Supports global businesses to prepare now for new ICS Customs procedure

Supports global businesses to prepare now for new ICS Customs procedure

Kewill, a trade and logistics solutions provider, is supporting businesses who are beginning to prepare themselves in advance of the new Import Control System (ICS), which becomes mandatory across the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2011.

ICS is an additional Customs procedure primarily designed to improve security by providing advance visibility of shipments arriving within EU Customs territory.

It will require all traders importing goods to the EU to submit information electronically, in the form of an Entry Summary Declaration (ENS), prior to their arrival within the Community. This will be used to perform a near real-time risk analysis to inform Customs authorities on how to deal with individual shipments, reducing the risk of dangerous or suspicious shipments being admitted.

Added safety with real-time data

This represents a major change to the current process, where goods arriving from outside the European Union are declared to the local Customs authority at point of arrival in a summary declaration for cargo, often by manually giving the freight manifest to the local Customs office.

Carriers of cargo will be most affected by the introduction of ICS, and will in most cases be responsible for the correct electronic submission of the required data to the first port of entry to the EU. However every business reliant on imported goods needs to be aware of the changes and work closely with its carriers to ensure that reliable automatic processes are in place to ensure compliance with ICS, and avoid costly delays to shipments.

Evan Puzey, chief marketing officer at Kewill, said: “ICS is the latest in a series of ongoing changes that will eventually lead to fully paperless customs globally. The risks and costs associated with ensuring compliance with ICS, along with other international regulations, can seem prohibitive for many businesses. However, using an integrated customs solution, such as Kewill CustomsXchange, to handle electronic customs declarations seamlessly via local solutions and domain experts, can significantly reduce the burden.”