So far so good for new EU export ruling

Almost three months
since the implementation
of the new EU Customs
Advanced Manifest Rule
for exports to Europe and
the UK, the system appears
to have bedded down fairly
painlessly.
The two-month period
of grace allowed by the
Customs authorities
is now at an end, and
technical issues and
misunderstandings
aside, the system has
had a constructive start,
according to Safmarine
Antwerp’s key accounts
director, Jozef Ghysels.
Gauteng branch manager
for DAL, Roger Philip,
agrees.
“We’ve had a few
submissions now and no
real comebacks. The only
impact has been on our
staff who sometimes have
to work over weekends to
ensure that the capturing is
done if the stack closes over
the weekend. But there have
been no fines yet because
Customs allowed a window
period.”
“We’re starting to see
much stricter control and
our biggest challenge at the
moment is getting shippers
to submit the shipping
instructions to us on time
and to provide the required
level of detail or correct
descriptions of the cargo,”
said Ghysels.
For both lines it seems
that customer education
has paid dividends. “Much
effort has gone into
educating customers about
the importance of meeting
deadlines and providing the
right – and 100% correct –
information, and we have
proactively informed them
about the risks of not doing
so,” said Ghysels. “We have
also urged our importers to
support us in the process by
encouraging their loading/
booking parties to provide
the information required
within the deadlines.”
The introduction of
the new rule has resulted
in additional workload
for Safmarine, he added.
“Apart from spending time
on the introduction of the
rule, the necessary followup
and the installation of
new systems and service
desks, we’ve also had to
spend time chasing up
instructions not provided
on time, and correcting
information.”
Peter Quantrill of the
British International
Forwarding Association
told FTW that from his
perspective, while there had
been a few hiccups, freight
was moving.
“We spent a considerable
time last year encouraging
our members to understand
and get their customers
to appreciate the careful
planning that the new
regulation demands and
the need to work with their
carriers to coordinate the
sharing of the required ENS
data between the parties to
ensure smooth transactions.
That work appears to be
paying off.
“Going forward, we
anticipate that the level of
checks will intensify and
we expect there will be a
multiparty review later in
the year in which Bifa, as
the representative body for
UK forwarders, will play a
key role.”