EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 14.12.2021 SWD(2021) 382 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL pursuant to Article 278a of the Union Customs Code, on progress in developing the electronic systems provided for under the Code {COM(2021) 791 final}



Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Projects Completed before 2021 2.1 UCC Registered Exporter System (REX) 2.2 UCC Customs Decisions 2.3 UCC Direct Trader Access to the European Information Systems (UUM&DS) 2.4 UCC Economic Operator Registration and Identification System Upgrade (EORI2) 2.5 UCC Surveillance 3 (SURV3) 2.6 UCC Binding Tariff Information (BTI) 2.7 UCC Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) Upgrade 2.8 UCC Information Sheets (INF) for Special Procedures 3. Projects completed/planned to be completed by the end of 2021 3.1 UCC Import Control System 2 (ICS2) – Release 1 4. Ongoing Projects: Detailed Planning and progress Information 4.1 UCC Notification of Arrival (NA), Presentation Notification (PN) and Temporary Storage (TS) 4.2 UCC National Import Systems Upgrade 4.3 UCC Special Procedures

4.4 UCC Guarantee Management (GUM) 4.5 UCC Import Control System 2 (ICS2) – Releases 2 and 3 4.6 UCC Proof of Union Status (PoUS) 4.7 UCC Centralised Clearance for Import (CCI) 4.8 UCC New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) Upgrade 4.9 UCC Automated Export System (AES) 5. Annex 1 – Planning Overview – UCC Work Programme Projects 6. Annex 2 – Acronyms, Abbreviations & Key Terms



Table of Figures Figure 1: Project Status as per Survey – ICS2 – Release 1 Figure 2: Summary of Responses per Milestone – ICS2 – Release 1 Figure 3: Percentage of Completion per Phase – ICS2 – Release 1 Figure 4: Project Status as per Survey – NA Figure 5: Project Status as per Survey – PN Figure 6: Project Status as per Survey – TS Figure 7: Summary of Responses per Milestone – NA Figure 8: Summary of Responses per Milestone – PN Figure 9: Summary of Responses per Milestone – TS

Figure 10: Percentage of Completion per Phase – NA Figure 11: Percentage of Completion per Phase – PN Figure 12: Percentage of Completion per Phase – TS Figure 13: Summary of Survey Responses – National Import Systems Upgrade Figure 14: Summary of Responses per Milestone – National Import Systems Upgrade Figure 15: Percentage of Completion per Phase – National Import Systems Upgrade Figure 16: Project Status as per Survey – NSP EXP Figure 17: Project Status as per Survey – NSP IMP Figure 18: Summary of Responses per Milestone – NSP EXP Figure 19: Summary of Responses per Milestone – NSP IMP Figure 20: Percentage of Completion per Phase – NSP EXP Figure 21: Percentage of Completion per Phase – NSP IMP Figure 22: Summary of Survey Responses – GUM – Component 2 Figure 23: Summary of Responses per Milestone – GUM – Component 2 Figure 24: Percentage of Completion per Phase – GUM – Component 2 Figure 25: Summary of Survey Responses – ICS2 – Release 2 Figure 26: Summary of Survey Responses – ICS2 – Release 3 Figure 27: Summary of Responses per Milestone – ICS2 – Release 2 Figure 28: Summary of Responses per Milestone – ICS2 – Release 3 Figure 29: Percentage of Completion per Phase – ICS2 – Release 2

Figure 30: Percentage of Completion per Phase – ICS2 – Release 3 Figure 31: Project Status as per Survey – PoUS – Phase 1 Figure 32: Project Status as per Survey – PoUS – Phase 2 Figure 33: Summary of Responses per Milestone – PoUS – Phase 1 Figure 34: Summary of Responses per Milestone – PoUS – Phase 2 Figure 35: Percentage of Completion per Phase – PoUS – Phase 1 Figure 36: Percentage of Completion per Phase – PoUS – Phase 2 Figure 37: Summary of Survey Responses – CCI – Phase 1 Figure 38: Summary of Survey Responses – CCI – Phase 2 Figure 39: Summary of Responses per Milestone – CCI – Phase 1 Figure 40: Summary of Responses per Milestone – CCI – Phase 2 Figure 41: Percentage of Completion per Phase – CCI – Phase 1 Figure 42: Percentage of Completion per Phase – CCI – Phase 2 Figure 43: NCTS – P5 National Administrations entry into operations as of 1 July 2021 Figure 44: Project Status as per Survey – NCTS – P5 Figure 45: Key milestones: Planned value versus earned value – NCTS – P5 Figure 46: Summary of Responses per Milestone – NCTS – P5 Figure 47: Percentage of Completion per Phase – NCTS – P5 as of 1 July 2021 Figure 48: NCTS – P5 Transitional Period Figure 49: AES – Component 1 National Administrations entry into operations as of 1 July 2021

Figure 50: Summary of Survey Responses – AES – Component 1 Figure 51: Project Status as per Survey – AES – Component 2 Figure 52: Key milestones: Planned value versus earned value – AES – Component 1 Figure 53: Summary of Responses per Milestone – AES – Component 1 Figure 54: Summary of Responses per Milestone – AES – Component 2 Figure 55: Percentage of Completion per Phase – AES – Component 1 as of 1 July 2021 Figure 56: AES – Component 1 Transitional Period Figure 57: Percentage of Completion per Phase – AES – Component 2 Figure 58: Planning Overview: UCC Work Programme Projects – Status Q4 2021 Table of Tables Table 1: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – REX1 Table 2: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – UCC Customs Decisions Table 3: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – UUM&DS Table 4: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – EORI2 Table 5: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – SURV3 Table 6: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – BTI Table 7: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – AEO Upgrade Table 8: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – INF Table 9: Detailed responses from Member States – ICS2 – Release 1

Table 10: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – ICS2 – Release 1 Table 11: Detailed responses from Member States – NA Table 12: Detailed responses from Member States – PN Table 13: Detailed responses from Member States – TS Table 14: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – NA Table 15: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – PN Table 16: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – TS Table 17: Detailed responses from Member States – National Import Systems Upgrade Table 18: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – National Import Systems Upgrade Table 19: Detailed responses from Member States – NSP EXP Table 20: Detailed responses from Member States – NSP IMP Table 21: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – NSP EXP Table 22: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – NSP IMP Table 23: Detailed responses from Member States – GUM – Component 2 Table 24: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – GUM – Component 1 Table 25: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – GUM – Component 2 Table 26: Detailed responses from Member States – ICS2 – Release 2 Table 27: Detailed responses from Member States – ICS2 – Release 3 Table 28: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – ICS2 – Release 2 Table 29: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – ICS2 – Release 3

Table 30: Detailed responses from Member States – PoUS – Phase 1 Table 31: Detailed responses from Member States – PoUS – Phase 2 Table 32: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – PoUS – Phase 1 Table 33: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – PoUS – Phase 2 Table 34: Detailed responses from Member States – CCI – Phase 1 Table 35: Detailed responses from Member States – CCI – Phase 2 Table 36: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – CCI – Phase 1 Table 37: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – CCI – Phase 2 Table 38: Detailed responses from Member States – NCTS – P5 Table 39: Risk Assessment: NCTS – P5 Table 40: Project Status – NCTS – P5 as of 1 July 2021 Table 41: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – NCTS – P5 Table 42: Detailed responses from Member States – AES – Component 1 Table 43: Risk Assessment: AES – Component 1 Table 44: Project Status – AES – Component 1 as of 1 July 2021 Table 45: Detailed responses from Member States – AES – Component 2 Table 46: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – AES – Component 1 Table 47: Comparison of Planned and Actual Dates – AES – Component 2 Table 48: Abbreviations and Acronyms

1.Introduction The Union Customs Code (UCC) requires the European Commission and the Member States to upgrade some existing electronic systems and introduce a number of new systems for the completion of a modern and digital environment of customs formalities. In total, the UCC requires the upgrading or creation of fourteen trans-European systems and three national systems. The UCC entered into force on 1 May 2016. The deadline for completion of the systems is set for the end of 2020, 2022 or 2025, depending on the system. In view of the reporting requirement established by Article 278(a) of the Regulation (EU) 2019/632 amending Regulation (EU) 2013/952, the Commission is committed to provide an annual report to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress in developing the electronic systems of the UCC. The report assesses the progress of the Commission and the Member States in developing each of the electronic systems, taking particular note of the following milestones: (a)The date of publication of the technical specifications for the external communication of the electronic systems; (b)The period of conformance testing with economic operators; (c)The expected and actual dates of deployment of the electronic systems. The legal deadlines for finalising the technical specifications and for deploying the electronic systems are laid down in the UCC Work Programme (UCC WP). The detailed planning per project, containing additional milestones such as for the business case, business process modelling, vision document, conformance testing are defined in the Multi-Annual Strategic Plan for Customs (MASP-C). The first and second UCC Annual Progress Reports were published on 13/12/2019 and 14/12/2020 respectively. The details of the completed projects are limited in this report, however additional information can be found in the previous year’s reports. This annual report covers a reflection of the progress status achieved on 30 June 2021 including a view on the expected progress by December 2021 in order to have a full picture of the progress made in 2021. In preparation for this year’s UCC Annual Progress Report 2021, the Commission continued with the approach taken the previous years and made use of the bi-annual national planning information provided by the Member States’ customs authorities and the projects’ state of play provided by the project managers in DG TAXUD. The progress information was provided against the baseline milestones indicated in the UCC WP and MASP-C 2019 (unless otherwise specified). In addition, the Commission oversaw the collection of the additional progress reporting information by means of an EU survey launched in April 2021. The information gathered from the survey to which both the Member States and key stakeholders/project managers in the Commission responded, consists of progress information, qualitative comments and quantitative measurements of the assessment of complexity and risk in relation to the seventeen projects listed in the UCC WP. Finally, specific information was gathered from the more detailed project reporting and monitoring programmes in place since 2020 for the core decentralised trans-European systems in the area of transit and export. As background information, it is important to remind that the seventeen electronic systems listed in the UCC Work Programme were divided into three categories: I)eleven central trans-European systems to be developed or upgraded by the Commission (often also requiring developments or upgrades by the Member States of their corresponding national systems); II)three decentralised trans-European systems that have to be developed or upgraded by the Commission but have a major national component to be implemented by the Member States; and III)three national systems that have to be developed or upgraded exclusively by the Member States. The progress information has been collected, analysed and reported in this accompanying Commission Staff Working Document, which presents the detailed overview of the progress of the various individual projects as follows: ·For the trans-European systems, the analysis and reporting refers to the Commission’s activities only when central, while for the systems that involve national input, and even in some cases national components, the analysis refers to both the Commission’s and Member States’ activities. For the national systems, only Member States’ activities are reported; ·For projects that have already been initiated or entirely completed, an overview of the project progress, a summary of the survey responses, as well as a visual illustration of progress against planned milestones is provided; ·For projects that have not yet been initiated, an overview of the planned project progress together with a summary of the responses from the survey is provided. By means of the survey, the Member States were also requested to give an indication of:

·The degree of complexity of each project on a scale from 1 to 6, where: 1 and 2 refer to low complexity, 3 and 4 - medium complexity and 5 and 6 - high complexity. ·The risk of not deploying the IT systems by the dates set in the baselines of the UCC WP and MASP-C 2019 according to three levels: low, medium and high. The consolidation of the survey results, including the abovementioned indicators of complexity and risk, as well as information regarding risks for delays and mitigating measures and any changes in planning in comparison with the planning provided in 2020, are the main outcomes of the progress reporting exercise for 2021 and are included in this Commission Staff Working Document. Reporting information that summarises the current project status, key risks and mitigating actions is found in the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council pursuant to Article 278a of the Union Customs Code, on progress in developing the electronic systems provided for under the Code. The report is structured as follows: ·Section 1: Introduction; ·Section 2: Projects completed before 2021; ·Section 3: Projects completed or planned to be completed during 2021; ·Section 4: Projects ongoing during 2021. 2.Projects Completed before 2021 2.1 UCC Registered Exporter System (REX) The UCC Registered Exporter System (REX) is a trans-European system that contains information both on Registered Exporters established in GSP countries and on EU economic operators in partner countries Switzerland, Norway and Turkey exporting to GSP countries and certain other countries. The main purpose of the system is to replace the paper-based certification process by an IT-supported self-certification process. The system includes a central database that contains the registered exporters and provides the Member States with the opportunity to enhance their national systems with an automated verification of REX members. There were three releases planned. REX1 is the only release covered in the scope of the UCC Work Programme. No risks were identified during the implementation of REX1 and the project was successfully completed on 1 January 2017. Some statistical information on the use of the REX system since operations – situation on 13/06/2021: ·The REX Trader Portal, as part of the EU Customs Trader Portal (EUCTP) was launched on 25 January 2021; ·63,374 active REX registrations in Member States and Partner Countries; ·60,032 active REX registrations in the Beneficiary Countries (REX BC) module; ·1,548 applications for a REX registration submitted by the EU Economic Operators through the REX Trader Portal; ·700 T-REX system local users; ·388 T-REX local administrators.

2.1.1Overview of Project Progress Table 1 compares the actual dates to those set in the UCC Work Programme (WP). Despite there being a slight delay in the finalisation of the Technical Specifications, REX was deployed on time.



2.2 UCC Customs Decisions The UCC Customs Decisions System (CDS) is designed to achieve harmonisation of the processes relating to the application for a customs decision, the decision taking and the decision management. This harmonisation is put into practice via the standardisation and electronic management of the application and decision/authorisation data across the Union. The system covers all applications and decisions that may have an impact/are valid in more than one Member State. Member States also have the right to use the Customs Decisions System to manage their national customs decisions, if they wish to do so. The project was fully deployed on 02/10/2017. Some statistical information on the use of the CDS: ·Since the start of deployment on 02/10/2017, the number of applications increased from 1,300 in the last three months of 2017 to 14,655 per year in 2018. With an average of 26 applications in 2019, the number of requests dropped significantly in the 2nd quarter of 2020, most likely due to the pandemic situation. The situation stabilised after the summer break to an increase of 28 applications per day. ·On 29 June 2020, a second major release of the CDS system was deployed, to fully align the system with the current legislation. ·From the start of operations until mid-2021, around 39,600 applications were submitted and 23,300 decisions were taken. More than 32,500 decisions were entered as pre-existing authorisations. 2.1.2Overview of Project Progress Table 2 highlights that there were no divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. 2.3 UCC Direct Trader Access to the European Information Systems (UUM&DS)

The Direct Trader Access to the European Information Systems system comprises Uniform User Management and Digital Signature (UUM&DS) components. The system aims to provide a service for user-to-system interfaces targeted to the electronic customs systems provided for in the UCC. In essence, the UUM&DS system facilitates a direct and EU harmonised trader access to the customs systems as stipulated in the UCC. The first deployment of the project was completed and implemented together with the UCC Customs Decisions system on 2/10/2017 as agreed in the context of the UCC Work Programme. The system has also been incorporated into other electronic projects such as UCC Binding Tariff Information (BTI), the UCC Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) and the Information Sheets (INF) system for special procedures. The project will further evolve to include system-to-system interfaces and digital signature. Their use will be particularly relevant to the Import Control System (ICS2) and the Proof of Union Status (PoUS) system. All Member States have completed the connectivity configuration. 2.1.3Overview of Project Progress Table 3 highlights that there are no divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. 2.4 UCC Economic Operator Registration and Identification System Upgrade (EORI2) This system upgrade provided minor changes to the existing trans-European Economic Operator Registration and Identification system. These changes enabled the registration and identification of economic operators of the Union, as well as third-country operators and persons apart from economic operators. EORI2 has been in operation since 05/03/2018. Some statistical information on the use of the EORI2 system – situation 31/05/2021: ·The total number of economic operators registered with a valid EORI is 7,328,000. ·471,000 EORI numbers have been created during the period of 01/01/2021 to 31/05/2021. 2.1.4Overview of Project Progress Table 4 compares the actual dates to those set in the UCC Work Programme. Despite there being a slight delay in the finalisation of the Technical Specifications, EORI2 was deployed on time.



2.5 UCC Surveillance 3 (SURV3) The SURV3 system introduces an upgrade to the standard exchange of information in the earlier Surveillance 2 (SURV2) system to align the system with UCC requirements. This database records and centralises all EU trade data (imports and exports) that national customs authorities provide on a daily basis. The upgrade implements electronic data-processing techniques and establishes adequate functionalities needed for processing and analysing the full surveillance dataset obtained from Member States. The new system will improve the customs risk analysis, the fight against fraud, market analysis, post-clearance controls and statistical analysis.

The system was successfully deployed on 01/10/2018. The data will be gathered via SURV-RECAPP in different formats until the moment that all the national systems are fully aligned to the UCC. Seven MS are sending full UCC data by the end of 2021 and they are: BG, CZ, EE, FI, IE, LV and MT. 2.1.5Overview of Project Progress Table 5 highlights that there were no divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. 2.6 UCC Binding Tariff Information (BTI) The project for a UCC Binding Tariff Information system aims to upgrade the existing trans-European (EBTI-3) database containing all binding tariff information that has been issued by customs authorities of Member States. The customs authorities concerned must then record their decisions in the BTI database. Economic operators apply for binding tariff decisions in order to have legal certainty that they are applying the correct classification to goods they are importing to or exporting from the EU. Concerning the status of the project, the first phase was completed by October 2017. The second phase entered into operation on 01/10/2019. The construction of the access for this system to the EU Customs Trader Portal was also completed on 01/10/2019. Some statistical information on the use of the EBTI system since the go-live of the Trader Portal on 01/10/2019: ·The Trader Portal (central EU or national) is used by all traders in all Member States; ·All BTI applications and decisions are sent electronically; ·Eight BTI core processes consisting of more than 20 sub-processes have been digitalised (related to the BTI application, the issuing and invalidation of the BTI decision and the Right To Be Heard procedure); ·More than 73,000 BTI applications (11,000 via the EU TP and 62,000 via the national TP) have been submitted by the traders and more than 73,000 BTI decisions were issued to the traders; ·Other BTI related communications such as notifications and BTI decision invalidations between traders and Decision Taking Customs Authorities (DTCA) were sent electronically via the EU TP. 2.1.6Overview of Project Progress Table 6 compares the actual dates to those set in the Work Programme. Despite there being a slight delay of the Technical Specifications for Step 2, all phases were deployed on time.

2.7 UCC Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) Upgrade

Following the legal changes adopted in the UCC, the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) upgrade aims to improve the system of applications and authorisations for AEO status. The project consists of two phases. Phase 1 implemented major enhancements to the existing AEO system, in light of the harmonisation of the decision-taking procedure for customs. Phase 2 implemented the electronic form with a view to provide a harmonised interface for economic operators to submit their AEO applications and to receive their AEO decisions electronically. The upgraded system was deployed in two releases: Part 1 for the submission of the AEO applications and the decision-taking process (Phase 2 Part 1) and Part 2 for the other processes (Phase 2 Part 2). Some statistical information on the use of the AEO system – situation on 21/06/2021: Since the EU eAEO Trader Portal has been deployed in October 2019: ·970 AEO applications have been submitted via the EU eAEO Trader Portal; ·2,500 Economic operators have accessed (125 the first quarter of 2021) the EU eAEO Trader Portal; ·2,400+ documents have been exchanged via the EU eAEO trader Portal; ·24 Member States are leveraging the EU eAEO Trader Portal and the remaining Member States are utilising their own National Trader Portal. On 31/03/2021, 18,000 valid AEO authorisations are granted to Economic Operators in the EOS central system. 2.1.7Overview of Project Progress Table 7 highlights that there are no divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. 2.8 UCC Information Sheets (INF) for Special Procedures The aim of the UCC Information Sheets (INF) for Special Procedures project is to develop a new trans-European system to support and streamline the data management processes and the electronic handling of data in the domain of Special Procedures. This new system will harmonise the approach for the efficient management of inward and outward processing procedures and improve the monitoring and control amongst customs offices. The INF central system was successfully deployed on 01/06/2020. The INF Specific Trader Portal (INF STP) component was also successfully integrated into the EU customs trader portal (EU CTP) and deployed on 01/06/2020. The EU CTP is the single portal at Union level to provide traders unique access to a number of centralised trans-European systems (EBTI, AEO, INF). Close contacts between the Commission and the Member States are kept to provide the necessary support, assistance and supervision. A project group with Member States and trade associations is holding regular meetings to address any remaining business issues. Some statistical information on the use of the INF system: ·As from October 2020, all Member States are using the INF system. ·From the start of operations on 1/06/2020 until 21/06/2021, around 16,600 requests were created by economic operators, and approximately 15,000 INFs were treated and processed.

·The average number of requests and authorisations has increased over the past six months by 15%. ·80% of the INFs are related to the standard outward processing procedures. Poland and Romania take the lead in handling the most INFs. 2.1.8Overview of Project Progress Table 8 highlights that there were no divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. 3.Projects completed/planned to be completed by the end of 2021 3.1 UCC Import Control System 2 (ICS2) – Release 1 The goal of the UCC Import Control System 2 (ICS2) programme is to strengthen the safety and security of the supply chain for goods moved via all modes of transport. The aim is to do so through better targeted risk based controls of EU customs authorities on improved Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) data quality, data filing, data availability and data sharing and through real-time collaborative risk analysis and co-ordinated safety and security controls at the EU entry points. The main purpose of the system is to implement the new requirements resulting from the UCC and strategic objectives endorsed by the Member States in the Risk management strategy and action plan of 2014. This multi-annual programme will lead to a complete new architecture of the existing ICS trans-European system. In terms of planning, the programme will be implemented in three releases. Release 1 covers the obligation on the relevant economic operators (postal operators and express carriers in air transport) to provide the minimum data i.e. ENS pre-loading dataset. Release 2 will cover the implementation of new ENS obligations and related business and risk management processes for all the goods in air traffic. Release 2 is planned to also cover Safety and Security analytics capabilities, following a positive endorsement (‘Go decision’) by the Commission and the Member States in December 2020. Release 3 will cover the same implementation as Release 2 but for all goods in maritime and inland waterways, road and rail traffic (this also includes goods in postal consignments transported in these means of transport). Please see section 4.5 for the detailed status of Releases 2 and 3. 3.1.1Summary of Reponses Summary from the Commission: The Commission centrally developed the common components (Shared Trader Interface and Common Repository) and the common functional system and technical specifications. The baseline functional and technical specifications for all three releases were completed on 30 June 2018. Regarding the implementation of the ICS2 programme, the Commission continued with ICS2 trans-European coordination activities throughout 2021. Work focused on ICS2 Release 1’s implementation through the facilitation of operational preparedness of Member States’ customs authorities, express carriers and EU postal operators as from 15 March 2021. The Commission provided support to the national administrations and economic operators in their development activities via a set of activities that included: ·Creation of a dedicated forum and organisation of dedicated webinars, support via frequently asked questions and organisation of regular ICS2 trans-European coordination plenary meetings with participation of all Member States customs national ICS2 project management and risk management representatives, individual economic operators, trade associations and international organisations; ·Close and continuous monitoring, planning of national and trade project plans to ensure their alignment with the Commission’s central planning across relevant IT delivery milestones (conformance testing campaigns, end-to-end testing and dry run testing). This consisted of continuous support to the coordination of conformance test activities and stimulating national administrations and economic operators to co-ordinate their individual projects; ·Communication campaigns, with different activities implemented throughout the ICS2 programme implementation, including the creation of ICS2 programme specific content on DG TAXUD’s webpage, a social media campaign and direct communication to stakeholders and multipliers; ·Bilateral meetings with national customs administrations of those Member States that were delayed and missed the legally expected date to start operation as of 15 March 2021 in accordance with the UCC Work Programme. The Commission and affected national administrations discussed necessary mitigation actions and measures to ensure implementation of Release 1 as early as possible and prior to the expiry of the deployment window (1 October 2021) that could be granted to the economic operators to connect to ICS2 and start lodging ENS in ICS2; ·Online training sessions and training material.

ICS2 Release 1 started operation on 15 March 2021. Since 15 March 1 billion different types of messages was exchanged by ICS2. It is operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as of March it is operating without any major incident. Short downtimes were mainly related to planned changes in the Commission datacentre and had no impact on the business. In July nearly 6.5 million postal filings and 3.5 million express filings were exchanged. The Commission reported that all national customs administrations will be fully operational before the expiry of the deployment window (1 October 2021). This date was granted for the migration of the economic operators/postal operators under conditions set in the UCC Work Programme. By that date, all economic operators concerned need to be connected to the new ICS2. The Commission expects that this will materialise based on the information received. However, for the postal operators of IT and HU, the Commission identified a risk of non-compliance with the deadline of 1 October 2021 for applying the new entry summary declaration obligations under the Union Customs Code. Therefore, the relevant Member States were contacted and urged to ensure the timely start of implementation and to provide updated planning till full operation. As from end of deployment window of 1 October 2021 for ICS2 Release 1, the EU postal operators will in the short term face certain difficulties to receive electronic data from the third country operators for all goods contained in postal consignments that are subject to entry summary declaration requirements. The Commission will work in close collaboration with the Member States customs administrations to minimize the impact on entry processes, within the scope of applicable provisions of the Union Customs Code. Summary from the Member States: The data below is the status which was collected as of the end of June 2021. The following Member States reported some delay with deployment: AT, BG, CY, DK, FR, GR, LV, MT, PL and RO. Besides the complexity of the project, other reasons for the delay were given such as: the tight timelines between related projects, a complex data migration, resource constraints, impact and re-planning due to the VAT eCommerce package and the specific working circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Table 9 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 3 High AT highlighted the high level of risk regarding the functional interaction and tight timeline between relevant projects. In addition to this, concerns with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were highlighted. AT mentioned that there is a risk the deployment milestone could be impacted. AT is currently working on deployment, user tests, trainings and operations preparation. BE Information not provided. BG 5 Low BG marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. The delay is caused by a complex data migration from a national application, which requires additional human resources. BG uses an agile/iterative approach for development. They have adapted and combined the implementation of two methodology frameworks – Adaptive Development Methodology (ADM) and Rational Unified Process (RUP). ADM is for the implementation and maintenance of the overall architecture while RUP is used to manage the software lifecycle of the software solution. CY 6 Low CY explained that the complexity is caused by dependencies with other systems, the high availability requirements and limited human resources. CZ 6 Low CZ completed the deployment on 15/03/2021. DE 4 Low DE completed the deployment on 06/03/2021. DK 6 High DK noted that deployment should be completed in 2021. The complexity stems from the fact that there are a number of systems that must be implemented, modified and integrated for ICS2 to work. The technical solutions are being prepared for national testing before EU conformance testing begins. The individual applications and the integrations between them are being developed, configured, and simultaneously tested. EE 6 High EE completed the deployment on 15/03/2021. ES 6 Low ES is currently improving the risk analysis activities at the national level. FI 6 High FI's ICS2 Release 1 was deployed on-time. FR 4 Med FR used iterative development. FR explained that they had an issue with the performance of non-mandatory scenarios, which impacted the date of deployment in production. GR 6 Med None. HR 6 Low HR noted that they successfully completed testing and the production release. HU 5 High HU completed the deployment on 15/03/2021. IE 1 Low IE reported ongoing work with their external contractor along with communications with their national postal operator. IT Information not provided. LT 5 Low LT faced some delay with CT however, they were operational on 15/03/2021. LU 4 Low LU explained that the project was on-track although they learned in December 2020 that despite the fact that they considered the detail of being responsible MS to be very low, they nevertheless had to implement this scenario. The development of ICS2 – R1 was pushed with high priority in order to keep the plan foreseen by DG TAXUD. LV 6 High At the time of writing, LV marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. They had a late start to development due to a delay with allocating finances, the overall complexity of the system and new underlying technology. No mitigating measures are necessary as LV plans to go into production before the deadline. CT is still ongoing. MT 6 Low At the time of writing, MT marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. MT explained that their contractor has already initiated deployment and the configuration of the system. NL 5 Med None. PL 5 Low At the time of writing, PL marked the project as delayed beyond the deployment deadline due to their contractor's failure to deliver both the software and system documentation. PL is starting acceptance testing. PT 6 Low PT completed the deployment on 15/03/2021. RO 6 Low RO’s go-live was postponed to 01/10/2021. SE 4 Low SE noted that they use the central STI system and that their only economic operator started using the system at the end of March 2021. The submission of ENS will gradually increase. SI 6 High None. SK 6 Low The deployment of ICS2 Release 1 was delayed due to problems with new local legislation, financial constraints as well activities relating to eCommerce and Brexit. SK is experiencing low data quality from the post operators side. Figure 1 provides the percentage of respondents (Member States plus the European Commission) in each development phase. 3.1.2Overview of Project Progress Table 10 indicates the estimated percentage of completion as of the end of 2021 in comparison to the target dates set forth in the UCC Work Programme. Even if no operational dates were provided by BE and IT as part of the reporting, it was confirmed that they were ready by the end of the deployment window. 3.1.3Analysis of Progress against Milestones Figure 2 summarises the status per milestone (technical specifications, conformance testing and deployment). The sum of each bar is 28 (responses from the 27 Member States plus the European Commission).

Regarding ICS2 - Release 1, BE and IT did not provide information. See Figure 3 below: 4.Ongoing Projects: Detailed Planning and progress Information 4.1 UCC Notification of Arrival (NA), Presentation Notification (PN) and Temporary Storage (TS) The goal of this project is to define the processes at the national level in respect to the notifications known as Notification of Arrival (NA), Presentation Notification (PN) and Declaration for Temporary Storage (TS), as described in the UCC. This project will ensure the customs formalities related to the entry of goods concerning safety and security exist and that customs supervision begins at the appropriate time and is duly performed. It also aims to support harmonisation across the Member States regarding the data exchange between trade and customs. Furthermore, the project covers the automation of processes at the national level. 4.1.1Summary of Responses Notification of Arrival (NA) Summary from the Commission: The development activities are a national responsibility (‘national development’) and are planned to be operational before the end of 2022. The processes and data requirements for the external domain have been defined and agreed upon on at the EU-level. An expert group of Member States, ETCIT WP2 (Expert Team on new approaches to develop and operate Customs IT systems), financed by the Customs Programme, has been put in place to define and agree upon the business process models and discuss the legal/business/functional requirements. The expert team is also actively working on joining the specifications for PN and TS. Summary from the Member States: The project is closely interlinked with other projects/systems such as the national import systems and the Import Control System 2 (ICS2). This is often reported by Member States as the reason for assessing the project as medium to highly complex. The timely delivery of the required national systems by all Member States was already at risk in last year’s report. Some additional delays in comparison with the UCC Annual Progress Report 2020 are noted, though several Member States reported that measures are taken to keep the deployment within the deadline. Some examples include changing the organisational setup with contractors to achieve a more effective development process and/or implementing an Agile development methodology to reduce the implementation timeframe. Besides the complexity of the project, other reasons for potential delay are given such as resource constraints, further adaptations to the UCC Annex B, impact and re-planning due to the VAT eCommerce package and also the specific working circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Intense collaboration in the ETCIT expert group is ongoing in order to share expertise and resources amongst interested Member States and to join forces in the development work. This summary also applies to PN and TS. The following Member States plan to implement NA as part of ICS2 Release 2: AT, BG, CY, DE, EE, ES, FI, HU, LT and RO. The following Member States are developing or have developed a national solution: CZ, FR, IT, LU, LV, NL, PL, PT, SI and SK. DK, GR, HR and SE have not yet taken a decision on how to implement NA. NA is not applicable for IE while BE and MT did not provide information. Detailed Responses: Table 11 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 4 Low AT is working on defining the technical specifications. AT will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. BE Information not provided. BE 6 Low BE explained that the complexity is due to the exchanges with other systems and the harmonisation with other MSs participating in the collaboration group (ETCIT WP2). BE has already deployed a light version of PN to be able to send the PI of postal operators to the CR. They will later deploy the PN component, which at a later stage will be able to manage irregularities and finish with the revoke PN and PI. Lastly, BE mentioned that the re-export notification will be part of the PN/TS project. BG 5 Low BG’s national technical specifications were approved at the end of 2020. BG will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2, which will cover the implementation of the complete new Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) obligations and related business and risk management processes for all goods in air traffic. CY 6 Low CY will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. CY explained that the complexity is caused by interdependencies between core and supporting systems, the high availability requirements of the systems and insufficient resources. CY explained that their national planning is not yet stable. CZ 5 Med CZ finds the application complex and has indicated that it requires a large amount of financial resources. CZ indicated that the project is currently delayed compared to the planning in the 2020 report, however the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. CZ also highlighted a risk that the national project plan may have to be updated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and capacity of their contractor. DE 4 Low DE explained that the NA message will be updated in line with ICS2 – Release 2. The preparation activities for Release 10.1 of their national IT system, ATLAS, has not yet started. External milestones affecting economic operators will be considered for the ICS2 – Release 2. DK 4 Low DK noted that Deployment is needed but NA is included in many releases (VAT on eCommerce, Import, ICS2, Transit) so it not possible to provide a single status. The coordination and implementation between multiple projects and national legal requirements makes NA rather complex. The project is managed according to the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) in cooperation with the current national operations contractor. EE 3 Low EE will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. ES 3 Low ES will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. ES will be using an Agile development methodology. FI 3 Med FI will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. FI's plans have not changed drastically compared to last year, however, they anticipate several risks. The upgrade of the platform due to the increase of the volume of declarations is ongoing. Furthermore, there has been a need to postpone the development of some functionalities in the national import system. This will also affect the planning and implementation of future UCC projects. The complete impact is not yet clear but risks concerning timetables and resources have increased. Lastly, FI mentions that the resources were already scarce from the beginning and that the additional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have only increased the pressure. These comments apply to all UCC projects. FR 3 Low FR explained that this project will be aligned with ETCIT's AN/PN/TS solution from BE. The production timeline has been aligned with ICS2 Release 2. GR 6 Med GR is facing a delay with budget allocation. HR 1 High HR explained that they have a lack of human resources. HU 5 Med None. IE 1 Low IE noted that the project is not applicable to the MS as arrival data are directly provided to their customs authorities by Airport and Maritime authorities and thus, carriers are not required to submit Notifications of Arrival. IT 2 Med IT identified a risk pertaining to the economic operators, underlining that requests for change might arise later in the process due to their lack of readiness. LT 6 Low LT will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. LT is currently initiating the public procurement procedure for this project. LU 2 Med LU explained that the complexity is due to the connections of this system with other systems namely TS and Import. The main risks are related to the limited number of customs experts both inside the customs administration and available for the software development. The requirements and specifications are planned to be completed by the end of 2021. LU also explained that the arrival notification is included in the combined project with the presentation notification and temporary storage. LV 4 Low LV has implemented NA as part of their national TS system. Necessary corrections will be performed in the context of the ICS2 implementation. MT Information not provided. NL 5 Med The complexity is caused by the large number of external stakeholders (e.g. carriers, freight forwarders and their software providers), and internal stakeholders (e.g. policy makers, risk analysts, control officers) with whom national requirements need to be defined. Furthermore, NL stressed there are a lot of projects running in parallel which are using the same development expertise. This complexity could cause an impact to all project milestones. NL also iterated that they use the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) development methodology for all UCC projects. They use features, which are part of the IT solution, and do not rely on technical specifications. A bundle of features adds up to the epic solution. Given their development methodology, technical specifications are often not applicable. PL 4 Low Analysis is ongoing and technical documentation is being prepared. PT 6 Med PT gave a high complexity rating as they are updating an existing National NA system and are incorporating the changes from the review of Annex B DA/IA- UCC. The risk level mainly stems from a lack of resources in addition to the complexity of the required updates. PT will use Agile development to reduce the implementation timeframe. RO 4 Low RO will implement NA as part of ICS2 – Release 2. Once the IT contractor is identified, RO will begin the analysis, design and development. SE 3 Med Currently, SE’s planning is not fully in line with the timelines set forth in the UCC Work Programme but since the project has not yet started, they are unable to assess. SI 4 Low SI explained that once their new import declaration system is completed, they will upgrade the existing electronic messages to be in accordance with the updated Annex B. SK 1 Med SK’s project is delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline stated in the UCC Work Programme. They have identified risks related to a lack of human and financial resources and administrative burdens. No mitigation actions have been considered at this moment in time. Figure 4 provides the percentage of Member States in each development phase.

Presentation Notification (PN) Summary from the Commission: The summary is the same as for NA. Summary from the Member States: Please see the summary from NA. BG implemented PN as part of TS and their import declaration system. As it was implemented based on requirements from Annex D to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, it will be updated by 31/10/2023. EE has also completed development. ES has already deployed PN for the VAT eCommerce package. The development of PN for the rest of the use cases is ongoing. FI explained that PN is completed however, upgrades may be required to align with ICS2 – Releases 2 and 3. FR will be implementing ETCIT’s NA/PN/TS solution, for which the production timeline has been aligned with ICS2 – Release 2. IE deployed PN as part of their national import system and they expect to align it to the revised Annex B by 01/07/2021. LV implemented PN as part of their national TS system; necessary corrections will be performed in the context of the ICS2 implementation. Detailed Responses: Table 12 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 4 High AT explained that the functional interaction and the tight timelines for ICS2, NoA and the adjustment of their existing import system along with the implementation of the VAT eCommerce package is challenging. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has added additional pressure. AT notes that the planned timeline will be difficult to maintain. The main milestone in concern is Deployment. BE 6 Low BE explained that the complexity is due to the exchanges with other systems and the harmonisation with other MSs participating in the collaboration group (ETCIT II). BE has already deployed a light version of PN to be able to send the PI of postal operators to the CR. They will later deploy the PN component, which at a later stage will be able to manage irregularities and finish with the revoke PN and PI. Lastly, BE mentioned that the re-export notification will be part of the PN/TS project. BG 5 Low PN was implemented as part of TS and their import declaration system. As it was implemented based on requirements from Annex D to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, it will be updated by 31/10/2023. CY 6 Low Same response as for NA. CZ 5 Med Same response as for NA. DE 4 Low DE marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. The business roadmap of the national IT-System ATLAS had to be replanned due to various unexpected factors, e.g. the implementation of the VAT eCommerce package. This message will be updated in the major release of the national IT-System ATLAS - Release 10.1 being part of the ‘National Entry System’. The expected date of deployment is December 2022. No mitigating actions are required as the annual release-cycle management will ensure delivery within the deployment deadline. DK 4 Low Same response as for NA. EE 5 Low EE indicated that their development is complete. EE further iterates that this project is closely linked to ICS2 and the project deadlines should be amended accordingly. The end date of the deployment window of PN should be 01/03/2024. ES 5 Low ES is using an iterative development methodology and already has PN deployed for the VAT eCommerce package. The development of PN for the rest of the cases is ongoing. FI 4 Med FI explained that the project is completed. However, upgrades may be required to align with the ICS2 – Release 2 and 3 implementations. FR 2 Low Same response as for NA. GR 6 Med Same response as for NA. HR 4 Med Progress has been made according to the project plan and the team has achieved the main milestones pertaining to delivery of project documentation and development. However, there is a risk that the planning for the technical specifications and/or conformance testing may be affected due to a lack of human resources. HR explains that there are numerous EU projects that have to be carried out simultaneously. HU 5 Med None. IE 5 Low PN has been deployed as part of their national import system update and is currently in operation for the majority of economic operators. CT for the remaining economic operators is expected to be completed by 30/06/2021. Development was based on EUCDM 5.2 however the system is scheduled to be aligned to the revised Annex B on 01/07/2021. The other import declaration types will be updated with the implementation of CCI – Phase 1. IT 2 Med Same response as for NA. LT 6 Low Same response as for NA. LU 2 Med Same response as for NA. LV 4 Low Same response as for NA. MT Information not provided. NL 5 Med Same response as for NA. PL 4 Med PL explained that the difficulties in planning the construction of the system are related to the changes in the data set specified in Annex B to Delegated Act 2015/2446. Agreements with contractors are based on applicable regulations, which is to ensure the contractor’s stability of work. Subsequent versions of data matrix projects, as well as changes to data regulations, introduced during the implementation of the project contract, necessitate constant changes in the systems and generate additional, unforeseen costs for both countries and economic operators. It also affects the delays in system implementation. An additional obstacle to the timely implementation of the import system is the COVID-19 pandemic, which disorganises design work in many areas. PT 6 Med Same response as for NA. RO 6 Low RO explained that the PN project is included in their development of the national system of import and follows the implementation established for that system. SE 4 Med SE noted that they are participating in the ETCIT pilot project lead by BE for the development of PN/TS and they will most likely use this IT application. SI 3 Low Same response as for NA. SK 1 Med Same response as for NA. Figure 5 provides the percentage of Member States in each development phase. Temporary Storage (TS) Summary from the Commission: The summary is the same as for PN. Summary from the Member States: Please see the summary from PN.

BG implemented PN and TS as part of their national import declaration system. As it was implemented based on requirements from Annex D to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, it will be updated by 31/10/2023. EE, IE and LV have also implemented TS. Detailed Responses: Table 13 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 3 High The milestone most at risk is Deployment. AT is developing a new customs declaration system. The transformation process and integration with the existing application are complex. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that have been put in place have had an impact on the project progress. BE 6 Low BE explained that the complexity is due to the exchanges with other systems and the harmonisation with other MSs participating in the collaboration group (ETCIT II). BE will first deploy the TSD component and at a later stage they will be able to manage irregularities and finish with the movement between TSF. The re-export notification will be part of the PN/TS project. BG 5 Low None. CY 6 Low Same response as for PN. CZ 5 Med Same response as for PN. DE 4 Low Same response as for PN. DK 6 High The high risk rating is due to many dependencies with other systems, parallel development, limited resources and numerous stakeholders. DK mentioned that their project is currently delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. DK is fully focused on their national import systems upgrade, including configuration and validation of necessary functionality. However, this has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their focus on finishing implementing the requirements from the VAT eCommerce package. Mitigating measures are foreseen and will be implemented during Q2 2021. Mitigation measures include changing the organisational setup with the supplier in terms of staffing and teams, primarily to achieve a more effective development process and to promote deeper understanding of the software at earlier stages of the process to avoid problems. Furthermore, initiatives in order to secure more robust release/deployment processes for standard software has been initiated in order to reduce the waiting time in relation to configuration and test. The project is handled within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Temporary Storage compliance will be built on top of a configured standard solution handling the H7 declaration type. The solution will also support the UCC Special Procedures and UCC CCI projects. Full focus on Temporary Storage has been delayed due to COVID-19 and due to focus on finishing the implementation of the VAT eCommerce package within deadline. People who are working on Release 1 are the same people who are going to work at Release 2. R1 is delayed which means R2 will be delayed as well because the people who are going to work on R2 cannot be allocated full time before R1 is completed. EE 5 Med EE indicated that they have limited resources and tight deadlines. EE further iterated that testing activities are ongoing in preparation for the deployment window start date, which is set for 01/07/2021. EE further iterates that this project is closely linked to ICS2 and the project deadlines should be amended accordingly. The end date of the deployment window of TS should be 01/03/2024. ES 6 Med ES mentioned that their project is currently delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. Technical specifications are not completed yet, but they still expect to have it operational before the end of 2022. Changes have been made to the conformance testing and deployment milestones. ES will use iterative development. FI 6 High In addition to the risks mentioned for NA, FI explained that the whole system will be built from scratch and that it will contain numerous integrations. FR 2 Low Same response as for NA and PN. GR 5 Med GR mentioned that their project is currently delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. GR is facing a delay due to budget allocation however hopes to have a contract in place by the end of 2021. HR 4 Med Same response as for PN. HU 5 Med None. IE 5 Low Same response as for PN. IT 2 Med Same response as for PN. LT 4 Low None. LU 2 Med Same response as for PN. LV 5 Low As from 24/09/2017, their national TS system has been updated according to the UCC data elements. Additional functionality for movements between TS places (if located in LV) was added on 05/03/2018. LV also mentioned that further developments, such as EUCDM changes, will be implemented in the timeframe between 2021 and 2023. MT Information not provided. NL 5 Med Same response as for PN. PL 4 Med Same response as for PN. PT 6 Med Same response as for PN. RO 6 Low Same response as for PN. SE 4 Med Same response as for PN. SI 3 Low Same response as for PN. SK 1 Med Same response as for PN. Figure 6 provides the percentage of Member States in each development phase. 4.1.2Overview of Project Progress Table 14 , Table 15 and Table 16 highlight any known divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. As this project has a deployment window, the ‘Deployment’ and ‘Operations’ columns are shown. If there is a difference in these two dates, this implies that a migration period is planned. In regards to the implementation of the Notification of Arrival, the following Member States have a planned operations date that is later than the deadline in the UCC Work Programme: BE, BG, EE, ES, NL and SE. SE plans a timely deployment of the national system but with a gradual migration of all economic operators). DE and IE marked NA as not applicable. Subsequent to the gathering of the data in Table 14, DK have indicated that they intend to meet the deployment deadline of 31/12/2022. More specifically, nine Member States (AT, BG, CY, DE, EE, ES, FI, LT and RO) have reported that they will use the NA integrated in ICS2 – Release 2 (planned deployment 15/03/2023). The specific dates can be found in Table 14 . In regards to the implementation of the Presentation Notification, the following Member States have indicated a planned operations date for PN, which is later than the deadline in the Work Programme: BE, EE, NL and SE. However, it should be noted that for these 4 Member States, the delay relates only to the migration of all their economic operators and not to the deployment of the national system. Moreover, all Member States will have a timely deployment of their national system. In regards the implementation of the Temporary Storage, the following Member States have indicated a planned operations date for TS, which is later than the deadline in the Work Programme: BE, EE and NL.

More specifically, NL has reported that they will integrate TS into ICS2 – Release 2 (planned deployment 15/03/2023) which will cause a delay limited to two months. 4.1.3Analysis of Progress against Milestones Figure 7 , Figure 8 and Figure 9 summarise the status per milestone (technical specifications, conformance testing and deployment). The sum of each bar is 27 (responses from the 27 Member States). Additional details regarding the specific percentage of completion per milestone can be seen Figure 10 , Figure 11 and Figure 12 . Regarding the Notification of Arrival, the following Member States have not yet started: EE, FI, GR, IT, SE and SK. BE and MT did not provide percentage of completion information. Lastly, DE and IE marked Notification of Arrival as Not Applicable. Regarding the Presentation Notification, the following Member States have not yet started: GR, IT, SE and SK. MT did not provide percentage of completion information.

Regarding Temporary Storage, the following Member States have not yet started: GR, IT, LT, SE and SK. MT did not provide percentage of completion information.

4.2 UCC National Import Systems Upgrade The project will implement all processes and data requirements deriving from the UCC, which relate to the import of goods into the Union. The existing national import systems must be upgraded in line with these new UCC requirements. The upgrade mainly relates to the changes for the "Release for free circulation" procedure (standard procedure and the simplifications) and changes in the related exchanges of information, but also covers the impact of changes in other electronic systems. This project covers the national customs declarations processing systems, as well as national accountancy and payment systems. 4.1.4Summary of Responses Summary from the Commission: The availability of the technical specifications provided by the Commission for the Centralised Clearance at Import system and the harmonisation across entry/import-transit-export/exit (supported by the revision of the UCC annex B data requirements and the EU Customs Data Model) were crucial achievements to push this project forward on a national level. Summary from the Member States: Some Member States planned this project as a priority and have already upgraded their national import system in line with the UCC. Due to this early deployment, these Member States will need to make an additional effort for a second upgrade in view of the revised Annex B. Other Member States have decided to concentrate first on other projects and wait for further progress on the specifications for the trans-European system related to import, being the Centralised Clearance at Import (CCI). In particular, those Member States that decided not to upgrade their existing national declaration system but to build a completely new one. BG, EE, IE, LV, SI and SK have completed their system upgrades. If not already done, updates to align their systems with the latest Annex B will happen between 2021 and 2023. Furthermore, many Member States advanced their planning. This can be seen in section 4.2.2. BE and MT have reported a planned operations date beyond the one in the UCC Work Programme and GR and LT have reported no progress on their technical specifications. Careful project risk management by the Member States and supervision by the Commission, in its role of coordinator, is to be envisaged for the next year. Detailed Responses: Table 17 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 5 High The milestone most at risk is deployment. AT is developing a new customs declaration system and the transformation process and integration with their existing application is complex. The restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic have had an impact on the project progress. AT is currently working on the technical specifications and requirements. Furthermore, the SAFe development methodology will now be used. BE 6 Med BE marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. They have experienced delays in receiving final specifications (especially for H7), in addition to lack of clarity in the dataset. A lot of rework was required. Furthermore, there has been delays with other applications and new technologies are impacting their implementation. All milestones are impacted. BE noted the following mitigating actions: using an Agile development methodology, adapting the scope, assessing incremental progress and working in phases with several releases. BG 6 Low BG’s system has been in production since 07/01/2019. During 2020, the national import system was upgraded to implement the VAT eCommerce package, including the use of CD as per Art. 143a of the UCC-DA and the new column H7 in Annex B. All updates will be deployed and used from 01/07/2021, in-line with the postponement of the application of the VAT eCommerce package. CY 6 Low CY explained that the complexity is caused by dependencies with other systems, the high availability requirements and limited human resources. The national planning is not yet stable and is dependent on the details in the future contract. CZ 5 Med CZ marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. Their national plans are not yet stable due to capacity constraints with their contractor. CZ has indicated that the project requires a large amount of financial resources. In addition, there is a risk that the national project plan may have to be updated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the delays it is causing. The required changes will depend on the development of the situation. DE 6 Low DE marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. The business roadmap of the national IT-System ATLAS had to be replanned due to various unforeseen factors, e.g. the implementation of the VAT eCommerce package. The national import system will be implemented as part of the national IT-System ATLAS - Release 10.1. The expected date of deployment is in December 2022. DK 6 High The complexity is high due to many dependencies with other systems, parallel development, numerous stakeholders and limited resources. DK marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. Full focus on this project including configuration and validation of necessary functionality, has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and due to focus on finishing requirements from the VAT eCommerce package. Mitigating measures including organisational changes with the supplier to ensure an effective development process are foreseen to be implemented during Q2 2021. Furthermore, initiatives in order to secure more robust releases/deployments processes of standard software has been initiated in order to lower full stack teams waiting time in relation to configuration and test. The project is handled within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). EE 6 Low EE explained that testing activities are ongoing. EE further iterated that CT and deployment were postponed by six months due to the VAT eCommerce package. ES 5 Med ES explained that this project requires coordination with other projects such as Centralised Clearance for Import and a sufficient window for economic operators to upgrade while limiting business impact. ES uses an iterative development methodology and has updated their planning to be in-line with the CCI-Phase 1 activities. FI 6 High FI marked the project as delayed beyond the deployment deadline. Their planning has changed as a result of the volume of Low Value Consignment (LVC) declarations which have risen dramatically. This was not anticipated at the moment of the acquisition of UCC IT systems. Because of this, there will be a considerable amount of upgrades to be performed on the platforms and supporting IT systems and a need to adjust the declaration management system’s internal processes. Due to these necessary changes, there has been a need to postpone the development of some functionalities in national import system. FR 6 Med FR marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. FR explained that a comprehensive review of import and export processes was undertaken to define a schedule in order to optimise the use of available resources. FR is leading the overhaul of the import and export system, which entails more work explaining the slight delay with the completion of the technical specifications. GR 6 Med GR mentioned that their project is currently delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. GR is facing a delay due to budget allocation. HR 6 High HR explained that the project is very complex and human resources are limited as team members are involved in other MASP/national projects. HR is now defining the business process for simplified declarations and the impact on the other systems related to the national import system. They are also defining messages to economic operators according to the new Annex B. They are analysing the impact of the introduction of the EUR envisaged for the day of application of the new import customs declarations system in HR. HU 6 High HU explained that the IT development done for eCommerce will be used as a basis for the national import system which will ultimately be the basis for the upgrade developments as well. IE 5 Med IE’s system is in operation for the majority of economic operators and CT for the remaining economic operators is expected to be completed by 30/06/2021. Development was based on EUCDM 5.2 and the system is scheduled to be aligned to the revised Annex B for the H7 on 01/07/2021, and for all other import declaration types in conjunction with the implementation of CCI Phase 1. Due to the late adoption of revised Annex B and publication of EUCDM 6, there is a risk that the target date of 01/07/2021 for implementation of the H7 may not be met. IT Information not provided. LT 3 Low LT is currently initiating the public procurement procedure for this project. LU 5 High LU marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. The various procedures in the various business cases both on the national and European-level are more complex than foreseen. More time is needed to analyse and document the various use cases. Additional internal resources have been put on this project in order to avoid further delays. LV 5 Low LV informed that their national import system has been aligned with UCC DI/IA Annex B and EUCDM V2.0 as from 03/06/2018. Further developments such as EUCDM changes, the VAT eCommerce package, integration with ECMS, are planned to be implemented in 2021-2023. MT 6 Med MT marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. MT explained that this is due to various projects running in parallel in addition to limited resources. As a mitigating action, MT explained that some of the development of the upgrades will be outsourced. MT further noted that the compliancy to EUCDM is very complex and it involves various critical systems. NL 3 Low NL commented that an agile development approach is being used. NL explained that they are currently developing and testing the system together with their IT developer. PL 6 Med PL provided the same explanation for the risk level as in section 4.1 NA/PN/TS. PL further explained that they are now focusing on the VAT eCommerce package, which they aim to implement by 01/07/2021. In IT terms, the plans are related to the development of a new module AIS/eCommerce, which will be a separate component within the import system (that handles regular import declarations). The AIS/eCommerce module will handle customs declarations in postal and courier traffic (i.e. declarations with the H7 and H6 data scope). PT 6 Med PT explained that the risk level is due to the implementation of a new system and a lack of resources. PT stated that an Agile development methodology will be used to help reduce the implementation timeframe. PT iterates that the development of this system is not only related with the system itself, but also to the development of all national, central and other MS´s systems/modules. This increases the interdependencies and the complexity of the “global system”. The review of Annex B DA/IA-UCC makes it difficult to determine whether their work completed continues to be correct and applicable. Consequently, additional costs are created by the need to reassess the aforementioned developments thus further adding to the complexity of the deliverables. The deadline for the end of the work related to the harmonisation / modification of Annex B - Columns H and I, was the end of 2019, however the new version of the Annex B was only published on 23/03/2021. PT also mentions that the creation of new obligations/deadlines for Member States, like reviewing the package related with column H7 to be implemented in 2021, also created a constraint in updating their national import system because they have developed a new system to deal with the VAT eCommerce package. RO 6 Low RO is currently defining the technical specifications. SE 4 Med None. SI 6 High SI was expecting the Commission to prepare the technical specifications for the import declaration, code list for the Automated Import System (AIS) in the Central Services Reference Data 2 (CSRD2). SI explains that they have limited human resources and that their team members work on several projects simultaneously. Furthermore, there is a concern over financial resources as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds. SI is convinced that the customs environment will be ready on time however, they have doubts regarding the testing readiness of the external environment (economic operators). SK 3 Low SK’s system has been in production since 30/06/2019. An upgrade to implement the updated version of Annex B will be needed. Figure 13 provides the percentage of Member States in each development phase.

4.1.5Overview of Project Progress Table 18 highlights any divergences in the planning compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. As this project has a deployment window, the ‘Deployment’ and ‘Operations’ columns are shown. If there is a difference in these two dates, this implies that a migration period is planned. In regards to the implementation of the National Import Systems Upgrade, the following Member States have a planned operations date that is later than the deadline in the UCC Work Programme: BE and MT. The specific dates can be found in Table 18 below. The delay for BE is limited to a few days. MT explained that this is due to various projects running in parallel in addition to limited resources. As a mitigating action, some of the development of the upgrades will be outsourced. MT further noted that the compliancy to EUCDM is very complex and it involves various critical systems. For BE and MT, the deployment of the system at national level is planned to be on time; though the gradual migration to full operations is estimated to go beyond the date of 31 December 2022. 4.1.6Analysis of Progress against Milestones Figure 14 summarises the status per milestone (technical specifications, conformance testing and deployment). The sum of each bar is 27 (responses from the 27 Member States). Additional details regarding the specific percentage of completion per milestone can be seen in Figure 15 . The following Member States have not yet started with the technical specifications: GR and LT.

4.3 UCC Special Procedures This national project aims to accelerate, facilitate and harmonise Special Procedures across the Union by means of providing common business process models. The national systems will implement all UCC changes required for all the special procedures (customs warehousing, end-use, temporary admission and inward/outward processing). It should be noted that, in many Member States, the implementation of this project occurs within the context of the upgrades of the national import and export systems. In terms of planning, this project will be implemented in two parts. The first component is the "National Special Procedures EXP" (NSP EXP) with the view to providing the required national electronic solutions for the export-related special procedure activities. The second component is the "National Special Procedures IMP" (NSP IMP) with the view to providing the required national electronic solutions for the import-related special procedures activities. 4.1.7Summary of Responses

Special Procedures – Component 1 (NSP EXP) Summary from the Member States: DE and PL plan to deploy the updates to their systems by the end of 2021. The following Member States specified that they will implement this project as part of AES (Section 4.9): BG, FI, IE, PT, RO, SI and SK. The potential causes for delay are the following: the implementation of a new import system and/or dependencies with other systems, lack of resources and procurement delays along with specific working circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some additional delays in comparison with the UCC Annual Progress Report 2020 are noted, though several Member States reported that measures are taken to have the deployment still on time. For example, many Member States have also implemented Agile development methodologies to reduce the implementation timeframe. Detailed Responses: Table 19 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 4 Med The milestone most at risk is deployment. AT is developing a new customs declaration system and the transformation and the integration with their existing application are complex. The restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic have had an impact on the on boarding and project progress. AT is currently refining their technical analysis, defining national requirements, establishing a cooperation team and coordinating planning with Belgian Customs. BE Information not provided. BG 5 Low BG stated that the technical specifications are completed. The award for implementation is now ongoing and will be completed by July 2021. The project will be implemented as part of the AES project to cover all the export operations for SP. CY 6 Low CY explained that the complexity is caused by dependencies with other systems, the high availability requirements and limited human resources. The development approach will be decided in cooperation with the contractor. The national planning is not yet stable and is dependent on the details in the future contract. CZ 6 Med CZ's national plan is stable. However, the COVID-19 pandemic does present a risk. In line with their national plan, CZ is currently preparing detailed national technical and functional specifications. The national specifications will be completed in Q2 2021. DE 4 Low DE is making use of an agile development approach in defined software release cycles. The ongoing activities concern the finalisation and fine-tuning of AES (e.g. adaptation of Surveillance), the monitoring of operations as well as the preparation of remaining Conformance Tests (Mode 2) for new functionalities of AES (e.g. centralised clearance) and the start of the Conformance Test (certification) of economic operators. The period for CT with Trade has been shifted from March 2021 - July 2022 to October 2021 - November 2022. Therefore, November 2022 is the end of the deployment window for trade. After this date, no ECS phase 2 messages will be accepted in the external domain. DK 6 High DK assessed the complexity as very high due to many dependencies with other systems, parallel development and many stakeholders. The milestones most at risk are CT and the final test phase, due to alignment and dependencies with other systems. The CT dates have not been set yet. The project is handled within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Currently the project is scaling-up with consultant assistance to configure/test the national adjustments on top of a standard solution. EE 6 Med EE considered the project delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. The procurement process is delayed, however, mitigation actions are foreseen. A contract with a developer is in place, the technical specifications have been completed, a detailed analysis has been carried out, and the export core flow is completed. EE explained that the changes in national planning are due to delays in procurement. ES 5 Med ES noted that they are using an agile/iterative development methodology. ES further suggests that this project should be the subject of a specific project group to clarify the tasks and milestones to be achieved. FI 6 High FI explained that they are building AES and NSP-EXP from scratch and that several other IT projects are ongoing. AES will contain numerous integrations. The implementation is planned to start in Q2 2021. FR 5 Low FR noted that the complexity comes from the project’s link to the import/export clearance system. This project will use the same planning for Import and Export. At the time of collecting this information, FR is working on the links between Annexes B and A. They are also analysing their Customer Reference Service, the INF system and the national ROSA components to ensure consistency and to consider the possibility of a new web service. GR 5 Low GR is facing a delay with budget allocation. HR 6 Med HR noted that the TS and CT milestones may be affected due to a lack of human resources. Many EU projects have to be carried out simultaneously. HU 3 Low None. IE 5 Low IE explained that this project will be deployed as part of the AES project. Discussions will commence with external contractors this year. IT Information not provided. LT 5 Low None. LU 4 Med LU marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. The procedure for the call for tenders and the negotiations with the software provider took longer than planned. LU noted that their software provider is also servicing another Member State ,which should help to progress faster than planned. The main risks are related to the limited number of customs experts both inside the customs administration and available for the software development. LU has started internal analysis on the business processes. LU also iterated that it is challenging to give the details according to the MASP-C planning as their internal planning for the Export formalities is following a different logic. LU noted that indeed there will be a first phase with AES-P1 including the special procedures but excluding all simplified procedures, while there will be second phase with all simplified procedures including simplified procedures for the special procedures. LV 4 Low LV plans to develop the database, messages for the export/re-export declarations and the graphical user interface for Customs users in 2021. MT Information not provided. NL 3 Low NL commented that an agile development approach is being used. NL explained that they are currently developing and testing the system together with their IT developer. PL 5 Med The medium level risk is caused by the creation of a new IT national Regulatory Procedure with Scrutiny (RPS) system and its integration with other IT national customs systems (inter alia Import and Export systems), which are currently being expanded. Therefore, the milestones also depend on the progress of other IT projects. Moreover, there is still a risk connected with the COVID-19 pandemic which has impact on the work. Recently, the RPS system was tested by internal users – customs officers and a few economic operators in terms of integration with related systems. Testers submitted comments to the external contractor regarding the system's functionalities. The new version of the software will be installed in Q2 2021. The project team is currently preparing wider test scenarios for the RPS system in terms of business services covering UCC Special Procedures. These business services will be available for testing for economic operators on the national customs and tax portal. This year's plan of implementation, deployment of the RPS national IT system and other related IT systems is postponed to the end of 2021 due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of the functionalities/requirements resulting from the provision of UCC Special Procedures will be covered under subsequent implementations in 2023. PT 6 High PT explained that the risk level is due to the implementation of a new export system and a lack of resources. PT explained that an Agile development methodology will be used to help reduce the implementation timeframe. This project is an integrated part of ‘UCC Trans-European Automated Export System (AES): Component 1’, consequently the comments made in section 4.9.1 are also applicable. RO 2 Med RO noted that this project will be an AES component. RO mentioned that the project is currently delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. This is due to a delay in approving the budget for the current year. No mitigating measures are foreseen yet since the overall delivery is still foreseen within the deployment deadline. SE 4 Med SE noted that they performed a pre-study in Autumn 2020. SI 4 Med The project is ongoing according to their national plan. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is still indicated as a risk that could cause a delay to the deployment of the project. The external contractor is currently preparing detailed technical specifications for the entire AES system. In 2020, their contractor prepared a detailed analysis on how to move from SIAES/ECS phase 2 to SIAES phase 1, with realistic and reachable dates. These dates have been reflected in the project plans at the end of 2020. The production environment date for AES is 01/05/2023. SK 3 Med SK's project is delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline stated in the UCC Work Programme. This project will be developed together with AES. The milestone most at risk is technical specifications. CT is planned for Q2 2022 however, the procurement procedure is still not finished. Their aim is to have the technical specifications completed by the end of 2021. Figure 16 provides the percentage of Member States in each development phase. Special Procedures – Component 2 (NSP IMP) Summary from the Member States: BG’s system in production is currently being aligned with the latest Annex B. IE and LV also deployed this component as part of their National Import System. EE, PL SI and SK expect to be completed by the end of 2021. DE, DK, FI, HR and PT noted that they will implement this component as part of their National Import Systems upgrade. The potential causes for delay are the following: the implementation of a new import system and/or dependencies with other systems, lack of resources and procurement delays along with specific working circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some additional delays in comparison with the UCC Annual Progress Report 2020 are noted, though several Member States reported that measures are taken to have the deployment still on time. For example, many Member States have also implemented Agile development methodologies to reduce the implementation timeframe. Detailed Responses: Table 20 provides the individual Member States’ responses to the survey: MS Complexity Rating Risk Level Additional Comments AT 4 Med The milestone most at risk is deployment. AT is developing a new customs declaration system and the transformation process and integration with their existing application is complex. The restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the project progress. AT is currently working on the technical specifications and requirements. BE Information not provided. BG 5 Low BG's national system is currently being adapted to conform with the amendments introduced by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/234. CY 6 Low Same response as for NSP EXP. CZ 5 Med CZ marked the project as delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery date is still expected within the deployment deadline set in the UCC Work Programme. Their national plans are not yet stable due to capacity constraints with their contractor. CZ has indicated that the project requires a large amount of financial resources. In addition, there is a risk that the national project plan may have to be updated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the delays it is causing. The required changes will depend on the development of the situation. The indicative date for technical specifications is 01/03/2022. DE 4 Low DE explained that they will implement this component as part of the "National Import Systems upgrade", which will be covered by their national IT-System ATLAS - Release 10.1. The expected deployment date is in December 2022. DK 6 High Same comments as for the National Import Systems Upgrade (section 4.2). EE 6 Low EE noted that conformance testing, training and deployment activities are ongoing. The CT and deployment have been postponed by six months due to the implementation of the VAT eCommerce package. ES 5 Med Same response as for NSP EXP. FI 6 High Same comments as for the National Import Systems Upgrade (section 4.2). FI further noted that the deployment and integration testing dates will be impacted. This year, they plan to deploy and test new versions. FI also explained that simplifications are postponed to Q1 2022. FR 5 Low Same response as for NSP EXP. GR 6 Med GR mentioned that their project is currently delayed in comparison to the planning in the 2020 report, but the overall delivery is still expected within the deployment deadline. GR is facing a delay due to budget allocation however hopes to have a contract in place by the end of 2021. HR 6 High Same comments as for the National Import Systems Upgrade (section 4.2). HU 3 Low None. IE 5 Low IE explained that this is deployed as part of their National Import system and it is in operation for the majority of economic operators. CT for the remaining economic operators is expected to be completed by 30/06/2021. A phased transition of traders was implemented rather than a 'big bang' approach. IT Information not provided. LT 5 Low None. LU 5 Med The main risks are related to the limited number of customs experts both inside the customs administration and available for the software development. The activities are ongoing together with the upgrade of the national import system. LU also iterated that it is challenging to give the details according to the MASP-C planning as their internal planning for the Export formalities is following a different logic. LU noted that indeed there will be a first phase with AES-P1 including the special procedures but excluding all simplified procedures, while there will be second phase with all simplified procedures including simplified procedures for the special procedures. LV 5 Low LV’s national import system has been aligned with UCC DA/IA Annex B and EUCDM V2.0 as of 03/06/2018. MT Information not provided. NL 3 Low Same response as for NSP EXP. PL 5 Med Same response as for NSP EXP. PT 6 Med PT mentioned the same comments as for the National Import System Upgrade (section 4.2). There has been some changes to their national plan such as the date of technical specifications publication for economic operators and the CT start date for economic operators. RO 6 Low RO is currently defining the technical specifications. SE 4 Med None. SI 6 High Same comments as for the National Import Systems Upgrade (section 4.2). SK 5 Low SK explained that an upgrade to implement the updated version of Annex B is required. This is planned to take place by the end of the deployment of CCI, as defined by the Work Programme. Figure 17 provides the percentage of Member States in each development phase.

4.1.8Overview of Project Progress Table 21 highlights any known divergences in the planning of the NSP EXP compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. As this project has a deployment window, the ‘Deployment’ and ‘Operations’ columns are shown. If there is a difference in these two dates, this implies that a migration period is planned. Table 22 highlights any known divergences in the planning of the NSP IMP compared to the dates set in the Work Programme. As this project has a deployment window, the ‘Deployment’ and ‘Operations’ columns are shown. If there is a difference in these two dates, this implies that a migration period is planned. 4.1.9Analysis of Progress against Milestones Figure 18 and Figure 19 summarise the status per milestone (technical specifications, conformance testing and deployment). The sum of each bar is 27 (all Member States). Additional details regarding the specific percentage of completion per milestone can be seen in the following figures. Regarding NSP EXP, the following Member States have not yet started: GR, HU, LT and SE. The following Member States did not provide percentage of completion information: BE, IT and MT.

Regarding NSP IMP, the following Member States have not yet started: DE, GR, HU, LT and SE. The following Member States did not provide percentage of completion information: BE, IT and MT.





4.4 UCC Guarantee Management (GUM) The UCC Guarantee Management (GUM) project aims to assure the effective and efficient management of the different types of guarantees. The main objective is to ensure that the data of guarantees, which are used in more than one MS, are made electronically accessible to the MS where a customs declaration is lodged and accepted when such guarantee is used. This will require new interfaces between GUM and national systems. One advantage of the solution is that the traders can provide one guarantee that can be used across the Union. Moreover, the improved processing speed, traceability and monitoring of guarantees electronically between customs offices is expected to lead to a faster identification of cases where guarantees are deemed invalid or insufficient to cover the incurred or potential debt. The system is comprised of two components. The first component is "GUM". GUM is a trans-European system that will cover the management of the comprehensive guarantees that may be used in more than one Member State. Transit guarantees monitoring is an exception to the above and is handled as part of the NCTS project. 4.1.10Summary of Responses GUM – Component 1 Summary from the Commission: In September 2020, the updated Business Case was approved by the Member States with the preferred implementation option being a decentralised system architecture with light central IT support. This option will be implemented through the UCC Customs Decisions System. The central GUM component is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2025. On the basis of the systems architectural change, the hybrid-Member States, using the UCC Customs Decisions system should be ready and test their systems before the central GUM component goes live in 2025. Member States with hybrid solutions are expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2024. This creates a window of one year to develop their system after the component specifications of the GUM central system are made available. The planning was significantly updated based on the architecture approved by the Member States in the Business Case. The milestones for updating the L4 BPMs and the Vision document were delayed by one quarter due to the anticipation of long discussions with MSs, the change in the architecture of the GUM system, a longer time period foreseen for the external reviews, etc. These activities are planned to be completed in 2021. The milestones of application and technical specifications also had to be revised since a draft of the Annex A data elements needed for GUM will only be ready during the first half of 2022. The planning aspect will need to be carefully examined and addressed in the coming years by the Commission and the Member States to keep this project on track. The chosen option to use the Customs Decisions System might require less effort in the IT implementation, but will on the other hand require a legislative change. As this could potentially be a risk, it will become necessary to identify and initiate the required changes as early as possible. National GUM – Component 2 Summary from the Member States: GUM – Component 2 refers to the development of Member States’ National Guarantee Management systems. This work can mainly be done in parallel with GUM – Component 1. There is a project interdependency on the National Import System of each Member State, where they have multi-Member States’ guarantees involved. Numerous Member States commented that they are waiting for the Level 4 BPMs to be provided by the Commission. These BPMs will elaborate the national business concept. Many Member States indicated that the Technical Specifications milestone was at risk due to this. BG, IE and ES implemented national GUM systems. LT noted