Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending the Decision of 19 December 1996 adopting an action programme for customs in the Community ("Customs 2000")
Date: 1997-09-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, action programme, customs, exchange of information, information technology applications

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  03.09.1997 
COM(97) 433 final 

97/ 0228 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  AND COUNCIL DECISION 

amending the Decision of 19 December 1996 
adopting an action programme for customs in the Community 

("Customs 2000") 

(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

The  Decision  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  19  December  19961 
adopting  an  action  programme  for  customs  in  the  Community  ("Customs  2000")  is 
intended  to  enhance  the  overall  effectiveness  of  customs  work  in  the  Community  by 
making  the  work  of  EU  customs  administrations  more  transparent  and  improving  their 
cooperation with each other and with the Commission. 

» 

Priorities  to  be tackled  under the Decision  during  the  lifetime  of  the  action  programme 
(1996-2000)  include  the  operation  and  coordinated  development  of  computerised  data 
exchange systems linking the Member States with each other and with the Commission. 

Both  Article  17  (Financing)  and  the  Financial  Statement  of  the  Commission's  original 
proposal2  explicitly envisaged  that other  Community  programmes,  notably the  Matthaeus 
and IDA programmes (for  training measures and various computer  projects  respectively), 
would be used to finance Customs 2000 measures. 

At the time when the Commission presented  the proposal  the Council had not yet  adopted 
the  IDA  programme;  it  did  so  on  6  November  1995,3  setting  an  expiry  date  of 
31 December  1997. 

1. 

PURPOSE OF THE AMENDING  PROPOSAL 

Communication  and  the exchange of information  between  administrations  hold  the  key  to 
the  improvements  in the  efficiency  and  coherence  of  customs  operations  which  form  the 
main objective of the Customs 2000 programme. 

Coordinated  progress  on  computerisation  can  also  do  a  great  deal  to  help  simplify  the 
Community's external trade formalities,  thus making life easier for  business and  tightening 
up customs controls without hampering legitimate trade. 

The  Council's  IDA  programme  is budgeted  for  the  period  1995-97,  unlike  the  Customs 
2000 programme, which runs from  1996 to 2000. 

t 

This  proposal  for  amendment  of  the  Customs  2000  programme  is  therefore  intended  to 
make, appropriate  supplementary  financing  available  for  these  operations  for  the  years 
1998-2000.  The  programmes  to be financed  in this way under  Customs  2000  will  still  be 
able to  rely  on  the  generic  services  developed  under  IDA.  The  Commission  departments 
responsible  for  IDA  and  Customs  2000  respectively  will  work  closely  together  to  ensure 
that  Community  telematic  systems  are  interoperable  and  to  maximise  economies  at  the 
development  stage.  Any  future  Community  decisions  applying  to  official  trans-European 
telematics  networks  generally  will  also  cover  Customs  2000  communication  and 
information  exchange systems. 

1 Decision No 210/97/EC, OJ L 33, 4.2.1997, p. 24. 
2  COM(95)  119 final,  95/0087 (COD). 
3  Decision  No 95/468/EC, OJ L 269,  11.11.1995, p. 23. 

2 

2. 

GROUNDS 

Financing  the  implementation  and  operation  of  these  projects  from  the  Customs  2000 
Decision is logical in view of their nature. 

When  the  1997  budget  was  adopted  the  Budgetary  Authority,  in  the  interests  of 
transparency,  brought  all  Customs  2000  measures,  including  those  relating  to  the 
computerisation  of  Community  customs,  together  under  the  "Customs  2000"  heading 
(B5-3 03) of the Commission budget. 

These sectoral projects - operation, maintenance and development of existing systems and 
setting  up  of  new  ones  -  are  all  intended  to  optimise  the  operation  of  customs  in  the 
Community  and  are judged  necessary  to  ensure  efficient  management  of  the  customs 
union in the context  of the Single Market. One such is the transit computerisation project 
specifically  mentioned in Article 8 of the Customs 2000 decision. 

3. 

LEGAL BASIS 

We  have  opted  for  Article  100a  as the legal  basis  for this Decision  given  that  it  will  be 
amending the Parliament/Council  Customs 2000 Decision, itself adopted on that basis, and 
that  it  is  directly  concerned  with the  establishment  and operation  of the  internal  market, 
via effective  management of the EU's external frontier. 

Proposal  for  a 

EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  COUNCIL  DECISION 
amending the Decision of 19 December  1996 
adopting an action  programme 
for customs in the Community 
("Customs 2000") 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article  100a thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee, 

(1)  Whereas  the  Decision  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
19 December  1996  adopting  an  action  programme  for  customs  in  the  Community 
("Customs  2000")4  recognised  that  computerisation  of  customs  procedures  and 
controls  was  of  prime  importance  for  management  of  the  customs  union  in  the 
context  of the Single Market; 

(2)  Whereas  the  Customs  2000  Decision  requires  the  Community  and  the  Member 
States to  increase the use of computer  systems  as rapidly  as possible,  including  use 
of the most up-to-date techniques for  electronic data  exchange,  so that  the  customs 
administrations  of the Member  States may operate  as efficiently  and  effectively  as a 
single administration 

(3)  Whereas  the  IDA  programme  established  by  the  Council  Decision  of  6 November 
1995  on  a  Community  contribution  for  telematic  interchange  of  data  between 
administrations  in  the  Community5  provided  inter  alia  for  the  financing  of 
computerised  data  exchange  programmes  in  the  customs  sector;  whereas  the  said 
programme will end on 31 December  1997; 

(4)  Whereas in adopting the  1997 budget  the Budgetary  Authority  brought  all  Customs 
2000  measures,  including  Community  customs  computerisation  projects,  together 
under heading B5-303 (Customs 2000) of the Commission  budget; 

(5)  Whereas  the  most  appropriate  channel  for  the  financing  of  computerised  data 

exchange systems in the customs sector is therefore  the Customs 2000 programme; 

(6)  Whereas  the Decision  of Parliament  and  the  Council  of  19 December  1996  should 

be amended  accordingly, 

4 Decision No 210/97/EC, OJ L 33, 4.2.1997, p.  24. 
3 Decision No 95/468/EC, OJ L 269, 11.11.1995, p.  23. 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article  1 

Decision No 210/97/EC is hereby amended as follows: 

1. The text of the first subparagraph of Article 18(1) is replaced by the following: 

Without  prejudice  to  actions  for  which  funding  is  provided  under  other  Community 
programmes, the  financial  framework for the implementation  of this  programme  for  the 
period  1  January  1996  to  31  December  2000  is  hereby  set  at  ECU  85  million  in 
accordance with the detailed procedures annexed hereto. 

2. The Annex is accordingly replaced by the" following: 

-  Internal  policies 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

2000 

Total 

1- Redeployment of internal 
market appropriations 

2-"Customs 2000" 
computerisation1 

3- Improvement of means of 
combating fraud 

Sub-total "internal policies" 

-  External action 

TOTAL 

2 

l1 

1 

4 

1 

5 

2.3 

31 

1.5 

6.8 

1.5 

8.3 

2.6 

2.9 

3.2 

16.4 

18.5 

19.1 

1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

20.5 

22.9 

23.8 

1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

22 

24.4 

25.3 

13 

58 

7 

78 

7 

85 

1  In  1996  and  1997  the  bulk  of  financing  for  computerisation  projects  in  the  customs 
sector came from the IDA programme. 

ThisDecision is addressed to the Member States. 

Article 2 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European  Parliament 

The President 

For the  Council 

The President 

AMENDMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

1. 

ADDITION TO POINT 6 OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

6. 

Type of expenditure relating to Customs 2000 -computerisation 

Financing costs of studies, development, introduction and operation  of common systems 
for the exchange of data in the customs field between the Commission and the Member 
States,  and  among  Member  States  themselves.  In  keeping  with  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity,  the  Member  States  will  be  responsible  for  developing  telecommunications 
systems and for  financing  the infrastructure  and  software  needed to  operate the systems 
nationally. 

Operational  expenditure  will  include  contributions  towards  the  financing  of  systems 
operation,  in particular  for  the  decentralised  inputting  of  data;  financing  of  information 
and training schemes for users; procurement  and maintenance of common hardware; and 
financing of technical assistance measures. 

2. 

NEW VERSION OF POINT 7.2 OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

7.2 

Breakdown of the action by element 

The figures which for differ from the December  1996 (Customs 2000) decision are those 
in point 2.2: 

-  Internal  policies 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

2000 

Total 

EC in ECU millions (1996 value) 

1- Redeployment of internal 
market appropriations 

2- "Customs 2000" 
computerisation 

2.1-Customs 20001 

2.2-  Sectoral  projects  necessary 
for the operation  of Community 
customs2 

Sub-total computerisation 

3-  Improvement  of  means  of 
combating  fraud 

Sub-total "internal policies" 

-  External action 

TOTAL 

2 

1 

01 
l3 

1 

4 

1 

5 

2.3 

2.6 

2.9 

3.2 

13 

3 

6.5 

6.5 

6 

23 

01 
33 

1.5 

6.8 

1.5 

8.3 

2J. 

12 

13.1 

16.4 

18.5 

19.1 

1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

20.5 

22.9 

23.8 

1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

22 

24.4 

25.3 

35 

58 

7 

78 

7 

85 

1  Already  approved  by  the  Customs  2000  decision  (Decision  No  210/97/EC, 

19.12.1996) 

2  Amounts  covered  by  this  amendment  relating  to  the  Taric,  Quota,  EBTI, 
Transit,  Scent-CIS, CCN/CSI  and  SIGL projects  financed  in  1996 and  1997 
under heading B5-7210 (IDA). Redeployment of IDA appropriations. 

3  Token  entry: these projects received ECU  10.9 million from  the IDA heading 

(B5-7210) in the 1997 budget. 

3. 

ADDITION TO POINT 9.2. OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

It  is  important  to  quantify  the  requirements  for  each  of  the  customs  data  exchange 
systems. The situation can be summarised broadly as follows: 

-  new systems at the development stage (Development); 

-  existing  systems  to  be  modernised  by  replacing  obsolete  development  tools  and 

bringing them into line with state-of-the-art technology (Modernisation); 

-  up^to-date  systems  which  need to  be  extended  or adapted  to  new  management  rules 

(Extension). 

There are two major extensions to be envisaged: dissemination of central  systems  data to 
national  administrations,  economic  operators  and  ultimately  the  public  and,  in  all 
likelihood, incorporation of the Euro on 1  January 1999. 

The  modernisation  programme  also  needs  to  address  the  key  issue  of  millennium-
proofing. 

The systems concerned are: 

Transit system (development") 

This  is  a  crucial  part  of  the  machinery  of  international  trade.  The  current  paper-based 
system is experiencing severe problems: 

-  Customs  administrations  are  submerged  by  the  volume  of  work.  Considerable 
resources are needed to process some  18 million declarations a year in Europe,  and to 
follow  up  approximately  a  million  enquiries  in  connection  with  the  investigation 
procedure. 

-  Although the transit regime offers  considerable facilities to traders, the current manual 

procedures make it slow and costly to use. 

-  The rising incidence of transit fraud in recent years has meant not only a serious loss of 
national  and  Community  revenue but  also  economic  damage  to  traders  as  a result  of 
illegal  competition  from  goods  effectively  smuggled  onto  the  market  which  have 
evaded payment of duty and tax and the application of Community policies. 

The aims of the Transit computerisation project are: 

- 

- 

- 

to make the procedure both more efficient  and more effective; 

to ensure that full and reliable statistics can be compiled; 

to improve the authorities' ability to prevent and detect fraud; 

-  to offer economic operators more facilities and swifter processing of operations. 

Computerisation should result in a number of gains: 

- 

fraud  prevention:  the  procedure  should  become  a great  deal  more  secure,  making  it 
much more  difficult  to  exploit  the  loopholes;  cost-benefit  analysis  envisages  gains  on 
this score alone of some ECU  1  200 million over five years; 

-  customs authorities: focusing checks on high-risk transactions (past transactions will be 

analysed to lay down guidelines for future targeting); 

- 

traders: diminution of the financial risk and less work,  both allowing  improvements in 
competitiveness. 

Implementation costs comprise development of the new system, coordinated  development 
of national systems and installation in national administrations. 

Quota System (modernisation) 

"Quota" is the system used to manage tariff quotas and goods subject to EU surveillance. 
It is used: 

(a)  for  tariff  quotas,  to  check  that  goods  admitted  at  preferential  tariffs  do  not  exceed 
Community levels, and 

(b)  as  a surveillance  tool,  to  monitor  imports of particular goods  and  allow  Community 
authorities if necessary to suspend application of a preferential tariff. 

Within the Single Market, quantities subject to monitoring are set at Community level and 
action likewise  has to  be taken at Community  level.  Tariff quotas  are administered on a 
daily  basis  (600  quotas  in  1995,  with  drawings  by  15  Member  States).  Surveillance  is 
generally  undertaken  on  the  basis  of  monthly  statistics  (350  products  in  1995,  and 
communications from the fifteen Member States). 

The system was set up in response tq a ruling by the Court of Justice in a case brought by 
a trader,  in which the Court criticised the Commission's  lack  of centralised  management. 
It  is used  by DGs  XXI,  I,  III  and  VI  and the Member  States  (customs  administrations, 
economic affairs and industry departments). 

The  system  needs  to  be  modernised  by  introducing  the  latest  development  tools  and 
making it more compatible with other tariff applications. 

Taric System (modernisation) 

Taric is designed to help Member States apply legislation correctly,  simultaneously and in 
a uniform  manner,  and  is  thus  crucial  to  the  operation  of  the  internal  market.  It  is  also 
used  to  help  combat  fraud  (UCLAF,  DG  VI,  risk  analysis)  and  collect  own  resources 
(customs duties estimated at ECU  13 500 million a year). 

The  commodities database  contains  800  000  active  entries.  Constant  updating  and daily 
transmission of changes to  Community legislation provide customs in the Member  States 
with  information  in  eleven  languages  on  all  Community  measures  affecting  imports  and 
exports.  Taric is currently the mainstay of member States'  customs  clearance work; their 
own computerised systems would collapse if Taric were not kept properly maintained. 

The data dissemination  system will allow the Taric database to be accessed  by the private 
sector,  international  organisations,  and the administrations  of non-member or prospective 
member  countries  (including  customs  union  partners  such  as  Turkey).  The  aim  is  to 
provide  user-friendly  access  to  EU  customs  and  trade  legislation  and  improve  its 
transparency. 

Taric  was  introduced  in  1994  after  three  years  of  development.  It  now  needs  to  be 
modernised  to  take  advantage  of new  development  tools  which  will  make life  easier  for 
users responsible  for keeping the database up to  date.  A  new  system  is to  be  developed 
and  installed,  with  the  aim  of  improving  flexibility  (adapting  to  future  changes),  user-
friendliness and performance (responding to the needs of users). 

Linked  to  the  Taric  system,  the  Combined  Nomenclature  project  is  currently  being 
developed.  When it gets  under way in  1998  it will  replace the  current  manual  operation 
and simplify the work of the Taric system managers. 

EBTI System (modernisation) 

The Binding  Tariff  Information  (BTI)  system  allows  tariff  decisions  issued  to  economic 
operators in all Member States to be entered in a central on-line database which currently 
contains  80 000 BTIs, with an average of a further 25  000  decisions  a year requested by 
traders. The decisions are applicable throughout the Community for six years.-

The  system  enables  the  Commission  to  ensure  EU  commercial  policies  are  properly 
applied  and  to  smooth  out  anomalies  arising  from  faulty  interpretation  of  the  Common 
Customs  Tariff,  which  provide  a  loophole  for  fraud.  BTIs  allow  the  Commission  to 
eliminate  problems  due  to  divergent  classification,  prevent  distortions  of  trade  and 
competition  and  ensure  fair  and  even-handed  treatment  of  traders  throughout  the 
Community.  It  is estimated  that  several  hundred  tariff  anomalies  a year  are  corrected  by 
means of the BTI system. 

t • 

The system is currently being redeveloped  to replace the old  environment  with  up-to-date 
modern tools. 

The Classification  project  currently  being developed  and  due  to  enter  production  in  1998 
is  aimed  at  traders  and  national  customs;  by  facilitating  access  to  this  information  it  is 
expected to cut down the number of BTI requests. 

CCN/CSI  System 

The  Common  Communication  Network/Common  Systems  Interface  project  aims  to 
provide  an  common  platform  among  Member  States  themselves  and  between  them  and 
the  Commission  for  fast,  low-cost,  secure transfer  of a large volume  of  information.  It  is 
being  financed  jointly  by  the  Customs  2000  programme  and  Fiscalis,  with  the  cost 
breakdown  reflecting  the customs and tax systems supported  by the  project. 

The project  is a response to the need to harmonise data-exchange facilities.  It  should: 

• 

reduce the plethora of skills needed to develop, maintain and use applications; 

•  cut  down  on  the  range  of  exchange  services  run  by  the  applications,  thus  making  for 

easier use and  management; 

•  standardise access to data exchange services; 

•  optimise use of telecommunications  lines to cut associated  costs; 

• 

reduce the number of direct access points in each Member  State; 

•  create  a  common  management  structure  to  improve  the  quality  of  service  to 

applications and users; 

10 

•  make it easier to introduce new technology to operate applications; 

• 

increase the capacity of the systems to respond to new needs. 

Within  the  CCN/CSI  project  it  is  proposed  to  create  a  subproject  ("Applications 
Migration Project" or AMP), with the aim of planning and coordinating  migration  of the 
applications to the CCN/CSI environment. 

This project has the further advantage of speeding up and cutting the cost  of introducing 
new  systems.  It  is  planned  to  make partial  use  of the  CCN/CSI  platform  during  a  pilot 
phase at the end of the  1997 financial year and then, from the end of the second  quarter of 
1998, to use it for the transit system. 

ORNET System (development) 

This  will  coordinate  the  issuing  of  Binding  Origin  Information  notes  and  enable  the 
Commission  to  perform  a  centralising  function  to  ensure  that  Community  customs 
legislation is uniformly applied by Member States. 

The  project  arises  from  an  obligation  entered  into  by  the  Community  under  the  1994 
Marrakesh  Agreement  setting  up  the  WTO,  which  inter alia  contains  commitments  on 
rules  of  origin  intended  to  establish  disciplines  conducive  to  greater  streamlining  and 
certainty in international trade. 

The system is being developed; it is due to be installed by the end of the year. 

TCP System (Extension) 

This system for the transmission  of origin stamps is intended to ensure that  specimens  of 
the  stamps  which  authenticate  origin  certificates  accompanying  goods  imported  under 
preferential  agreements  can be transmitted  faster  and better.  It will  thus be  a weapon  in 
the fight against customs fraud using false origin stamps. 

ECICS System (Extension) 

This inventory of chemical substances contains some 35 000 chemical names in the eleven 
Community  languages  and gives their tariff classification  in the Combined  Nomenclature 
of the European Community. 

IPR System (Extension) 

This  system  for  the  electronic  transmission  of  information  regarding  inward  processing 
authorisations  issued  and applications rejected  is a means of  ensuring  that  the  economic 
conditions  governing  the  procedure  are complied  with  at  Community  level.  The  current 
manual exchange of information  is to be replaced by a computer system which  should not 
only  make  for  more  efficient  management  but  should  serve  to  analyse  and  identify 
Community industries which might suffer damage. 

AFIS (Anti-Fraud Information  System) (modernisation and development) 

The abolition of customs  controls at the Union's  internal frontiers  has inevitably  changed 
the nature of fraud, not only on the purely customs side but VAT and excise fraud as well. 
To help stamp out such irregularities, two computer systems using the same infrastructure 

11 

were  set  up:  Scent  (System  for  Customs  Enforcement  Network)  and  CIS  (Customs 
Information System). The combined systems are generally referred to as Scent/CIS. 

Scent  provides  secure,  efficient  electronic  mailing  services  for  the  rapid  exchange  of 
sensitive information.  It also allows access to external databases which offer the customs 
authorities information useful in fraud investigations. 

CIS gives national  customs administrations  a swift  and secure method  of exchanging  full 
particulars  of  fraud  cases.  Descriptions  are  entered  and  exchanged  via  structured 
messages which can then be translated into the various Community languages. 

In the new  CIS  due to  become  operational  next  year,  information  of use  to  operational 
anti-fraud  services will be stored in a central data base at the Commission,  in accordance 
with the relevant legislation. Member  States' investigators will  thus be  able to  search for 
such information,  which  should  increase the effectiveness  of efforts  to  combat fraud and 
irregularities. 

Scent/CIS  is used by customs  and agriculture departments (Regulation  (EC) No  515/97) 
and  tax  (VAT  and  excise)  authorities  (Regulation  (EEC)  No  218/92  and  amended 
Directive 799/77). 

Now  that the fight against  fraud  and  irregularities  is  an increasingly  horizontal  concern, 
the AFIS  concept  (Anti-Fraud Information  System) has been introduced.  Using  the same 
communications  infrastructure  and  software  architecture  as  Scent/CIS,  AFIS  enables 
national  administrations  and the  Commission  (mainly UCLAF)  to  operate  a multilingual 
exchange  of  information  using  standard  forms  displayed  on  screen, "each  screen  type 
representing  an application  corresponding  to  a specific field. One  such  application  is the 
Prior Information  System,  an early warning  system that  enables  Scent  users  to  exchange 
messages and track transit movements. 

A  further  application  is  being  developed  as  a  tool  in  the  fight  against  fraud  and 
irregularities.  This is Marinfo  (Maritime  Information);  its  purpose  is  to  help  the  customs 
authorities monitor shipping movements. 

The  Community  customs  side  of  Scent/CIS  is  financed  from  Customs  2000  (heading 
B5-303) and the tax side from "Fiscalis" (heading B5-305), 

SIGL System (development) 

Surveillance  networks  for  imports  and  exports  subject  to  quantitative  restrictions  in the 
Community. 

This  system  was  set  up  to  manage,  at  Community  level,  the  issuing  of  licences  for 
products  subject  to  EU  import  quotas  or  export  controls.  Prior  to  1993,  quantitative 
restrictions,  essentially  on  textile  products,  were  managed  by  the  individual  Member 
States.  From  1 January  1993  these  regional  controls  were  considered  incompatible  with 
the  existence  of  the  Single  Market  and  quota  administration  became  the  joint 
responsibility of the Commission and the Member  States.  Since  1995, it has been possible 
to  present  an import  licence  issued  by  a Member  State  to  any  customs  authority  in the 
Community  to  import  the goods,  so  national  administrations  have  to  share  responsibility 
for the control of individual licences as well as quota management. 

12 

An information  system which  enables the Commission  and the Member  States jointly  to 
manage import licences for textile and steel products is already operational, but it needs to 
be updated constantly to include new products. 

To improve the efficiency  of quota management, a system for exchanging licence data will 
be set up with a number of countries outside the Community; this will  also  help combat 
fraud. 

At the moment the Commission is less involved on the export control side, but a network 
will need to be established for exports of dual-use goods to facilitate mutual cooperation; 
this is scheduled for  1997/1998. 

Data Dissemination System - DPS  (development) 

Most  DG  XXI  tariff  systems  are used  to  prepare  and produce  information  required  by 
customs  administrations  and traders for the implementation  of  customs  procedures.  This 
information is generally circulated either in paper form or on diskette or CD-ROM.  These 
methods  are  unsuitable  for  information  which  has  to  be  updated  daily,  however.  New 
Internet/Intranet technology can fill the gap. 

The  fairly  recent  DDS  project  will  establish  architecture  for  the  circulation  of  DG  XXI 
tariff information to  other Commission  departments, Member  State administrations,  non-
member  countries  (e.g.  the  candidates  for  accession)  and  traders  -  importers  and 
exporters.  Ultimately  it  will  be  possible  to  disseminate  data  on  tariff  measures, 
classification  of  chemicals,  binding  tariff  information,  binding  information  on  origin  and 
the latest state of quota/ceiling levels, etc. 

Intranet  applications  based  on  proprietary  communications  networks  (e.g.  CCN/CSI, 
Testa)  will  be usable by Member  State  administrations.  Traders  can  get  the  information 
via the Internet.  This technology  will  also  allow the data distributed  (national  data in the 
Member States and central data at the Commission) to be presented in integrated form. 

The  system  will  be  undergo  development  in  1997/1998  and  is  due  to  be  operational  in 
1998  for  the  Commission  and national  administrations.  It will  be  made  accessible  to  the 
public at a later stage. 

Other systems 

- Existing systems 

In  addition  to  those  listed  above,  other  systems  including  PC  Surveillance  and  those 
dealing  with  tariff  suspensions,  transit  stamps  (TCT)  and  unit  values  (for  perishable 
goods) involve adaptation of existing systems to meet users' requirements. 

- New  systems 

Studies are under way in other areas, viz. simplified  procedures, TIR, and risk analysis and 
selection  criteria.  Decisions  will  be  taken  at  the  study  stage  on  the  desirability  of 
developing new computerised systems in these areas. 

13 

- EDI in electronic trading 

- 

' 

EDI  (Electronic  Data  Interchange)  is  increasingly  used  as  the  basis  for  computerised 
procedures  to  facilitate  international  trade  and  improve  the  efficiency  of  Community 
customs applications. The Commission will be focusing in this context oh the  specification 
of the Single Administrative Message  (SAM), the electronic  equivalent  of the  SAD.  The 
SAM  will  be  used  for  import/export  procedures  and  the  New  Computerised  Transit 
System (NCTS). The Commission will be taking measures to help the Member States with 
the  coordinated  introduction  of  the  SAM  throughout  the  Community.  Community 
customs-related  applications  will  be gradually  brought  into  line  with  the UN/EDIFACT 
standard.  At  the  same  time,  work  will  proceed jointly  with  national  administrations  on 
analysing and developing the potential  of electronic trading for customs  procedures.  The 
Commission will play a part in the standardisation of customs information,  particularly in 
the context of the UN/EDIFACT process. 

- Central support 

Technical  infrastructure  is  of  crucial  importance  to  all  these  computer  systems  and 
projects.  Central  support  functions  such  as  the  Project  Support  Office,  Methodology, 
Quality  Assurance,  Data  Modelling  and  Security  have  been  installed  and  need  to  be 
maintained. 

Indicative breakdown of Customs 2000 computerisation  projects 

TRANSIT 
QUOTA 
TARIC 
EBTI 
CCN/CSI 
ORNET/TCO 
ECICS 
IPR 
Scent (AFIS) 
SIGL 
DDS 
OTHER  SYSTEMS: 
- Existing systems 
- New systems 
- Electronic Data  Interchange 
- Central  Support 

1999 
4.000 
0.150 
1.000 
1.400 
4.800 
0.200 
0.170 
0.200 
1.000 
0.900 
1.300 

0.430 
0.450 
1.500 
0.900 
18.500 

2000 
3.000 
0.150 
0.500 
1.000 
4.200 
0.200 
0.170 
0.200 
1.000 
1.100 
2.300 

0.780 
2.200 
1.500 
0.900 
19.100 

1998 
5.500 
0.200 
1.300 
1.400 
2.700 
0.200 
0.170 
0.200 
1.400 
0.900 
0.500 

0.130 

0.900 
0.900 
16.400 

14 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 433 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

02  01  10  15 

Catalogue  number  :  CB-CO-97-437-EN-C 

ISBN  92-78-23879-1 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

AS"