November, 2010
Background
The EC Commission Regulation 648/2005 will take effect January 1st, 2011. This regulation mandates that pre-arrival information for shipments entering the EU must be provided to the Customs Authorities at the first point of entry for safety and security purposes. This applies to all shipments entering the EU from outside of the EU territories.
For more detailed information please see the official European Customs Information Portal: Security Amendment to the Customs Code | Procedures – European commission
ENS is the common electronic declaration for the EU member states, with agreed datasets, rules and conditions. ENS will be required for freight carried on board any inbound flight into the EU:
1- Freight destined for EU
2- Freight transit in EU
3- Freight remaining on board (FROB) during a stopover in EU
The carrier is responsible for filing of the ENS, however it is the forwarders/shippers obligation to provide correct and timely data to the carrier. In particular the wording of the goods description (Plain language description that is precise enough for Customs services to be able to identify the goods – general terms i.e. “consolidated”, “general cargo” or “parts” cannot be accepted!) must conform to the new EU guidelines! Not all carriers will be capable of handling the required data electronically and for those there is a manual process in place by means of handing over separate MAWB/HAWB manifest copies to the carrier.
If you should have any further questions please contact us.