Summary tax returns. ENS and EXS

Customs action at external borders plays an essential role in protecting citizens and the internal market from security threats. Advance cargo information and risk analysis will enable early identification of threats and help customs intervene at the most appropriate point in the supply chain.

For customs purposes, security and safety risks cover a variety of issues, including explosives in air transport, narcotics, precursors, dangerous counterfeit medicines, dangerous toys or electronic products, contaminated food, weapons and all types of organized smuggling.

Now new threats are emerging, such as the mail delivery of deadly synthetic opioids. Organized groups use the entry point of shipments and organize their supply chains to avoid detection, continually innovating.

At the same time, the volume of shipments supervised by customs is multiplying due to changes in global trade business models generated by e-commerce. New anticipated data on mailed goods will offer new opportunities and challenges.

ICS2 is a large-scale EU information system that supports the following processes:

• submission of Entry Summary Declarations – ENS (advance cargo information) to customs;
• Security and protection risk analysis by customs;
• arrival of means of transport;
• presentation of the goods to the customs authorities and control by the customs authorities of the goods, when necessary.

You will need to obtain the necessary data from all underlying house bills of lading issued by freight forwarders (including postal service operators and express carriers issuing equivalent transport documents). The required information includes the buyer and seller details listed on the most basic house bill of lading available to the recipient. If the freight forwarder does not communicate the required data, you must submit a partial ENS based on the master bill of lading and provide the freight forwarder's EORI number on it. From this point on, the freight forwarder will be responsible for submitting data at the house level in ICS2 and will have to obtain the data from other house bill of lading issuing parties or declare in its partial ENS submission the identity of the parties that are yet to submit the data.

ICS2 will facilitate the communication of advance cargo information for the purposes of security and safety risk analysis upon entry of goods into the EU in the following modes of transport: sea, air, road, rail and inland waterways. General cargo, express and postal business models will also be affected by ICS2.

No. ICS2 will completely replace ICS1 with a completely new business process, in accordance with the legal requirements of the Union Customs Code and the strategic operational needs expressed in the EU Customs Risk Management Strategy and Action Plan (adopted in 2014). Furthermore, ICS2 allows for multiple submission of advance cargo information for the application of Article 127 (6) of the Union Customs Code and involves more supply chain actors and business models, in accordance with Article 127 (4) of the Union Customs Code, with the aim of collecting better quality and timely data related to goods supply chains.

They will operate in parallel for a limited period of time. Following the implementation of ICS2 version 3 on March 1, 2024, ICS1 will be phased out after a 200-day transition period. The implementation of version 3 ends on September 1, 2025.

The ICS2 Strategy and Transition Plan provides for the implementation of the new system and, consequently, new Entry Summary Declaration requirements and related business and risk management processes in three operational versions.

• Version 1: Express carriers and postal operators based in Europe and postal operators from third countries delivering to Europe: preload advance information (PLACI) using the minimum ENS dataset;

• Version 2: Postal operators, express and air carriers and freight forwarders: Operators must complete the ENS data set for all goods transported by air;

• Version 3: Operators transporting goods by sea, river, road and rail: Carriers in these transport sectors must complete the ENS data set for all goods in these sectors, including postal and express shipments.

• Version 1:

Submission of the Preload Minimum Data Set (PLACI) for Air Express and Postal shipments;

Process of submitting postal shipments.

• Version 2:

Presentation of the complete ENS for all goods in air traffic;

Submission of notification of arrival of all goods in air traffic;

Filing process for express air shipments and general air cargo.

• Version 3:

Presentation of the complete ENS for maritime and river traffic, by road and by rail (including express and postal goods transported by these means of transport);

Filing of notice of arrival for maritime and inland waterways;

Process of presenting all goods in all modes of traffic.

An express shipment is a single item transported by or under the responsibility of an express carrier.

An express carrier is an operator that provides integrated pick-up, transportation, customs clearance and delivery services for packages in a time-defined and urgent manner, while tracking the location and maintaining control over said items throughout the provision of the service.

PLACI refers to a specific type of partial submission of ENS , which is the mandatory minimum set of data ("7+1") that must be submitted as soon as possible before loading the goods onto the aircraft in a third country. It is limited to air traffic only and covers all goods (i.e. general cargo, express shipments and postal shipments).

Pre-loading indicates the phase prior to loading the goods onto the means of transport that will introduce them into the customs territory of the European Union.

Pre-arrival indicates the phase prior to the arrival of the means of transport in the customs territory of the European Union.

In general, the carrier introducing goods into the customs territory of the European Union is obliged to submit a ENS for such goods [Article 127 (4) of the UCC ]. When the carrier does not have all the data required by law for the ENS, said data must be submitted by the person who possesses it and has not shared it with the carrier. This will enable the carrier to submit a complete ENS [Article 127(6) UCC; [multiple presentation case].

Depending on the mode of transport, the ENS must be submitted within the following time periods:

Maritime transport

• At the latest two hours before the arrival of the vessel at the first port of entry into the Union in the case of goods originating from Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, ports on the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea or Morocco;

• The same two hours shall apply in cases where the goods originate from other third country territories and enter the customs territory of the Union, the French overseas departments, the Azores, Madeira or the Canary Islands and the duration of the vessel's journey is less than 24 hours;

• Not later than four hours before the arrival of the bulk cargo vessel in cases other than a) or b) above;

• For goods transported in containers in cases other than a) and b), 24 hours before the goods are loaded onto the vessel that will introduce them into the customs territory of the Union.

Air transport

• The ENS or, where this is not possible, the minimum set of data for air pre-loading, shall be submitted as soon as possible and at the latest before the goods are loaded onto the aircraft which will introduce them into the customs territory of the Union;
• Where only the minimum set of data has been submitted in accordance with paragraph e), the complete ENS shall be submitted at the time of actual departure of the aircraft when the flight duration is less than four hours;
• For flights other than those mentioned in point (f), the complete ENS must be submitted four hours before the arrival of the aircraft at the first airport in the customs territory of the Union.

Rail transport

• Where the train journey lasts less than two hours from the last railway training station outside the customs territory of the Union to the first point of entry into the customs territory, the ENS must be submitted at the latest one hour before the train arrives at the border point of entry into the Union;

• In cases other than those mentioned in paragraph h), the ENS must be submitted no later than two hours before the arrival of the train at the point of entry into the Union.

Road transport

The ENS must be submitted no later than one hour before the arrival of the goods at the point of entry into the Union.

Inland waterway transport

The ENS must be submitted no later than two hours before the arrival of the goods at the point of entry into the Union.

For each of the goods, the required information includes: a complete and correct commercial description, and in the event that one of the parties is a commercial, the six-digit harmonized system code (classification is not mandatory between individuals).

A complete ENS must contain the following information about a shipment: master level shipping information, house level shipping information, and buyer and seller information. It is therefore necessary to include information at all three levels.

A multiple submission means that a ENS consists of two or more partial ENS submissions (i.e. two or more prescribed data sets), which together form one ENS declaration.

Multiple submission may be convenient when a carrier does not have all the data required to submit a single ENS. In this case, the carrier needs to reach a contractual agreement with the other agents in the supply chain so that each party submits its respective part of the ENS. The type of ENS that each party will have to submit depends on the data available to them: information about the shipment master or house and/or about the goods (including information about the buyer and seller).

Depending on the agreement that the partners have reached for multiple filing, if a carrier has filed master level shipment information from a master level transport document and has indicated the EORI number of the corresponding house level declarant, the responsibility for reporting the house level information is transferred to the house level declarant. The freight forwarder (as declarant at house level) becomes responsible for submitting his partial ENS with the data available at house level, taking into account the deadlines established in the legislation.

However, all parties submitting their own data share are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the data set they submit.

Submission of multiple ENS requires an exchange of information between the parties who have agreed to submit partial ENS in order to communicate their respective data. The combination of such statements into a complete ENS and the verification of data integrity are carried out using a unique linking key. This key is made up of the following data:

• Carrier's EORI number
• Transport document reference number (master level) (taken from a master waybill or bill of lading)
• EORI number of the supplementary declarant/declarant (e.g. EORI number of the freight forwarder or other house-level declarant)

All partial ENS must contain the carrier's EORI number and the transport document reference number (master level). In addition, the partial ENS containing the master level information must also contain the identifier (EORI) of the complementary declarant that is expected to submit the house level information. And the type of complementary declarant must be identified, indicating whether it will complement the information at the house level or whether it will complement the information of the seller and the buyer.

Partial data sets can be presented in any order. This means that any part of the supply chain can be the first to submit a ENS . When all parties involved have submitted partial ENS and these declarations have been successfully linked together, they will form a complete ENS in the ICS2 system.

You will need to obtain certain additional business data from the recipient established in the EU . If the recipient does not communicate the required data, you must provide the EORI number of that recipient in your ENS partial and the recipient will become responsible for making their partial submission in the ICS2 system.

You will need to provide the information to the carrier (or so-called “principal freight forwarder” if you are acting as part of a shared load) to whom you have issued a house bill of lading. You will either need to share the necessary data with the carrier or principal freight forwarder, or you will need to file a partial ENS yourself in ICS2 including certain commercial data that you will need to obtain from the EU established consignee stipulated in the most basic level house bill of lading.

In scenarios where the carrier acts as the submitter (by submitting F20, F21, F27, F28, F29 or F10, F11, F12 and F13), then the carrier will receive notifications related to the submitted messages (where applicable).

However, the economic operator will need to configure its default communication route and notification preferences through the Shared Operator Portal ( STI-STP ). You will then receive the notification via S2S or U2S , depending on which channel you have used in the configured default communication path.

• IE3R01 (Record response from ENS )

• IE3N01 (ENS Lifecycle Validation Error Notification)

• IE3N10 (Modification Notice)

• IE3R07 (Invalidation Acceptance Response)

• IE3Q01 (Request not to load)

• IE3Q02 (Request for additional information)

• IE3Q03 (Request for inspection of high-risk cargo and mail)

• IE3N04 (Notice of request for additional information)

• IE3N05 (Notification of request for inspection of high-risk cargo and mail)

• IE3N07 (ENS Notification in Bad State)

• IE3N08 (Control Notification)

• IE3R08 (ENS Query Results)

• IE3N09 (Authorized Economic Operator Control Notification)

• IE3N99 (Error Notification)

Any economic operator (including carriers) not acting as a person filing the declaration and wishing to receive notifications must configure their preferences and the “Default Communication Path” access point via the STP, through the “manage preferences” section. The channel can be set as U2S (related notification can be checked by STP application) or as S2S through which messages with notifications will be sent.

In Spain, prior registration in UUM&DS is not required to access STI-STP . It must be accessed using an electronic certificate issued for the same NIF for which the EORI of the OE was issued. There is a procedure, DA115, through which a power of attorney vector can be defined so that, using the EORI NIF, a power of attorney is registered to another NIF so that they can access the STI-STP with their certificate in their name.

A guide has been published on the Electronic Office, in the Related Content section of the Summary Declarations, where the access process is described: STI-STP access guide .

Both the person submitting the request and the carrier (if known to the ICS2 system, i.e. if the carrier is not the person submitting the request but has its preferences set correctly in the ICS2 STI-STP ) will always receive the DNL (IE3Q01) notifications via the S2S, if that is the channel used to submit the request. Either way, the DNL notification will also be visible in the STI-STP.

The ICS2 system needs to know the details of the OE (primarily the communication channel) to determine how to send the messages or notifications and will use the channel used by the sender when initiating the communication that triggered the notification. That is, ICS2 will send messages and notifications to the OE via S2S if that was how the communication was initiated. Otherwise, it will send notifications via U2S if U2S was the channel used by the sender that initiated the communication.

For OE notifications other than those from the person submitting them, the system will act based on the preferences set by the actor through STI-STP .

By default, the following notifications are sent over the U2S and S2S channel

• IE3Q01 (do not load request);

• IE3Q02 (Request for additional information);

• IE3Q03 (Request for inspection of high-risk cargo and mail).

The system will act according to the preferences established by the economic operator through the STI-STP . If you are using a ITSP , you will have configured a S2S communication channel in the STI-STP preferences with the Party ID from your ITSP, so that you will receive notifications of S2S messages sent by your ITSP, which will act as sender in these cases, through your ITSP.

The following are optional notifications for carriers that could be configured in the STP:

• IE3N03 (Full Assessment Notification),

• IE3N04 (Notification of request for additional information),

• IE3N05 (Notification of request for review of high-risk mail and cargo)

  (Please note that if the carrier acts as the person completing the notification, they will still be sent)

The EO must set its preferences to STI-STP in order to receive any notifications, as the ICS2 system needs to know the OE 's preferred communication channel in order to send them.

Please note, however, that in the event that a ITSP is used or EO uses its own IT system to send S2S messages, all notifications to the person submitting the request are sent by default through the same channel. Also, please note that the default setting for operators is that notifications (IE3N03, IE3N04 and IE3N05) are disabled, therefore, in order to receive them, it is necessary to log in to STI-STP and enable them, even if the communication is done through S2S (the ITSP interface).

The following messages will always be sent to the person submitting the request, when applicable:

• IE3R01 (Record response from ENS )

• IE3N01 (ENS Lifecycle Validation Error Notification)

• IE3N10 (Modification Notice)

• IE3R07 (Invalidation Acceptance Response)

• IE3Q01 (Request not to load)

• IE3Q02 (Request for additional information)

• IE3Q03 (Request for inspection of high-risk cargo and mail)

• IE3N07 (ENS Notification in Bad State)

• IE3N08 (Control Notification)

• IE3N09 (Authorized Economic Operator Control Notification)

• IE3R08 (ENS Query Results)

• IE3N99 (Error Notification)