Cezary Sowiński

Cezary Sowiński works with Halcyon as of counsel, specialising in customs law, international trade and Public Affairs. He is a licensed tax adviser and holds a PhD in Management, with over 20 years of experience spanning advisory services, public administration and international business. He combines regulatory expertise with experience in public policy development, institutional engagement and sustainability. He brings Halcyon’s clients a perspective that connects customs and tax advice with the operational realities of international supply chains and an understanding of how regulation is developed.

He gained his experience at Poland’s Ministry of Economy, the indirect tax team at PwC Poland and DHL Express, where he served as Senior Director Customs and Regulatory Affairs Europe. He subsequently worked as Public Policy Manager at Amazon, focusing on the regulatory environment for e-commerce, including consumer protection, competition, product safety, intellectual property, customs and taxation. He now runs an independent advisory practice.

His experience includes contributing to work on the Union Customs Code, its delegated and implementing acts and European Commission guidance, as well as VAT rules for e-commerce. He has also worked on customs processes in Central and Eastern Europe, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) audits and re-certification, and the implementation of systems for managing the origin of goods and using preferences under free trade agreements. This connects his experience of regulatory development with its application in day-to-day business operations.

He takes a comprehensive approach to advising on international trade in goods, covering both imports and exports across different sectors and business models. He considers customs, VAT and excise alongside trade compliance obligations, sanctions and trade restrictions, as well as product safety, supply chain participants’ responsibilities and consumer protection. His starting point is not an isolated legal provision, but the entire business process and the obligations associated with the goods concerned.

In Public Affairs, he supports legislative analysis, the development of policy positions and recommendations, and engagement between businesses, industry associations, public authorities and international institutions. His approach centres on “connecting the dots”: bringing regulatory detail together with business objectives, public policy developments and different stakeholders’ perspectives. In practice, this means preparing for new obligations while also exploring systemic solutions and partnerships to support their implementation.

Sustainability is another important area of his practice, particularly the circular economy and extended producer responsibility. He works on regulation concerning product lifecycles, reuse and recycling, with a particular focus on textiles.

He is an academic lecturer and an author of publications on customs law and international trade. He contributes to industry organisations and international expert bodies, including Business at OECD and the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights at EUIPO.

Outside work, he is a happy husband and father of three. He enjoys history, modernist architecture and science fiction, particularly Stanisław Lem, Isaac Asimov, the golden age of American science fiction and Star Trek. He loves walking his dog, usually accompanied by a steady stream of podcasts.