The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting has prepared a video within the project “Support to the Public Initiative “For Fair and Transparent Customs”, implemented with the support of the European Union, International Renaissance Foundation and Atlas Network, which tells about one of the most important reforms of Ukrainian customs – introduction of the New computerized transit system.

On November 16, 2020, the application of NCTS, the New computerized transit system, started in Ukraine. NCTS is the technology underlying the Convention on a common transit procedure and is available only to the members of the Convention, which is 35 European countries: EU member states, European Free Trade Association (EFTA/ EFTA) countries, Turkey, Northern Macedonia and Serbia.  And in order to accede to the Convention, Ukraine must implement NCTS.

NCTS connects customs services in the countries of the Convention, allowing the exchange of customs data and tracking of goods in different jurisdictions, which improves control over them, helps prevent fraud, and increases the efficiency of human resources.

With the introduction of NCTS, transit procedures will be brought in line with European standards, and it will be possible to move goods with one transit declaration. The declaration is made in the form of an electronic message, which is sent to the customs office of departure.

NCTS automates processes and makes them more transparent. Customs procedures can be faster, there will be less intervention by officials and queues at the border will be reduced. The public monitoring of the IED “For Transparent and Fair Customs” showed that this is what business expects from customs reform in the first place.

NCTS is implemented in three stages: pilot project, national application and international application. Ukraine is now at the stage of National application, which began in March 2020. International application of the system is expected from the middle of 2022. Accession to the Convention is one of the cornerstones of economic integration between the EU and Ukraine.

After acceding to the Convention, the customs of the EU and Ukraine will have one transit document in the system, according to which it will be possible to check what  the entrepreneur has exported from the EU and whether it corresponds to what he imported. This will improve the fight against fraud with supporting documents and, consequently, against tax evasion by dishonest entrepreneurs.

Eventually, businesses will spend less time on customs procedures and the state will receive more budget revenues.

The video was prepared with the financial support of ATLAS Network. The content of the video is the sole responsibility of the “Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting”and does not necessarily reflect the position of the ATLAS Network. The project “Support to the public initiative “For Fair and Transparent Customs” is implemented with the financial support of the European Union, the International Renaissance Foundation and the ATLAS Network.

Reference source: Дія.Бізнес.Експорт