Are you ready for ICS2?
New EU customs system for shipping industry to start soon. The EU’s new Import Control System for greater safety and security is set to enter its next phase in June, from when it will apply to the shipping industry. What do shipping lines and forwarders have to bear in mind in the six months from 3 June to 4 December?
The next phase in the implementation of the Import Control System ICS2 will affect shipments coming in from third countries. The shipping industry has to comply with the more stringent ICS2 requirements from 3 June onwards, but has until 4 December 2024 to complete the transition. Forwarders who want to register their shipments themselves will be able to migrate from 4 December onwards.
Mass of data creates pressure
“We advise companies to prepare well in advance. More precise and more comprehensive data is now required. Companies will have to complete a complex process (declaration, status feedback and queries from customs) that’s demanding both in terms of implementation as well as integration into IT system,” as Dirk Gladiator explained, an authorised signatory with the Hamburg-based logistics software enterprise Dakosy.
“Customs follow-up procedures also have to be taken into account, in order to avoid error messages and disruption of logistics processes,” he continued.
The following information will have to be provided in future – the complete address of the originating sender and the final consignee, the commodity code in the form of a six-digit HS code and the consignee’s Eori number (the new EU customs number). Gladiator advises shipowners and forwarders to cooperate closely to meet the increased need for information.
The new collaboration on ICS2 notification is facilitated by an expanded new form of filing, namely multiple filing. In this case, a shipping line only reports the basic information to the Shared Trader Interface (STI), the new EU system, while the freight forwarder transmits the additional information separately.
Protection through multiple filing
The data brought together in the STI generates an overall picture. According to Gladiator the separate transmission of information represents protection for forwarders, so that they don’t have to disclose sensitive customer data.
There was one key take away for Gladiator from his experience in introducing ICS2 in the airfreight sector in March 2023. “It’s essential that shipowners and forwarders look at the entire import process, and don’t focus only on the changes due to ICS2.”
Cross-referencing with ICS2 will only work if the information is available at item level in the post-customs procedure, for example. Otherwise, there will be automatic cancellations and thus delayed logistics processes.