The UCC Work Programme has a 3-fold objective:
- define the projects and electronic systems aimed at:
- the harmonised exchange of information on the basis of internally accepted data models and message formats
- the reengineering of customs and customs related processes to enhance their efficiency, effectiveness and uniform application and reducing compliance costs
- offering to economic operators a wide range of electronic customs services, for them to be able to interact in the same way with the customs authorities of any Member State.
- set out an extensive plan for the implementation of those systems in order to ensure the correct application of the UCC.
- govern the periods during which transitional rules are to be applied pending the deployment of the new or upgraded systems
Planning of the electronic systems defined in the UCC WP
The UCC Work Programme establishes the following 'dates of the deployment' of the trans-European and national systems:
- the start date of the deployment window for the electronic systems, to be understood as the earliest date to start operations of the electronic system;
- the end date of the deployment window for the electronic systems, to be understood as
- the latest date by which the systems need to be operated by all Member States and used by all economic operators, and as well as
- the end date of the validity of the transitional measures.
The Member States will further detail the national planning for the systems being developed and deployed within these time-windows and transmit it to the Commission for publication. The national planning information provided to the Commission is now available in a consolidated form.
Legal basis
The Work Programme relating to the development and deployment of the electronic systems provided for in the UCC was initially established in April 2014 by the Implementing decision 2014/255/EU. It has been subject to a first revision replacing it by decision 2016/578/EU. This was subsequently replaced by decision 2019/2151/EU following the amendment of Article 278 UCC. This has now been replaced by the decision 2023/2879/EU adopted on 15 December 2023.
The UCC Work Programme is updated on a regular basis to take into account the latest developments and progress.
Further information about the individual projects and their scope
1. UCC Registered Exporter System (REX)
The project aims to make available up-to-date information on registered exporters established in Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP) countries exporting goods to the Union. The system is trans-European and also includes data about EU economic operators, for the purpose of supporting exports to GSP countries.
2. UCC Binding Tariff Information (BTI)
The project aims at providing an upgrade of the existing trans-European EBTI-3 system and Surveillance 2 system to ensure the following:
(a) alignment of the EBTI-3 system to the UCC requirements;
(b) extension of under-surveillance-required declaration data;
(c) monitoring of the compulsory BTI usage;
(d) monitoring and management of BTI extended usage.
The project was implemented in two phases.
The first phase (step 1) provides functionality to gradually receive the UCC-required declaration dataset from 1 March 2017 until the implementation of the projects listed in points 10 (by 1 December 2023 at the latest) and 14 (by 31 December 2022 at the latest). Step 2 fulfils the BTI usage control obligation on the basis of the newly required declaration dataset and the alignment with the customs decisions process.
The second phase implements the electronic form of the BTI application and decision, and provides economic operators with a harmonised trader interface to submit the BTI application and receive the BTI decision electronically.
3. UCC Customs Decisions
The project aims at harmonising the processes related to the application for a customs decision, the decision-taking and the decision management through standardisation and electronic management of application and decision/authorisation data across the Union.
More information on the Customs Decisions System
4. Direct trader access to the European Information Systems (Uniform User Management & Digital Signature)
The goal of this project is to provide working solutions for a direct and EU-harmonised trader access as a service for user-to-system interfaces to be integrated in the electronic customs systems as defined in the specific UCC projects. The Uniform User Management and Digital Signature will be integrated in the portals of the concerned systems and includes support for identity, access and user management compliant with the necessary security policies.
The first deployment took place alongside the UCC Customs Decisions system.
This technical authentication and user management solution will subsequently be made available for use in other UCC projects such as the UCC Binding Tariff Information (BTI), UCC Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) upgrade, UCC Proof of Union Status (PoUS) and the UCC Information Sheets (INF) for Special Procedures. See the different projects for the dates of deployment.
5. UCC Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) upgrade
The project aims to improve the business processes related to AEO applications and authorisations taking into account the changes of the legal provisions of the UCC.
In the first phase, the project aims at implementing the major enhancements to the AEO system in view of the harmonisation to the customs decision taking procedure.
In the second phase, the project implements the electronic form of the AEO application and decision and provide for the economic operators an EU harmonised interface to submit the AEO application and receive the AEO decision electronically.
6. UCC Economic Operator Registration and Identification System upgrade (EORI 2)
This project aims at providing a minor upgrade of the existing trans-European EORI system that enables the registration and identification of economic operators of the Union and third country operators and persons other than economic operators that are active on customs matters in the Union.
7. UCC Surveillance 3
This project aims at providing an upgrade of the Surveillance 2+ system to ensure its alignment to the UCC requirements such as the standard exchange of information by electronic data-processing techniques and the establishment of adequate functionalities needed for processing and analysing the full surveillance dataset obtained from Member States.
8. UCC Proof of Union Status (PoUS)
The project aims at the creation of a new trans-European system to store, manage and retrieve the Proofs of Union Status: T2L/F and the customs goods manifest (issued by a non-authorised issuer). As implementation of the customs goods manifest is to be linked to the European Maritime Single Window, this part of the project will be covered in phase 2.
9. UCC New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) upgrade
The aim of this project is to align the existing trans-European NCTS system with the new UCC.
Component 1 — ‘NCTS Phase 5’: the aim of this phase is to align the NCTS system with the new UCC requirements except in safety and security data elements in transit customs declarations of goods brought into the customs territory of the Union. It covers the registration of ‘en route’ events and the alignment of information exchanges with UCC data requirements, and the upgrade and development of interfaces with other systems.
The project may be implemented in two steps.
Step 1: Core functionalities for NCTS-Phase 5 which will ensure operational continuity of the system, such as the standard transit declaration (core flow), simplified procedure at departure/destination (authorised consignor/consignee), amendment/invalidation, diversion (at office of transit and destination), inquiry/recovery processes and the sending of business statistics data. This step may also cover the non-core functionalities as defined in step 2.
Step 2: this step covers the remaining functionalities such as development of harmonised interface with AES, declaration lodged prior to presentation of the goods, declaration with reduced dataset, Incident ‘en route’ and formalities at Office of Exit for Transit.
Component 2 — ‘NCTS Phase 6’: the aim of this phase is to implement the specific new requirements for safety and security data elements in transit customs declarations of goods brought into the customs territory of the Union resulting from project 17 (UCC ICS2). It covers the development of the interface with ICS2, to facilitate the lodging of a transit declaration containing particulars of the entry summary declaration by applying Article 130(1) UCC.
10. UCC Automated Export System (AES)
This project aims to implement the UCC requirements for export and exit.
Component 1 - "Trans-European AES":
The aim of the project is to further develop the existing trans-European Export Control System in order to implement a full AES that would cover the business requirements for processes and data brought about by the UCC. Component 1 may be implemented in three steps.
Step 1: Core functionalities for AES that will enable the full automation of export procedures and exit formalities. The AES covers parts to be developed centrally and nationally, including the national components in which the export declaration is lodged and processed and which enable the subsequent exchange of information with the customs office of exit via the common components of the AES. This step also includes the functions of exit formalities that are necessary to release the goods for exit. This step may also cover the functionalities defined under steps 2 and 3.
Step 2: This step covers the development of harmonised interface with the Excise Movement & Control System (EMCS). This step may also cover the functionalities defined under step 3.
Step 3: This step covers other functionalities such as simplified and supplementary declarations, development of harmonised interface with NCTS, centralised clearance, declaration lodged prior to presentation of the goods.
Component 2 – "National Export Systems upgrade":
In a process outside the scope of the AES but closely linked, separate national systems are to be upgraded for specific national elements related to export and/or exit formalities. Where these elements do not affect the common domain for AES, they can be covered under this component.
11. UCC Information Sheets (INF) for Special Procedures
The aim of this project is to develop a new trans-European system to support and streamline the processes of INF data management and the electronic handling of INF data in the domain of Special Procedures.
12. UCC Special Procedures
This project aims at accelerating, facilitating and harmonising Special Procedures across the Union by means of providing common business process models. The national systems will implement all UCC changes required for customs warehousing, end-use, temporary admission, inward and outward processing.
This project will be implemented in two parts.
Component 1 - "National SP EXP": provides the required national electronic solutions for the export related special procedures activities.
Component 2 - "National SP IMP": provides the required national electronic solutions for the import related special procedures activities.
The implementation of these projects will occur through the projects listed in points 10 and 14.
13. UCC Notification of Arrival, Presentation Notification and Temporary Storage
The goal of this project is to define the processes for Notification of Arrival of the means of transport, Presentation of the goods (Presentation Notification) and Declaration for Temporary Storage as described in the UCC and to support harmonisation in this respect across the Member States as regards the data exchange between trade and customs.
The project covers the automation of processes at national level.
14. UCC National Import Systems upgrade
The project aims at implementing all process and data requirements deriving from the UCC which relate to the import domain (and which are not covered by one of the other projects defined in the Work Programme). It relates mainly to the changes for the "Release for free circulation" procedure (standard procedure + simplifications), but covers also the impact arising from other system migrations. This project relates to the national import domain covering the national customs declarations processing systems as well as other systems such as national accountancy and payment systems.
15. UCC Centralised Clearance for Import (CCI)
This project aims to allow for goods to be placed under a customs procedure using centralised clearance, allowing economic operators to centralise their business from a customs viewpoint. The processing of the customs declaration and the physical release of the goods should be coordinated between the related customs offices. It concerns a trans-European system containing components developed centrally and nationally.
The project will be implemented in two phases.
Phase 1: this phase will cover the combination of centralised clearance with standard customs declarations and may cover centralised clearance with simplified customs declarations and the respective general or periodic supplementary declarations (regularising one simplified customs declaration). In addition it will cover the placing of goods under the following customs procedures: release for free circulation, customs warehousing, inward processing and end-use. For the type of goods this phase will cover all types of goods with the exception of excise goods, EU goods in the context of trade with special fiscal territories and goods subject to common agricultural policy measures.
Phase 2: this aim of this phase is to implement all the functionalities under the full CCI scope: simplified and supplementary declarations (if not implemented under Phase 1), the customs declarations through an entry in the declarant’s records and the recapitulative supplementary declarations (regularising more than one simplified customs declaration or more than one entry in the declarant’s records), the placing of goods under the temporary admission procedure, excise goods, EU goods in the context of trade with special fiscal territories and goods subject to common agricultural policy measures.
16. UCC Guarantee Management (GUM)
This project aims to assure the effective and efficient management of the different types of guarantees.
Component 1 – "GUM": The central component of the trans-European system will cover the management of the comprehensive guarantees that may be used in more than one Member State. It will be implemented in the UCC Customs Decisions System and interface with a national component (see Component 2) for the monitoring of the reference amount. This reference amount may relate to each customs declaration, supplementary declaration or other appropriate information about the particulars needed for the monitoring of the reference amounts of the comprehensive guarantees for temporary storage and all customs procedures as provided for in the Union Customs Code, with the exception of Transit which is handled as part of the NCTS project.
Component 2 – "National Guarantee Management": This component will be implemented through a national electronic system where comprehensive guarantees valid in more than one Member State will be registered and managed and its reference amount monitored. It will also be used for other guarantees. The component will connect with the national customs declaration systems whenever guarantees are invoked in the customs declaration and, in case of comprehensive guarantees, it should retrieve the relevant business data from the respective authorisation to provide a comprehensive guarantee.
17. UCC Import Control System upgrade (ICS 2)
The aim of this programme is to strengthen pre-arrival safety and security of goods entering the Union by implementing the new UCC requirements regarding the lodging and treatment of entry summary declarations (ENS), namely the provision of ENS data in more than one submission and/or by different persons and the exchange of that data and the risk analysis results among the customs authorities. The ICS2 will lead to a complete new architecture and phased replacement of the existing trans-European ICS system.
The programme will be implemented in three releases.
Release 1: This release covers the obligation on the relevant economic operators (postal operators and express carriers in air transport) to provide the minimum data, i.e. ENS pre-loading dataset.
Release 2: This release will cover the implementation of complete new ENS obligations, related business and risk management processes for all the goods in air traffic.
Release 3: This release will cover the implementation of complete new ENS obligations, related business and risk management processes for all goods in maritime and inland waterways and road and rail traffic (this includes goods in postal consignments transported in these means of transport). The roll-out of Release 3 will occur in the following way: first maritime and inland waterways carriers will be phasing in (step 1), then the house level filers in the maritime and inland waterways traffic (step 2), and then the road and rail carriers (step 3).