ICS: Whose business really?...Changes ahead

Do you remember…? November 2010, CONEX organised its ICS conference, an information day dedicated to bringing light to the regulatory and technical issues surrounding this new and unavoidable EU regulation.

Well before its application, whereas improvisation seemed to be the general trend, Alban GRUSON, company CEO, announced: “Carriers will very certainly play a central role in the management of ENS declarations in the framework of the new ICS regulation. But it would be a mistake to rely blindly on the solution they may propose without giving oneself the means to know, to understand and to judge…”

After more than a year of experience, it is clear that the carrier really does transmit the ENS messages on behalf of its clients. Not having at its disposal a certain number of data elements judged confidential by the clients in question, the carrier transmits a ‘master ENS’ simply indicating the wording CONSOLIDATION or GROUPAGE. In these conditions, it is very difficult for the Customs Authorities to estimate the level of risk according to the ICS-imposed criteria.

So there we are…
The various Member States including France have received an order from the European Commission (TAXUD) to no longer accept ENS declarations based on masters and which include the wording “groupage” or “consolidation”… But implementing such a rule is not so easy. Discussions are open as this decision raises numerous questions about the diffusion of confidential information, the possible setting up of an authorised third party declarant and so on. In the end, it is a question for which the debate remains: “who will send the ENS?”

Are we heading towards a European re-mix of the American ‘DUAL FILING’, compliant with the “Safe Framework of Standards*”?

* Standard adopted by the WCO aiming to secure and facilitate global trade.

To be continued...