How the EU’s New Transit System Could Affect Free Trade Zones

FTZ News: The European Commission said Monday that Phase 6 of the New Computerised Transit System is operating across the 27 EU member states and the other countries covered by the Common Transit Convention.

Phase 6 adds the option, in countries that choose it, for companies to put transit data and the full Entry Summary Declaration information required under the Import Control System 2 into one filing. Earlier versions of NCTS handled the transit declaration. The requirement to provide security data remains. In countries that stay with the separate process, the security filing still goes into ICS2 on its own.

Each customs administration decides which version it will run. Under the opt-in model, the transit declaration and the security data are combined and NCTS connects to ICS2 for the risk analysis and control decisions that ICS2 requires. Under the opt-out model, the two filings stay separate. The Commission publishes which countries have selected which model. A country that begins with the separate filing can later switch to the combined one. It cannot move the other way.

Turkey and Serbia are both members of the Common Transit Convention. For shipments moving under an applicable transit procedure, the availability of combined filing depends on the relevant customs administration’s Phase 6 configuration. The Commission’s announcement does not address whether operators based in free zones in those countries will see any practical difference from other companies using the same procedure.

For shipments originating in free zones outside the 41-country network, the filing requirements will depend on the applicable safety and security rules, the transit procedure used and the arrangements of the customs administration handling the declaration. The Commission’s general guidance on transit notes that some formalities can be completed at the office of destination rather than at the first point of entry. It does not describe how that works for goods that have already entered from outside the network. The announcement does not quantify any additional time or paperwork associated with these movements.

The Commission has described Phase 6 as part of a broader effort to modernise customs procedures and strengthen data-driven risk controls. NCTS has been in operation since 2004 and has been mandatory for EU and common transit since 2005. The announcement does not include figures on clearance times under the two models or on whether shippers are already routing cargo toward countries that allow the combined filing./.