing and the amendment or correction.

In these cases, the businesses did not act cautiously or could not demonstrate good internal control to prevent errors from recurring. Nor could they document a system for sending an amendment message or subsequent declaration within a reasonable time. Other measures were deemed inappropriate. A violation fine was imposed to create increased compliance.