On Wednesday, 27 August, CLECAT, the European association of logistics professionals, urged the European Commission to suspend the implementation of the import control system (ICS2) for road and rail transport.
ICS2, which enables customs risks to be analysed by requiring carriers to provide detailed information on the goods entering the EU before they arrive, is supposed to apply to land transport starting on Monday, 1 September. CLECAT has warned that there could be serious blockages at the borders.
Until now, the majority of road and rail carriers have provided safety and security data via NCTS (New Computerised Transit System)—data that will have to be sent directly to ICS2 starting on Monday. In order to avoid duplicates, an update called NCTS6 is expected to automatically transfer this data from NCTS. However, numerous Member States are not expected to roll out NCTS6 until 2026, which will force carriers to report the same data several times.
As a result, CLECAT has sent the European Commission a final appeal for a six-month suspension, as was granted to the aviation and maritime sectors under ICS2. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)