Here's an update on the EU Customs Advanced Filing

A significant change for your cargo planning is coming soon. The third release of the European Union’s customs pre-arrival safety and security system, the Import Control System 2 (ICS 2), will go live on June 3, 2024. The advanced filing of Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) for deep sea and short sea cargo will still apply to all cargo either discharging or transshipping in the EU, Northern Ireland, or Norway and to cargo remaining on board.

With the new release, the ENS will have to contain more mandatory data elements than today. For instance, the EU Customs will require the Buyer* and Seller* data, and House B/L filing will be introduced. All this information can be transmitted either in a full ENS by the shipping line or via multiple filings by the shipping line, freight forwarder and EU consignee.

*not mandatory for FROB cargo with a destination outside the EU

What does this mean for you?

The information for imported goods to the EU will involve house bill of lading, both buyer and seller data, EORI of supplementary declarant in case of multiple filing and data elements such as the 6-digit HS Code with a complete and accurate cargo description, to be submitted to the EU Customs. Therefore, we are continuously developing new system features to ensure that our platform is ready to receive your required data. For your ease, we will be approaching you with additional information on this process and its specific requirements.

Here's some additional information about ICS2

The advance filing will be used to identify high-risk shipments and protect the internal market from security and safety threats. Maritime traffic, inland water way, road and rail are part of Release 3 of ICS2 which is planned to go live on June 3, 2024. Since 2011, the EU Customs have been demanding advanced security data in the form of an Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) for deep sea and short sea cargo entering the EU territory. The changes coming into effect this year will not only be relevant for the ocean carriers but will also involve freight forwarders, NVOCCs and EU located ultimate consignees/importers.

The European Commission has posted information about ICS2 and Release 3 which can be found in the following link where you will see that a deployment window has been granted to shipping lines and House B/L filers for them to connect to the system. We will be updating you on the dates when we will start the ENS filing into ICS2.