REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL pursuant to Article 14(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the introduction and the import of cultural goods
Date: 2021-07-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission
Subjects: art trade, cultural object, exchange of information, heritage protection, illicit trade, import (EU), import licence, information system, surveillance concerning imports, technical specification

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.7.2021  COM(2021) 358 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL pursuant to Article 14(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the introduction and the import of cultural goods     
 
 
Table of Contents 

1. 
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3 
2.  OBJECTIVES TO BE MET ............................................................................................................ 4 
3.  PROJECT ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING APPROACH .................................................... 4 
4.  PROGRESS OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................. 5 
Adoption of implementing provisions ................................................................................................. 5 

Project development – Work with the Project Group .......................................................................... 7 

Conceptualisation – Business Case ..................................................................................................... 8 

Project definition - Vision Document .................................................................................................. 8 

5.  RISKS FOR DELAYS..................................................................................................................... 8 
6.  CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................. 9 
Annex I: Multi annual strategic planning .............................................................................................. 10 
Annex II: Main project phases and critical milestones timeline ........................................................... 12 

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GLOSSARY 

Business Case 

Vision Document 

ICG system 

TRACES 

The document that provides the IT project justification and 
defines its budgetary requirements  

The Vision Document elaborates on the assumptions made in 
the Business Case Document. It records the system 
owner/system supplier partnership and understanding of the 
system at the time of writing. 

Import of Cultural Goods system - the centralised electronic 
system for the import of cultural goods 

Trade Control and Expert System - the European 
Commission's multilingual online platform for sanitary and 
phytosanitary certification 

EU CSW - CERTEX 

EU Customs Single Window - Certificates Exchange 

MFF 

Multiannual Financial Framework; the EU long-term budget, 
running from 2021 to 2027 

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1.  INTRODUCTION 
Regulation (EU) 2019/880 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 20191 
on  the  introduction  and  the  import  of  cultural  goods  (“the  Regulation”)  aims  to  prevent  the 
illicit  trade  in  cultural  goods,  in  particular  when  it  contributes  to  the  financing  of  terrorist 
activities, and to prohibit the import into the customs territory of the Union of cultural goods 
exported illegally from third countries.  

The  Regulation  subjects  the  import  of  certain  cultural  goods  that  are  considered  to  be 
particularly  endangered  heritage to  import licences and others, which are considered as less 
endangered,  to  importer  statements  and  ensures  that  they  undergo  uniform  controls  when 
imported into the Union. Certain imports of cultural goods that are intended for specific uses 
these  documentary 
(educational,  scientific  or  research-related)  are  exempted  from 
requirements. 

The obligation for importers to obtain an import licence or draw up and submit an importer 
statement  to  customs  will  only  start  to  apply  from  the  moment  that  a  centralised  electronic 
system (the ICG system) will become operational. The ICG system is to be developed by the 
Commission by 28 June 2025 at the latest. 

The system will not only serve as a means for the accomplishment of formalities by operators, 
but  also  for  the  storage  and  the  exchange  of  information  between  Member  States 
administrations in charge of implementing the Regulation (customs and cultural authorities).  

The development and functioning of the ICG system is also closely linked with another major 
initiative  of  the  Commission  in  the  field  of  customs:  the  EU  Single  Window  Certificate 
Exchange System (EU-CSW CERTEX)2.  

The  EU-CSW  CERTEX  interconnects  EU  centralised  systems  for  Union  non-customs 
formalities  with  national  customs  systems  to  allow  the  digital  exchange  of  supporting 
documents, results of controls and the outcome of customs and non-customs procedures.  

Every  12  months  from  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Regulation  and,  until  the  ICG  system 
becomes operational, the Commission is to present a report to the European Parliament and to 
the Council on the progress made with establishing this electronic system.  
The Commission presented its first annual progress report last year3. The report outlined the 
action taken by the Commission during the first year after the Regulation entered into force, 
namely:  a) the preparatory work for adopting the necessary implementing provisions, and (b) 
the consultations with the Member States via the Expert Group for customs issues related to 
cultural  goods  and  the  Project  Group  for  the  import  of  cultural  goods.  As  regards  potential 
risks for delay in delivering the ICG system within the set deadline, the report identified the 
uncertainty surrounding the staff allocated to the project and its financing from the MFF.  

This  second  annual  progress  report  covers  the  period  from  July  2020  to  June  2021  and 
presents  the  progress  achieved  with  the  adoption  of  the  necessary  implementing  provisions 
and  the  roll-out  of  Phase  1  –  ‘Conceptualisation’  of  the  ICG  project.  For  the  sake  of 
completeness,  the  objectives  to  be  met,  the  project  architecture  and  the  planning  approach, 
which are detailed in the first annual progress report, are briefly mentioned here. The overall 

1 OJ L 151, 7.6.2019, p. 1–14 
2 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/general-information-customs/electronic-customs/eu-single-window-
environment-for-customs_en  
3 COM(2020) 342 final. 

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assessment  of  the  progress  made  and  the  identified  risks  for  delay  are  summarised  in  the 
conclusions section of this report. 

2.  OBJECTIVES TO BE MET 

The ICG system is to become operational by 28 June 2025 at the latest, as on that date it 
will  become  mandatory  for  all  operators  to  obtain  import  licences  or  submit  importer 
statements to customs through that electronic system, in order for them to be able to import4 
cultural goods legally into the Union.  

The  Regulation  sets  also  a  deadline  of  28  June  2021  for  the  adoption  of  implementing 
provisions laying down the detailed rules for the electronic system.  

After the adoption of the implementing provisions and approval of the Vision Document, the 
development phase of the electronic system will begin. In the third phase, the ICG system will 
be  interconnected  to  the  EU-CSW  CERTEX,  to  allow  the  exchange  of  documents  with 
Member States customs systems. In parallel, training sessions will be organised to familiarise 
their administrations with the ICG system’s operational functionalities.  

Alongside other activities of the Commission in the field of customs, the project on the import 
of  cultural  goods  is  also  planned  in  detail  through  the  Multiannual  Strategic  Plan  for 
electronic  Customs  2019  revision5  (MASP-C  rev.  2019).  An  excerpt  of  the  planning  of  the 
project on the import of cultural goods from MASP-C rev. 2019 is provided in Annex I to this 
report. It is to be noted that the project fiche will be updated in the next revision of MASP-C 
to reflect the actual progress on the project. 

Part  of  the  project  on  the  import  of  cultural  goods  is  developed  also  within  the  EU  Single 
Window  Environment  for  Customs  (MASP-C  rev  2019  Fiche  1.13)  of  which  EU  CSW-
CERTEX  is  the  key  IT  system.  An  excerpt  of  the  planning  of  EU  CSW-CERTEX  from 
MASP-C Fiche 1.13 is provided in Annex I to this report. 

3.  PROJECT ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING APPROACH 

As already explained in the first annual progress report, the Project Architecture is based on 
the  methodology  provided  for  in  MASP-C  rev.  2019  and  its  Annexes,  including  the 
Governance  Scheme6,  the  EU  Customs  Business  Process  Modelling  Policy7  and  the  IT 
strategy8. A comprehensive roadmap, with the main project phases and the critical milestones 
is detailed in Annex II. 

Despite  of  the  project  progressing  on  several  levels  at  the  same  time,  it  can  be  figuratively 
divided into three phases: 

Phase  1  –  Conceptualisation:  Initially,  a  Business  Case  is  prepared,  providing  the  project 
justification  and  defining  budgetary  requirements.  Next  a  Vision  Document  is  produced, 
using Business Process  Modelling (BPM), which provides more detailed information on the 
project definition in terms of architecture, cost, time, and risk, as well as information such as 
milestones,  deliverables  and  project  organisation.  These  documents  reflect  the  discussions, 
and the content of the implementing act to be produced by the Commission. 

4  The  placement  of  goods  under  the  following  customs  procedures  is  defined  as  ‘import’  in  the  Regulation: 
release  for  free  circulation;  storage  in  customs  warehouses  or  free  zones;  temporary  admission;  end  use, 
including inward processing. 
5 See https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/general-information-customs/electronic-customs_en. 
6 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2019_masp_annex3_en.pdf  
7 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2019_masp_annex4_en.pdf  
8 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2019_masp_annex5_en.pdf  

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Phase 2 – System development: Following the provisions of the implementing act, and the 
production  of  user  requirements  and  the  functional  specifications  for  the  system,  technical 
specifications  on  how  the  system  will  be  constructed  are  developed.  These  technical 
specifications include: the architecture to be used, the messages to be submitted by economic 
operators, the interfaces to other systems, testing plans, etc. 

Once the design of the system is ready from the conceptual perspective and the deliverables 
listed in Table 1, Milestones 1 and 3 (see Annex I) are produced, a more in-depth work begins 
and  more  technical  aspects  are  taken  into  account  in  the  Application  &  Service 
specifications and Technical System Specification documents, which are the concretisation 
of the Business Case and the Vision Document.  

Phase  3  –  Deployment  and  Operation:  The  actual  IT  development  phase  begins 
(Construction Phase), which is followed by a Transition phase where the early versions of 
the  ICG  system  will  be  gradually  rolled  out  to  the  different  groups  of  users  and  tests  are 
performed to  ensure that, by  28 June 2025, operators and  competent  authorities are capable 
and  well  trained  in  the  use  of  the  system.  To  this  phase  will  follow  a  6  months  after-care 
period,  in  which  the  system  will  be  fine-tuned  to  match  any  operational  needs  that  may 
become evident only after an IT system becomes mandatory, and to ensure that operations are 
running smoothly. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  ICG  system  will  be  interconnected  with  Member  States’  customs 
administrations  via  the  EU  CSW-CERTEX  by  3  March  2025,  following  the  Commission 
proposal  on  an  EU  Single  Window  Environment  for  Customs9  to  allow  customs  automated 
controls on the documents issued for the import of cultural  goods. This activity will require 
Conformance Testing. 

4.  PROGRESS OVERVIEW  

Adoption of implementing provisions 
During the first phase the Commission adopted10 the necessary implementing provisions for 
the establishment of the electronic system. In order to get a better perspective from a practical 
implementation point of view, it consulted extensively with Members States representatives in 
the  Expert  Group  on  customs  issues  related  to  cultural  goods  and  in  the  Cultural  Goods 
Committee. 

The Expert Group is a forum for the discussion of implementation issues of Union legislation 
on cultural goods pertaining to customs and, in particular, the Regulation (EU) 2019/880 on 
the  introduction  and  the  import  of  cultural  goods  and  the  Regulation  (EC)  116/2009  on  the 
export  of  cultural  goods11.  The  latter  is  a  set  of  EU  rules  that  also  provide  for  a  licencing 
system – at export - which has been in force since 199312. 

The  Commission  informed  art  market  associations  about  the  progress  of  work  at  every 
opportunity,  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  practical  implementation  of  the  Regulation  is  well 
adapted  to  the  realities  of  the  market.  As  a  formal  step  of  the  adoption  procedure,  the  draft 

9  See  Annex  to  the  Proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  establishing  the 
European  Union  Single  Window  Environment  for  Customs  and  amending  Regulation  (EU)  No  952/2013, 
COM(2020) 673 final. 
10 At the time of drafting this report, the draft regulation had received a positive vote from the Committee and 
was scheduled for adoption by the College in June 2021. 
11  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  116/2009  of  18  December  2008  on  the  export  of  cultural  goods  (OJ  L  39, 
10.2.2009, p. 1–7) 
12  Before  the  creation  of  Expert  Groups  for  the  purposes  of  the  Lisbon  Treaty,  these  same  discussions  were 
taking  place  within  the  Committee  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  116/2009.  The  members  of  the  Expert  Group  are 
mostly the same authorities that are meeting within that Regulation’s Committee. 

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implementing act was also made available online for consultation to stakeholders for a 4-week 
period (24.3.2021-21.4.2021).  

The  implementing  act  comprises  five  sections,  the  last  of  which  concerns  the  detailed 
arrangements for the establishment and operation of the ICG system. 

The ICG is to be developed as an independent module of the existing TRACES system, which 
is  managed  by  the  Commission’s  Directorate-General  for  Health  and  Food  Safety  (DG 
SANTE). The Commission is to ensure its operation, maintenance, support and any necessary 
update or development. 

In order to produce the required periodic reports and to ensure the development, functioning 
and maintenance of the system, the Commission is to have access to all data, information and 
documents in the ICG system. It will also ensure the interconnection between the ICG system 
and national customs systems, using the EU CSW-CERTEX. 

In order to manage, develop, identify priorities for, and monitor the correct implementation of 
the ICG system, the Member States and the Commission will have to designate contact points. 

It is very important that the licence applicants/holders or the declarants in importer statements 
are identified correctly in the ICG system. For this reason, the implementing act requires from 
operators to identify themselves using an EORI number13.  

For the completion of import licences applications and importer statements, the implementing 
act establishes in its annex a data dictionary, i.e. the kind of information which applicants and 
declarants  will  be  required  to  enter  in  the  ICG  system  in  order  to  fill-in  and  submit  the 
relevant forms.  

Although the basic act makes reference to ‘format’, this should not be taken literally, as the 
fillable  forms  will  be  electronic,  not  typical  paper  documents.  It  will  be  possible  to  make  a 
print-out  of  a  licence,  statement  or  general  description,  but  contrary  to  the  specifications 
found in the Regulation for the export of cultural goods, this can be done on any sort of paper 
(i.e. no mandatory dimensions of a page or thickness of paper or interlocking safety patterns). 
In any case, when customs or competent authorities need to verify a licence or statement, they 
will  do  so  by  retrieving  it  electronically  from  the  ICG  system.  Moreover,  such  retrieved 
documents  will  be  self-standing,  meaning  that  the  validity  of  electronic  signatures  and  the 
integrity of the document is checked every time the document (or a copy thereof) is accessed, 
in line with the eIDAS14 standard. 

Since the documentation will exist in the ICG system and will be made available to customs 
electronically via the EU-CSW CERTEX, there will be no risk of falsification, as is the risk 
with paper documents. Furthermore, the implementing act provides a set of guarantees, in the 
form  of  electronic  seals  and  signatures,  which  will  prevent  any  unlawful  alteration  of  the 
content and will certify the exact time and date that a form was submitted or received by the 
competent authority. 

Specifically,  electronic  import  licences  will  be  signed  by  the  authorising  officer  of  the 
competent  authority  with  their  electronic  signature,  sealed  with  an  advanced  or  qualified 
electronic seal of the issuing competent authority, and then sealed by the ICG system with an 
advanced or qualified electronic seal. 

Additionally, the submission of a licence application; a request by the competent authority for 

13 EORI number is the Economic Operators Registration and Identification number, as defined in Article 1(18) of 
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446. 
14 Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic 
identification  and  trust  services  for  electronic  transactions  in  the  internal  market  and  repealing  Directive 
1999/93/EC, OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 73. 

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additional information; a submission of additional information or document by the applicant; 
the decision made by the competent authority; and the expiry of 90 days without a decision by 
the  competent  authority  will  be  all  marked  by  the  ICG  system  with  an  electronic  qualified 
time stamp. 

With regard to access to the documents in the ICG system, the implementing act provides that 
customs  and  the  competent  authorities  will  have  access  to  the  import  licences  for  which  a 
decision  has  been  made  and  to  the  importer  statements  and  general  descriptions  that  have 
been submitted to customs. Operators will have access to their own licences, statements and 
general  descriptions.  In  order  to  facilitate  trade,  they  can  also  provide  access  in  the  ICG 
system to these same documents to other parties (e.g. to prospective clients, experts, etc.).  

The Commission and the Member States will be data controllers of the processing operations 
necessary for the establishment of the ICG system. For this purpose, they will have to enter a 
joint controllership arrangement by 28 June 2022 at the latest. 

In  order  to  lay  down  the  practical  requirements  for  the  availability  and  performance  of  the 
ICG system, as well as to ensure business continuity, the implementing act provides for the 
conclusion of operational agreements between the Commission and the Member States.  

Although  this  is  not  expected  to  occur,  certain  contingency  arrangements  have  been 
established,  should  the  ICG  system  become  unavailable  for  more  than  eight  hours. 
Specifically,  the  ICG  system  contact  points  in  the  Member  States  are  to  maintain  an  online 
public  repository  containing  a  writeable  electronic  template  of  all  documents  that  may  be 
issued  in  the  ICG  system.  Once  the  ICG  system  or  the  unavailable  functionality  become 
available again, operators can use the documents created in the online repository to record the 
same information in the system. 

Lastly, the implementing act contains certain system security provisions to ensure reliable and 
secure operation, in particular, for checking the source of data and for protecting data against 
the  risk  of  unauthorised  access,  loss,  alteration  or  destruction.  Each  input,  modification  and 
deletion  of data is  to  be  recorded together with  information  giving the  reason and the exact 
time of such processing and identifying the person who carried it out. Furthermore, Member 
States  are  to  inform  each  other,  the  Commission  and,  where  appropriate,  the  operator 
concerned of any actual or suspected breaches of security of the ICG system. 

Project development – Work with the Project Group 

The  Commission  has  created  a  ‘Customs  Project  Group  on  the  import  of  cultural  goods’ 
(“PGICG”),  which  serves  as  a  discussion  forum  for  experts  from  Member  States  national 
customs administrations and competent (cultural) authorities with experience  in carrying out 
licencing formalities in  heritage matters, in particular digitally. The Group provided support 
in the preparation of the implementing act, and will help the Commission services in defining 
the parameters and elaborating the criteria for the functional specifications of the ICG system. 

The Project Group15 consists of 18 delegates from 11 Member States (AT, BE, BG, ES, LV, 
PT, RO, DE, NL, IT, FR) and to-date it has met nine times (four during the reporting period 
29.6.2020 – 28.6.2021). 

During this reporting period, the Project Group worked mainly on the definition of the scope 
of  the  IT  system,  minimum  functionalities,  and  user  requirements.  The  outcome  of  these 
discussions  has  been  captured  by  the  Business  Case  first,  and  further  refined  in  the  Vision 
Document. 

15 For more details on the Project Group’s mandate  and work, please see the Commission’s first Progress Report 
COM(2020) 342 final. 

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Conceptualisation – Business Case 
The  Business  Case  has  been  approved  by  the  ITCB16  on  23  September  2020  and  by  the 
Electronic  Customs  Coordination  Group  on  16  October  2020  without  comments.  The 
Business  Case  explores  the  different  alternatives  and  confirms  that  the  TRACES  system 
hosted by DG SANTE is the most suitable platform to develop the ICG system, as most of the 
functionalities  required  for  certification  and  licencing  schemes  are  well  developed  in  that 
platform. 

Project definition - Vision Document 

The Vision Document further refines the initial assessment made in the business case, and it 
details  the  methodological  approach,  the  project  governance  and  the  synergies  with  other 
projects.  As  a  result,  the  ICG  system  will  be  developed  in  partnership  between  the 
Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) and DG 
SANTE,  leveraging  on  the  long-term  cooperation  and  synergy  between  these  two 
the  collaboration  between  customs  and  partner  competent 
Directorates-General  for 
authorities, which to-date has proven to be very successful in the field of import controls of 
animals, food and feed. The Vision Document is at its finalisation stage, and is expected to be 
approved by the Electronic Customs Coordination Group by the end of June 2021. 

5.  RISKS FOR DELAYS 

Project Summary 

The Commission is tasked to develop a centralised electronic licensing system and interface it 
with  national  customs  within  6  years  after  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Regulation.  Two 
Administrator (AD) posts in DG TAXUD are required to deliver on this initiative, as set out 
in the relevant Legislative Financial Statement.  

Risk title & Description 

The  delivery  of  the  ICG  system  is  dependent  upon  the  approval  of  appropriate  funding  and 
upon  the  allocation  of  resources  in  DG  TAXUD,  taking  into  account  the  various  priorities 
facing that Directorate-General. 

Risk 1 – Staff allocation 

The initial  proposal  from  the Commission  did not  provide for the creation  of an  IT system. 
Thus,  resources  were  not  allocated  accordingly.  However,  in  the  course  of  the  negotiations 
and  at  the  request  of  the  co-legislators,  the  creation  of  the  ICG  system  was  included  in  the 
Regulation, which called for unforeseen at that point, additional resources. The needs for this 
six-year project in terms of IT development personnel in DG TAXUD were estimated, at the 
time of the final political trilogues in December 2018, to be two full time Administrator posts. 
However, only one full time Administrator could be allocated from mid-July 2020. 

Risk 2 – Covid-19 pandemic 

In  addition  to  the  risks  identified  above,  the  COVID-19  public  health  crisis  is  affecting  to 
some extent the team’s capacity to deliver and especially the project activities and meetings 
with the Expert Group and the Project Group with the Member States. Meetings were held in 

16 The  Information Technology and Cybersecurity Board (ITCB) of the European Commission  is a permanent 
sub-group  of  the  Corporate  Management  Board.  It  ensures  that  resources  and  investments  in  Information 
Technology  are  used  efficiently  and  that  business  needs  are  supported  by  efficient,  secure  and  resilient 
communication and information systems, in compliance with personal data protection principles. It oversees the 
implementation of the European Commission Digital Strategy. 

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a  virtual  format,  with  shorter  agendas  and  limited  interaction.  Moreover,  the  public  health 
crisis forced a rescheduling of priorities within Member States, thus limiting their capacity to 
provide input and feedback to the file. Such impact will depend on the duration of the public 
health crisis. 

Risk 3 – Proposal for an EU Single Window Environment for Customs 

The  good  functioning  of  the  ICG  system  is  tied  with  the  success  of  the  Commission’s 
proposal  for  an  EU  Single  Window  Environment  for  Customs,  which  aims  at  providing  a 
legal base for the functioning of EU CSW-CERTEX. The government-to-government (G2G) 
pillar of that proposal reflects how customs and partner competent authorities will exchange 
data  digitally.  Therefore,  in  case  co-legislators  will  ultimately  reach  an  agreement  that  is 
considerably different from the G2G approach as enshrined in the proposal, this will impact 
how  the  ICG  system  and  EU  CSW-CERTEX  are  interconnected  and  will  affect  as  well  the 
implementing provision for the ICG system described above. 

Risk 4 – Budget availability 

Budget  uncertainty,  due  to  the  negotiations  on  the  new  MFF,  rendered  progress  very 
challenging.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  favourable  outcome  of  the  MFF 
negotiations  has  mitigated  that  risk  from  end  of  2020  and  that  budget-wise  this  initiative  is 
fully covered under the new Customs programme. 

Mitigation actions 

The risks have been reported within DG TAXUD.  

6.  CONCLUSIONS 

The  main  actions  undertaken  during  the  period  covered  by  this  second  progress  report  to 
develop a centralised electronic system for the import of cultural goods (ICG system) are as 
follows:  (1)  the  adoption  of  implementing  provisions  for  the  purposes  of  Regulation  (EU) 
2019/880; (2) the work carried out by the Project Group created for this purpose; and (3) the 
advancement of the Business Case and the Vision Document for the ICG project. 

While  so  far  the  Commission  has  been  on  schedule,  some  potential  risks  for  delay  in 
delivering the ICG system within the set deadline have been identified. One risk concerns the 
uncertainty  surrounding  the  staff  allocated  to  the  project,  as  this  depends  on  current  budget 
availabilities  and  overall  customs  IT  development  priorities17.  The  COVID-19  public  health 
crisis was also identified as slightly affecting progress with the ICG project. The full impact 
will depend on the duration of the public health crisis. 

17 Such as the Union Customs Code (UCC) digitalisation exercise. 

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ANNEX I: MULTI ANNUAL STRATEGIC PLANNING 

The  MASP-C  ensures  an  effective  and  coherent  management  of  IT  projects  by  setting  out 
both a strategic framework and milestones. It is ultimately endorsed by the Member States in 
the Customs Policy Group (CPG) based on expert advice provided by the Electronic Customs 
Coordination Group (ECCG) and consultations with trade at the Trade Contact Group (TCG). 

The  planning  for  the  electronic  system  has  been  discussed  and  approved  by  the  Member 
States and is described in detail in Fiche 1.18 of the MASP-C rev. 2019. 

Table  1  below  provides  an  excerpt  of  the  planning  of  the  project  on  the  import  of  cultural 
goods from MASP-C rev. 2019 Fiche 1.18. 

Table 1 - Excerpt of MASP-C rev. 2019 Fiche 1.18 

Milestones 

Estimated completion date 

1 

Business Analysis and Business Modelling 

- Business Case Document 

- Level 3 (User Requirements BPM) 

- Level 4 (Functional Requirement detailed BPM) 

2 

Legal Provisions 

- Current provisions adopted* 

- Future provisions adopted** 

3 

Project Initiation Phase 

- Vision Document 

- GO decision 

4 

IT Project 

- Application & Service Specifications 

- Technical System Specifications 

Construction Phase 

- Central services implementation 

- Service integration in National Systems 

- National implementation 

Transition Phase 

- Deploy and rollout 

- Conformance tests 

5  Operation 

- Commission, Member States administrations and Traders 

- Non-EU Countries and non-EU traders (in case required) 

6 

Implementation support (training and communication) 

- Centrally developed training and communication 

- National training and communication 

Q4 2020 

Q1 2022 

Q1 2022 

Q2 2019 

Q2 2021 

Q2 2021 

Q2 2021 

Q2 2023 

Q2 2023 

Q3 2024 

N/A 

N/A 

Q4 2024 

Q2 2025 

Q2 2025 

N/A 

Q4 2024 

Q4 2024 

*Current provisions refer to Regulation (EU) 2019/880 
**Future provisions refer to the implementing provisions to be adopted according to Regulation (EU) 2019/880 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 2 provides an excerpt of the EU CSW-CERTEX project, with a focus on Component 2 
of the EU-CSW CERTEX project, interconnecting the ICG system. 

Table 2 - Excerpt of MASP-C rev. 2019 Fiche 1.13 – Component 2 “EU CSW- CERTEX” 

Milestones 

Estimated completion date 

1 

Business Analysis and Business Modelling 

- Business Case Document 

- Business Case Annex 

- Level 3 (User Requirements BPM) 

- Level 4 (Functional Requirement detailed BPM) 

2 

Legal Provisions 

- Current provisions adopted* 

- Future provisions adopted** 

3 

Project Initiation Phase 

- Vision Document 

- Vision Document Annex 

- GO decision 

4 

IT Project 
- Application & Service Specifications 
- Technical System Specifications 
Construction Phase 
- Central services implementation 
- Service integration in National Systems 
- National implementation 
Transition Phase 
- Deploy and rollout 
- Conformance tests 

5  Operation 

Q1 2017 

Q2 2023 

Q1 2024 

Q1 2024 

In force 

2021 

Q3 2017 

Q3 2023 

Q3 2023 

Q2 2024 
Q2 2024 

Q3 2024 
From Q4 2024 onwards 
From Q4 2024 onwards 

Q4 2024 
From Q1 2025 onwards 

- Commission, Member States administrations and Traders 
(NB: This is the Operations date for the Commission, MS will 
conformance test from Q2 2020) 
- Non-EU Countries and non-EU traders (in case required) 
Implementation support (training and communication) 
- Centrally developed training and communication 
- National training and communication 

6 

Q2 2025 

N/A 

N/A 
N/A 

*Current provisions refer to Regulation (EU) 2019/880 
**Future provisions refer to the implementing provisions to be adopted according to Regulation (EU) 2019/880 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX II: MAIN PROJECT PHASES AND CRITICAL MILESTONES TIMELINE 

12