Pasani Academy – Customs specialists by conviction

Patrick Nieveler has been working in customs, foreign trade and excise for over 20 years. He has several years of experience in various companies in the mechanical engineering, consumer goods and automotive industries. From 2012 to 2022, he held a management position at a well-known German car manufacturer, where he was responsible for customs procedures, customs law and energy and electricity tax. His responsibilities also included leading working groups focussing on European customs law at the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and the Federation of German Industries (BDI). As part of these activities, he was significantly involved in the drafting of the Union Customs Code and its implementing regulations. One of Patrick Nieveler's personal interests is the training and further education of young talent. In this context, he occasionally held a teaching position at the Federal University of Applied Sciences, supporting the training of senior customs officers. He is currently a lecturer at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences for the part-time "Customs and Foreign Trade Management" degree programme.

Jan Olaf Leisner has more than 15 years of experience in tax and customs compliance consulting. Among other things, he co-developed the customs compliance programme for one of the largest German customs departments, accompanied AEO certifications and successfully concluded numerous proceedings for customs law violations. His clients in the area of customs compliance include groups in the automotive and supplier industry as well as logistics. Companies also rely on Jan Olaf Leisner's many years of experience in preventive advice to avoid irregularities and in internal investigations to clarify and search for the causes of errors. Jan Olaf Leisner has also been one of Germany's leading criminal tax lawyers for two decades. In his more than 20 years of professional practice, he has represented clients in many of the most important national and international tax and criminal tax proceedings. If offences actually result in fines or criminal proceedings, he can advise the companies, board members and managing directors concerned. He has particular expertise in the preparation of subsequent tax and customs declarations or voluntary disclosures.

Matthias Kern draws on experience from public authorities, consultancy and industry. He completed his studies with the tax authorities and worked as a customs officer for a total of 8 years. As a senior manager and authorised signatory in an international tax consultancy and as a director in a Big 4 auditing company, he has advised medium-sized companies and large corporations on customs and excise duties as well as VAT and has thus been able to gain more than 7 years of "consulting experience". He was also employed for several years in management positions at two well-known corporations, including as head of a customs department with several hundred employees. Matthias Kern advises on all aspects of customs, excise and VAT law. His main areas of expertise are organisational and process consulting as well as consulting on IT solutions in the field of indirect taxes (software and data management).

René Jentzsch holds a degree in finance (FH). He has several years of experience in the authorities, in industry and in consulting. He completed a degree in tax administration and worked as a customs officer for a total of 10 years - most recently in the overall ATLAS project management at the Federal Ministry of Finance. From 2007 to 2017, he held management positions in customs and foreign trade at two well-known DAX companies. His tasks there included supporting international projects, process optimisation and the implementation of IT-supported solutions. He then worked as a director in a tax consultancy firm, where, in addition to focussing on consulting in the process and customs IT environment (e.g. specialist consulting for implementations with SAP GTS), he established a new business area for the operational support of clients.

Dominik Peter holds a degree in finance (FH). He has already gained several years of experience both in the authorities and in industry. He completed his studies with the tax authorities and worked as a customs officer for a total of 4 years. From 2017 to 2021, he was responsible for compliance in the areas of customs and foreign trade at a well-known group in Austria. His tasks there included supporting international projects, implementing guidelines and standards, jointly developing the customs strategy and permanently deputising for the customs officer.

Anne Goullon holds a degree in Finance (FH) and a Master's degree in Business Informatics (M.Sc.). She worked in the customs administration for a total of ten years. Among other things, she worked on IT projects for more than five years and supported the design, implementation and further development of various customs processing systems in Germany and at EU level. She then worked for several years as head of customs IT teams at an international logistics group and at a well-known e-commerce company. She managed development and support teams as well as IT projects and supported new and further developments as well as software migrations.

Stefan Krinner holds a degree in Finance (FH) and a Master's degree in General Management (M. A.). He has already gained several years of experience both on the government side and in industry. He completed his studies with the tax authorities and worked as a customs officer for more than five years. From 2017 to 2022, he held various positions at a well-known German car manufacturer. His tasks there included customs cost optimisation, the implementation and optimisation of import processes in the EU, the implementation of a customs service provider on the European side after Brexit and support in enabling the customs function in the UK.

Erich Paul Lemke is a former senior customs officer and has many years of experience in all areas of customs, foreign trade and preference law from various senior positions in the customs administration, in industry, at a software developer and in Big4 auditing companies. He has been organising seminars on customs and foreign trade law for many years. Erich Paul Lemke is certified by the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC Germany e.V., as an accredited and certified trainer for Incoterms® 2020.

Roland M. Stein is a founding partner of BLOMSTEIN and is one of Germany's leading lawyers in foreign trade law. He is listed by WWL as an expert for Trade & Customs and M&A Foreign Direct Investments and is regularly included in the rankings of JUVE, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers. He is also recognised by WorldECR as an expert in export control, sanctions and compliance. Roland Stein advises clients on all matters relating to foreign trade law. He supports both federal ministries and companies, primarily from the defence and security, automotive, technology and general industry sectors. His advice focusses on customs and excise tax law, in particular energy and electricity tax and alcohol tax. He also specialises in advising on export control and sanctions law as well as WTO law (in particular anti-dumping and safeguard measures). In recent years, he has also advised on a large number of investment audits. Roland Stein regularly publishes in national and international legal journals and lectures on current foreign trade law topics worldwide.

Florian Wolf is Counsel at BLOMSTEIN and advises German and international clients on export control, sanctions and customs law issues. A major focus of his work is on trade compliance. As a result of his cross-border advice to multinational companies, including those in the mechanical engineering and high-tech industries as well as the raw materials sector, he has detailed knowledge of various sectors of the economy and extensive experience, particularly in the assessment and evaluation of complex issues under sanctions law, especially in relation to Russia and Iran. In addition, his advisory work covers all aspects of German and European public procurement law. Florian Wolf is listed by WorldECR as an expert in export control, sanctions and compliance. He also publishes regularly on foreign trade law topics, for example in ZfZ, AW-Prax, WorldECR and US-Exportbestimmungen. He regularly speaks at specialist conferences and organises training courses in the area of trade compliance.

Leonard von Rummel is a Senior Associate at BLOMSTEIN and represents national and international clients in all matters relating to foreign trade. In addition to export control and sanctions law, his expertise includes anti-dumping law and the law on protective measures. Leonard von Rummel also specialises in excise tax law (in particular energy and electricity taxes as well as alcohol tax). In addition, he regularly advises international companies on German investment control in the context of transactions. Leonard von Rummel regularly represents his clients before the customs administration, the European Commission and the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) as well as before administrative and fiscal courts. Leonard von Rummel is recognised by WorldECR as an expert in export control, sanctions and compliance and is recommended by JUVE for customs and excise law. He regularly publishes on foreign trade law topics and is a speaker at various seminars.

Laura Louca is an associate at BLOMSTEIN and specialises in German and European foreign trade law. In addition to export control, sanctions and customs law, she specialises in German investment control. She advises clients on export control law issues and violations, in particular on the export of goods under the Dual-Use Regulation and the Export and War Weapons List. Laura Louca also wrote her dissertation on the international arms trade and the control of dual-use goods. Her expertise also includes advising clients on foreign trade law compliance programmes relating to sanctions and export control law. In addition, Laura Louca has extensive experience in assisting with internal and external investigations and voluntary disclosures due to violations of foreign trade law. Laura Louca is a WorldECR recognised expert in export control, sanctions and compliance. She regularly speaks on foreign trade law topics at international conferences and is also a speaker at various seminars.

Christopher Wolters specialises in public procurement law, foreign trade law and all legal aspects of national security. Christopher advises both bidders and contracting authorities on all aspects of public procurement law. Christopher has particular experience in the area of public procurement law litigation and compliance (procurement blocks and self-cleaning) as well as in the IT and healthcare sectors. His expertise in public procurement law is not limited to German public procurement law. He also regularly advises international development banks and European institutions on their respective public procurement law. In foreign trade law, Christopher advises companies both in connection with compliance issues and in investigative proceedings. The spectrum of his advice extends in particular to export control and sanctions law issues as well as investment control. He has particular experience in advising in connection with investigations into allegations of violations of foreign trade law and compliance with sanctions and export control law. Christopher provides comprehensive advice on national security issues. In addition to the aforementioned foreign trade law issues, his focus here is on procurement projects of the German Federal Armed Forces by way of direct awards or in the context of formal award procedures, including the associated contract negotiations and any legal defence proceedings. It does not matter whether the procurement is carried out with another state, jointly with other states or via a multinational procurement authority. Christopher is admitted to the bar in Germany. He is a member of the Executive Committee of AIJA.

As Head of Sales and Customer Service, Patrick's sister has been the direct contact for your concerns since 2023. Nathalie's priority and strength in her daily work has always been to build and maintain long-term, trusting and cooperative relationships with customers and stakeholders. Nathalie has ...

• ... a Bachelor Professional of Sales and Distribution Management (CCI)
• ... a Bachelor Professional of Marketing (CCI)
• ... 9 years of experience as founder and manager of a retail company
• ... 15 years of experience in industrial groups.

Nathalie has held various positions in marketing, sales and purchasing and has extensive experience of the customs requirements of interface departments.

Book an appointment with Nathalie here.