Van Bael & Bellis

Trade

Partner Pablo Muñiz is head of the customs practice of Van Bael & Bellis. He specialises in EU trade law, with a particular emphasis on customs law, which he has practised in Brussels since 2001. He also advises clients, including a number of trade associations, on other aspects of EU law, such as free movement of goods and the internal market regulatory framework.  

Pablo has a wide range of experience in customs law, including customs classification, origin issues, customs valuation, compliance programmes, duty suspensions, export controls and sanctions.

Pablo regularly advises clients on multi-jurisdictional customs matters involving the European Commission, OLAF and the World Customs Organization (WCO). 

Pablo represents clients before EU national customs administrations and courts, frequently supported by a multijurisdictional team. His experience also includes litigation before the EU Court of Justice.

Cases before the EU Court of Justice include Canon Europa v. Commission and Kyocera Mita Europe v. Commission, where the Court addressed the issue of whether economic operators could challenge the validity of EU customs measures directly before the EU Courts.  

Pablo’s expertise includes assisting clients in the submission of remission and repayment applications to the national administrations and in related proceedings before the European Commission and the EU Court of Justice. In Commission case REM 06/08, he successfully obtained the remission of imports concerning the tariff classification of home cinema devices.  In Vestel Iberia, SL and Makro autoservicio mayorista SA v. Commission, concerning the validity of a Commission remission decision, the EU Court of Justice addressed the effects that such Commission decisions have on economic operators. 

Pablo’s experience also involves the submission of requests for access to documents, notably in the area of customs matters, where he often assists clients in navigating the EU and WCO rules on transparency and access to documents. In Pablo Muñiz v. Commission, the EU General Court clarified the interpretation of the EU access to documents rules in the customs area and restricted the cases where access can be refused by the EU institutions.

Pablo has also assisted governments in a number of WTO disputes including: EU – Anti-Dumping Duties on Malleable Cast Iron Tube or Pipe Fittings from Brazil; EC-Selected Customs Issues; and EC and its Member States – Tariff Treatment of Certain Information Technology Products.

Pablo has often participated in training seminars organised by the WCO as an expert speaker on various customs matters and regularly speaks on EU customs matters at conferences and events held worldwide.

Pablo Muñiz joined Van Bael & Bellis in 2001. Pablo Muñiz spent two years as a teaching assistant at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) on EU law matters, with a particular emphasis on judicial remedies under EU law and on EU Competition law.

Pablo Muñiz speaks Spanish, English, and French.

Member of the Oviedo Bar, Spain. Member of the Brussels Bar

College of Europe, Bruges, LL.M. in European Legal Studies, 1999University of Oviedo, Spain, Master of Laws, 1997University of Sheffield, 1995-1996