This article was published before we became the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade on 10 July 2024, and this is reflected in references to our old brand and name. For more information about us becoming Chartered, visit our dedicated webpage on the change here.

Digitaltrader

A free webinar hosted by the Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) will tomorrow (17 April) look at upcoming updates to customs IT in the UK.

A panel of government and industry speakers will cover a range of key developments, ranging from the migration of export declarations to the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), the upcoming fifth update to the National Computerised Transit System (NCTS5), the creation of a Single Trade Window (STW) and developments in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in trade.

You can sign up here.

Evolution

Matt Vick, a customs and trade consultant at IOE&IT, said the webinar will be good opportunity for traders to get a view of what’s systems they’ll need to be using and the benefits of them.

“The systems and platforms used in customs and trade are continuing to evolve at pace as part of the UK government’s strategy to create the most effective border in the world by 2025.

“This webinar will give an overview of key upcoming developments with CDS, NCTS and STW. It’s important for traders to know what’s changing, what data they’ll need to provide and how.”

CDS and NCTS

Speakers from HMRC will give updates on the roll-out of CDS for export declarations and the implementation of NCTS5 – the latest update to the system that’s used for transit procedures.

The official deadline for firms to submit all export declarations on CDS passed on 30 March 2024, but there is a limited exceptions process running until 4 June 2024.

The UK will be implementing NCTS5 from 1 July 2024 and will also be beginning to introduce the STW in the autumn.

AI in customs

The webinar is being run in partnership with iCustoms – an AI trade compliance platform.

Mark Denney, an advisor for iCustoms and ex chief digital and information officer at HMRC, will be presenting on the opportunities that machine learning and generative AI could provide for traders.

The registration form for the free webinar can be found here.