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As in other sectors, the logistics sector has benefited from digitization in recent years, allowing a smoother flow of goods across the globe. These advancements have promised, and to some extent … also delivered, efficiency and convenience. However, a more ‘inconvenient truth’ today is that a considerable volume of critical information still circulates in the form of non-standardized documents sent via email. Today, new developments in Artificial Intelligence are proving promising in enabling the data extraction of these unstructured documents and scans to finally fully break the paper chain.

In a world where international trade is the lifeblood of economies, ensuring the smooth flow of goods across borders while maintaining rigorous controls is a challenging balancing act. Dubai, … one of the world’s busiest trade hubs, is meeting this challenge head-on by investing in advance technology and embracing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance trade facilitation and border control. These efforts are poised not only to bolster Dubai’s position as a global trade and tourist hub, but also to set new standards for Customs operations and services worldwide, which has reflected positively on Dubai Customs client happiness index reaching a score of 98% for smart and electronic services. Some of the projects developed using AI are presented below.

There are many discussions about the efficiency of classification assistance tools. In this article, we argue that an AI-based tool, if well-built and properly used, can support classification … experts, enabling them to focus their attention on unusual and difficult product classifications.

The Foundation for International Development Studies and Research has published a working paper, written by Thomas Cantens of the WCO Secretariat’s Research Unit, that examines the implications … of the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in the field of public administration. This article provides a brief summary of the content of that paper.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - a topic that was barely heard of last year, it now seems to be a topic that appears at almost every conference and can be applied in every field. When we heard … about artificial intelligence and its availability on the market, it seemed so distant and unheard of, and when the first reports appeared in the press, we certainly did not think that we, as customs brokers, would be able to apply it to our own operations. I will not hide the fact that the first people to try out the CHAT GPT tool in our company were our colleagues who are the most interested in information technology and innovations in the market.

'It is December 2039, and various newsbots push the following content to their subscribers: ... Customs is being abolished next January (2040) when the EU's new customs system [Artificial Customs … Intelligence Depository, ACID] comes into operation ... The new system means that most of the approximately 5,500 Customs employees will lose their jobs.' This is how the introduction to the book "Customs Inside Anywhere, Insights Everywhere" by Frank Heijmann and John Peters begins [1].

Digitalization has simplified Customs clearance in many areas, especially in the declaration of imports and exports. However, various data discontinuities and queries unnecessarily delay cross-border … process flows. A group of major logistics companies, software providers and researchers is driving an initiative which could change this. Called the “Open Customs Blockchain”, it focuses on developing and applying blockchain technology for the exchange of key Customs data in foreign trade.

Since 2016, when the Finnish Government decided to digitalize all public services, Finnish Customs has been working on the development of digital services to improve its customer service. In … 2017 the Administration explained, in the pages of this magazine, how it tested the innovation potential of a hackathon to identify solutions that would make it easier to access information about Customs regulations and procedures. In this article, we take a look at the latest tools implemented by Finnish Customs to enhance its capacity to help its customers – namely a chatbot and a contact management system.

Customs authorities are showing a growing interest in adopting artificial intelligence (AI), the broad category of science that entails simulating human thinking capability and behaviour. As … stated in a joint paper published by the World Customs Organization, (WCO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) entitled The role of advanced technologies in cross-border trade: A Customs perspective, “around half of Customs authorities use some combination of big data analytics, AI and machine learning, while the other half plans to do so in the future.”

World trade is the lifeblood of the global economy. It not only is a vital component in the ongoing operations of businesses (large and small), governments and NGOs around the world, it has the … power to grow economies, increase productivity and transform the quality of life for citizens in the nations who are open to international trade.

Customs administrations and trade operators both want to reduce the complexity of compiling and exchanging data. However, there can be tension between the Customs administration’s need to access … data and the company’s need to protect confidential information. This article presents two solutions for analysing and reporting data which ensure strong data protection by allowing access to the data without the need to move them around.

Global digitalization is leading to an exponential increase in the volume and production of data, which, in turn, is matched by a growing demand for data from all parts of society. This phenomenon … is known as the Data Revolution.

One of the main topics of discussion during the 2019 WCO Conference on the Future Direction of the Harmonized System (HS) was HS complexity. Concern was expressed about the difficulty of HS classification … especially for small and medium-sized enterprises that are being granted the opportunity to participate in the global economy but don’t necessarily possess the tools needed to do so.

Machine Learning is an exciting new field, and while it carries risks (what if the computer makes the wrong decision), it has the potential to free up a significant amount of human resources, … as we pass decisions and solutions over to computers on our behalf. Specifically, in the field of trade compliance and supply chain management, machine learning offers tremendous value in several key areas. One whose time has come, is the area of product classification.

China Customs plays a key role in the administration of rules of origin, from their formulation to their implementation. Insiders who follow trade and Customs reforms in China may have noticed … the emergence, in recent years, of new expressions and terms in this domain, such as “self-service printing of certificates of origin”, the Electronic Origin Data Exchange System (EODES) and “intelligent examination”. This article explains each of these terms.

Trade operators required to classify their goods in the Unified Customs Tariff of countries belonging to the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) now have a helpful application … (app) at their disposal.

Korea Customs Service (KCS) has introduced a range of measures since early 2010 to respond to a growing number of imports and exports generated by online sales and purchases by both businesses … and individuals, given the strong upward trend in cross-border e-commerce. In this article, the focus is on the use of three types of technology to enhance current KCS targeting capacities: blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing and covers tasks in a wide variety of industries - including in the world of customs. However, that does not mean that you, as a customs expert, are … superfluous. Instead, AI makes your day-to-day work easier. We'll explain how exactly, based on an example of the AI ​​that we use at Grenzlotsen!

“In future, our tariffs will be set automatically”: This phrase is often associated with an “evolutionary” improvement of processes and innovative procedures. But who says that a machine is really … doing it right? How do I know that the quality is good? Why are automated processes automatically assumed to be of good quality? The fact is that machines learn from real people. How do I check whether the quality is good?

Imagine uploading an image into the system, which in turn analyses which item is depicted and automatically assigns it the appropriate customs tariff number. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Automatic … image recognition would completely revolutionise the customs sector. But how could this work, and how far are we from implementation?