Last week was Multimodal, which brought together a record-breaking crowd of nearly 10,000 shippers, retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, and exporters, along with the partners who support their supply chain. Customs management was a very hot topic at the conference due to continuing changes related to Brexit, the UK’s switch from CHIEF to CDS for declarations filing, and the EU’s Multi-annual Strategic Plan for Electronic Customs (MASP-C), which is driving the implementation of new electronic declarations filing systems in multiple countries.
C4T attended sessions and talked to hundreds of attendees, and there were three primary concerns that we heard over and over.
1. Companies aren’t ready for the CHIEF to CDS switch
There was standing room only at the CDS session, yet only one attendee raised his hand when the group was asked if their company was fully prepared for the transition to CDS. Many of the visitors to the C4T booth expressed their concern with the switch, even those who are already using a customs software solution. In addition, HMRC was making rounds to ensure people were aware that CDS is coming and that they have no plans to delay the transition. HMRC is also writing to more than 220,000 businesses who haven’t made the switch. To continue importing goods to the UK, businesses will have to use CDS after 30 September 2022. And on 31 March 2023, the CHIEF and NES legacy export systems will be decommissioned and all exports will also need to be declared using CDS. These dates are right around the corner, and companies who are not prepared will not be able to continue any foreign trade operations.
Our CEO and VP of Sales met with many people to explain how a cloud-native solution can help companies future-proof their customs operations so that changes to systems and regulations are seamless.
2. Customs Special Procedures are seen as valuable yet complicated
While some Multimodal attendees were not aware of the cost-saving opportunities of Customs Special Procedures, others already hold authorisations for Customs Warehousing and Inward Processing, yet their feedback was that meeting the reporting requirements for these regimes is very difficult to manage—often to the extent that the savings aren’t worth the effort. In addition, many are only using Special Procedures in a single country because their customs information is spread across local systems and third parties, making it even more challenging to properly track inventory and gain insights into data for these procedures.
3. AGS to DMS is also a concern for companies trading with the Netherlands
Technology changes to Dutch customs systems are also quickly approaching, with declarants using normal storage procedures already transitioning from AGS to DMS 4.0. Import and export declarants will be transitioned beginning in September 2022. The launch of DMS 4.0 will rapidly be followed by DMS 4.1, which will do away with GPA and SPA declarations. CAS is also integrated with DMS, along with other customs systems like DECO, NCTS, and CVB. C4T has a host of blogs designed to inform traders of the upcoming changes to Dutch customs systems but, again, time is of the essence.
Are you prepared for these changes? Learn more about C4T’s global solution for customs management.