A simpler way to handle your customs and excise declarations

Many businesses are faced with tackling the often confusing legal and regulatory framework and procedures relating to customs and excise declarations. The existing trend towards just-in-time (JIT) delivery and maintaining low inventories has also imposed additional time constraints on shipments. Complying with regulatory procedures, while meeting competing business needs and timelines has made accurate declarations a serious challenge. The Descartes Customs solution enables a more efficient and cost-saving customs clearance in the various countries in Europe.

A modular duty management framework

Descartes Customs solution framework has a modular structure which allows you to activate additional modules over time. Current functionality includes:

• Declaration management: import, export, transit (NCTS) and excise declarations (EMCS), ECS notifications, combined declaration (e.g., turn export into transit) and fallback procedure handling
• Customs warehouse management (CWM): supporting procedures like bonded warehouse, including periodic declarations e.g. GPA (NL)
• Fiscal representation: in combination with declarations or CWM
• Remote partner: communication of the declaration data to your business partners (e.g. port systems, customers), in different data formats, via the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN)
• Document management: besides regulatory Customs documents additional regulatory and logistics documents can be created, e.g., certificate of origin and ATR. Documents can be returned to operational system. The external document module can capture external documents and link to the shipments
• Order and shipment management: allowing to turn orders and shipments into declarations

Examples of industry and/or country specific modules:

• Air freight: DGVS in the Netherlands, ERTS in UK & GCB in Belgium
• Postal & express
• Agriculture: Client import/PD & Client Export in the Netherlands
• Tank terminal: for example excise warehouse and IPR functionality in the Netherlands
• Belgium: repertory book
• Netherlands: chamber of commerce
• UK: REDS for excises and frontier declarations via community service providers such as CNS, MCP & CCS UK
• Sweden: food module and ZKH support (“Hemtagningar”)

Leverage the Global Logistics Network

Descartes’ Global Logistics Network (GLN) allows business partners to electronically connect with carriers, brokers, shippers, forwarders and regulatory agencies around the world through a single connection using standardized data formats. Descartes Customs solution can easily be integrated through the GLN with a local WMS, ERP or Freight forwarding system to help reach the highest level of efficiency, reduce errors and increase accuracy. Customs processes utilize the Standard Message Format (SMF) that combines all sets of rules and procedures applicable for the various customs systems. Descartes has the operational, project management and regional expertise to help customers satisfy their workflow requirements for customs declarations. Descartes’ longstanding relationships with governments help ensure that customers are prepared for new requirements as they are mandated.

Features

• Dashboard Overview – Organizations can track, trace and monitor declaration processes in each country through a single customizable view. A full audit trail and history of the declaration is kept.
• Information Validation - Validate data elements to ensure accuracy and flag missing or inaccurate information to minimize potential failures. This feature can be configured to meet in-house validation processes, as well as those of each country Customs process.
• GLN integration – the integration of the Descartes Customs solution with the Descartes GLN allows you to send or receive data seamlessly to or from your back-office system, the Customs Authorities and business partners such as customers, ports or terminals.
• Reporting – Descartes Customs solution provides several standard reports, as well as the possibility to extract a full data set, and is compatible for use with a separate reporting solution called Descartes RPS™ (Reporting Services) enabling the creation of your own declaration reports.
• Electronic Archiving – All messages processed through the Descartes GLN can be automatically archived for audit and legal purposes based on the retention periods set per country and/or region.
• Master Data – This supporting tool allows users to set goods or address information or other data elements for automatic population across various declaration documents. Tariff information and exchange rates can be updated automatically.
• Templates – Customers can set defaults within the Descartes Customs solution to generate templates for filling out declarations. These can then be used to create declarations manually or to enrich declarations that have been created from your system.

Benefits

• Rapid Deployment, Reduced Cost – Descartes’ modular solutions can be deployed quickly to enable rapid returns on investment using a proven phased approach supported by value-based metrics and validation.
• Reduced Complexity – A single solution to address multiple customer needs from multiple countries. As an on-demand service, there is no need for infrastructure investment or replacement.
• Improved Efficiency – Integration with core business systems enables operations to pull information from disparate systems, develop repeatable processes, and connect to multiple partners.
• Improved Compliance – The Descartes Customs solution helps you to ensure instant and ongoing compliance of declaration documents regardless of the destination within the covered EU member states.
• Increased Flexibility – Users can have anytime, anywhere access through a secure and fast interface. The Descartes Customs solution automatically converts data to meet the data requirements of each EU member state’s customs authority.
• One Interface for Multiple Tasks – Every module within the Descartes Customs solution uses the same interface for single and/or multiple countries. Users can print documents in the language of each customs authority, perform multi-level checks and access archived declarations. With the SMF protocol, Descartes offers you a single interface for multiple procedures and EU member states.