New EU inbound air shipment rules to affect Nigerian cargo operators

By Shola Adekola | Lagos

Nigerian cargo airline operators may need to review their procedures as the European Union has kicked off the second phase of its Import Control System 2 (ICS2), bordering on its new advanced cargo information and risk management platform, to protect against security and safety threats from goods entering the EU.

The new rules will affect Nigerian cargo operators like Cargolux, Allied Air and other foreign cargo operators like DHL, UPS, Ethiopian airlines and other mega carriers operating cargo flights into Nigeria.

The latest air shipment policy, which commenced on March 1, directed that henceforth, all air carriers, freight forwarders, express couriers and postal operators involved in the transportation of goods by air to or through the EU must provide a complete set of Entry Summary Declaration data on the goods, prior to their arrival at the EU external border.

According to the EU, “They must do this through the ICS2 system, which is gradually replacing the EU’s existing Import Control System (ICS) between 2021 and 2024. Air carriers currently filing advanced cargo information into the Import Control System (ICS) will fully phase out from that system as soon as they start filing this data into ICS2.”

The second phase of ICS2 has also introduced new data requirements and processes to be complied with, prior to transporting the goods from a third country and before their arrival at the European Union’s external border.

Failure by affected economic operators to obtain the necessary data from their clients and to provide it to ICS2 will lead to actions by customs authorities to enforce compliance prior to and on arrival at the external border.

While ICS2 Release 2 has been launched on March 1, economic operators can make a request to start filing into ICS2 at a later date during the time-limited deployment window.

The EU equally directed that all affected by this policy should do this through the member state where the Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number of the economic operator which will be used for the advance cargo information filing is registered.

The deployment window, if granted, according to the EU “allows the economic operators to become operationally ready for ICS2 Release 2 after March 1. However, to ensure a smooth transition from Release 1 to Release 2, and to facilitate trade operations, the deployment window for each business model and the order in which different types of economic operators connect to ICS2 Release 2 will be aligned across all member states as defined in the relevant transition strategy. Member states can grant the deployment window up until October 2, 2023.

“If economic operators are not ready by the set deadline and do not provide the data required under the ICS2 system, consignments and freight will be stopped at the EU borders and the goods in question will not be cleared by the customs authorities.”

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