Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Implementation of the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS)
Date: 2003-03-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Union transit, computer system, customs cooperation, exchange of information, information system, single document

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 20.3.2003
COM(2003) 125 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Implementation of the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

3.

3.1.

3.2.

3.3.

4.

4.1.

4.2.

4.3.

5.

Summary and principal conclusions ............................................................................ 3

Introduction.................................................................................................................. 4

Historical background .................................................................................................. 4

NCTS and the economic operators .............................................................................. 5

Future of NCTS............................................................................................................ 5

NCTS project and its implementation in the EU Member States ................................ 6

Development of the NCTS project............................................................................... 6

Implementation of NCTS in the EU Member States ................................................... 7

Assessment................................................................................................................... 9

State of implementation of the NCTS in the other countries ..................................... 11

In the Contracting Parties to the Convention on a Common Transit procedure ........ 11

Implementation of NCTS in other Countries ............................................................. 12

Assessment................................................................................................................. 13

Conclusions................................................................................................................ 14

2

1. 

SUMMARY AND PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS

The  full  implementation  of  the  New  Computerised  Transit  System  (NCTS)  by  30
June  2003  was  requested  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  their
Decision No 105/2000/EC of 17 December 19991.

In  Article  1,  point  3,  paragraph  b  of  the  same  Decision,  the  Commission  was
requested  to  inform  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  of  any  delays  in  the
implementation of NCTS.

This  communication  goes  beyond 
includes  a
comprehensive overview of the state of play of the implementation of NCTS not only
in the EU Member States, but also in the Contracting Parties to the Convention on a
Common Transit Procedure and in the other candidate countries.

the  above  requirement  and 

It also acknowledges the fundamental contribution of the four countries which helped
launch  the  NCTS  on  10  May  2000  (Spain,  Italy,  Germany  and  Switzerland)  by
developing  their  own  applications  and  starting  the  international  exchange  of
messages.

At  Community level,  all Member States  are  committed  to meet  the  deadline  set  by
the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council.  However  the  Commission  notes  that  the
plans from Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland and Portugal impose tight schedules in
order to meet the deadline, and has specific  concerns  regarding  the  implementation
of  the  NCTS  in  Austria,  Greece  and  Luxembourg  in  view  of  the  tasks  that  those
administrations have still to perform.

In  the  context  of  the  Convention  on  a  Common  Transit  Procedure,  Norway  and
Switzerland  have  connected  all  their  customs  offices  to  the  NCTS,  whereas  the
Czech Republic will  be  fully connected by the  end  of March 2003.  It  is  likely  that
Hungary  and  the  Slovak  Republic  will  start  operations  before  their  accession.
However, the Commission has concerns regarding the implementation of the NCTS
in Poland.

The other candidate countries which are not Parties to the Convention on a Common
Transit  Procedure  will  have  to  fulfil  the  conditions  set  for  enlargement.  In  this
context, the situation in Latvia will require close monitoring.

1 OJ L13, of 19.01.2000, p. 1

3

                                                
2. 

INTRODUCTION

2.1. 

Historical background

In December 1995, on the basis of a proposal from the Conference of Presidents, the
Parliament decided at its plenary session to set up a temporary Committee of Inquiry
to  examine  the  alleged  contravention  or  mismanagement  of  the  Community  transit
system2.

With the publication of  Decision 210/97/EC of  19 December 19963  ,  the  European
Parliament  and  the  Council  explicitly  requested  the  computerisation  of  the
Community Transit and set 1998 as the deadline for its implementation.

The  report  of  the  temporary  Committee  of  Inquiry  and  its  recommendations  were
submitted on 20th February 1997 (Doc. PE 220.895/fin).

The members of the temporary Committee of Inquiry, having had the opportunity to
study the Basic Principles (Doc. DGXXI/2128/95 Rev 2) of the Commission’s NCTS
project,  emphasised  in  their  recommendations  that  the  NCTS  was  an  essential
condition  of  bringing  the  Community/Common  Transit  system  under  control  and
concluded that it should be implemented without delay.

Consequently,  with  Decision  No  105/2000/EC  of  17  December  19994  amending
Decision 210/97/EC, the European Parliament and the Council specifically  referred
to  the  NCTS  and,  recognising  the  delays  incurred  in  the  computerisation  of  the
system, fixed 30 June 2003 as the newdate for its implementation.

Beside  the  computerisation  of  transit,  the  temporary  Committee  of  Inquiry  made
recommendations  to  improve  and  to  simplify  the  legislation  governing  the
Community and the Common Transit.

In  this  context,  the  Reform  of  the  Community  (Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No
2787/20005 ) and Common Transit legislation (Decision No 1/20006 of the EC-EFTA
Joint  Committee)  entered  into force on 1  January  2001.  The  Reform  of  the  Transit
legislation  notably  established  a  new  structure  of  the  legal  basis,  made  the
Community  and  the  Common  systems  more  homogenous  and  redesigned  the
guarantee system.

All  the  amendments  introduced  by  the  Reform  have  also  been  implemented  in  the
system specifications of NCTS.

2 OJ C 7, of 12.01.1996, p. 1
3 OJ L33, of 04.02.1997, p. 24
4 OJ L13, of 19.01.2000, p. 1
5 OJ L330, of 27.12.2000,p. 1
6 OJ L9, of 12.01.2001, p. 1

4

                                                
2.2. 

NCTS and the economic operators

In  line  with  the  Reform  of  Community/Common  transit  mentioned  above  and  in
accordance with the Commission Regulation (EC) No 993/20017, authorised traders8
must be connected  electronically to the NCTS by 31 March 2004 at the latest.  It is
expected  that  this  legal  requirement  would  result  in  traders  being  connected  to  the
system as soon as possible.

During the 9th meeting of the ‘Transit Contact Group’ (customs and operators) held
in Brussels on 13 December 2002, the functionality of the NCTS, as described in the
Functional Transit System Specification (FTSS), was presented to the  audience and
explained in detail on the basis of practical examples of transit movements. The aim
of the presentation was to  remind the representatives  of  the  traders’  associations of
the wide ranging possibilities offered by NCTS and to highlight the advantages that
the trade community can get by connecting to the computerised Transit system.

The traders were unanimous in confirming that the functional specifications fully met
their  requirements.  However,  they  emphasised  that,  given  the  fact  that  the
implementation  of  NCTS  at  national  level  was  under  the  responsibility  of  the
national  administrations,  the  interface  between  customs  and  traders  was  different
from country to country.

2.3. 

Future of NCTS

Initially, the NCTS project was restricted to transit procedures. However,  given the
possibilities offered by the system in terms of the exchange of information between
customs  administrations  and  given  recent  developments  in  terms  of  export  control
requirements,  the  US  Container  Security  Initiative  (CSI),  the  need  to  monitor  the
movement of  excise  goods,  and  the  Commission’s  plan  to  develop  the  ‘Electronic-
Customs’  project,  the  NCTS  has  become  the  backbone  for  all  these  projects.  As  a
matter of fact, the philosophy of the NCTS, coupled with the structure developed for
it  and  the  way  of  exchanging  information  among  administrations,  will  serve  as  a
basis  for  all  these  projects.  Actually,  NCTS  is  paving  the  way  for  the  different
new  way.
European 

administrations 

to  work 

customs 

in 

a 

7 OJ L141, of 28.05.2001, p. 1
8 Review clause for authorised consignees, according to EC Regulation 993/2001

5

                                                
3. 

NCTS PROJECT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN THE EU MEMBER STATES

3.1. 

Development of the NCTS project

The  NCTS  project  covers  those  transit  procedures  carried  out  on  the  basis  of  the
SAD (Single Administrative Document) declaration – independently of the mode of
transport  used  -  including  the  simplified  procedures  applied  at  the  offices  of
departure  and  destination.  This  means  that,  for  the  time  being,  the  NCTS  project
mainly concerns road transports. In fact for other modes of transport (rail and large
containers,  air,  sea,  pipeline)  different  specific  procedures  not  based  on  the  SAD
apply: their consistency with the NCTS environment will be evaluated in due time.

The  Commission  has  guided  the  NCTS  project  and  has  monitored  closely  its
implementation by:

–  establishing  the  necessary  committee  framework  at  decision  making  and

operational level;

–  suggesting the necessary legal and administrative improvements;

–  defining the necessary system specifications;

–  organising  the  essential  communication  between  the  parties  involved  in  the

project (helpdesk, conference calls, workshops);

–  setting  up  and  operating  the  ‘Customs  Office  List’;  and  testing  tools  for  the

national administrations;

–  assuring  the  technical  co-ordination  and  in  developing  the  so  called  Minimal

Common Core (MCC) (a Transit application); and

–  co-ordinating and supporting the countries participating to the project.

After the  initial  implementation of  the NCTS  with a  limited  number  of  offices  and
limited functionality (in four countries Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland which
started  on  10  May  2000,  with  the  Netherlands,  Norway  and  the  Czech  Republic
joining  the  system  later  in  2000  and  2001),  the  functionality  was  extended  and  the
geographical  extension  began  on  3  December  2001.  To  date  some  200.000
movements  have  been  handled  by  the  system,  with  a  weekly  average  of  7500
movements lately. There are now 868 (27% of the total) customs offices connected
to NCTS.

An inquiry of  national  administrations made by the Commission  during  the  second
semester  2001  showed  that  while  half  of  the  EU  customs  administrations  were
making  good  progress  towards  the  implementation  of  NCTS,  the  project  plans  of
some others indicated that they were facing significant delays.

Therefore, in order to prevent any further delays in the implementation of NCTS, the
Commission took the initiative to:

6

–  write to the Finance Ministers of the Member countries on 28 February 2002, to
express his concerns about Member States not meeting the deadline of mid 2003
for the full implementation of NCTS;

–  intervene at the Internal Market Council on 1 of March 2002 to repeat his serious
concerns  because  a  number  of  Member  States  had  not  yet  put  the  necessary
infrastructure in place to implement NCTS;

–  write  to  the  President  of  the  EU  Parliament,  and  to  the  Chairperson  of  the
COCOBU, on 12 April 2002 to draw their attention on the delays in the planning
of implementation of NCTS in some Member States.

During  the  second  half  of  2002,  the  situation  has  improved.  As  a  result,  and  as  at
January  2003,  the  situation  regarding  the  implementation  of  NCTS  in  the  EU
Member States is described in the following paragraph.

3.2. 

Implementation of NCTS in the EU Member States

Based on reports given by the delegates to the last NCTS Steering Committee on 6
December 2002, confronted with the views expressed by the traders during the last
Transit  Contact  Group  meeting  on  13  December  2002  and  information  at  disposal
from the Commission, the situation in the EU Member States appears as follows:

AUSTRIA  –  Has  developed  its  own  application.  The  software  is  completed  and  is
currently in the testing phase. Austria will connect the first customs office during the
second quarter 2003 and up to 30 June 2003 will connect  all their customs  offices,
including those which are going to be affected by the enlargement.

Indeed, a majority of the Austrian customs offices will be affected by the accession
of Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary and Slovenia. As a matter of fact,
approximately 1300 km of the current Austrian external border with these countries
will  become  internal  EU  border  as  from  the  1  May  2004  and  most  of  the  customs
offices situated along this border could be closed.
Traders:  Austrian  customs  administration  and  traders  have  a  close  working
relationship  and  no  major  problems  in  adopting  NCTS  have  been  reported.  Small
companies  however,  report  more  difficulties  due  to  the  problems  linked  to  the
enlargement.

BELGIUM – Has implemented the MCC. The customs office of Antwerp should be
the first to be connected at the beginning of 2003 and all the other customs offices in
the  Antwerp  customs  region  should  be  connected  by  the  end  of  March.  The
remaining customs offices will be connected by the end of May 2003.
Traders: The current customs clearance system is to be adapted to support NCTS and
to  provide  the  trade  community  with  a  single  entry  point  for  all  applications.
A legal act is currently being prepared to require traders to use electronic means to
open transit movements as from 1 July 2003.

DENMARK  –  Has  implemented  the  MCC.  Denmark  started  operations  on  2
December 2002 with all its  customs  offices  acting  mostly as  offices  of  destination.
Increasingly these offices are now issuing transit movements.
Traders:  A  number  of  Danish  traders  are  now  connected  to  the  system  and  the
Danish administration is committed to further encouraging traders to connect to the
NCTS.

7

FINLAND  –  Has  developed  its  own  application.  The  software  is  completed  and
currently in the testing phase. The connection of customs offices will start soon and
shall be completed by mid 2003.
Traders:  Finland  has  reported  positive  contacts  with  its  trade  community.  The  first
tests of the traders’ software are expected in June 2003.

FRANCE  –  Has  developed  its  own  application.  The  software  is  completed  and
currently in the testing phase and should be implemented in all customs offices from
May to June 2003. The French customs administration is confident it shall meet the
deadline to have all customs offices connected by the end of June 2003.
Traders:  France  has  reported  good  working  relationship  with  the  trade  community
and  intends  to  open  access  to  the  NCTS  for  the  trade  from  the  end  of  May  2003.
Various operators are adopting measures to adapt their system to the NCTS and this
should be ready during the second quarter of 2003 at the latest.

GERMANY  –  Has  developed  its  own  application.  Currently,  111  offices  are
connected  to  the  NCTS.  During  the  first  semester  of  2003,  each  month  60  offices
will be connected so that, by the middle of June, all German customs offices will be
connected to the  NCTS. Germany was among the four countries to start  operations
on 10 June 2000 and has played a key role in the NCTS project as well as during the
first international test campaign.
Traders: Several software companies have certified their transit  applications for the
traders.  It  is  expected  that  a  great  number  of  authorised  consignors  and  authorised
consignees will connect to NCTS in the near future.

GREECE – Is developing its own application. The Greek customs administration is
in the process of computerising all the customs procedures and customs houses and
their integrated customs system should be fully implemented by the end of 2003. In
the frame of the NCTS, the development of the application started during the second
half of 2002 and, according to the customs administration, testing will start in March
2003, and all Greek customs offices will be connected by the deadline of mid 2003.
This  plan  is  very  ambitious  due  to  the  short  time  available  to  complete  it  and,
therefore, presents a considerable risk.
Traders: a plan for the Traders’ connection is currently being devised by the Greek
customs administration, with a view to connecting them by the 1st Quarter 2004.

IRELAND  –  Has  implemented  the  MCC.  The  first  Irish  customs  office  will  be
connected  to  the  NCTS  in  March  2003  and  gradually  all  the  remaining  40  offices
will be connected in advance of the deadline of 30 June 2003.
Traders:  As  the  current  customs  data  entry  system  is  not  suitable  to  handle  the
NCTS, the Irish administration launched the development of a new trader interface in
January 2003. The reactions of the trade to this development are positive.

ITALY  –  Has  implemented  its  own  application.  All  Italian  customs  offices  are
linked to the NCTS. Italy was among the four countries to start operations on 10 June
2000 and has played a key role in the development of the NCTS project and currently
contributes a major part of the movements in operation (40% of the total).
Traders  (who  do  not  use  simplified  procedures)  have  had  the  possibility  to  submit
transit  declaration  on  line  since  July  2002.  Tests  are  being  carried  out  for  the
application  for  authorised  consignors  and  consignees,  which  should  become
operational by the end of April 2003.

8

LUXEMBOURG – Belgium and Luxembourg are going to share the MCC platform.
Luxembourg  is  currently  analysing  this  solution  with  the  assistance  of  the
Commission. According to its plan, Luxembourg should connect all customs offices
to the NCTS between April and June 2003. This plan seems increasingly difficult to
achieve.
Traders will be connected to the NCTS via the current customs system.

NETHERLANDS  –  Has  implemented  the  MCC.  The  Netherlands  has  been  in
operation  since  the  end  of  2000  but  has  so  far  contributed  only  a  few  movements,
about 1.4% of the total. With the exception of nine offices in Rotterdam, that will be
connected in March 2003, all Dutch customs offices are linked to the NCTS.
Traders:  Five  Traders  are  currently  connected  to  the  NCTS,  while  six  software
houses  have  developed  NCTS  applications  that  are  on  the  market.  Therefore,  it  is
expected  that  the  number  of  traders  connected  will  increase  sharply  in  the  near
future.

PORTUGAL – Has implemented the MCC and is currently training staff. According
to the national plan, the first customs office should be linked to the NCTS on 1 April
2003 and the roll out to the remaining offices should be completed by the end of June
2003.
Traders:  The  administration  is  adopting  measures  to  assist  traders  to  present
declaration by various technical means.

SWEDEN  –  Has  implemented  the  MCC.  All  Swedish  customs  offices  were
connected to the NCTS on 2 January 2003.
Traders: There is a close co-operation with the trade, forwarding agents and software
companies and the first EDI message will be exchanged in March 2003. By the end
of 2003, a large proportion of the declarations should be presented by EDI.

to 

the  NCTS.  Spain  has  been  a  forerunner  during 

SPAIN  –  Has  developed  its  own  application.  All  Spanish  customs  offices  are
the  entire
connected 
implementation  of  the  NCTS  and  has  played  a  major  role  in  the  success  of  the
project.  Currently  Spain  contributes  a  major  part  of  the  movements  in  operation
(40% of the total).
Traders: All Spanish authorised consignors and authorised consignees are connected
to the NCTS.

UNITED  KINGDOM  –  Has  implemented  the  MCC.  The  six  first  customs  offices
were connected on 6 January 2003 and all the remaining offices are expected to be
connected by the end of June 2003.
Traders will be able to connect to NCTS by e-mail as from April 2003.

3.3. 

Assessment

General:

As indicated above, the plans from Belgium, Finland, France,  Ireland, and Portugal
all  contain  tight  schedules  to  meet  the  deadline  set  by  the  EU  Parliament  and  the
Council  for  full  implementation  of  NCTS.  The  administrations  concerned  are  fully
aware  of  this  situation  and  have  announced  that  they  have  taken  the  necessary
measures to meet the deadlines.

9

Greece:

Greece is committed to meet the deadline of the 30 June 03. However, after repeated
changes  in  the  project  strategy  and  its  management,  Greece  was  not  able  to  start,
until the second half of 2002, the development of its transit application. This is the
reason  why  the  Commission  has  doubts  concerning  the  viability  of  the  Greek
implementation plan for NCTS. The Greek national plan, to connect the first customs
office  on  30  May  2003  and  the  remaining  ones  one  month  later,  looks  particularly
optimistic,  especially  since  the  application  is  not  yet  fully  developed.  Taking  into
consideration  the  time  necessary  for:  completing  the  development  of  such  an
application, the different test phases that are required, the training of staff and for the
local implementation of the application, the Greek plan will be extremely difficult to
deliver.

Austria:

Austria  is  committed  to  meet  the  deadline  of  end  June  2003  for  all  their  customs
offices, including those that will be affected by the enlargement. However, the action
plan to reach this objective is extremely tight in view of the set of actions yet to be
successfully performed and does not contain any contingency.

Luxembourg:

Luxembourg expressed as  well  their commitment to  meet  the deadline  of  30th June
2003  and  is  currently  analysing  the  means  to  achieve  the  deadline.  However,  the
planning is extremely tight considering the remaining actions to be  completed until
June  2003,  which  will  entail  most  likely  the  development  of  an  extension  to  the
NCTS environment of Belgium. Moreover, the planning of Luxembourg has little if
any contingency in case of unforeseen difficulty arising in the set up of their NCTS
system.

10

4.  STATE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NCTS IN THE OTHER COUNTRIES

4.1. 

In the Contracting Parties to the Convention on a Common Transit procedure

State  of  implementation  of  the  NCTS  in  the  other  Contracting  Parties  to  the
Convention on a Common Transit Procedure can be summarised as follows:

SWITZERLAND  –  Has  developed  its  own  application.  All  Swiss  customs  offices
are connected to the NCTS. Several traders are currently linked to the NCTS and it is
expected that this number will increase because several software packages have been
certified and have come on the market.

In  its  report,  the  temporary  Committee  of  Inquiry  drew  attention  to  the  difficulties
linked  to  the  administrative  co-operation  with  Switzerland  and  requested  the
Commission to report on it.

Switzerland has played a key role in the conception phase of the NCTS project and in
the  implementation  of  the  NCTS.  It  has  collaborated  very  closely  with  the
Commission  and  the  other  national  administrations  in  order  to  introduce  NCTS  at
short notice and in the best conditions. Switzerland was one of the first countries to
start  operation  on  10  June  2000.  In  addition,  Switzerland  has  provided  the  Central
Project  Team  with  invaluable  support  participating  actively  at  the  international
testing  phase,  and  has  organised  a  fruitful  evaluation  workshop.  It  has  also
participated  actively  in  all  meetings  and  review  sessions  held  in  the  context  of  the
NCTS.

Moreover, the Swiss customs authorities recently announced to the participants to the
EU-Switzerland Joint Committee (Chiasso, October 2002) their plan to develop the
customs  infrastructure  in  Chiasso  (on  the  Swiss-Italian  border)  in  order  to  increase
the number of traffic lanes and to make full use of the NCTS information to optimise
the management of the customs facilities. This plan would result in speedier customs
clearance of some 5000 trucks a day and so will eliminate a current bottleneck of the
North-South traffic in Europe.

NORWAY – Has implemented the MCC. All Norwegian customs offices are linked
to the NCTS and a majority of the Norwegian traders are linked to it. The Norwegian
customs  has  used the  MCC for their  national transit operations and have  processed
several tens of thousands of transit movements with no difficulty.

ICELAND  –  Has  a  limited  role  in  Transit.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Iceland  only
terminates a very small number of Transit movements.
For the time being,  Iceland  has  not provided  its  plan  for the implementation of the
NCTS. However, and according to informal contacts, Iceland is going to connect its
few customs offices to the Norwegian NCTS system.

CZECH REPUBLIC – Has developed its own application. Nine customs offices are
currently  linked  to  the  NCTS  and  the  roll  out  to  all  the  remaining  offices  will  be
completed by the end of first quarter of 2003.
Traders: Seven software packages will soon be available on the market. The customs
administration of the Czech Republic has decided to make the NCTS compulsory for
all Transit movements opened by authorised traders as from 1 July 2003.

11

HUNGARY – Will implement the MCC. Hardware and software should be installed
in all customs offices by February 2003. The installation of the CCN/CSI gateway in
Hungary  will  take  place  in  June  2003.  The  connection  of  the  customs  offices  is
planned for mid 2003.
Traders: The EDI specifications were delivered to the trade in November 2002. The
authorised  consignors  must  be  connected  to  the  NCTS  from  June  2003  while  all
remaining traders must be connected to the NCTS by March 2004.

POLAND  –  Will  implement  the  MCC.  The  CCN/CSI  gateway  should  be  installed
by June 2003. Recently, Poland has reported delays in the project. Therefore, it will
not  be  operational  by  mid  2003,  but  later  in  the  year.  According  to  the  national
project plan, all Polish customs offices will be connected to the NCTS by the time of
accession.
Traders:  Poland  currently  has  no  strategy  for  a  trader  connection.  However,
according to the project plan, traders should be connected to the NCTS by the time of
accession.

SLOVAK REPUBLIK  –  Is  currently  developing  its  own  application  that  includes
functionalities  other  than  transit.  The  tests  of  this  application  will  start  after  the
installation of the CCN/CSI gateway, currently foreseen for June  2003. According to
the national plan, all customs offices should be connected to the NCTS by mid 2003.
Traders: Two suppliers are currently developing software applications for the trader
interface, and, these should be available from May 2003.

4.2. 

Implementation of NCTS in other Countries

CYPRUS – is planning to install the MCC as a stand-alone solution. The installation
of CCN/CSI gateway will take place in September 2003. The Cyprus authorities are
confident that the NCTS will be fully operational by the time of accession.
Traders: Cyprus will not connect traders to the NCTS, due to the minimal number of
Transit movements each year.

ESTONIA  –  The  Estonian  customs  administration  is  developing  a  national
application and will install the  MCC  as a fallback solution.  The CCN/CSI  gateway
will be installed in June 2003. All the Estonian customs offices are computerised and
connected  to  their  national  network.  A  transit  module  for  that  system  is  being
developed  and  should  be  ready  for  testing  during  the  fourth  quarter  of  2003.  The
Estonian customs authorities are confident the transit module will be operational by
the time of accession.
Traders:  The  publication  of  the  specification  for  traders  is  planned  for  May  2003.
Traders should be connected by the time of accession.

LATVIA –  There have  been  numerous  strategy  changes  in  the  project.  Latvia  will
decide  in  May  2003  whether  to  develop  a  national  transit  application  or  to  use  the
MCC. According to the plan it provided, Latvia will connect all customs offices by
the time of accession.

LITHUANIA  –  Will  implement  the  MCC.  Lithuania  is  currently  working  on  the
functional  and 
implementation.  Lithuanian
authorities  are  confident  that  the  NCTS  will  be  fully  operational  by  the  time  of
accession. In case of any difficulties by the time of accession, the NCTS application
can be used (temporarily) as a stand-alone solution.

technical  specifications  prior 

to 

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MALTA  –  By  the  time  of  accession,  the  Maltese  customs  administration  will
implement  a  new  integrated  customs  system  that  will  include  the  NCTS  (module
based upon the MCC).

SLOVENIA  –  Will  implement  the  MCC.  At  the  operational  level,  the  customs
administration  has  put  in  place  an  organisational  structure  which  will  be  able  to
manage the common transit procedure. All Slovenian customs offices will be linked
at the time of accession. Slovenia is committed to connect their traders in time for the
accession.

BULGARIA, ROMANIA and TURKEY are participating to the NCTS workshops
as observers and are preparing to implement the NCTS in a later stage.

4.3. 

Assessment

Particular  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  candidate  countries.  Indeed,  as  part  of  the
‘acquis  communautaire’,  the  full  implementation  of  the  NCTS  is  a  prerequisite  for
the candidate countries.

At  an  early  stage  of  the  NCTS  project,  it  had  been  decided  that  the  candidate
countries  should  implement  the  NCTS  and  join  the  Convention  on  a  Common
Transit Procedure one year before their accession to the EU. However, given the shift
both in the calendar for the full implementation of the NCTS among the EU Member
States and the timing for the accession, the requirements from the candidate countries
have been modified. They are requested, by the time of their accession, to have:

–  NCTS implemented;
–  all their customs offices connected;
–  all their authorised traders connected.

Out of the ten candidate countries, four of whom are members of the Convention on
Common  Transit  Procedure,  the  Czech  Republic  has  already  started  operations  in
nine  customs  offices.  Hungary  and  the  Slovak  Republic  will  fully  implement  the
NCTS before their accession.

The  situation  in  the  remaining  seven  candidate  countries  calls  for  the  following
comments:

Poland

There  have  been  numerous  changes  in  the  organisation  of  the  Polish  customs
administration  and  in  particular  with  the  staff  in  charge  of  the  NCTS  project.  It  is
difficult to get a precise picture of the real situation concerning the development of
the  NCTS  project.  The  Commission  is  following  closely  the  developments  of  the
situation in this country.

Latvia

There have been numerous strategy changes in the project. While Latvia will decide
in May 2003 whether to develop a national transit application or to use the MCC, it is
expected  that  the  MCC  will  be  used.  Based  on  current  delays  and  past  experience,
there  is  a  high  risk  that  Latvia  will  not  be  operational  at  the  time  of  accession.

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5. 

CONCLUSIONS

Thanks  to  the  co-ordinated  effort  of  the  three  institutions  –  the  Council,  the
Parliament  and  the  Commission-  the  EU  Member  States  have  taken  the  necessary
steps  to  comply  with  their  obligations  and  the  situation  appears  to  be  satisfactory,
with the understanding that Austria, Greece and Luxembourg take the essential steps
necessary for them to be ready on time.

It is recommended that close attention is paid to the development of the situation in
Austria,  Greece  and  Luxembourg  and,  within  the  framework  of  the  NCTS,  to
encourage the trade community to connect to the computerised Transit system.

With  regard  to  the  Contracting  Parties  to  the  Convention  on  a  Common  Transit
Procedure,  no  problems  are  to  be  expected  from  Switzerland  and  Norway  since  all
their  customs  offices  are  linked  to  the  NCTS.  Similarly  no  problems  are  to  be
expected from the Czech Republic, since all their offices will be connected shortly,
or from Iceland, since this country has only a limited impact on transit.

It  seems  likely  that  the  Slovak  Republic  and  Hungary  will  start  operations  before
their accession to the Union. However,  for Poland potential difficulties can already
be identified and need to be closely monitored.

The  other  candidate  countries,  even  if  they  are  not  part  of  the  Convention  on  a
Common  Transit,  will  have  to  fulfil  the  conditions  imposed  for  enlargement.
Therefore,  the  Commission  intends  to  follow  closely  the  steps  being  taken  in
implementing the NCTS. The situation in Latvia needs to be especially monitored.

Finally in order  to  preserve the  benefits  of  NCTS  for  the  fully operational  customs
administrations and their traders, the Commission envisages, if necessary, requesting
those  customs  administrations  that  are  not  fully  operational  to  introduce  ad  hoc
measures  so  that  transit  movements  started  under  the  NCTS  will  be  completed
without delay, even if the movements end at an office which is not connected to the
NCTS.

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