The exchange of electronic advance data between postal operators and Customs is considered by the WCO essential for effective risk management and enhanced facilitation of legitimate parcels, especially in today’s context, where postal and courier shipments continue to grow as a consequence of the diffusion of e-commerce (the buying and selling of products and services via computer networks), which raises the risk that such services are used for illicit trade and terrorist purposes. In order to facilitate such exchange of data in advance, postal operators and customs administrations must interconnect their respective IT systems, so that they can be able to effectively communicate with each other. This interconnection can enable Customs to achieve greater efficiencies in data analysis, by better targeting suspected items and applying accurate duty and tax calculations related to item content.
SAFE, Annex III).
Many countries and customs territories have today introduced specific legal/regulatory provisions for the mandatory submission of advance electronic information in respect of postal shipments. In the European Union (EU), for instance, the new Union Customs Code (UCC) legal package stipulates that a particular customs declaration form (CN23) must be provided by postal operators for postal items before loading (art. 144 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015). A similar provision is contained in the United States’ Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, that came into effect in October 2018 (Sec. 3, Mandatory advance electronic information for postal shipments).
postal operators and Customs administrations, and on how they can work collaboratively for the purposes of safety and security.
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