The second phase of the EU’s customs pre-arrival security and safety programme requires freight forwarders, air carriers, express couriers, and postal operators to submit the information in the form of a complete entry summary declaration (ENS) for goods going to or through the EU, Norway and Switzerland.
The European Commission says that by collecting data about goods prior to their loading and arrival, ICS2 supports risk-based customs controls and will simplify the movement of goods between customs offices at the first point of entry and final destination in the EU.
Freight forwarders, express couriers, and postal operators are legally responsible for providing data, which they either have to share with the air carriers, who will then complete the ENS filing requirements, or submit the data directly to ICS2.
Postal operators and express couriers who previously declared partial information under ICS2 Phase 1 now have to coordinate with air carriers to submit all required data.
A conformance testing environment will be available from July 2022 to February 2023 to verify an economic operator’s ability to access and exchange messages with customs authorities, and the testing is mandatory.
Parties without an Economic Operators Registration and Identification number should contact an EU customs authority to get the number and receive support.
ICS2 is designed to help customs authorities to identify high-risk consignments that require early intervention.
Release 1 for pre-loading postal and express consignments by air started on 15 March 2021, and Release 2 will follow next year.
Release 3 will require operators carrying goods on maritime and inland waterways, roads, and railways to comply with the regulations from 1 March 2024.