UNPARALLELED EXPERTISE

Associates

Verena Alvez

Verena Alvez graduated in law at the Westphalian-Wilhelminian University of Münster. During her studies she was employed at the AWA Foreign Trade Academy in Münster. Mrs. Alvez qualified as a solicitor, completing her legal training at the Superior Regional Court at Düsseldorf. She has also successfully participated in many customs seminars and distance learning courses as part of her further training. Mrs. Alvez gained practical experience in the application of customs law at KPMG in Munich, Nehm & Coll. in Düsseldorf and Baker & Mc Kenzie in Buenos Aires. She wrote her doctoral thesis under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Director of the Department of Customs and Excise at the Westphalian-Wilhelminian University of Münster. During the course of her research, she made several study trips to Buenos Aires and Montevideo and spent a tenure at the Secretariat of Mercosur. Since October 2007, she has been employed as a lawyer at the AWB Tax Consultancy GmbH in Münster. She specializes in general customs law, rules of origin and the law governing preferential treatment.

Andreas Beckmann

After graduating with a degree in public accounting (Diplom-Finanzwirt), Andreas Beckmann was employed at the Main Customs Office in Münster, where he worked in a number of departments. In 2001 he joined HLB Dr. Schumacher & Partner GmbH in Münster where he advised clients in relation to customs and foreign trade. In addition, successfully graduated with a Degree in Business Management at the University for Technical Sciences.

Andreas Beckmann specializes in all questions pertaining to customs and the law governing preferential treatment: in particular, he advises companies on how to ensure that their internal processes satisfy customs law requirements. In addition, he has been involved in a number of projects dealing with preferential treatment thereby gaining a great deal of experience in this extremely complex area. Besides his consultancy activities, Mr. Beckmann also lectures at the AWA Foreign Trade Academy GmbH and several chambers of trade and industry. A recognized customs expert, he has been involved in the development of the Authorized Economic Operator security concept in several Member States since 2005. He has also contributed to several publications including the practice guide “Export- und Zollmanagement” edited by Prof. Dr. Peter Witte.

Sebastian Billig

Mr. Billig is a solicitor and partner of the law firm HLDS Hohenlohe in Munich, specializing in customs and foreign trade law. In addition, Mr. Billig is a managing director of the TTA Europe GmbH and employee of the AWB Tax Consultancy GmbH in Munich. He was previously employed by KPMG in the field of customs and trade: this gave him the opportunity to familiarize himself with customs law problems experienced by international companies. Mr. Billig also acquired practical experience of the operations of a global player during his activities as a lecturer for export control law at Lufthansa Technik Logistik GmbH in Hamburg.

Christopher Dallimore

Christopher Dallimore obtained a 2.1 Joint Honours degree in Law and German at Cardiff University and a Magister Legum at Trier University. He moved to Münster in 1998, working as a research assistant at the Centre of European Private Law (CEP) and lecturing in tort, contract and business law at the Westphalian-Wilhelminian University of Münster. In 2003 Mr. Dallimore was also employed by Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang at the Department of Customs and Excise where he was appointed “Course Co-ordinator” of the postgraduate programme of studies “Master of Customs Administration” (MCA). He was responsible for the academic planning and organization of the course and also held lectures on the subject of customs legislation. He has also been very active as a legal translator: many of these texts have been published, including a Customs Code for the State of Palestine.

Mr. Dallimore has also written a doctoral thesis entitled “Navigating Uncharted Waters: Does the Container Security Initiative Comply with WTO Law?” that is awaiting publication. Since April 2008 he has been employed by the Trusted Trade Alliance Europe GmbH, an affiliated company of the Tax Consultancy GmbH in Münster.

Nathalie Harksen

Dr. Nathalie Harksen studied law at the universities of Marburg, Münster and Paris X Nanterre/France. She was admitted as a solicitor at the Superior Regional Court in Hamm and specializes in customs and VAT law at the AWA Foreign Trade Academy. She wrote her doctoral thesis at the Chair of Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang in Münster in the field of customs and worked as a doctoral researcher at KMPG Deutsche Treuhand-Ges. AG in Düsseldorf in the fields of VAT and customs law. She advises companies on customs and foreign trade law on the basis of a co-operation between the AWA and AWB Tax Consultancy GmbH.
Dr. Nathalie Harksen specializes in cross-border transactions, particularly VAT issues that arise thereby. She lectures for the AWA and has published numerous articles on customs and VAT law in the AW-Prax, Der Zollprofi and text books published by the Bundesanzeiger Verlag.

Ekaterina Sidelnikova

Ekaterina Sidelnikova studied law at the St. Petersburg State University, Russia and European and International Commercial Law at the Technical College Braunschweig / Wolfenbüttel where she graduated with a diploma in business law, specializing in customs and foreign trade law. During her studies she was also employed as an academic researcher at the Department of Political Science, Institute for Economics, Technical University Braunschweig. She also spent a semester at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, School of Business and Law.
As part of her further training, she has successfully attended a number of customs seminars and a distance learning course in customs law at the AWA AUSSENWIRTSCHAFTS-AKADEMIE GmbH.

Mrs. Sidelnikova gained practical experience in Russian business law, contract law and process controlling at the Volkswagen Group for Finances in Moscow/Russia. She advanced her knowledge of international accounting and controlling at the DaimlerChrysler AG in Bremen and gained practical skills in the implementation of AEO Status through co-operation with the AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH in Münster. The AWB also supervised her diploma thesis on the AEO.

Since May 2006 Mrs. Sidelnikova has been employed as a business lawyer at the AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH in Münster. She has been responsible for the development of the TTA Validator and has also accompanied the introduction of the AEO during the pilot phase at a global logistics service provider with over 190 branches in Germany and Finnland. Mrs. Sidelnikova is the contact partner for companies that use the TTA Validator or are planning to do so and assists undertakings to prepare for AEO certification.

She has published specialist articles on these subjects.

Simon Vischer

Simon Vischer studied law at the Westphalian-Wilhelminian University of Münster. During his studies he also worked at the AWA Foreign Trade Academy where he participated in seminars and completed a distance-learning course in customs law.
Since 2006 he has been a trainee lawyer at the Superior Regional Court at Hamm and will soon complete his second state examinatons. During his traineeship, he worked in the civil and criminal divisions of the Regional Court in Münster and gained practical experience of administrative law in the offices of a municipal authority. His solicitor’s training was spent at the AWB Tax Consultancy GmbH and Dr. Schumacher & Partner in Münster. His main areas of interest are general customs law, international copyright law and the law on export procedures.