Here's an update on ICS2 filing

On our news from April 8, 2024, we shared details of the EU Customs Advanced Filing changes that were going live in June 2024.

In this follow-up article, we'd like to share more information that might be relevant for your cargo planning.

• The ICS2 Release 3 went live on June 3, 2024. Ocean carriers were allowed to request their National Customs Authority for a later deployment window. For Hapag-Lloyd specifically, we will start lodging Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) into ICS2 from October 2024.
• More precisely, for all Hapag-Lloyd cargo on vessels arriving at their first non-EU load port of a voyage October 15, 2024, or thereafter the ENS declaration will be filed in ICS2.
• Since October 15 is not far and the first bookings for subject vessels are coming in already, we kindly ask you to provide additional/changed data elements in your shipping instructions with immediate effect. 

In the following bullet points, you'll find the data elements that we must receive with your shipping instructions:

• Six-digit HS code for each cargo item plus complete and accurate cargo description
• CUS code for harmless and DG chemicals (if included in ECICS/ European Customs Inventory of Chemical Substances)
• UCR number (if available)
• The Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number of the consignee established in the EU (if such a number was assigned to this party) or the full address of the consignee, including the P.O. box number, postal code, sub-division code, city, and country
• EORI of the supplementary declarant (self-filer) of House B/L and/or Buyer/Seller data

You will find an EU customs indicator whenever your cargo is relevant for ENS filing in the Hapag-Lloyd booking confirmation. It is important that we receive complete and accurate shipping instructions latest at the time of documentation cut-off stipulated in the booking confirmation. If the shipping instructions are not received on time, we will be unable to carry out the advanced filing of customs declarations as mentioned in the regulation and regretfully strictly follow “No MRN / no load”. This means that we will not be able to load your cargo without having received a valid MRN (Movement Reference Number) from EU Customs.

We would like to emphasize that ICS2 is not a pure import regulation but also covering EU origin cargo which is on board the vessel during a port call outside the EU. 

In case you would like us to file on your behalf, from December, we will require the following additional information:

• Buyer and Seller information that will be required for all cargo destined to the EU, both when a House B/L is issued and for straight B/Ls (no underlying House Bs/L)
• House B/L data (also required for FROB cargo with a destination outside the EU or EU goods if they were on board the vessel during a port call outside the EU)

We will inform you about those requirements in more detail with our next CustomerNews. Please stay tuned!

We will continue providing updates related to the EU Customs Advanced Filing. Please also view the information EU Commission is providing on this subject. It can be found under this link.  If you should have comments or questions concerning this topic, please reach out to our teams at your preferred location.Besides, there is information posted in our FAQ section on our web site.