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odems3Arjen Odems
Chief Executive Officer

Arjen is a key opinion leader in the field of international customs and trade, and is specialised in UK and the Netherlands customs topics. He is a representative of the Netherlands British Chamber of Commerce, the British German Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers. Arjen has hosted many seminars, webcasts and training sessions on customs and trade topics. The UK government recognises Cutraco as a partner to provide companies with customs and customs declaration training. 

Arjen has extensive experience in the industry and is a credible and reliable partner to advise small, midsize and large companies on customs and trade topics. His aim is to provide a flexible and solution-oriented approach, which will allow companies to achieve their business objectives and improve their compliance and effectiveness of the supply chain.

FAQs

  • Indirect tax and customs law degrees at the University of Leiden and post-master European fiscal studies at the University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands
  • 13 years of customs and international trade consulting at Deloitte in NL
  • 5 years as UK Practice Lead at the global trade team at EY in London
  • Founder and CEO of Customs and Trade Consultancy Limited since 2016 
  • Established a compliance branch in 2019, focussing on customs clearance and VAT filings

Philip Griffiths
Excise expert

Philip has a wealth of expertise having dealt with excise tax management globally for over 25 years. Combining his strong interpersonal skills with his vast knowledge of excise duty and the key issues facing companies involved with excisable products, Philip consistently delivers a proactive approach to solving challenging issues that arise around duty.

Philip has experience advising both small and large companies on excise issues. As an excise adviser to the International Monetary Fund, Philip also advises developing country revenue authorities in legal and control projects around the world. Philip has advised clients in a varied range of industries including alcohol, tobacco products, oil, coffee and soft drinks production companies; retail and wholesale; oil and chemical; logistics; airport duty free; food manufacture; software development; and health and cosmetics.

Philip is adept at delivering excise employee training in an engaging and informative manner. 

FAQs

  • Motto: Excise doesn’t have to be mundane, it is the “Sin Tax” after all!
  • Led excise projects in 30 countries covering the full spectrum of excise, including supply chain efficiencies, cash flow savings, and successfully lobbying for changes to excise laws 
  • Has worked at the UK Government’s Excise Policy Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers 
  • At Diageo, he was Head of Global Excise, responsible for Global Excise Management and Compliance and subsequently Head of Tax for Diageo’s e-commerce business

Maartje Meijer
QA & Process Management

In previous roles, Maartje was responsible for overall management, organisation and on-time delivery of high-profile projects whilst ensuring a quality and integrity of work in line with regulatory requirements. 

At Cutraco, she focusses on performing a range of different types of quality control of data and process improvements. She is responsible for reviewing various processes (internal and external) in order to subsequently optimise these. As a track record, she has been involved in Cutraco’s AEO certification, setting up and implementing our customs and VAT software solution and designing our quality system. Furthermore, she is responsible for ensuring training standards for staff members are adequate and mentoring a team of people responsible for performing daily quality control and analysis of data.

Maartje is also involved in customs consultancy projects. 

FAQs

  • Has a pharma and life sciences background
  • With Cutraco since 2017
  • Loves customs classification consultancy projects
  • Was the driver to obtain AEO certification in the Netherlands and the UK

Hein MeijerHein Cutraco

Customers Consultant

In his role as customs adviser, Hein provides advice on customs technical issues and topics and plays a key part in our operational services including customs brokerage and VAT services. 

Hein has specific experience in:

  • UK customs clearance
  • Classification and origin of goods
  • Customs value 
  • Customs audit
  • VAT services

Hein is based in the Netherlands and is involved in both Dutch and international projects and clients.

FAQs

  • Hein joined Customs & Trade Consultancy in 2019
  • Hein is our customs declaration and core VAT filing specialist
  • He always cycles to work, but not on rainy days as he does not own a rain suit

Benedetta Licari
Junior Consultant

Benedetta has extensive experience in managing worldwide accounts and liaising with international clients, providing advice, support and pragmatic solutions to clients’ issues where required.

Benedetta supports a wide variety of companies with their customs activities. She is focused on delivering high quality and on-time services to our clients. She is responsible for: 

  • Customs declaration services
  • Customs compliance reviews
  • CDS data reports
  • VAT services
  • Customs consultancy services

FAQs

  • Benedetta is fluent in English, Italian and Spanish
  • Benedetta joined Cutraco in 2021 and is based in the UK
  • Obtained Level 3 and Level 4 Advanced Customs Compliance certification 
  • She has earned her stars is being very diligent and persistent with customs authorities to ensure our client’s needs are addressed as swiftly as possible