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One of the fastest growing sectors of international trade over the last 10 years has been the express carrier industry ("couriers"). In order to ensure timely customs clearance of express consignments which is crucial in door-to-door service French Customs has developed specific procedures for the clearance of such shipments.

I. The Standard Procedure

Express consignment operators may apply for the procedure, as long as they meet the following requirements:

• they provide an integrated service which begins at the pick-up point and ends with delivery at the consignee’s premises;
  
• they ship the consignments at the greatest possible speed;
  
• they use a simplified price schedule;
  
• they list and identify each parcel in the shipment;
  
• a single process manager is responsible for the shipment.

II. The Automated Procedure

• The context

  In 1995, in order to address the difficulties arising from the huge increase in the volume of express shipments, carriers asked Customs for an automated clearance procedure.

  At the same time, with a view to expediting and improving the quality of customs examinations, French Customs was developing a new clearance procedure based upon the pre-selection of consignments from data transmitted electronically through EDI in advance of arrival.

• Characteristics of the procedure

  Like the standard procedure, it covers both imports and exports and includes a declaration in a simplified form and a supplementary declaration.
  Shipments may be cleared at a customs office or in any other location designated or approved by Customs. The procedure is based upon 3 main elements:

  • an authorization granted by Customs designating the customs office competent to accept the declarations, specifying the form and content of the simplified and supplementary declarations, setting the time limits within which the supplementary declarations must be lodged with Customs;

  • a simplified declaration (the manifest), containing the particulars necessary for the identification and release of the goods;

  • a supplementary declaration to be presented within 5 days of the expiration of the time limit set in the authorization.

• The simplified declaration

  Relevant data are transmitted electronically to Customs (electronic data interchange) prior to the flight arrival, which allows Customs to make an advance determination of the shipments if any to be examined and of those that will be released immediately.

  The Customs Simplified Declaration Message contains both the data necessary for Customs to perform cargo selectivity and any other data that may be available to the carrier at the time.

  There are two kinds of messages: those applicable to low-value consignments (of less than 22€) containing fewer data and those applying to other consignments (including non-dutiable and non-taxable consignments).

  A validation message of the data already transmitted, sent by the carrier to Customs on the plane’s arrival, is held as the formal presentation of the simplified declaration. The Customs Response Message (release authorization or, as the case may be, designation of some consignments for examination) is sent to the carrier in the same on-line session.

• The supplementary declaration

  At the expiration of the time limit set in the authorization, carriers must submit a supplementary declaration containing, for all dutiable and taxable consignments shipped during the period, all particulars necessary for the assessment of applicable duties and or taxes.

  The declaration is filed electronically with Customs. But, until legal difficulties arising from the validity of the electronic signature and filing have been resolved, it must be complemented within 5 days by a paper declaration.

• Future developments

  In the near future, this automated clearance procedure will be made available not only to express consignment operators but also to any operator (trader, broker) who would meet the applicable requirements. This extended automated procedure will be tested at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, then made available at all other airports.

  It will cover all categories of goods, although some specific regulations would apply to sensitive products. It will be applicable to import (with or without subsequent shipment to another Member State of the European Union) and to export as well as to the Customs and Tax Warehousing procedures.