Articles under "#Digital Customs" category

Issue: WCO News 90 October 2019

From the WCO drawing board to Customs strategic plans: is the nCEN Programme taking Customs by storm?

When it all began, in 2013, the National Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) application was only used in one country which needed a tool to collect, store, analyse, and disseminate law enforcement information efficiently in order to establish robust intelligence capabilities. . In the first year ...

With the first version of the nCEN, the focus was primarily on data collection for risk management. As the user base grew and more countries began using the application, the communication component called Icomm was improved to allow for simpler and more comprehensive data exchange between Customs...

Issue: WCO News 79

Digital Customs, the opportunities of the Information Age

The world is turning digital, faster than we could have imagined, and public administrations are also moving online just as fast. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is everywhere in today’s Customs workplace. From the use of ICT in office automation, to the use of the Internet to p...

Issue: WCO News 90 October 2019

WCO Data Model: understanding the WCO’s key data harmonization and standardization tool for cross-border regulatory processes

The availability of quality and timely electronic data in a standardized and harmonized manner underpins the effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for modern border procedures. Some of the common challenges relating to data requirements for various Customs and border c...

Currently, the WCO DM contains 727 data elements that support different data requirements for various Customs and border regulatory processes and systems, including the Single Window environment. It is a comprehensive technical dataset that is dynamically updated through an established Data Maint...

Issue: WCO News 103

WCO published a Study on the Digitalization of the Certificate of Origin

In 2022, the WCO Secretariat sent a questionnaire to the Organization’s Members to gather information on certification of origin processes and the digitalization of the certificate of origin (CO). Eighty-four Customs administrations responded, and a Study on the Digitalization of the Certif...

Out of 82 responding Customs administrations that operate an authority issuance system, 48 indicated that they implement both paper-based and electronic certificates of origin; 33 responded that they implement paper-based certificates of origin only, while one administration indicated that it imp...

Issue: WCO News 79

Malaysia launches new information system

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department is working on a new information system, known as uCustoms, which will enable effective information-sharing, streamlined procedures, and genuine collaboration among all agencies involved in the clearance process.

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Issue: WCO News 88

Serbia’s accession to the common transit procedure has become a real game changer

The Republic of Serbia is geographically located on the trade routes connecting Western and Central Europe to the Southeast region of Europe, especially the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as Turkey, and further away, the countries of Western Asia. To facilitate trade operations and esp...

The computer system that allows for real-time messages to be exchanged between countries, the tracking of goods and the management of guarantees, from end-to-end, is a stand-alone application that has to be implemented by all Parties and is called the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS). The N...

Issue: WCO News 79

UNI-PASS: Korea’s Customs modernization tool

The environment surrounding Customs administrations is changing rapidly. The conclusion by the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its Trade Facilitation Agreement in December 2013 demands that governments make further efforts to simplify trade procedures and ensure more transparency in trade regul...

Issue: WCO News 97 – Issue 1 / 2022

Making digital collaboration possible: the WCO Data Model – latest developments and implementation guidance

In October 2021, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reported that despite COVID-related interruptions, container throughput in international ports remains at or near record levels

A fundamental requirement for successful communication between individuals is that they all speak the same language. This is also the case for communication between electronic systems.  A common language is required to ensure that information flows seamlessly across different IT systems. In this...

Issue: WCO News 94 February 2021

Dematerialization of Customs procedures: Feedback from Moroccan Customs

With its focus fixed on the capacity consistently to improve the service it provides to its users, Moroccan Customs has long been counting recourse to the new information and communications technologies among its strategic options. Today, the various projects undertaken to dematerialize its proce...

Complete dematerialization of the Customs clearance circuit

The launch of “paperless” Customs clearance was preceded by the gradual rollout of legal, procedural and technical prerequisites, which called for a commitme...

Dematerialization of certificates of origin

In Morocco, certificates of origin are issued by the Customs Administration. Exporters simply apply for a certificate when drawing up the export declaration. The computer system...

Issue: WCO News 97 – Issue 1 / 2022

How Botswana Customs is leveraging data-driven technologies to rethink ways of doing, working, measuring and collaborating

The Botswana Government wants to build a tech-driven economy, in other words, an economy where development is driven by the potential of available technologies and the innovations they unlock. The Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) shares that ambition and is ...

Performance measurement

BURS aims to be an agile organization and its strategic plan is updated every five years. To monitor implementation of the plan, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been developed for each busin...

Issue: WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023

Revitalizing cooperation between Ports and Customs

Maritime transport carries 90 percent of global merchandise trade[1], and impediments to ports’ logistical chains have tangible repercussions in terms of higher trade costs and even shortages of goods and materials. The chains include numerous entities, span...

There are international requirements for governments to use electronic information exchange in this process. Since April 2019, the transmission of information required in respect of the arrival, stay and departure of ships in ports and harbours must take place via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI...

Issue: WCO News 89

Building partnerships with other border regulatory agencies through ICT

The Jamaica Customs Agency is cognizant of the benefits to be derived from the introduction and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in partnership with other partnering regulatory agencies (PRAs). Such an endeavour is considered strategic and necessary for improved service deliv...

As part of the reform, an electronic Single Administrative Document (eSAD) covering all declaration regimes was introduced, which resulted in an immediate reduction in the cost  of documentary compliance for clients, and in the standardization of all procedures across all Customs Offices. Suppor...

Issue: WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023

Customs-Ports partnership and engagement in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi (AD), the capital of the United Arab Emirates, was one of the early adopters of trade digitalization in the Middle East and has made considerable progress in this field. To achieve this, it needed to establish a solid partnership between key private- and public-sector stakeholders, incl...

The Advanced Trade and Logistics Platform

Back in 2014, the government selected the AD Ports Group – the master developer, operator and manager of commercial and communi...

The exercise brought valuable insights to participants, and 25 observations and recommendations were drafted. They addressed particularly OGA/Customs coordination, highlighting the need to establish a coordinated border management framework which would provide for joint inspections and enable Cu...

Issue: WCO News 79

Securing the digital supply chain

The digital supply chain is where the world of trade is being transformed, as consumers and businesses switch to digital media, digital goods and e-commerce in place of physical goods traded at bricks-and-mortar stores. New platforms for trading goods online as well as on the ‘dark net,’ new ...

Issue: WCO News 94 February 2021

Digitization of ATA Carnets: overview of the ICC pilot project

The ATA[1] Carnet is an international Customs document that permits duty-free and tax-free temporary admission of most goods for up to one year. It enables countries, businesses and border agencies to expedite the Customs process by utilizing unified, ready-to...

Going digital

The ATA Carnet is still today a paper-based document, although its digitization (turning the physical paper into an electronic file) and the digitalization o...

Issue: WCO News 97 – Issue 1 / 2022

Transforming Dominican Customs through effective data analysis

Today, a lot of what we do generates data. These data can be analysed in real time thanks to hyperconnected infrastructures – a state of communications where electronic and computer devices of all kinds can communicate among each other to whatever extent each individual user desires – as well...

Together on time

A great deal has changed in the DGA since the publication of that article. In August 2020, a new administration took command and set the objective of turning the Dominican Republic into the logistics epicentre par excelle...

Starting from the premise that time is a key factor in attracting new cargo volumes and foreign investment into our country, the DGA launched the “Release in 24 Hours” (D24H) programme under the motto “Together on time” in June 2021. The main objective is to motivate all importers regard...

Issue: WCO News 79

Start small, think big: big data!

Ninety-three percent of federal government respondents to a recent survey by Unisys Corp. said that the quality and speed of decision-making improved when applying data analytics; yet nearly 70% reported that they are concerned about their agency’s ability to analyse key data rather than simply...

Issue: WCO News 94 February 2021

How digital tools can improve compliance with SPS measures

Given increasing concerns about food security and food safety and the need to fight hunger and eliminate food waste, a review of the current processes for implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and adoption of ...

Many importing countries require a Sanitary/Phytosanitary Certificate which is an official document issued by a competent authority of the exporting country to the exporter. It certifies that the animals or plants, and their derived products, covered by the Certificate have been inspected and are...

Issue: WCO News 97 – Issue 1 / 2022

Trade digitization on a global scale: how far are we?

One positive outcome from the COVID-19 pandemic was the boost in the digitization of interactions and operations in many sectors of society. Digitization is a relatively easy concept to understand. It is the process of converting information into a digital format, in other words, bits and bytes. ...

The challenges behind limited adoption

There are several reasons behind the current situation:

  • The lack of coordination of digitization efforts has resulted in multiple “digital islands”, each with its own set of standard...

Issue: WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023

Integrating ports and Customs information systems in a cloud environment: a game changer for digital transformation

In today’s interconnected world, the efficient movement of goods across borders is crucial to most economies. Ports and Customs play pivotal roles here. In this environment, as in many others, efficiency means digitalization of processes, and seamless flows o...

However, scaling up or down in response to fluctuating demand can be challenging with on-premises systems, often requiring costly hardware upgrades. IT teams are responsible for maintaining hardware, applying updates, and managing security, diverting resources from core activities. Establishing r...

Issue: WCO News 93 October 2020

Implementation of e-tariff platforms gathers momentum in Africa

Lack of transparency on cross-border procedures has been identified as one of the first “choke points” in global supply chains. To provide economic operators with easy access to Customs tariffs as well as a clear view of measures to be taken when importing or e...

The latest global multilateral trade agreement, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), stipulates in its Article 1 (“Publication and availability of information”) that each WTO Member must promptly publish trade-related and Customs-related information i...

Issue: WCO News 94 February 2021

TradeTrust: accelerating the digitalization of international trade

Singapore is spearheading the implementation of TradeTrust, which is a framework comprised of a set of globally accepted standards to facilitate the digitalization of documents used in international trade and logistics and their interoperability, and also a set of ...

For example, the Bill of Lading (BL)[1] is still provided in hardcopy in many countries, creating inefficiencies. It requires time and money to courier the BL document to destination ports of discharge, plus there are risks of the BL getting lost in transit, w...

Issue: WCO News 79

CBP gauges automation of US Virgin Islands’ trade entry process

In an effort to improve the United States Virgin Islands’ (USVI) paper-based entry process for all imported commercial products and expedite the importation process, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on 2 February 2016 that they would continue to assess a viable way to incorporat...

Issue: WCO News 78

Facilitating e-commerce

With the diffusion of user-friendly technologies and increasing penetration of the Internet globally, e-commerce is witnessing exponential growth: the global online retail market now topping 1 trillion US dollars a year, and is set to double within four years.

Some of these online transact...

Issue: WCO News 87

Brazil’s unique export declaration: modernization inspired by international standards

The Brazilian government has recently centralized its export procedures and developed a new online platform to process export operations in order to make them more efficient and, ultimately, boost the economy. The new “unified export system” is the first application developed as part of Brazi...

Once this step had been completed, only then could the exporter actually submit an export declaration together with any other necessary documents to the RFB to initiate the Customs clearance. Among the documents to be presented were the commercial invoice (containing information about the actual ...

Issue: WCO News 93 October 2020

Mapping of Customs Nomenclature with food safety standards in India: a far-sighted strategy to streamline clearance of food products

Several government and private stakeholders are involved in the clearance of imported food products. To ensure a smooth process, close coordination and sharing of information backed by robust information technology (IT) processes are needed. With this in mind, Indi...

Mapping

As part of India’s efforts to facilitate cross-border trade, the FSSAI has mapped ITC HS Codes relating to food products with the corresponding FCS and related Food Safety and Standards Regulations. Although a s...

Issue: WCO News 83

Going digital: a Tanzanian Customs broker shares his experience

Six hundred Customs brokerage companies are registered in Tanzania. Given the size and population of the country, this relatively high number of Customs brokers is due to the fact that Tanzania has three maritime ports, namely Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara, which are also used by importers and ...

Issue: WCO News 87

Dubai Customs launches iDeclare

Dubai Customs launched a smart mobile app enabling passengers arriving in Dubai to securely submit Customs declarations electronically, thus bypassing the current traditional paper forms. The online application, called iDeclare, simplifies the Customs clearance process for passengers by enabling ...

Issue: WCO News 88

Algeria launches new Customs information system

There can be no improvement in Customs performance without an upgrade of the information system. Given that the system has to be adapted to Customs, a profession that is constantly evolving in the wake of the amendments to the legislative arsenal underpinning foreign trade, this improvement must ...

Process approach

The “computerization process” initiated in the 1990s was rolled out without any consideration for one key approach: the process approach. Emerging in ...

Issue: WCO News 92 June 2020

Implementing nCEN helped Uganda strengthen its targeting capacities

Uganda Customs adopted the National Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) back in 2015. It took time to enter information in the application and to convince enforcement officers of its benefits. But today, with 1,200 cases validated in the database, the appreciation of the system has greatly improve...

The nCEN consists of three independent databases. The principal database of national seizures and offences comprises data required for analysis, as well as means of conveyance, routes, and the possibility to view photos depicting exceptional concealment methods. Two supplementary databases contai...

Issue: WCO News 99- Issue 3 / 2022

Digital transformation: Swiss Customs presents its mid-term review

The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) is constantly evolving. Its objective is to simplify and digitize all processes and to increase the organization’s flexibility. DaziT is the name given to the programme that brings together the various activities undertaken to achieve t...

Automatic activation

Automatic activation is a key component of the new end-to-end digitized Customs process which is gradually being introduced as part of the DaziT programme. At this juncture, two applications, Periodic...

Mobility and flexibility

The transformation is not limited to digitization; that is just the tip of the iceberg. As an organization, the FOCBS will be undergoing a radical transformation to become more agile and more flex...

Issue: WCO News 92 June 2020

How the Dutch ports readied themselves for Brexit

In choosing the most cost-effective option to distribute goods, supply chain managers all over the world have four transport options to choose from: ocean-going vessel, plane, train, or truck. But for European distribution there is also another efficient option available, shortsea shipping

Ferries are also big players in the industry. They transport goods in trailers, which unlike containers, come in various shapes and sizes, and the cargo can be both accompanied and unaccompanied.

Shortsea shipping has been quietly growing and developing, and several ports see this trade as...

Issue: WCO News 93 October 2020

Maqta Gateway: Digitizing and transforming trade

Abu Dhabi is leading the region’s digital transformation drive with a view to moving all of the emirate’s trade online during 2021

Although the maritime transport industry handles 90%[1] of global trad...

Five years on, and after spending so long behind the technology curve, many of the world’s leading maritime players are now embracing a bold new era of digital innovation, and none more so than in the Arabian Peninsula, ...

Issue: WCO News 82

The eTIR pilot project, an ongoing success

Over several decades, the 1975 Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) has proven to be one of the most successful and efficient instruments for the facilitation of international transport and goods i...

Issue: WCO News 87

Building technology-driven organizations: China Customs shares its experience

A new Customs agency

In March 2018, the Chinese government decided to integrate China’s entry-exit inspection and quarantine duties and workforce into China Customs. Since 20 April, the previous entry-exit inspection an...

More accurate targeting

The new Customs information system has been built to integrate and analyse “Big Data” – i.e. data aggregated from various sources and in multiple forms. A Big Data Application Centre and a...

Issue: WCO News 88

National Customs Enforcement Network: a look at country-specific implementation

Intelligence-based risk management is a term widely used in the Customs sector and everyone agrees that today, it is the way to go to support global trade facilitation efforts and deal with resource constraints. One of the key measures to implement such a policy is to have a systematic and accura...

Georgia’s experience

Back in 2016, the Georgia Revenue Service (GRS), which brings together under one umbrella the Tax and Customs Administration and the Sanitary and Ph...

Issue: WCO News 92 June 2020

Leaning forward: Singapore leverages digital data to help financial institutions augment trade finance compliance

Singapore Customs launched a Trade Finance Compliance Service on the country’s Networked Trade Platform to augment trade finance compliance efforts against money laundering and terrorist financing.

Banks and financial institutions offer multiple sol...

Trade finance and trade-based money laundering

As part of their money laundering related monitoring and reporting obligations, banks and other financial institutions have to assess whether these trade transactions are leg...

Issue: WCO News 91 February 2020

Customs implements the WCO nCEN in Palestine

Palestine Customs aims at creating an environment supportive of the national economy by preserving the security and safety of the community and combating smuggling, tax evasion, and commercial fraud in all its forms. All laudable activities for a territory that faces enormous daily challenges on ...

The nCEN was installed at the beginning of 2018. In February of the same year, two Palestinian Customs officers working respectively in IT and in risk management participated in a workshop organized by the WCO, giving them the opportunity to learn:

  • how to administer the tool;

    • Customs analysts use the nCEN data to identify risk criteria and set up the data analytics functionality such as automated searches on new data, and matching rules that allow users to identify connections between data elements in the application.

    The fact that the latest version of CENcomm...

Issue: WCO News 96 October 2021

Remote validation of AEO Programme applicants: the experience of Guatemala

Like many of its counterparts, the Guatemalan Customs Administration has faced many challenges in recent months due to COVID-19. One of these is the validation of applicants for the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programme, and the supervision of existing AEOs, while minimizing travel and phy...

Lessons learned

The Guatemalan Customs AEO Unit carried out several validation exercises of applicants for the AEO Programme during the pandemic, combining a physical and virtual validation method. In 2020, 23 companies w...

Issue: WCO News 87

Blockchain: unveiling its potential for Customs and trade

This section of the magazine gathers several articles on the “Blockchain,” a term which refers to a type of data structure that identifies and tracks transactions digitally and shares this information across a distributed network of computers. Blockchain is one type of distributed ledger: dis...

In terms of governance, Blockchain technology is decentralized. There is, however, an operator function that sets the rules for everyone in the network, along with regulators and government agencies. If the network detects that something “untoward” may be going on, the associated individual p...

Issue: WCO News 91 February 2020

Dubai Customs introduces blockchain-based platform to facilitate cross-border e-commerce

Dubai, the second largest emirate of the UAE, stands among the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), bearing the fruits of adopting incentivizing policies and “smart government” initiatives. Recently, the Government of Dubai rolled out the emirate’s ...

E-commerce challenges

With a 25% yearly growth rate, the MENA region is the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market. Dubai consumers and businesses are major contributors to this growth, which is expected to continue ...

Issue: WCO News 87

Blockchain: mapping new trade routes to trust

The border is a national asset. To boost national competitiveness, facilitating legitimate cross-border trade must be high on every government’s agenda. The World Trade Organization (WTO) estimates that ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement could boost global trade by up to 1 trillio...

Blockchain: a new perspective for cross-border trade

Two years ago, blockchain was still largely a buzzword. Today, it’s high on the agenda of most leading Customs and trade organizations. Rather than asking whether blo...

Issue: WCO News 91 February 2020

Peru Customs reduces the time required to release goods

Peru’s air and maritime ports of entry and exit are close to capacity, which creates a series of issues that affect the country’s overall competitiveness, including making imports and exports more expensive in today’s global market.

Among other difficulties, until 2018, any entrepren...

WCO Time Release Study

A few years ago, the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (SUNAT) started devising a plan to help these companies make better decisions when hiring Customs brokers, in order to...

Issue: WCO News 94 February 2021

Transforming Customs operations management teams into strategic players

Within companies, Customs operations management teams are typically slow to adopt new technology. Yet by adopting trade software solutions, they could centralize and automate their Customs and trade compliance processes and harness the value of data, saving time an...

Customs data – are you in control?

As a company, if you are in control of the data required for Customs compliance, you are ahead of the game. But often compliance data is unstructured, sprinkled across internal systems as well as a...

Issue: WCO News 87

CADENA, a blockchain enabled solution for the implementation of Mutual Recognition Arrangements/Agreements

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) has been supporting the development of a blockchain solution to enable automated, secure and efficient information sharing on Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) among the Customs administrations of Mexico, Peru and C...

To inform each other, designated Customs officers in each administration send, by email, an excel file containing the data elements that the countries agreed to exchange on their respective AEOs. Customs administrations engaged in an MRA also determine the period during which data should be excha...

Issue: WCO News 93 October 2020

How Peru boosted its modernization process during the crisis

In Peru, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a contraction of the volume of exports and imports, which has negatively impacted tax revenues. However, the crisis did not stop the supply of goods deemed critical to deal with the pandemic, nor did it stop the imports and exports vital to supporting the cou...

Adjusting to a new reality

The measures aimed at supporting the continuity of foreign trade operations during the pandemic included:

  • the suspension of deadlin...

Issue: WCO News 86

Brazil’s new integrated risk management solutions

In 1993, the Department of Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB), which has under its umbrella both the Customs service and the internal revenue service, launched Brazil’s Integrated International Trade System (Siscomex) as part of its efforts to implement computer-based procedures and controls. The ...

Machine learning

The artificial intelligence (AI) tool is called SISAM, a Portuguese acronym for “Customs Selection System through Machine Learning” in English. This computerized tool has been in use since August 2014...

Issue: WCO News 78

Singapore’s ‘whole-of-government’ approach to coordinated border management: maintaining its edge amidst new challenges

A dynamic and challenging operating environment

Trade is of paramount importance to Singapore, as a globally-oriented and open economy. The importance of trade to the country is reflected in the fact that the value of Sin...

Whereas the former Customs and Excise Department was mainly focused on revenue matters, the new Singapore Customs is vested with responsibility for both revenue and trade facilitation matters. This working arrangement allows the ICA and Singapore Customs to share the responsibility of securing Si...

Issue: WCO News 87

Going beyond the national Single Window

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its Hong Kong counterpart in November 2017 to jointly develop a cross-border distributed ledger technology (DLT) based infrastructure that will link up digital tr...

“If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

TradeNet is almost 30 years old. Launched in 1989, when the Internet was still the domain of academics and researchers, it was well ahead of its time and its successful implementatio...