Ukraine starts developing software to implement the EU’s latest IT customs transit system

The State Customs Service with the help and support of EU4PFM has signed a contract for the development of national transit system software compatible with NCTS Phase 5.

Ukraine has received the exclusive right to accede to the Convention on NCTS Phase 4, but the transition to NCTS Phase 5 by the end of 2023 is one of the main prerequisites for accession. This means that a national transit system compatible with NCTS Phase 5 will be developed soon.

So what?

After acceding to the Convention, the customs of the EU and Ukraine will have one transit document in the system – from the customs office of departure to the customs office of destination. This will reduce the cost of customs procedures and the time required to complete them, and will help prevent fraud and other violations of customs legislation.

“All countries that are parties to the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure are currently working on the transition to Phase 5. This process should be completed by the end of 2023. Ukraine has convinced its European partners that it is technically and practically able to move to Phase 5 synchronously with all member states of the Convention, without violating the established deadline. The EU is providing financial and technical assistance in this process. The signing of the contract is the beginning of such a transition,” – said Vytenis Alisauskas, EU4PFM International Expert on Customs.

Serhiy Demchenko, Director of the Department for Implementation of the International Transit System of the State Customs Service, stressed that for businesses that use NCTS now, the transition to Phase 5 will be almost imperceptible. The changes will concern only certain technical aspects (in particular, the forms of notification), but all the rules and principles of the common transit procedure, transit simplifications, which were reported earlier, will remain unchanged. With the introduction of NCTS Phase 5, businesses will be informed in advance about the beginning of the transition period and its features.

The introduction of NCTS Phase 5 is at the same time the beginning of another, not less important process for Ukraine. This is the first system in the list of MASP-C – a multi-annual strategic plan for customs. This planning document is being adopted by EU countries to implement the E-Customs program provided for in the EU Customs Code.

NCTS is being implemented thanks to the financial support of the European Union in Ukraine within the framework of the EU Public Finance Management Support Programme for Ukraine (EU4PFM).