Sylvain Guelton

Sylvain advises on customs and excise legislation in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, with a focus on complex valuation matters (including litigation), the implementation of customs and excise tax structures and complex export controls and EU sanctions issues. He also has extensive experience in assisting public authorities (the European Commission, governments and customs authorities). Sylvain assisted Luxembourg customs for six years in implementing its new customs clearance system as part of the UCC Work Programme.

His practice spans a number of industry sectors and includes e-commerce, energy and air/maritime transportation.

• Assisting a large e-commerce multinational on a series of complex customs valuation issues with transfer pricing implications.
• Assisting a chemical manufacturer in France in a large litigation file on customs valuation.
• Assisting airlines and logistic providers on the new UCC
• Assisting multinationals on refund application procedures in France and Belgium based on retrospective claims of preferential origin requirements on ICS 2 and temporary storage.
• Assisting economic operators on sanctions and export control matters in France and Belgium.
• Assisting traders in the draft of Internal Compliance Programme (ICP) in the context of export of sensitive goods outside the EU.
• Conducting internal audits of export controls processes of companies exporting sensitive goods outside the EU.
• Assisting economic operators in product compliance issues with customs authorities in France.
• Assisting several companies in managing energy and environmental taxes/regulations in France and Belgium.
• Assisting large beverage companies in France and distributors in Belgium in implementing and managing excise structure (including allocation to the correct excise category).