Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) in cooperation with Latvian State Revenue Service (SRS) and Lithuanian Customs Criminal Service (CCS) launched a project "Tackling excise crime in the Baltic region".
Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) in cooperation with Latvian State Revenue Service (SRS) and Lithuanian Customs Criminal Service (CCS) launched a project "Tackling excise crime in the Baltic region". It is a joint international cooperation project for the Baltic States tax and customs and other law enforcement authorities. It is executed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The overall management of the project is carried out by ETCB. The aim of the project is to combat excise offences (to decrease the tax gap) in the Baltic region via trainings, purchase of the technical equipment and financing investigations related activities.
The project is co-financed by the Internal Security Fund (ISF) – the Ministry of the Interior in each country as a managing authority of the ISF is responsible for the supervision of the allocated funds.
The project will run for three years, and its main task is to increase the efficiency and capacity of the authorities in the fight against the black market/economy and crime in the field of excise duty (illicit tobacco, fuel, alcohol).
The kick-off meeting of the project took place on 7-8 March 2023 in Tallinn, Estonia, and was attended by the representatives of ETCB, SRS and CCS.
This project is to address activities concerning the fight against excise duty evasion according to the Excise fraud priority set by the European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), which is one of the EU crime fighting priorities.
The framework of the project gives opportunity to organise trainings and study visits for excise investigators and law enforcement officers involved in combatting excise crime. The funds may be used for purchasing technical equipment to be utilized when investigating excise crime. In addition, costs related to excise criminal investigations may be covered by the project as well.
While executing the project, the beneficiaries - ETCB, SRS and CCS - have already used the opportunity to cooperate with the police, border guard, financial investigation units, with EU agencies (EUROPOL, OLAF, EPPO, EUROJUST), and with similar authorities in Poland, Sweden and Finland.
