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Displaying items by tag: EU Customs Risk

#EUCustomsPlan - The European Commission has adopted a new strategy detailing an action plan to improve customs risk management.

The new strategy launched last week is intended to supervise and identify supply chain risks, and key priorities where action is needed in order to achieve more effective and efficient EU-wide customs risk management.

Each priority in turn is developed in the action plan, in terms of actions to be taken and deliverables to be achieved.

Furthermore, the strategy seeks to ensure that customs is more coherent, efficient and cost effective in a way that reflects today's realities.

The action plan sets out specific measures to achieve this, together with the actors responsible and clear deadlines for doing so.

The main priorities in the strategy and action plan for improving customs risk management are:

Efficient controls and risk-mitigation

Data quality (IT systems for processing entry summary declarations)

Information sharing

Interagency cooperation

Cooperation with traders

Capacity building

International customs cooperation

The Commission, Member States and economic operators will all have an important and clearly defined role to play in ensuring the successful implementation of the new strategy.

 

Published in Ports & Shipping

Forty Foot Swimming Spot on Dublin Bay

The 'Forty Foot' is a rocky outcrop located at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for 300 years or more. It is popular because it is one of few spots between Dublin city and Greystones in County Wicklow that allows for swimming at all stages of the tide, subject to the sea state.

Forty Foot History

Traditionally, the bathing spot was exclusively a men's bathing spot and the gentlemen's swimming club was established to help conserve the area.

Owing to its relative isolation and gender-specific nature it became a popular spot for nudists, but in the 1970s, during the women's liberation movement, a group of female equal-rights activists plunged into the waters and now it is also open to everyone and it is in the control of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Many people believe that swimming in extremely cold water is healthy and good for the immune system.

Is it safe to swim at the Forty Foot?

The Forty-Foot is a great place to swim because there is always enough water to get a dip but like all sea swimming, there are always hazards you need to be aware of.   For example, a lot of people like to dive into to the pool at the Forty-foot but there are submerged rocks that can be hazardous especially at low water.  The Council have erected signs to warn people of the underwater dangers. Other hazards include slippy granite cut stone steps that can often be covered with seaweed and of course marine wildlife including jellyfish that make their presence felt in the summer months as do an inquisitive nearby Sandycove seal colony.

The Forty-foot Christmas Day swim

A Dublin institution that brings people from across Dublin and beyond for a dip in the chilly winter sea. Bathers arrive in the dark from 6 am and by noon the entire forty foot is a sea of red Santa hats!