Starting from 3 June 2024, the European Union’s customs pre-arrival safety and security system – Import Control System 2 (ICS2) – enters into the next phase of implementation.
This new phase will cover transportation of goods by maritime and inland waterways to or through the EU, Northern Ireland, Norway or Switzerland. Maritime and inland waterway carriers need to have the IT and business infrastructure, processes, and procedures, or have agreements with the (respective) solution providers in place to submit a complete Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) in the ICS2 system for all goods before their arrival into the EU.
To ensure a smooth transition, maritime and inland waterways carriers should connect to the system between 3 June to 4 December 2024. This means that carriers who are not operationally ready for ICS2 on 3 June can still do so at a later date, within the timeframe granted by the national customs authorities. However, economic operators had to request beforehand their time window from the EU Member State where their registration and identification (EORI) number has been registered and granted.
For traders (i.e. house level filers such as freight forwarders, logistics operators) who are responsible for house level data filing in the ENS submission process, the deployment window to connect to ICS2 will start on 4 December 2024 and will end on 1 April 2025. This means that they can start ENS filing on 4 December. If they are not ready by that date, they need to request from the national customs authorities a timeframe to connect later.
The third implementation phase of the ICS2 system will extend safety and security data reporting requirements to all modes of transport. Previously, requirements were already introduced for air transportation of goods. From 1 April 2025, they will be extended to road and rail shipments.
For more information, please see here.